Creative Writing Exercises to Inspire

When a Writer Has the Desire to Write but No Ideas

Jun 29, 2009

Need some exercises to get those creative juices flowing? Here are some ideas to make even the least imaginative brain loosen up.

We explored some exercise ideas in a previous article entitled “Creative Writing Exercises for Inspiration.” This article picks up where that one leaves off.

Creative writers usually have the desire to write, but sometimes they just can’t come up with ideas to get started. Here are some exercises that will help. Maybe one of these ideas will lead to one’s next short story or play.

A writer should try an exercise that seems inspiring to him, and then write on the particular idea for at least ten to fifteen minutes. If after that time inspiration hasn’t “struck,” then the writer might try another exercise.

Keeping a Journal

Many writers keep a journal anyway, because they are inspired to write. The nice thing about keeping a journal is that a writer can write down anything without fear of judgment—a writer can write about his feelings, observations, story ideas; sometimes he can just keep a record of his everyday life. Other writers will write down other things, such as interesting words or phrases, questions, etc.

If a writer wants to keep a journal specifically for creative writing purposes, she can write the following type of things in her journal:

Basically, there is no right or wrong way to keep a journal; the main thing to keep in mind is that the writer should find it to be a good place to both come up with inspiration and to store ideas.

Working With a Partner

If a writer has a friend who also likes to write, this is a fun exercise for the two of them to try. The first writer writes the first sentence to a story or play. It can be generic (for example, “It was a dark and stormy night,” or “Once upon a time in a land faraway, there lived a princess”) or it can be as unique as the writer can make it (“I was a brave child until the day I walked into the living room and found my grandmother sitting dead in her chair”).

The first writer, after writing the first sentence, passes the paper to the second writer who then adds the next sentence. This continues for at least ten to fifteen minutes. A variation on this exercise is that each writer jots down a paragraph rather than a sentence. Another variation is performing the exercise via email or chat.

This exercise is great for writers because they do not have to have anything specific in mind (no end, no characters, no conflict, etc.); in fact, this exercise can be very liberating because the writer can, in essence, relax until the paper comes back and it's his turn again. More than that, though, the fresh ideas constantly coming at the writer, ones that he didn’t necessarily have in mind, as well as the fun of trying to challenge the other writer, can be all it takes for a writer to feel inspired.

Finally, if a writer finds that this sort of collaboration is beneficial, she might decide to collaborate more often.

Inspiration

The desire to write can hit a writer at any time, but sometimes he is left wondering what to write. Oftentimes all he needs is a little inspiration, and exercises like these can help.

The copyright of the article Creative Writing Exercises to Inspire in Writing Techniques is owned by Cynthia Jones-Shoeman. Permission to republish Creative Writing Exercises to Inspire in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.