If a person wants to swim in the Olympics, he can't just sign up one day to compete. He must train first. And the training is a daily, habitual activity. Someone who wants to compete in the Olympics practices consistently, trying day by day to grow stronger, to improve his techniques, to do just a little better than the day before. After years of training, an athlete is ready to compete in the Olympics.
That's why someone who wants to write something creative must also train. It is possible to "grow" creative writing "muscles" in much the same way an academic writer can strengthen her writing muscles with freewriting. It's best if the writer can set up a consistent time and location and then force herself to write. If writing doesn't come easily on a certain day, then she can either pick up a book on creative writing that has exercises, write in a journal, or do one of the exercises below. Even if what's written doesn't feel inspired, the writer has exercised, an activity valuable on its own.
The best way to practice these exercises is to set a timer for fifteen minutes. The writer should write as quickly as possible and as much as she can. Quality is not as important here as simply forcing oneself to do the exercise. If something is worth saving from these activities, the piece can then undergo revision.
The Extreme Close Up
The writer starts by describing a hand close up. All the details of the hand should be described. Is the hand young or old, light or dark, male or female? Are there freckles or scars? What do the knuckles look like? Then the writer's "camera in his mind" should begin to pull back, eventually showing what the hand is doing. Is it gripping a steering wheel? Holding a bat? Washing dishes?
The beauty of this exercise is that the writer can simply make himself begin describing a hand, letting the details come one at a time. It doesn't have to be heavily plotted beforehand.
One variation of this exercise can be an extreme close up of someone's eye. Another way to do it is to have an extreme close up of an object, such as a telephone, a computer mouse, or a housefly. The key with this exercise is in the description that slowly leads to action.
The Extreme Wide Shot
This exercise is the opposite of the extreme close up. The writer describes something big, be it an ocean, a city, a field, or a highway-anything that is large in scope. Then, just like in the movies, the writer's camera (her pen!) begins to slowly zoom in. The key here is to draw out the description, trying to keep the reader in suspense for as long as possible. Try to keep the reader guessing what the camera will eventually focus on.
Writing About Disaster
The writer in this exercise will either want to choose a character or write as though he were the main character. The idea is to just write as quickly as possible. The writer should imagine that a disaster just befell the character (or himself) and write how he or the character would react. It doesn't matter if the writer has actually experienced something like the disaster he's writing about; he should just use his imagination. Here are some possible ideas:
- Driving along an icy mountain road, the driver sees an avalanche up ahead
- A tornado just touched down in the character's town five minutes ago, and his family narrowly escaped, but another one is bearing down nearby
- An earthquake, worse than usual, begins shaking the building. Books and pictures begin flying off the wall. Something heavy (the writer decides what) falls on the main character's leg and she has to get her leg unpinned so she can get out of the building.
The writer can also brainstorm other disaster scenarios. The main point of this exercise is to put a character in peril. The writer can then practice tension and conflict while also working out his writing muscles.
Creative Writing Training
Creative writers need to train just like any other professional. And like other skills, writing can be improved with practice and hard work. The key is for the writer to keep exercising, even when she doesn't feel like it.
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