You can also explore different popular genres like romance, sci-fi, or thrillers. You can probably finish yours in a couple of days. Short stories are fantastic creative writing exercises because it doesn’t take too long to write one. The creative writing prompts in this book work for many genres. If you need help, I’ve even written a book of 101 different creative writing prompts with printables. They act as story starters for when you need some help. Much like taking the first line from a great book, a writing prompt offers confines within which to write. Alternatively, use writing prompts created by other authors to start writing faster. Build your own library of personal writing prompts. Writing prompts serve as a springboard upon which to jump into your work. When you’re finished with this creative writing exercise, go back and remove that first line. Write that down on a blank piece of paper or in your document on your computer or writing app of choice and use it as a jumping-off point into something more creative. Go back through that book, take out one of the first lines from a chapter you found particularly engaging, or even take the first line from the book’s start. Think of a book that you really enjoyed reading. This simple act will eventually unlock fresh thinking. If you don’t have anything good to write about, turn up in front of the blank page or the computer and write about whatever comes to mind for 15 or 30 minutes without editing yourself. An electrician doesn’t skip a job because they don’t have any great ideas about completing the work. They sit around and wait for inspiration to come, but inspiration never arrives.Ī doctor doesn’t say he can’t operate on a patient because he’s not feeling it. They claim they can only write when they have a good idea. Many new writers worry about writer’s block. Practice Exercises for Beating Writer’s Block When was the last time you worked on an area of your craft? 2. Similarly, learn the fundamentals of storytelling, and your non-fiction will improve too. Afterwards, I was able to apply lessons from these copywriting courses to improve the types of blog posts that I wrote and published.
#Creative writer series
Learning a new writing skill via an online writing course will carry over to different types of writing.įor example, several years ago, I took a series of courses in copywriting. Others want to inject color into their work. Some writers want to introduce or conclude their articles with a bang. Use an Opening Line Your Favorite BookĬonsider the weakest part of your writing and how you can improve it.