Skip to content

Posts from the ‘Writing Exercises’ Category

Feb 6

1 Comment

Become a better writer by doing a 30-day challenge

I’m on Day 6 of the 750 words-a-day February challenge. I love a challenge, and I like the way 750words.com puts a framework around my writing practice.

As computer scientist Matt Cutts says, “small changes are sustainable.”

Whether you choose to do a writing challenge or some other type of challenge, I’m pretty sure it will make your life more interesting. And that can’t help but make you a better writer.

For another perspective about 30-day challenges, see how Cutts looks at them by watching this 3-minute TedTalk.

Jan 24

1 Comment

Ask this simple question to get a new perspective on your writing

Last week, I had two lessons about the benefits of looking at things in a different way.

First, we had a tremendous (for us) snow storm here in the Pacific Northwest. Normally, we get a dusting of snow once or twice a year which is usually gone within a day. Last week, we had six inches and it lasted three days. Since we’re surrounded by hills, we were snowed in. The first day was fun but by the third day, the snow was interfering with our business. Since Fed Ex couldn’t get to our home, we walked our boxes to the drop-off location about a mile away.  No big deal. We like to walk in the snow.

As we headed toward the road we normally take to Fed Ex, my husband said, “What if we went up this side street? The hill isn’t as steep and it may be shorter.” So we tried a different route and along the way we met a new neighbor out shoveling his sidewalk. Read more

Jan 19

Have you been knocked out of your groove? Write a letter

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t enjoy finding a letter in their mailbox from a friend or relative. But in this age of e-mail and text messaging, writing letters has become a lost art. If you’re feeling self-conscious about your writing, distracted, or out of your groove, penning a letter or two is one way to warm up your writing muscles.

If you frequently talk to or e-mail the person you’re writing to, you might think you don’t have much to say in a letter. And who wants to talk about the weather, unless there’s something drastic about it? Instead, think about how you might tell your friend a story about what’s happening in your life. Maybe you met an interesting person when you were out and about, experienced something funny in your workplace, or observed something odd on the way home from work. Be poetic. Think of just the right words to tell your stories. Read more

Jan 4

How to use misfortune to make your writing stronger

“A writer, or any man, must believe that whatever happens to him is an instrument; everything has been given for an end. This is even stronger in the case of the artist. Everything that happens, including humiliations, embarrassments, misfortunes, all has been given like clay, like material for one’s art….Those things are given to us to transform, so that we may make from the miserable circumstances of our lives things that are eternal, or aspire to be so. If a blind man thinks this way, he is saved. Blindness is a gift.” –Jorge Luis Borges

I don’t have many “off” days. What I mean is, I’m pretty good at handling life’s little surprises. I wasn’t always so cool and collected. I used to obsess and worry and play the repetitive mind-game as well as the next person. But over the years, I worked hard at letting all that go. I was motivated to change.

I knew I was making progress the year my son turned 13. It was the morning after Halloween. I opened the front door to pick up the newspaper, when I saw it—somebody, in the middle of the night, had thrown a gigantic pumpkin at my brand new car. The car’s rear end was demolished, the trunk caved in, and my deductible was $1,000 (which I didn’t have at the time because I’d just purchased the new car). I was stunned. I felt as if somebody had sucked up all the air in the world. Read more

Jan 2

Start the new year by writing a gratitude list

I don’t do New Year’s resolutions anymore. I guess I’m at the age where I see each day as an opportunity to flex my resolve. But I do find the beginning of the year a great time to reflect back on all I achieved in the preceding year and set new goals for the next one. I do this in all areas of my life and in different phases. Phase I of my New Year’s plan is to start a gratitude list.

For ten to twenty minutes, I write a list (in a sparkly new journal) of things I’m grateful for. The beginning of my list looks something like this:

I’m grateful for:

1. My family who not only loves and encourages me but also helps others in the world;

2. My writing partner, Carly, for pushing me to stretch my comfort zone and believe in myself;

3. My friend J.M. for making me use my brain and heart in ways I never knew I could; Read more

Dec 29

Narrative Magazine: the PBS of literature

Looking for some good free reading? Check out Narrative Magazine—an online journal dedicated to great literature. The magazine publishes poems, short stories, nonfiction, fiction, six-word stories, novel excerpts and more. Narrative even pays its contributors and is free for anybody to read (although donations are greatly appreciated to maintain the Narrative mission).

I just finished reading Joseph Stroud’s poem “Provenance” about the winter he lived in Madrid and mourned his father. Everywhere he goes in the city, his grief follows. His pain is reflected in artwork, cobblestone streets, a Gypsy violin, even a bowl of tripe soup.

I love how the poem goes on and on with no stanza breaks, how it wraps around itself as the poet wanders the streets of Madrid and the depths of his love for his father. If you want to see how a great poem is put together, study this poem. Read it out loud. Allow the words to wrap around you, feel their weight on your tongue, in your heart.

Writing about strong emotions, particularly about the death of a parent, is a difficult task to do well. The key is to use specifics to evoke the emotions. Stroud is a master. Read more

Dec 23

Three posts for generating creative ideas

“The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves.” – Carl Jung

In case you didn’t catch these the first time around, below are three posts for generating more creative ideas:

Find creative possibilities in your workplace — Ideas surround us. See Carly’s tips for noticing what’s right in front of you at your workplace.

Exercises in memoir: finding your story – Whether you’re writing memoir or fiction, here are some tips for digging deep into your characters.

Three ways to use word riffs – Wordplay is important, it frees the mind to make new connections.

Thanks for stopping by! Please share some of your favorite places to find creative ideas.

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »