Writing Exercises
Writing Tips/ Questions and Answers
Go Directly to Current ExercisePet Peeves and Words to Avoid
Dear Visitor,
I am a veteran teacher of writing from university level to little kids. I offer these writing exercises in the spirit of the Internet as a place for a new kind of community of sharing and exchange. I call them "exercises" rather than "prompts" or "lessons" because I think of them as ways to strengthen the writing muscles that you already have and as ways to expand your range of techniques. The execises are free, but if you want to give something back, please read some of my online fiction or take a look at my books. I also offer suggestions for small and tiny press books that you might want to read or purchase as gifts: see giftbooks. I also teach private classes online as well as public classes at New York University's School of Continuing and Professional Studies, and, finally, I have a free newsletter you can get by sending your e-mail address to:
The newsletter is also online at Books for Readers .
-- Meredith Sue Willis
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Current Exercise
Write an aftermath scene. The discovery is over; or, the proposal has been made; or,the villain has been exposed; or, the fury has passed. In other words, the immediate drama is done.
Write a scene that captures the mood that is left.
More writing exercises below and in archives.
Writing Tips
Do you have a problem with commas? Here's a terrific article to set you straight.
Do you know Grammar Girl? This grammar blog is terrific on how to use practical, graceful grammar and punctuation. Here she is on the ... ellipsis: http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/ellipsis.aspx
Two interviews where I talk about writing: Creative Writing Now and one by Tricia Idrobo with me on Writing and Illustrating: Sharing Information about Writing and Illustrating for Children . Both sites have a lot of good information.
In typing in corrections to a manuscript, and I decided to do it in reverse order, or at least Chapter 21 followed by Chapter 20 followed by Chapter 19 etc. It feels uncomfortable, but keeps my focus on the sentences and words. To read in order is to get swept up in story-- ideal for a reader and for the writer as she drafts!-- but it means you tend to skip little rough spots and even outright errors. So even though this isn't the most fun, it is a good technique, IMHO.
Check out Jessica Murphy's piece on avoiding Gawking Characters at Inspiration for Writers, Inc.
The biggest hint of all is to find a time in your life for regular writing. It doesn't matter if it's every day or every week-end or six weeks in the summer-- you need a period of time you can depend on. You may also occasionally get an inspiration that sends you rushing off to your notebook or computer, and that is great, but it is an extra-- a gift from the universe! To edit and revise and continue and finish work, you'll need that regular place and time.
Separate your critical brain from your drafting brain. Try writing at least three paragraphs (or even better, three pages) before you go back and fiddle with the words. If possible, don't read over what you wrote today until tomorrow or at least after lunch. It will be much easier to make changes.
Questions and Answers
Q: I'm doing a final edit of my novel and need to know the most common publishing house style to show that words should be in italics. Do you actually italicize them or underline them?
A: I googled "using italics in preparing writing for publication" and came up with something from the MLA style sheet (Modern Language Association). They and other sources all specify italics, not underlining. Underlining, I believe,was used to indicate italics back in the day because typewriters didn't have italics. Today, since most publications and publishers insist on digital submissions at some point, italics transfer nicely from the writer's word processor to the publisher's. So I think this is a clear win for italics.
Q: How do I punctuate thoughts in fiction?
A: Generally, I save quotation marks for actual spoken-aloud dialogue. You can almost always do thoughts simply by saying:This is getting ridiculous, she thought. Some people like italics This is getting ridiculous,she thought. I prefer the fewest possible markers, grammatical and otherwise, but the bottom line is that there is no rule. You want clarity and transparency. That is, you don't want a reader being confused about whether a comment is thought or said aloud, and you want readers to move forward without noticing how you've done what you've done, if at all possible.
Q: I'm confused about when I can use contractions. Right now I'm using them everywhere except in summations and narratives. But someone told me I should only use contractions in dialogue. Is there any rule?
A: Definitely use contractions in dialogue, because it's how we speak, but fiction is a generally informal type of writing, and I'm quite sure I use contractions in my narration as well as within quotation marks. I believe the way to think of it is as another tool: if I wanted to slow down a passage of narration or create a formal tone, then I might well write: "I would slow it down.." But if my authorial tone is lighter, and I want speed, I might write "I'd speed it up with contractions." No hard and fast rule in novel writing, except that normal people in dialogue tend to use contractions.
Q: I have a question about copyright - namely, what do I do to protect my work if I want to show it to someone else, but it hasn't been published yet? Is there a way to do that?
A: About copyright: you own your writing by the act of writing it. You own the copyright, whether you've done anything official or not. Here's some information , but the bottom line is that you own what you've written, and fiction is rarely stolen– what you don't own and can't copyright is your idea– that is, someone else can do a similar plot and you can't do anything about it.
Q: How do you punctuate titles? It seems like I do it differently every time!
A: Here's a great discussion of that on Grammar Girl at http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/capitalizing-titles.aspx
Q: How do you use quotation marks in dialog when the
character is telling something about the past and quotes someone else talking?
A: The usual way is to use single quotes inside regular double quotes. So you'd have: Jane said, "I was rushing to the office when I ran into Frank, and he said, 'Janie, I've got some bad news!' "
Q: What do you do when you've written different endings and like none of them? I keep telling myself something will come, something I haven't thought about, but so far it hasn't.
A:I usually think in terms of hypothetical endings. I'll do a whole draft of a book and know that the end is weak, but at least I've had the satisfaction of writing “The End.” Then I'll lay it aside for perhaps a couple of months, then go over it from the beginning, and plunge on through. Of course, I may end up with another imperfect ending, but when I've finally made enough drafts, I usually have finally found the "real" ending, or at least the real stopping place.
Q: How do I create realistic characters? I'm not striving to write great literature. I want to write a thriller, and I'm best at action and suspense.
A: People who take my writing classes tend to fall into one of two categories. Some start with characters and have trouble finding stories for them; and some start with plots and have trouble with characters! It sounds like you are one of the second group. One good trick is to write back stories for your main characters-- mini biographies (or even a resumé!). Try to figure out the person's age, where they grew up, education level, ethnic background, what they want out of life, what their favorite food is-- all kinds of details, that might be useful in your story, too. Here's a list to get you started.
Also check out this advice from Writer's Digest about motivation and the arc of change in a character.
Q. What about verb tense? The present tense is so much more dynamic. I am using past tense as in a story telling mode. Which is better in fiction?
A. I use the present tense sometimes, but it isn't my favorite. I like it best for very short pieces. In general, especially for longer works, I prefer the plain old story teller’s past myself. There are plenty of good books and good writers, though, that use the present tense extremely well. So, on the one hand, good writers make anything work. On the other hand, a lot of younger writers use the present tense because it is something of a fad. Take a look at http://www.meredithsuewillis.com/materials.html#presenttense for some thoughts on pros and cons.
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Q. What about working on two novels simultaneously?
A. This, like many other things, depends on you. When I get stuck, I go on to a new project, so I often have two or even more books and a couple of stories and articles going at once. I also trust that I'll be able to get back to the things I've left.
Q. I'm writing a novel and having a hard time with technology. Do I include cell phones? IM? Facebook? Twitter?
A. That's a tough one. The clearest way to deal with it in my opinion is to consider every novel a historical novel, even if it is set in 2009. Make sure you have the right technology for the year. There are also lots of tricks-- your character can be the kind of person who always misplaces her cell phone or lets it run down, for example.
Q: I have my first paid writing gig. It's for an online travel website. Do you think it's unusual or bad that they own all future rights to the article, or is this standard? From their website: Publication Rights: We are only interested in articles that aren’t yet published, and we own all future rights to the paid pieces you publish through us. If you prefer to maintain future rights, please submit your article through unpaid articles program.
A: Writing for Hire (which is what you're describing-- the publisher owns the rights) is not great, but it's totally common. In other words, it's done a lot, especially with nonfiction, but also with some things like popular series books for kids that have different authors for each volume. It's not a scam, just not ideal. What I have done in such circumstances is to write a separate version of the piece, longer or shorter, maybe fiction instead of nonfiction, or using different examples to make the same point, or whatever, if I want to use it again. They can't buy your ideas and experience, just the words you've written.
Pet Word Peeves...
There are certain words that get misused a lot-- one is the word "heft," which means most often, weight or heaviness, or sometimes importance or influence. But a lot of people use it in what is really a rare and archaic way, as if it meant "bulk." A lot of students write, "He lifted his considerable heft out of the chair." It ought to be "He lifted his considerable bulk out of the chair." Correct uses are "The heft of a good hammer" or "Some synthetic fabrics are nice and warm, but I prefer wool because it has more heft." The word is a related to "heave," on the same pattern as "weave" and "weft."
Another word that irks me when it is misused is "smirk." This is a verb I would only use if I really didn't like a character or really didn't like a character's attitude at that moment. The dictionary definition (quoted from the Houghton Mifflin eReference) is "to smile in an affected, knowing way." Sometimes when writers really want a character to grin or smile humorously, they use "smirk," and it always sets my teeth on edge.
There are also certain words and phrases, all perfectly good English, that I avoid in my writing. I find that I have in the past overused them, probably because I actually like them. One word I have sworn off is “shard.” "Shard" sounds like what it is, a broken piece of something, but I’ve come to over-use it. It seemed like every time a glass broke or sun was refracted through a window in my prose, I would call it “shards of glass” or, metaphorically, “shards of light.”
I also avoid certain phrases I used to love as a beginning writer: "visibly shaken" was one I used to look for excuses to use, as in "When she heard him say her name, she was visibly shaken." When I was a child, I adored "gathered up her skirts!" That's got to be what Cinderella did when she fled the Ball, and I was always looking for excuses to have someone gather up her skirts and run away. Do you have such words and phrases on your personal Avoid list?
One member of my writers' peer group can't stand the word "quotidian," which she says no one uses in real life. We were critiquing a novel-in-progress of mine, and another group member said, yes, but that word was used in context in the voice of a character who likes big words. This was an interesting case: no one disputed that a pretentious character can, in quoted dialogue, use words I wouldn't use myself, to fit the personality. But how about in the close third person, as in this novel, where the diction slips between the author's words and the words a character might use or think?
More
Try not to do just one thing if you can do more than one. Don't give the information that he ate a steak, rather, show both that he ate a steak and that he was angry when he was eating it: "He stabbed his fork into the slab of sirloin and and slashed off a piece with his knife."
After you've written your draft, go through it looking to see if all the essential conflicts have been dramatized. This is an especially good technique if you feel that your dialogue is flat or boring. Put the dramatized conflicts into the dialogue.
Put thinking, contemplation, and dramatized flashback scenes at a point in your story where it would be natural in real life too: riding a train, lying awake at night when the character can’t sleep, etc.
Click here for hints from writers, editors, and agents.
And here for what some writers have to say about writing and literature.
More Free Writing Exercises below and here :
Exercises 1- 20
Exercises 21- 40
Exercses 41 - 60
Exercises 61-80
Exercises 81-100
Exercises 101 - 120
Exercises 121 - 140
Exercises 141 - 160
Exercises 161 - 180
Exercises 181 - 200
Exercises 201 - 240
Here's something new that looks like fun: Snapfiction.com offers a writing exercise "challenge" every week--give it a try!
Here's something especially for teachers-- a free writing prompt of the month: http://www.unr.edu/educ/nnwp/Mini_Lesson_of_the_Month_Club.htm
Looking for Poetry Writing Exercises? Writenet at Teachers & Writers has some good ones originally planned for young people, but they would make great starters for anyone
For writing exercises for children, click here. Teens can use the ones on this page, or look at my page for teens.
Here's a link to a really interesting haiku exercise from Timothy Russell.
And then there is making fun of writing prompts:McSweeney's has a fairly funny take-off called "Thirteen Writing Prompts" by Dan Wienceck
Rita Marie Keller has a blog called Buried Treasures that is full of writing prompts and links to more writing prompts. " Essays and writing exercises to help you uncover the great writing ideas you already have."
This week is the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic! (It's also tax day in the United States and my son's birthday, but let's focus on the Titanic).
Imagine you were present at some great disaster-- a train wreck, a tsunami or earthquake. Imagine yourself as a survivor, and write what your experience was like. In this case, don't strive for the grand overview, but rather one person's very particular experience-- not necessarily typical. Perhaps you got the last seat on a lifeboat because you happened to be there when the person who was supposed to get the seat ran back for her jewelry box. What if you were having an argument with your brother and and took a long walk to cool off-- uphill, just as the great wave hit?
Do a little research, if necessary,but concentrate on the sense details: temperature, smells, textures.
Exercise #242
This illustration was made to go with an Aesop's fable. Write your own fable to fit this image, and then, if you want to see the original, click here.
Exercise #243
Before I could read, I used to look at the pictures in a two-book set on the shelf. The books had matching woodcut illustrations and I believed for a long time that they were two parts of the same story, rather than two separate books, Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. There was a dark haired hero who was blind at the end of the first book and then seemed to be healthy again in the second book. I was fascinated by the illustrations, and once I learned to read, loved the books, but never really felt they matched up with the images.
Here's one of the images that fascinated and frightened me:
The artist is Fritz Eichenberg. Write about this image, or write about some image that fascinated you when you were young and didn't understand what you were seeing. What did you imagine?
The Bat, the Birds and the Beasts
A great conflict was about to come off between the Birds and the Beasts. When the two armies were collected together the Bat hesitated which to join. The Birds that passed his perch said: "Come with us"; but he said: "I am a Beast."
Later on, some Beasts who were passing underneath him looked up and said: "Come with us"; but he said: "I am a Bird." Luckily at the last moment peace was made, and no battle took place, so the Bat came to the Birds and wished to join in the rejoicings, but they all turned against him and he had to fly away.
He then went to the Beasts, but soon had to beat a retreat, or else they would have torn him to pieces.
"Ah," said the Bat, "I see now, "He that is neither one thing nor the other has no friends."
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Re-visions: Stories from Stories is a collection of spin-offs from myth, fiction, and the Bible. From a new look at Adam and Eve and why they left the Garden to a grown-up Topsy from Uncle Tom's Cabin to the confessions of SaintAugustine's concubine- each story offers a gloss on the original as well as insights into how we canlive today.
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