Five daily creative writing exercises to build better writing skills

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Author: Homer Holloway

Five daily creative writing exercises to build better writing skills

It's paradoxical that one of the biggest challenges to the creative writer, whether aspiring or practicing, is to discipline themselves to write every day. The lover of words is usually an artistic and creative person, so it would seem that this would not pose a problem. However, the other side of this personality also is prone to a certain romanticism, which infuses an element of eccentricity and idealism, a la Hemingway, Wolfe, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. Before we get into our writing exercises, this element deserves a brief discussion.

Writing skills are essential in most graduate programs. Professionals in any field with good writing skills have the opportunity to market themselves through professional articles, books, and technical writing. Writing skills are essential in today's business environment. The ability to write clearly and concisely is equally important when communicating within within any job. Writing skills are crucial when applying to applying to private high schools or specialized public high school programs. Beyond high school, students will have to be more than comfortable with the basics of writing and composition if they wish to attend college.

Writing skills are emphasized from first grade on, but many students never have a chance to experience writing frequently enough so that they can find out where the skills fit in. Instead, students continually hear the rationale for skill instruction: "This skill will improve your writing," or "You'll need this skill when you go to high school," or "Writing skills are essential in college.". Writing skills are also specific to disciplines; geologists don't do the same kind of writing as nurses or accountants. As one researcher noted, if it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a university to educate a writer.

Many of the great classic writers were often tormented souls, living solitary lives, in less than ordinary circumstances. If you love to write, you may think that in order to be a 'real' writer, you must fuse this romantic concept into your persona if you are to produce great writing. Nurturing this romantic idea will only stand in your way. The road to better writing does not mean you must pursue eccentricity and romantically tragic circumstances at the expense of your craft. You must first develop better writing skills. Your genuine persona will emerge on its own.

Here are five practical writing exercises that result in better writing skills. Practice these exercises on a daily basis and you will be rewarded in every day. Writing is an evolutionary process. Just let that part be. The rest comes naturally.

Keeping journals is not only therapeutic, but serves to develop your distinctive voice, over time. Any old notebook will do. Unlike writing contiguous pieces in a common theme, or blogging on your favorite topic, your exercises need have no connect point. Public forms of writing require a certain amount of restraint, whereas your private journal lets you write exactly what you think. These entries don't have to be politically correct or satisfy a particular audience. As a writer, you can develop free lines of thinking and expression, unedited. This daily writing exercise will go a long way towards better writing skills.

You've surely heard the old admonishment, 'show, don't tell'. Take any ordinary situation, a walk in the park, a look out your window, or a stroll through the mall.

The subject doesn't need to be momentous. Perhaps you spot a woman, harshly chastising her children without apparent reason. Is the woman's face angry? Is she simply frustrated? What's behind her anger? Observation is key to describing this scenario. Instead of an objective description, such as 'The woman spanked her child', better writing requires that you describe the general scene, the lead up to the child's misbehavior, the evident facial expressions, palpable emotions and actions which lead up to the spanking. You need to paint the picture in your reader's mind. Paint your pictures with words daily.

Another avenue to better writing is the daily practice of writing commercial style pieces. Copy writing is just one example. You've seen products advertised online, with short, descriptive pieces, designed to capture the attention of prospective buyers. These are usually short, snappy descriptions, that entice the reader to action, using as few words as possible.

This exercise contributes to better writing skills, expanding your repertoire of creative ways to handle dialogue and prose, to bring a character or setting to life. For example, let's say one of your characters is a crotchety old man of few words. Developing your copy writing skills will serve  creative writing task. This copy writing exercise will also give you the skill you'd need to boil down a pastoral scene to the essential elements.

Writing short fiction pieces is an exercise that builds on the copy writing exercise. Short fiction pieces sometimes require that you be concise for best effect. For example, if your story is quick moving and dramatic, it should not waste words, in order to grab the reader's attention, enhancing both suspense and drama. Try this writing your first draft off the top of your head. Don't edit as you go or belabor expressions. Then go through and mercilessly cut out every extraneous word, (saving under a new name, of course). Your story will likely be more powerful.

When you've got several pieces that you feel are publishable, join a writer's critique group online. Have other writers critique your work. You can learn much from other writers. Everyone wins in these forums, as you critique other writers work, providing a new perspective and learn new techniques and treatments.

If you do each of these five writing exercises daily, you will acquire better writing skills, and quickly. Two substantial bonuses come with this program: you'll build confidence in your own abilities, be more excited about your craft and help other writers.