Welcome to Writing Tips

A Word on Creativity Exercises

These exercises are designed to boost your creativity and to show you that the possibilities for story ideas are endless. For exercise purposes, try to keep them to 500 words or less. You may choose to develop them into full stories later, but for now just focus on the task described.

The telephone call

Write a brief story which begins "in medias res" with a telephone call. Have one of the callers inform the other of some event that has taken place. Begin writing after the call has begun and end it before the speakers hang up. In other words, just focus on the DIALOGUE & building tension within the scene. No more than 500 words.

Non-human narrators

Write a story from the point of view of a non-human. This can mean an alien, an animal, or a chest of drawers. The unconventional source of narration frees your creativity and allows you to have some fun with the story. It gives you an excuse to play with dialogue or try your hand at being funny. Go wild!

Characterization

Take a few moments and answer the following questions about the protagonist in your story. This will help you generate ideas about where the story will go and how it will develop during revision. Keep in mind that there may and can be multiple answers for each.

*What does my character want?
*What does he fear?
*How does he deal with his emotions?
*What are his social and intimate relationships like?
*What are his past experiences, and how does he regard them?
*What does he view (or not view) as responsibilities to himself and others?
*What elements of the spiritual does he exhibit, and how does he deal with them?
*What does he do for a living?
*What does he do for leisure?
*What failures does he secretly hold himself accountable for?
*What biases or prejudices motivate his behavior?
*Are there any "catch phrases" or verbal quips that are unique to him?
*Does he dream at night? If so, of what?
*Where does he go in his daydreams?
*What strikes him as humorous/non-humorous?
*What does he take seriously or fail to take seriously?

Dialogue

Write a story in which one character tries to "sell an idea" to another. Focus on the verbal exchange as one character attempts to persuade the other, and on heightening the tension throughout the scene. Begin in medias res, don´t worry about getting us in to the scene.

Beauty & the Beast: The Magic of Character Pairs

Sometimes you can create fictional magic just by placing two opposing characters in the same room. Consider opposites or "incompatibles" from real life that might make sparks on the page:

*Spunky waitress and self-absorbed tycoon
*Priest and drug addict
*Hippie chick and JCrew guy
*Southern belle and biker dude

Try making your own pairs--it doesn´t have to be about romance. It´s about personalities that breed conflict and thus readability.

Point of View

Write a story that employs more than one point of view. The exercise focuses your attention on point of narration, so that you are conscious of things like physical observations, language, personal biases, etc., which will be unique to each individual character.

The dinner party

Write a story centered entirely around a dinner party. One of the characters should be mysterious in some way, inspiring the other guests to ponder and discuss him.

What are you most ashamed of?

The superlatives in our lives--the "most" frightening, "most" hilarious, etc.--are the seeds for our stories. Try writing a story about something from your past that you are ashamed of. Don´t write about something that happened within the last year--it must be something you have gained perspective on.

The Liar

Write a story in which one character is clearly lying. This can be either the narrator or another character. You´ll want to focus on peeling away the layers of truth and untruth--the non-liar(s) will inwardly and outwardly wrestle this out.

Plot

A good plot always traces back to character elements. Characters find themselves in situations and must act and react to those situations as best they can. Consider this as you construct the plot of your story.

As a pre-writing exercise, make a list of situations your character might find him or herself in. Then, in a separate column, try and predict what might happen BASED ON WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT THE CHARACTER.

Example:

Situation
_____________

Louis walks into a bar and finds his wife having a drink with his business partner.

Plot
______________

Because Louis has a history of violence and with distrusting women, and because his wife has been unfaithful to him in the past, he decks the business partner and drags the wife out kicking and screaming. He gives her a black eye in the parking lot.

This has story potential, because Louis´ actions--justified or not--come from his internal motivations.

Given first line

Write a story beginning with this line:

"I didn´t hear you come in last night."