At work, between students, I frequently spend my bits of spare time poking around the Internet, looking for things to spur on my writing. So I frequently search for “writing prompts” or “writing exercises.”
There’s a certain kind of prompt that I absolutely hate; maybe it works well for others, but it doesn’t for me. It might look something like this: “Your character is a middle-aged advertising executive, at work after having a fight with his wife. Describe his first actions of the workday. Make sure to include the words orangutan, withholding, emptiness and pudding.”
This does me no good whatsoever. Unfortunately, this type of prompt has proliferated.
I use writing exercises for a few different reasons. I like to use freewriting exercises to warm up when I sit down to write; I find I’m more productive if I spend a few minutes scribbling as fast as I can without bothering to check spelling and grammar. I also use prompts to generate ideas and seeds for new material. I use specific kinds of exercises to strengthen my skills in fiction writing in general, and to strengthen areas of a given project.
So. For any writers reading: do you use prompts and exercises, and if so, how do you use them? Also, I’m pretty sure I can’t be the only writer around who likes prompts. So, where are the good prompts hiding? I’m thinking of posting some of the types of prompts that I find most helpful here; what kinds of prompts do you find useful?
Great article! I set up my blog specifically for my writing exercises. Writing prompts also warm up my mental muscles before setting down to write my fictional works.
In the exercises, I generally do not write about any of my own experiences. Instead I try to write in the shoes of the character (I’ve imaged) for prompt situations. Two sites that I use regularly are wordclay, and creative writing prompts. They have spurred me to just write what comes to me creatively, without worrying about all the grammatical or editing aspects of the writing process.
I try to limit the time I spend writing the prompt, to less than 15 minutes.
Thanks, zoeforce!
Do you happen to have the URLs for those sites (including yours)? I’d like to have them for my own use, and I’ll post them so that any readers can see them as well.
Again, thanks for stopping by!
Hello again, thanks for asking for the URLs I mentioned. I’d love to share them.
The first URL- Creative Writing Prompts has over 300 different prompts. http://www.creativewritingprompts.com/
The Second URL- is Wordclay’s “self publishing” site, and you will have to scroll down on the right column to find the prompts they list weekly. http://freeself-publishing.com/
The Third URL- I did not mention before is called The Imagination Prompt Generator. http://www.creativity-portal.com/prompts/imagination.prompt.html
My URL- http://zoeforce.wordpress.com/
This morning I decided to use my own prompt idea, and used a personal experience.
I will also list your site in my blogroll. I have enjoyed reading your posts and following your links!