I spoke earlier in the year about some exercises or activities to help with creativity, skill and enriching writing.

A search of the internet will provide a lot of exercises or activities for different levels and different interests. I have pulled together some from different sources that appealed to me. You can adjust or adapt any of these for your own needs.

1.       Dream journal – keep pen and paper by the bed and write down dreams when you wake, or a story of the images that come to mind. I can’t always remember my dreams clearly but sometimes an idea of the dream leads to some very interesting stories.

2.       Google image prompt – or review favourite websites for pictures, and one as a prompt to write a short story.

3.       5 minutes of blind writing – I’m not so sure about this one but it works for some. It is what it sounds like, blindfolded write for five minutes.

4.       Eaves dropping – take part of an overheard conversation and write a story.

5.       Describe your favourite place in detail, capturing what makes it special.

6.       Detail a memory from the past – it could be yesterday, it could be years ago, big or small.

7.       Writing off the page – take a line of poetry, or a famous saying, or line from a book/film/tv and continue writing.

8.       Colour – choose a colour, go for a walk and then write about everything you see that is that colour or reminds you of that colour.

9.       Take something already done and twist it – such as a funny story, like Home Alone and make it scary, or take something scary and make it funny, like Dracula.

10.   Take a well known story or character and make it modern – What would red riding hood have to face on her way to grandma’s house today?

11.   Use a crossword – use all the down solutions in a short story.

12.   Take a headline – rearrange the words and then write the new story.

Happy Scribbles