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CREATIVE WRITING EXERCISES
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A diary is an easy way to begin. It gets you in the habit of setting aside a time each day for practicing your writing. You don’t have to think much or be creative. Each night, just jot down, in chronological order everything you did earlier that day. Stuff happens, some boring, some exciting. Write it all down while you relax in bed recalling the day’s events. Mission accomplished, you are a writer. Now, your teacher has something to go over with you next session. And, you are in the habit of writing every night!
Bear in mind, we both assume, no one is probably going to want to read your diary, even yourself after you’ve become more of an accomplished story writer. But, I have seen plenty of writers actually publish their first books in this style. And, not only because they were diaries of someone important like a President’s Journal documenting his first year in the oval office. Writers have managed to publish diaries and journals titled; My rookie year on the Chicago Police Department. My first year at nursing school. Apprenticed to a private detective. Many a story writer has submitted great short stories which were ripped from the pages of what started out as a lame journal kept during a trip over seas. Magazines have always published literary short stories, diary style, chronicling tours of duty during war time. Prisoners have even cashed in by penning short stories, journal style, documenting their stint in the penitentiary. So you can take this nerdy chore and ride it as far as you wish. Remember, don’t throw anything out! Yet!
We’re going to need a starting point we can critique, a beginning point from which we can build and improve your creative writing skills. The journal gives us an endless supply of subject matter to dissect, study, correct then learn from. You don’t have to tax your brain to come up with ideas to write about. Just write what happens to you each night and practice your lessons as you write. The journal will also act as a record of how you’re writing is improving from week to week.
Creative Writing assignment #1
Write a letter to a friend or relative. (Even if you never intend to mail it.) The good part is, a letter doesn’t have to be as well written as a work of art that you want a magazine or publisher to pay you for. Now, you can relax a little, be less formal and there’s no need to be so critical of yourself. After all, you’re just writing a letter to a relative or friend and you don’t have to ever mail it. Continue to write in your journal of course. Your journal is a daily ongoing assignment. The letter is your first weekly creative writing assignment. Just like with the journal, letters have been published too. Some sets of letters have even been classified as classics of literature. So, take your lesson seriously and put some thought into your creative writing but have fun with your assignment too. We’ll start to break down and dissect your work a few lessons from now. Our intention is to get you writing a story, steadily, to build your confidence and begin to take down the barriers that have been preventing you from starting your journey as a story writer until now. Once we get the pen flowing, we can get into the specifics of how to write stories then once you master how to write short stories we can move on to tips on more creative writing and writing fiction.
Bear in mind, we both assume, no one is probably going to want to read your diary, even yourself after you’ve become more of an accomplished story writer. But, I have seen plenty of writers actually publish their first books in this style. And, not only because they were diaries of someone important like a President’s Journal documenting his first year in the oval office. Writers have managed to publish diaries and journals titled; My rookie year on the Chicago Police Department. My first year at nursing school. Apprenticed to a private detective. Many a story writer has submitted great short stories which were ripped from the pages of what started out as a lame journal kept during a trip over seas. Magazines have always published literary short stories, diary style, chronicling tours of duty during war time. Prisoners have even cashed in by penning short stories, journal style, documenting their stint in the penitentiary. So you can take this nerdy chore and ride it as far as you wish. Remember, don’t throw anything out! Yet!
We’re going to need a starting point we can critique, a beginning point from which we can build and improve your creative writing skills. The journal gives us an endless supply of subject matter to dissect, study, correct then learn from. You don’t have to tax your brain to come up with ideas to write about. Just write what happens to you each night and practice your lessons as you write. The journal will also act as a record of how you’re writing is improving from week to week.
Creative Writing assignment #1
Write a letter to a friend or relative. (Even if you never intend to mail it.) The good part is, a letter doesn’t have to be as well written as a work of art that you want a magazine or publisher to pay you for. Now, you can relax a little, be less formal and there’s no need to be so critical of yourself. After all, you’re just writing a letter to a relative or friend and you don’t have to ever mail it. Continue to write in your journal of course. Your journal is a daily ongoing assignment. The letter is your first weekly creative writing assignment. Just like with the journal, letters have been published too. Some sets of letters have even been classified as classics of literature. So, take your lesson seriously and put some thought into your creative writing but have fun with your assignment too. We’ll start to break down and dissect your work a few lessons from now. Our intention is to get you writing a story, steadily, to build your confidence and begin to take down the barriers that have been preventing you from starting your journey as a story writer until now. Once we get the pen flowing, we can get into the specifics of how to write stories then once you master how to write short stories we can move on to tips on more creative writing and writing fiction.
HOW TO WRITE, WRITING FICTION, WRITING A BOOK
CREATIVE WRITING 101 - Lesson Two
Story Writer by Stu Leventhal
So you want to be a paperback writer. You got something you been itching to tell the world but you’re not sure of how to do it? Maybe you’ve never written a story before but people tell you you’re a great story teller. Maybe, you’re interested in the money, the glory and the fame that comes along with being a great story writer. Perhaps, the thing about being sort of immortal and living on through your work, since your creative writing can live on long after you’re dead and gone, attracts you to want to write and become an author. Maybe you’re angry at something and just want to be heard.
Whatever your motive is to write, the best way to get started as a creative writer is to jump right in and start writing a story. If there’s something on your mind, write it down. Don’t worry about quality or style, just jot down any thoughts your mind is harboring. Relax and let your brain take you on a trip. Don’t worry about grammar, just doodle. At this point I don’t recommend throwing anything out, no matter how silly it sounds when you read it back. Just keep writing anything that comes into your mind. We’re just warming up.
Got writers block yet? Okay story writer, take a five minute break. Get a glass of water then come back and read all the gibberish you scribbled down. Chances are you’ll find something that sounds like it has promise, you’re just not sure, where to go next.
Our minds are full of creativity. You experience the strangeness of your imagination whenever you wake up in the middle of a dream or before a nightmare is completed. Some of the best writers have learned how to tap into their unconscious thoughts and they make a good living by cultivating the creative power of their unconscious mind. Most of us need to have structure and discipline to write with any consistency. Especially, if we intend to take our creative writing past the hobby stage and into the professional fiction writing arena.
If you’re serious about becoming a good story writer, you need to set up a writing area with a few tools of the trade; Paper, pens, pencils, a sharpener and an eraser, a bottle of white out, a few small note pads, a mini (pocket size) tape recorder, a computer with quality word processing software installed, a good quality dictionary and a thesaurus. It’s also imperative, in this day and age, that you learn how to type.
Set up a writing schedule, ideally the same time every day then stick to it. If your job or school schedules conflict, you will have to cut something else out. You must write regularly to get better at writing fiction, at least a few hours every day. Just like with any skill; learning to play guitar, swimming, practice is what makes you better at writing a story. Discipline yourself to write even when you are not in the mood. Keep reading, whenever you can. Reading builds your vocabulary and exposes you to other writer’s styles. But, don’t make the mistake of substituting reading for practicing your craft of putting pen to paper. You’ve been reading all your life, now that you’ve decided to write, nothing is as important as writing, writing, writing!
Ready to start? First, forget everything you ever learned in high school literature class. When it comes to first starting out as a writer, clarity of delivering your message to your reader should be at the top of your list. Someday when you’re famous and getting paid $100 dollars a word, you’ll be able to afford to take your time and build double meanings into the names of all your characters and hidden themes throughout your short stories and poetry. At this point of your career, your readers won’t be looking for secret massages encoded into your creative writing. And, forget the word symbolism all together at least for the first year or so while you're still learning how to write stories.
More important than what you want to write about is who you’re writing fiction for. Who is going to read your creative writing? Picturing your short story audience, putting yourself in their shoes as you read and revise your scribbling, will make it easier for you to communicate with your readers. Give your readers human qualities instead of thinking of them as millions of faceless critics waiting to shout everytime you forget to dot an I or use a verb incorrectly.
If you’re writing Horrors then keep in mind your e reader wishes to be scared. A lot of new horror writers confuse scaring with grossing out. Grossing someone out is not scaring them. There is a place and time, in creative writing, for gore but like writing about sex and using foul language, gore must be handled subtly and fed to your audience in small doses. When starting out writing fiction, I recommend staying clear of using gore, sex and foul language. Leave the big three to the more experienced story writer.
Write using your own natural voice. Write as you speak to your friends. Don’t try to be someone you’re not. If you find yourself constantly searching the thesaurus for the next word, most likely, your creative writing will seem forced. All the big impressive words you are shoving down your reader’s throats are stopping the flow of your short stories and poetry. The last thing you want is for your e reader to have to stop reading to look for a dictionary to look up a word they don’t understand.
Don’t write like you’re trying to impress your high school English teacher. Write like you’re talking to the average guy or gal next door. Use words that come naturally to you that flow off your tongue. The rule usually is, if there’s a smaller more common word, use the simplest word. Remember, picture your audience. You aren’t writing short stories and poetry for a group of NASA scientists. Big words stop the flow and disrupt the readers thought process. Use them sparingly when writing fiction.
E-author, Valerie Bowa says. “Writing short stories is much more than telling a new tale quick! Short stories are a form of entertainment first and foremost. The reading must be enjoyable and flow as naturally as your favorite novel. By the end of a handful of pages, the e writer must take the e reader on a complete journey. All the elements of a good e book or novel are evident in a good short story; plot, conflict setting time, characterization. The short story craftman must pay attention to every detail. Every word, sentence, phrase used must count. There’s no time or space for rambling when writing a story that has a small word limit. Cut all unnecessary scenes and characters and focus on one conflict. Begin telling the story as close to the conclusion as possible.”
I once overheard a Professional Stage Magician advising a young child student who was about to perform on stage for the first time in a talent contest in front of his whole school full of fellow students and teachers. “Have fun out there.” The magician smiled. “Talk to your audience, connect with them. But, remember, never announce what you’re going to do in the next trick before you do it! Just do it!” The magician’s magic advise can also be applied to good creative writing. The master magician meant, if you declare. “And now, for my next trick I intend to saw my beautiful assistant Jenny Lee completely in half, right before your very eyes and then I’ll put her back together again!” You think you are building the drama up but the result is the exact opposite. You’ve taken half the suspense away and destroyed most of the tension. Just go straight into the act. Pick up the saw then demonstrate how sharp it is. Then bring the pin-up girl over and have her lie down inside the box. Now, when you start sawing the damsel in two. You’ll have your audience sitting at the edge of their seat, biting their nails, worrying about poor Jenny Lee and how sharp are those saw teeth. Stumble a few times to add humor and keep them guessing if you are a good enough magician to be able to put the beautiful girl back together?
Try to limit the use of narrative where you find yourself speaking to your reader like an author. Example – John burst into the room, wearing a large rimmed, genuine calfskin Stetson, hat and steel tipped, cowboy boots, hand tooled by authentic Navajo Indians. Sally, holding a pile of dirty dishes in her hands turned to look then started laughing. “Who are you supposed to be, Wyatt Erp?” She sighed. “Don’t tell me you’re serious about going to Mrs. Lila’s costume party?” Instead try – Sally gathered the dirty dishes off the table. BANG! The front door flew open, smacking the wall. Sally turned to find John dressed as a cowboy, posing in the doorway. “Who are you supposed to be?” She laughed. “Wyatt Erp?”
“This is made from genuine calfskin.” She watched John tip his oversized Stetson hat to the side as he bragged. “And these boots were hand tooled by authentic Navajo Indians.”
“Don’t tell me you’re serious about going to Mrs. Lila’s costume party?” It’s always better to allow a character in the story to describe something rather than you as author telling the reader how something was. Rather than stating. It was cold outside. Try inferring what the temperature is by saying – The wind whistled through the tree branches. Barry Brintmore shivered then wrapped the end of his scarf tighter around his chin and neck. You never actually said the words it was cold outside but the reader knows.
Creative writing assignment #2
I hope you are still writing in your daily journal and you have completed your first assignment which was to write a letter to a friend or family member. This week you will continue the journal and write another letter to someone of a different age and gender than who you wrote to first. If you wrote to a younger male friend then write to an older female Aunt etc. Again, send the letter or don’t send the letter, it’s up to you. You should find the chore of writing letters begin to get easier and easier with each letter written. As with any skill, as you gain more experience you become more and more efficient. This will happen with all your writing, the more you practice the more confident you become and the better your short stories, poems and lyrics will be. So don't forget to set up your special creative writing place equiped with all your writing tools and schedule a specific time for writing fiction daily. To start stimulating your creative juices and get your imagination going, we’ve come up with a homework assignment that is a little tougher than a letter or journal. This week you’ll be picking a song of your choice and writing a short story relating to the song. Remember, songs can convey ideas in very whimsical, abstract ways. A short story has characters, a protagonist, a specific setting, plot, theme, conflict and a conclusion. Good luck, have fun and we’ll see you soon for Writing a story, becoming a story writer - Lesson 3.
MUSIC SEARCH ENGINE MP3
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THE ANTAGONIST by Stuart Leventhal
The antagonist is your main character’s rival, competition and opponent! He is the bad guy! The enemy! The evil one! Usually a writer wants his or her main character to win in the end but it will not make for much of a story if you make it too easy for your hero or heroine. The fun for the reader comes from the author keeping us guessing as to how the heck the hero will get himself out of the latest jam the antagonist has placed him in.
The antagonist must be a worthy opponent who has us worried that the hero might just lose this time. But the hero cannot be a slouch either. The hero must be a real threat to the antagonist too or else why would we believe the antagonist would even care to bother. They should be evenly matched or their grapples will not be very entertaining or believable. It must also be realistic for the hero to win in the end, if that is the story line the author wishes to pursue.
Just picking two characters and turning them into arch enemies won’t work. The conflict must come from their very souls. Their differences should be embedded in their psyche. Their very beings should clash. Their personalities should rebel against one another. Their lifestyles, their beliefs, and the way they conduct themselves; the more they despise one other the better for excitement, suspense and believable drama.
If you know your protagonist well then creating your antagonist should be easy. They are opposites, the more complete opposites the better. The antagonist should have all the traits that the protagonist despises most and visa versa. But beware of creating one sided characters; all bad or all good. A good antagonist must be well rounded and that means bestowing him or her with some redeeming qualities and even admirable traits.
Here are five popular villainous characters…
Moriarty – Sherlock Holmes evil nemesis
The Wolf – Little Red Riding Hood
The Joker – Batman’s Arch Enemy
Darth Vader – The Black Knight of Star Wars
Jaws – The Evil Great White Shark
*Who are your five favorite antagonists?
No, you are not getting off that easy student writers.
CREATIVE WRITING ASSIGNMENT NUMBER 3
Today's writing assignment is to create a new arch enemy for Super Man, the man of steel. We all know the popular story of comic book fame. The crime fighting hero has had a few arch enemies over the years but certainly there is still room for a few new power hungry villains to attempt to take over the world and enslave all of mankind. Good luck my student creative writers and I will see you all soon for literary writing lesson number #4!
The antagonist must be a worthy opponent who has us worried that the hero might just lose this time. But the hero cannot be a slouch either. The hero must be a real threat to the antagonist too or else why would we believe the antagonist would even care to bother. They should be evenly matched or their grapples will not be very entertaining or believable. It must also be realistic for the hero to win in the end, if that is the story line the author wishes to pursue.
Just picking two characters and turning them into arch enemies won’t work. The conflict must come from their very souls. Their differences should be embedded in their psyche. Their very beings should clash. Their personalities should rebel against one another. Their lifestyles, their beliefs, and the way they conduct themselves; the more they despise one other the better for excitement, suspense and believable drama.
If you know your protagonist well then creating your antagonist should be easy. They are opposites, the more complete opposites the better. The antagonist should have all the traits that the protagonist despises most and visa versa. But beware of creating one sided characters; all bad or all good. A good antagonist must be well rounded and that means bestowing him or her with some redeeming qualities and even admirable traits.
Here are five popular villainous characters…
Moriarty – Sherlock Holmes evil nemesis
The Wolf – Little Red Riding Hood
The Joker – Batman’s Arch Enemy
Darth Vader – The Black Knight of Star Wars
Jaws – The Evil Great White Shark
*Who are your five favorite antagonists?
No, you are not getting off that easy student writers.
CREATIVE WRITING ASSIGNMENT NUMBER 3
Today's writing assignment is to create a new arch enemy for Super Man, the man of steel. We all know the popular story of comic book fame. The crime fighting hero has had a few arch enemies over the years but certainly there is still room for a few new power hungry villains to attempt to take over the world and enslave all of mankind. Good luck my student creative writers and I will see you all soon for literary writing lesson number #4!