warm up activities for creative writing

• Writing Activities

105 Creative Writing Exercises To Get You Writing Again

You know that feeling when you just don’t feel like writing? Sometimes you can’t even get a word down on paper. It’s the most frustrating thing ever to a writer, especially when you’re working towards a deadline. The good news is that we have a list of 105 creative writing exercises to help you get motivated and start writing again!

What are creative writing exercises?

Creative writing exercises are short writing activities (normally around 10 minutes) designed to get you writing. The goal of these exercises is to give you the motivation to put words onto a blank paper. These words don’t need to be logical or meaningful, neither do they need to be grammatically correct or spelt correctly. The whole idea is to just get you writing something, anything. The end result of these quick creative writing exercises is normally a series of notes, bullet points or ramblings that you can, later on, use as inspiration for a bigger piece of writing such as a story or a poem. 

Good creative writing exercises are short, quick and easy to complete. You shouldn’t need to think too much about your style of writing or how imaginative your notes are. Just write anything that comes to mind, and you’ll be on the road to improving your creative writing skills and beating writer’s block . 

Use the generator below to get a random creative writing exercise idea:

List of 105+ Creative Writing Exercises

Here are over 105 creative writing exercises to give your brain a workout and help those creative juices flow again:

• Set a timer for 60 seconds. Now write down as many words or phrases that come to mind at that moment.
• Pick any colour you like. Now start your sentence with this colour. For example, Orange, the colour of my favourite top. 
• Open a book or dictionary on a random page. Pick a random word. You can close your eyes and slowly move your finger across the page. Now, write a paragraph with this random word in it. You can even use an online dictionary to get random words:

• Create your own alphabet picture book or list. It can be A to Z of animals, food, monsters or anything else you like!
• Using only the sense of smell, describe where you are right now.
• Take a snack break. While eating your snack write down the exact taste of that food. The goal of this creative writing exercise is to make your readers savour this food as well.
• Pick a random object in your room and write a short paragraph from its point of view. For example, how does your pencil feel? What if your lamp had feelings?
• Describe your dream house. Where would you live one day? Is it huge or tiny? 
• Pick two different TV shows, movies or books that you like. Now swap the main character. What if Supergirl was in Twilight? What if SpongeBob SquarePants was in The Flash? Write a short scene using this character swap as inspiration.
• What’s your favourite video game? Write at least 10 tips for playing this game.
• Pick your favourite hobby or sport. Now pretend an alien has just landed on Earth and you need to teach it this hobby or sport. Write at least ten tips on how you would teach this alien.
• Use a random image generator and write a paragraph about the first picture you see.

• Write a letter to your favourite celebrity or character. What inspires you most about them? Can you think of a memorable moment where this person’s life affected yours? We have this helpful guide on writing a letter to your best friend for extra inspiration.
• Write down at least 10 benefits of writing. This can help motivate you and beat writer’s block.
• Complete this sentence in 10 different ways: Patrick waited for the school bus and…
• Pick up a random book from your bookshelf and go to page 9. Find the ninth sentence on that page. Use this sentence as a story starter.
• Create a character profile based on all the traits that you hate. It might help to list down all the traits first and then work on describing the character.
• What is the scariest or most dangerous situation you have ever been in? Why was this situation scary? How did you cope at that moment?
• Pretend that you’re a chat show host and you’re interviewing your favourite celebrity. Write down the script for this conversation.
• Using extreme detail, write down what you have been doing for the past one hour today. Think about your thoughts, feelings and actions during this time.
• Make a list of potential character names for your next story. You can use a fantasy name generator to help you.
• Describe a futuristic setting. What do you think the world would look like in 100 years time?
• Think about a recent argument you had with someone. Would you change anything about it? How would you resolve an argument in the future?
• Describe a fantasy world. What kind of creatures live in this world? What is the climate like? What everyday challenges would a typical citizen of this world face? You can use this fantasy world name generator for inspiration.
• At the flip of a switch, you turn into a dragon. What kind of dragon would you be? Describe your appearance, special abilities, likes and dislikes. You can use a dragon name generator to give yourself a cool dragon name.
• Pick your favourite book or a famous story. Now change the point of view. For example, you could rewrite the fairytale , Cinderella. This time around, Prince Charming could be the main character. What do you think Prince Charming was doing, while Cinderella was cleaning the floors and getting ready for the ball?
• Pick a random writing prompt and use it to write a short story. Check out this collection of over 300 writing prompts for kids to inspire you. 
• Write a shopping list for a famous character in history. Imagine if you were Albert Einstein’s assistant, what kind of things would he shop for on a weekly basis?
• Create a fake advertisement poster for a random object that is near you right now. Your goal is to convince the reader to buy this object from you.
• What is the worst (or most annoying) sound that you can imagine? Describe this sound in great detail, so your reader can understand the pain you feel when hearing this sound.
• What is your favourite song at the moment? Pick one line from this song and describe a moment in your life that relates to this line.
•  You’re hosting an imaginary dinner party at your house. Create a list of people you would invite, and some party invites. Think about the theme of the dinner party, the food you will serve and entertainment for the evening. 
• You are waiting to see your dentist in the waiting room. Write down every thought you are having at this moment in time. 
• Make a list of your greatest fears. Try to think of at least three fears. Now write a short story about a character who is forced to confront one of these fears. 
• Create a ‘Wanted’ poster for a famous villain of your choice. Think about the crimes they have committed, and the reward you will give for having them caught. 
• Imagine you are a journalist for the ‘Imagine Forest Times’ newspaper. Your task is to get an exclusive interview with the most famous villain of all time. Pick a villain of your choice and interview them for your newspaper article. What questions would you ask them, and what would their responses be?
•  In a school playground, you see the school bully hurting a new kid. Write three short stories, one from each perspective in this scenario (The bully, the witness and the kid getting bullied).
• You just won $10 million dollars. What would you spend this money on?
• Pick a random animal, and research at least five interesting facts about this animal. Write a short story centred around one of these interesting facts. 
• Pick a global issue that you are passionate about. This could be climate change, black lives matters, women’s rights etc. Now create a campaign poster for this global issue. 
• Write an acrostic poem about an object near you right now (or even your own name). You could use a poetry idea generator to inspire you.
• Imagine you are the head chef of a 5-star restaurant. Recently the business has slowed down. Your task is to come up with a brand-new menu to excite customers. Watch this video prompt on YouTube to inspire you.
• What is your favourite food of all time? Imagine if this piece of food was alive, what would it say to you?
• If life was one big musical, what would you be singing about right now? Write the lyrics of your song. 
• Create and describe the most ultimate villain of all time. What would their traits be? What would their past look like? Will they have any positive traits?
• Complete this sentence in at least 10 different ways: Every time I look out of the window, I…
• You have just made it into the local newspaper, but what for? Write down at least five potential newspaper headlines . Here’s an example, Local Boy Survives a Deadly Illness.
• If you were a witch or a wizard, what would your specialist area be and why? You might want to use a Harry Potter name generator or a witch name generator for inspiration.
• What is your favourite thing to do on a Saturday night? Write a short story centred around this activity. 
• Your main character has just received the following items: A highlighter, a red cap, a teddy bear and a fork. What would your character do with these items? Can you write a story using these items? 
• Create a timeline of your own life, from birth to this current moment. Think about the key events in your life, such as birthdays, graduations, weddings and so on. After you have done this, you can pick one key event from your life to write a story about. 
• Think of a famous book or movie you like. Rewrite a scene from this book or movie, where the main character is an outsider. They watch the key events play out, but have no role in the story. What would their actions be? How would they react?
• Three very different characters have just won the lottery. Write a script for each character, as they reveal the big news to their best friend.  
• Write a day in the life story of three different characters. How does each character start their day? What do they do throughout the day? And how does their day end?
•  Write about the worst experience in your life so far. Think about a time when you were most upset or angry and describe it. 
• Imagine you’ve found a time machine in your house. What year would you travel to and why?
• Describe your own superhero. Think about their appearance, special abilities and their superhero name. Will they have a secret identity? Who is their number one enemy?
• What is your favourite country in the world? Research five fun facts about this country and use one to write a short story. 
• Set yourself at least three writing goals. This could be a good way to motivate yourself to write every day. For example, one goal might be to write at least 150 words a day. 
• Create a character description based on the one fact, three fiction rule. Think about one fact or truth about yourself. And then add in three fictional or fantasy elements. For example, your character could be the same age as you in real life, this is your one fact. And the three fictional elements could be they have the ability to fly, talk in over 100 different languages and have green skin. 
• Describe the perfect person. What traits would they have? Think about their appearance, their interests and their dislikes. 
• Keep a daily journal or diary. This is a great way to keep writing every day. There are lots of things you can write about in your journal, such as you can write about the ‘highs’ and ‘lows’ of your day. Think about anything that inspired you or anything that upset you, or just write anything that comes to mind at the moment. 
• Write a book review or a movie review. If you’re lost for inspiration, just watch a random movie or read any book that you can find. Then write a critical review on it. Think about the best parts of the book/movie and the worst parts. How would you improve the book or movie?
• Write down a conversation between yourself. You can imagine talking to your younger self or future self (i.e. in 10 years’ time). What would you tell them? Are there any lessons you learned or warnings you need to give? Maybe you could talk about what your life is like now and compare it to their life?
• Try writing some quick flash fiction stories . Flash fiction is normally around 500 words long, so try to stay within this limit.
• Write a six-word story about something that happened to you today or yesterday. A six-word story is basically an entire story told in just six words. Take for example: “Another football game ruined by me.” or “A dog’s painting sold for millions.” – Six-word stories are similar to writing newspaper headlines. The goal is to summarise your story in just six words. 
• The most common monsters or creatures used in stories include vampires, werewolves , dragons, the bigfoot, sirens and the loch-ness monster. In a battle of intelligence, who do you think will win and why?
• Think about an important event in your life that has happened so far, such as a birthday or the birth of a new sibling. Now using the 5 W’s and 1 H technique describe this event in great detail. The 5 W’s include: What, Who, Where, Why, When and the 1 H is: How. Ask yourself questions about the event, such as what exactly happened on that day? Who was there? Why was this event important? When and where did it happen? And finally, how did it make you feel?
• Pretend to be someone else. Think about someone important in your life. Now put yourself into their shoes, and write a day in the life story about being them. What do you think they do on a daily basis? What situations would they encounter? How would they feel?
• Complete this sentence in at least 10 different ways: I remember…
• Write about your dream holiday. Where would you go? Who would you go with? And what kind of activities would you do?
• Which one item in your house do you use the most? Is it the television, computer, mobile phone, the sofa or the microwave? Now write a story of how this item was invented. You might want to do some research online and use these ideas to build up your story. 
• In exactly 100 words, describe your bedroom. Try not to go over or under this word limit.
• Make a top ten list of your favourite animals. Based on this list create your own animal fact file, where you provide fun facts about each animal in your list.
• What is your favourite scene from a book or a movie? Write down this scene. Now rewrite the scene in a different genre, such as horror, comedy, drama etc.
•  Change the main character of a story you recently read into a villain. For example, you could take a popular fairytale such as Jack and the Beanstalk, but this time re-write the story to make Jack the villain of the tale.
• Complete the following sentence in at least 10 different ways: Do you ever wonder…
• What does your name mean? Research the meaning of your own name, or a name that interests you. Then use this as inspiration for your next story. For example, the name ‘Marty’ means “Servant Of Mars, God Of War”. This could make a good concept for a sci-fi story.
• Make a list of three different types of heroes (or main characters) for potential future stories.
• If someone gave you $10 dollars, what would you spend it on and why?
• Describe the world’s most boring character in at least 100 words. 
• What is the biggest problem in the world today, and how can you help fix this issue?
• Create your own travel brochure for your hometown. Think about why tourists might want to visit your hometown. What is your town’s history? What kind of activities can you do? You could even research some interesting facts. 
• Make a list of all your favourite moments or memories in your life. Now pick one to write a short story about.
• Describe the scariest and ugliest monster you can imagine. You could even draw a picture of this monster with your description.
• Write seven haikus, one for each colour of the rainbow. That’s red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. 
• Imagine you are at the supermarket. Write down at least three funny scenarios that could happen to you at the supermarket. Use one for your next short story. 
• Imagine your main character is at home staring at a photograph. Write the saddest scene possible. Your goal is to make your reader cry when reading this scene. 
• What is happiness? In at least 150 words describe the feeling of happiness. You could use examples from your own life of when you felt happy.
• Think of a recent nightmare you had and write down everything you can remember. Use this nightmare as inspiration for your next story.
• Keep a dream journal. Every time you wake up in the middle of the night or early in the morning you can quickly jot down things that you remember from your dreams. These notes can then be used as inspiration for a short story. 
• Your main character is having a really bad day. Describe this bad day and the series of events they experience. What’s the worst thing that could happen to your character?
• You find a box on your doorstep. You open this box and see the most amazing thing ever. Describe this amazing thing to your readers.
• Make a list of at least five possible settings or locations for future stories. Remember to describe each setting in detail.
• Think of something new you recently learned. Write this down. Now write a short story where your main character also learns the same thing.
• Describe the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen in your whole life. Your goal is to amaze your readers with its beauty. 
• Make a list of things that make you happy or cheer you up. Try to think of at least five ideas. Now imagine living in a world where all these things were banned or against the law. Use this as inspiration for your next story.
• Would you rather be rich and alone or poor and very popular? Write a story based on the lives of these two characters. 
• Imagine your main character is a Librarian. Write down at least three dark secrets they might have. Remember, the best secrets are always unexpected.
• There’s a history behind everything. Describe the history of your house. How and when was your house built? Think about the land it was built on and the people that may have lived here long before you.
• Imagine that you are the king or queen of a beautiful kingdom. Describe your kingdom in great detail. What kind of rules would you have? Would you be a kind ruler or an evil ruler of the kingdom?
• Make a wish list of at least three objects you wish you owned right now. Now use these three items in your next story. At least one of them must be the main prop in the story.
• Using nothing but the sense of taste, describe a nice Sunday afternoon at your house. Remember you can’t use your other senses (i.e see, hear, smell or touch) in this description. 
• What’s the worst pain you felt in your life? Describe this pain in great detail, so your readers can also feel it.
• If you were lost on a deserted island in the middle of nowhere, what three must-have things would you pack and why?
• Particpate in online writing challenges or contests. Here at Imagine Forest, we offer daily writing challenges with a new prompt added every day to inspire you. Check out our challenges section in the menu.

Do you have any more fun creative writing exercises to share? Let us know in the comments below!

Marty the wizard is the master of Imagine Forest. When he's not reading a ton of books or writing some of his own tales, he loves to be surrounded by the magical creatures that live in Imagine Forest. While living in his tree house he has devoted his time to helping children around the world with their writing skills and creativity.

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• 43 Creative writing exercises

A selection of fun creative writing exercises that can be completed solo, or with a group. Some are prompts to help inspire you to come up with story ideas, others focus on learning specific writing skills.

I run a  Creative Writing Meetup  for adults and teens in Montpellier or online every week. We start with a 5 to 20 minute exercise, followed by an hour and a half of silent writing, during which each participant focuses on their own project. Every exercise listed below has been run with the group and had any kinks ironed out.  Where the exercises specify a number of people, if you have a larger group, simply split everyone up into smaller groups as appropriate.

The solo exercises are ideal to help stimulate your mind before working on a larger project, to overcome writer’s block, or as stand-alone prompts in their own right. If a solo exercise inspires you and you wish to use it with a larger group, give every member ten minutes to complete the exercise, then ask anyone who wishes to share their work to do so in groups of 3 or 4 afterwards.

Looking for something quick to fire your imagination? Check out these  creative writing prompts for adults .

Writing Retreat in South France

A note on running exercises remotely

While you can enjoy the exercises solo, they are also designed for online writing groups using Zoom, WhatsApp, or Discord.

If you're running a group and follow a ' Shut Up and Write ' structure, I recommend connecting on WhatsApp (for example) first, doing the exercise together, sharing writing samples as needed. Next, write in silence for an hour and a half on your own projects, before reconnecting for a brief informal chat at the end. This works great with small remote groups and is a way to learn new techniques, gain online support, and have a productive session.

If you have a larger online group, it's worth looking into Zoom, as this has a feature called  Breakout Rooms . Breakout Rooms let you split different writers into separate rooms, which is great for group activities. The free version of Zoom has a 40 minute limit, which can be restrictive, but Zoom Pro is well worth it if you're going to use it on a regular basis. In my experience, Zoom has a better connection than Facebook chat or WhatsApp.

A Letter From Your Character To You

Spend ten minutes writing a letter from a character in your novel to  you , the author, explaining why you should write about them. This serves three purposes:

• As you write, it helps you get into the mindset of the character. Ask yourself how they would language this letter and what they would consider important.
• It's motivating to know that your character wants you to write about them.
• If your goal is to publish a complete work of fiction one day, whether it be a novel, a play or a movie script, you will want to contact an agent or publisher. This helps you practice in an easy, safe way.

If you're doing this exercise with a group of teens or adults, and some of the group haven't already started working on their masterpiece, they can instead choose any fictional novel they love. Ask participants to imagine that a character within the book wrote to the author in the first place to ask them to write their story. How did they plead their case?

The Opening Sentence

The opening sentence has to grab the reader's attention and make them want to keep reading. Many authors achieve this by starting with an action scene. In modern literature, it's best to avoid starting with someone waking up, or a description of the weather. In this exercise the task is to write an opening sentence either to a book you're currently writing, or simply for an imaginary piece of literature.  Here are some of my favourite opening sentences to get you going:

It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.

George Orwell , 1984

The Golem's life began in the hold of a steamship.

Helene Wecker , The Golem and the Djinni

All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.

Leo Tolstoy , Anna Karenina

It wasn't a very likely place for disappearances, at least at first glance.

Diana Gabaldon , Outlander

You better not never tell nobody but God.

Alice Walker , The Color Purple

The cage was finished.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez ,  Balthazar’s Marvelous Afternoon

Imagine that you are living your life out of order: Lunch before breakfast, marriage before your first kiss.

Audrey Niffenegger ,  The Time Traveler's Wife

Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.

Douglas Adams ,  The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

There are a plethora of ways you can start a book, however two ways that help engage the reader immediately are:

• Set the scene in as few words as possible, so the reader immediately knows what's happening and wants to know what happens next.  The scene must be original and create a vivid image in the reader's mind.
• Surprise the reader with an unusual event or usual point of view.

Spend 5 minutes working on your own opening sentence, then share it with the other participants.

Make your protagonist act!

Exercise for 2 writers, or can be done solo.

According to John Gardner:

"Failure to recognise that the central character must act, not simply be acted upon, is the single most common mistake in the fiction of beginners."

Spend 5 minutes writing a scene where the protagonist is passive in a conversation with one other character. It could be that the other character says something dramatic, and the protagonist just listens, or it could be anything else of your choice!

Once the 5 minutes is up, swap papers with another writer. If you're using Zoom, or working online, send it to each other in a private chat. Now the other person spends 8 minutes rewriting the scene to make the protagonist as active as possible. This might include:

Read both scenes together. Which makes you want to keep on reading?

If you're doing this as a solo writing exercise, simply complete both parts yourself.

• Showing the emotion this evokes.
• Getting them to disagree with the other character.
• Showing how they respond physically (whether it's as a physical manifestation of how they feel, or a dramatic gesture to make a point).

Overcoming writer's block

Are you staring at a blank page or stuck for any story ideas? This exercise will help anyone who's experiencing writer's block with a particular piece of writing. If this isn't you, that's great, others will value your input!

If anyone has a particular scene they're stuck with (a pool of blood on the floor they have no explanation for, a reason why the rich lady just walked into a particular pub, etc.) then at the start of the exercise everyone briefly describes their scenes (if working online with a large group, typing it into the chat might be best). Everyone then chooses one scene to use as a writing prompt to write a short story for 10-15 minutes.

Afterwards, split into small groups if necessary, and read out how you completed someone else's writing prompt. As everyone listens to everyone else's ideas, this can be a wonderful source of inspiration and also improves your writing. As an alternative solo exercise, try free writing. With free writing, simply write as quickly as you can on the topic without editing or censoring yourself - just let your creative juices flow. If you're not sure what happens next, brainstorm options on the page, jot down story ideas, or just put, "I don't know what happens next." Keep going and ideas will come.

Writing Character Arcs

There are several different types of character arc in a novel, the 3 most common being:

For this exercise choose either a positive or negative character arc. Spend 8 minutes writing a scene from the start of a novel, then 8 minutes writing a scene towards the end of a novel showing how the character has developed between the two points. Don't worry about including how the character has changed, you can leave that to the imagination.

The point here is to capture the essence of a character, as they will be the same, but show their development.

• Positive  - Where a character develops and grows during the novel. Perhaps they start unhappy or weak and end happy or powerful.
• Negative  - Where a character gets worse during a novel. Perhaps they become ill or give in to evil tendencies as the novel progresses.
• Flat  - In a flat character arc the character themself doesn't change much, however the world around them does. This could be overthrowing a great injustice, for example.

Sewing Seeds in Your Writing

In this exercise, we will look at how to sew seeds. No, not in your garden, but in your story. Seeds are the tiny hints and indicators that something is going on, which influence a reader's perceptions on an often unconscious level. They're important, as if you spring a surprise twist on your readers without any warning, it can seem unbelievable. Sew seeds that lead up to the event, so the twists and turns are still surprising, but make intuitive sense. Groups : Brainstorm major plot twists that might happen towards the end of the novel and share it in a Zoom chat, or on pieces of paper. Choose one twist each. Individuals : Choose one of the following plot twists:   -  Your friend is actually the secret son of the king.   -  Unreliable narrator - the narrator turns out to be villain.   -  The monster turns out to be the missing woman the narrator is seeking.   -  The man she is about to marry happens to already have a wife and three kids.

Write for ten minutes and give subtle hints as to what the plot twist is. This is an exercise in subtlety. Remember, when the twist occurs, it should still come as a surprise.

This is a fun writing activity for a small group. You’ve found a magic potion labelled ‘Cat Chat’ and when you drink it, you turn into whichever animal you’re thinking about; but there’s a problem, it also picks up on the brainwaves of other people near you!

Everyone writes down an animal in secret and then reveals it to the other writers.  The spell will turn you into a creature that combines elements of all the animals.  Each person then spends 5 minutes writing down what happens when they drink the potion.

After the 5 minutes is up, everyone shares their story with the other participants.

If you enjoy this exercise, then you may also want to check out our  Fantasy and Sci-Fi writing prompts  full of world building, magic, and character development prompts..

Joe Brainard wrote a novel called:  I Remember It contains a collection of paragraphs all starting with “I remember”.  This is the inspiration for this exercise, and if you’re stuck for what to write, is a great way to get the mental gears turning.  Simply write “I remember” and continue with the first thing that pops into your head.

Spend 5 minutes writing a short collection of “I remember” stories.

Here are a couple of examples from Joe Brainard’s novel:

“I remember not understanding why people on the other side of the world didn't fall off.”

“I remember waking up somewhere once and there was a horse staring me in the face.”

Giving feedback to authors

If you're running a workshop for more experienced adult authors and have at least an hour, this is a good one to use. This is the longest exercise on this page, but I felt it important enough to include.

Give each author the option to bring a piece of their own work. This should be double spaced and a maximum of 3 pages long. If you're running a workshop where not everyone is likely to bring a manuscript, ask everyone who wants to bring one to print two copies each. If someone forgets but has a laptop with them, the reader can always use their laptop.

Print out a few copies and hand them around to everyone in the workshop of the guide on: 'How to give constructive feedback to writers'

Each author who brought a sample with them then gives them to one other person to review. They write their name on the manuscript in a certain colour pen, then add any comments to it before passing it to a second person who does the same (commenting on the comments if they agree or disagree).

Then allow 5 minutes for everyone to discuss the feedback they've received, ensuring they are giving constructive feedback.

The Five Senses

Painting by Giovanni Battista Manerius -  The Five Senses

Choose a scene and write it for 5 minutes focusing on one sense, NOT sight. Choose between:

Hearing  Taste Smell Touch

This can be internal as well as external (I heard my heartbeat thudding in my ears, or I smelt my own adrenaline).

After the 5 minutes stop and everyone reads it out loud to each other. Now write for another 5 minutes and continue the other person's story, but do NOT use sight OR the sense they used.

You can use any sense to communicate the essentials, just focus on creating emotions and conveying the story with the specific sense(s).

If you need some writing prompts, here are possible scenes that involve several senses:

• Climbing through an exotic jungle
• Having an argument that becomes a fight
• A cat's morning
• Talking to someone you're attracted to

Show don't tell

2 or 3 people

A lot of writing guides will advise you to, "Show, don't tell". What does this actually mean?

If you want to evoke an emotional reaction from your reader, showing them what is happening is a great way to do so.  You can approach this in several ways:

Split up into pairs and each person writes down a short scene from a story where they "tell" it.  After this, pass the description of the scene to your partner and they then have 5 minutes to rewrite it to "show" what happened.  If there are an odd number of participants, make one group of three, with each person passing their scene clockwise, so everyone has a new scene to show.  After the 5 minutes, for small groups everyone reads their new description to everyone else, or for large groups, each person just reads their new scene to their partner.

• Avoid internal dialogue (thinking), instead have your protagonist interact with other people, or have a physical reaction to something that shows how s/he feels.  Does their heart beat faster?  Do they notice the smell of their own adrenaline?  Do they step backwards, or lean forwards?
• Instead of using an adjective like creepy, e.g. "Mary entered the creepy house", show why the house is creepy through description and in the way the protagonist responds - "The light streamed through the filthy skylight, highlighting the decomposing body of a rat resting on top of it.  As Mary stepped inside, she felt a gust of freezing air brush past her. She turned, but there was nothing there..."

World building

World building is the art of conveying the magic of living in a different world, whether it's a spaceship, a medieval castle, a boat, or simply someone's living room. To master world building, it's not necessary to know every intricate detail, rather to convey the experience of what it would be like to live there.

Choose one of the above images as a prompt and spend 10 minutes writing a scene from the perspective of someone who is seeing it for the first time. Now, move your character six months forward and imagine they've spent the last six months living or working there. Write another scene (perhaps with an additional character) using the image as a background, with the events of the scene as the main action.

Click the above image for a close-up.

Gossiping about a character as if they're a friend.

Judy Blume says that she tells her family about her characters as if they’re real people. 

Chris Claremont said, "For me, writing the 'X-Men' was easy - is easy. I know these people, they're my friends." 

Today’s exercise has 2 parts. First, spend 5 minutes jotting down some facts about a character you’ve invented that might come up if you were telling your friends about them. Either choose a character in something you’ve already written, or invent one from scratch now.

Answer the questions:

What are they up to? How are they? What would you say if you were gossiping about them?

Then split up into groups of 4 to 6 writers. 2 volunteers from each group then role-play talking about their character as if they were a friend (perhaps another character in the story).  The other participants will role-play a group of friends gossiping about the character behind their back and ask questions. If you don’t know the answer, invent it!

Degrees of Emotion Game

This is based on an acting game, to help actors understand how to perform with different degrees of emotion.

Ask everyone to write the following 4 emotions:

For groups of 5 or less, write down numbers starting with 1 and going up until everyone has a number, then give them out in order. For groups of 6 or more, divide groups into 3's, 4's or 5's.

Each person has to write a scene where the protagonist is alone and is only allowed to say a single word, e.g. "Banana".  The writer with number 1 should write the scene with a very low level of the emotion (e.g. happiness), number 2 increases the intensity a bit and the highest number writes a scene with the most intense emotion you can possibly imagine.

Once each writer has written about happiness, rotate the numbers one or two spaces, then move onto anger, then fear, then sadness.

It can help to give everyone numbers showing the intensity of the emotions to write about at the start of the exercise, in which case you may wish to print either the Word or PDF file, then use the ones corresponding to 3, 4 or 5 writers.

Everyone shares their scene with the other course participants.

Three birds, one line

The first paragraph of a surprising number of best-selling novels serves multiple purposes. These are to:

• Establish a goal
• Set the scene
• Develop a character

Nearly every chapter in a novel also serves all three purposes. Instead of establishing a goal though, the protagonist either moves towards it, or encounters an obstacle that hinders them from achieving it.

Some books manage to meet all three purposes with their opening lines, for example:  

Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.

J.K. Rowling ,  Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone  

A little more than one hundred days into the fortieth year of her confinement, Dajeil Gelian was visited in her lonely tower overlooking the sea by an avatar of the great ship that was her home.

Iain M. Banks ,  Excession  

"We should start back," Gared urged as the woods began to grow dark around them.

George R.R. Martin ,  A Game of Thrones

For this exercise write a sentence or short paragraph that serves all three purposes. If you're already writing a novel, then see if you can do this for the first line in a chapter. If not, choose any combination from the following table:

Blind Date on Valentine's Day (Exercise for Adults)

In pairs one writer spends a minute or two describing a character they're writing about, or alternatively they can describe a celebrity or someone from a work of fiction.  The next writer then describes their character.

The story is that these 2 characters (or in my case, person and alien, as I'm writing a sci-fi) have accidentally ended up on a blind date with each other. Perhaps the waiter seated them in the wrong location, perhaps it's an actual blind date, or perhaps they met in some other fashion the writers can determine.

Now spend 10 minutes discussing what happens next!

A Success (Works best for online groups)

This exercise works best for online groups, via Zoom, for example.  The instructions to give are:

"In a few words describe a success in your life and what it felt like to achieve it. It can be a small victory or a large one."

Share a personal example of your own (mine was watching my homeschooled sons sing in an opera together).

"Once you have one (small or large), write it in the chat.

The writing exercise is then to choose someone else's victory to write about for 10 minutes, as if it was the end of your own book.

If you want to write for longer, imagine how that book would start. Write the first part of the book with the ending in mind."

This is great for reminding people of a success in their lives, and also helps everyone connect and discover something about each other.

Your dream holiday

You’re going on a dream holiday together, but always disagree with each other. To avoid conflict, rather than discuss what you want to do, you’ve decided that each of you will choose a different aspect of the holiday as follows:

• Choose where you’ll be going – your favourite holiday destination.
• Choose what your main fun activity will be on the holiday.
• Decide what mode of travel you’ll use to get there.
• If there’s a 4 th  person, choose what you’ll eat on the holiday and what you’ll be wearing.

Decide who gets to choose what at random. Each of you then writes down your dream holiday destination/activity/travel/food & clothes in secret.  Next spend 5 minutes discussing your dream holiday and add any other details you’d like to include, particularly if you’re passionate about doing something in real life.

Finally, everyone spends another 5 minutes writing down a description of the holiday, then shares it with the others.

A haiku is a traditional Japanese form of non-rhyming poetry whose short form makes it ideal for a simple writing exercise.

They are traditionally structured in 3 lines, where the first line is 5 syllables, the second line is 7 syllables, and the third line is 5 syllables again. Haiku tend to focus on themes of nature and deep concepts that can be expressed simply.

A couple of examples:

A summer river being crossed how pleasing with sandals in my hands! Yosa Buson , a haiku master poet from the 18 th  Century.

And one of mine:

When night-time arrives Stars come out, breaking the dark You can see the most

Martin Woods

Spend up to 10 minutes writing a haiku.  If you get stuck with the 5-7-5 syllable rule, then don’t worry, the overall concept is more important!

See  How to write a haiku  for more details and examples.

Unlike a haiku, which is profound and sombre, a limerick is a light-hearted, fun rhyming verse.

Here are a couple of examples:

A wonderful bird is the pelican. His bill can hold more than his beli-can He can take in his beak Food enough for a week But I'm damned if I see how the heli-can.

Dixon Lanier Merritt, 1910

There was a young lady named Bright, Whose speed was far faster than light; She started one day In a relative way, And returned on the previous night.

Arthur Henry Reginald Buller in  Punch,  1923

The 1 st , 2 nd  and 5 th  line all rhyme, as do the 3 rd  and 4 th  line.  The overall number of syllables isn’t important, but the 3 rd  and 4 th  lines should be shorter than the others.

Typically, the 1 st  line introduces the character, often with “There was”, or “There once was”. The rest of the verse tells their story.

Spend 10 minutes writing a limerick.

Time Travel - Child, Adult, Senior

Imagine that your future self as an old man/woman travels back in time to meet you, the adult you are today.  Alternatively, you as a child travels forward in time to meet yourself as an adult.  Or perhaps both happen, so the child you, adult you, and senior you are all together at the same time.  In story form write down what happens next.

Participants then share their story with other writers either in small groups, or to the whole group.

Focus on faces

Solo exercise.

One challenge writers face is describing a character. A common mistake is to focus too much on the physical features, e.g. "She had brown eyes, curly brown hair and was five foot six inches tall."

The problem with this is it doesn't reveal anything about the character's personality, or the relationship between your protagonist and the character. Your reader is therefore likely to quickly forget what someone looks like.  When describing characters, it's therefore best to:

• Animate them - it's rare that someone's sitting for a portrait when your protagonist first meets them and whether they're talking or walking, it's likely that they're moving in some way.
• Use metaphors or similes  - comparing physical features to emotionally charged items conjures both an image and a sense of who someone is.
• Involve your protagonist  - if your protagonist is interacting with a character, make it personal.  How does your protagonist view this person?  Incorporate the description as part of the description.
• Only give information your protagonist knows  - they may know if someone is an adult, or a teenager, but they won't know that someone is 37 years old, for example.

Here are three examples of character descriptions that leave no doubt how the protagonist feels.

“If girls could spit venom, it'd be through their eyes.” S.D. Lawendowski,  Snapped

"And Ronan was everything that was left: molten eyes and a smile made for war." Maggie Stiefvater,  The Dream Thieves

"His mouth was such a post office of a mouth that he had a mechanical appearance of smiling." Charles Dickens

Spend 5 minutes writing a character introduction that is animated, uses metaphors or similes and involves your protagonist.

If working with a group, then form small groups of 3 or 4 and share your description with the rest of the group.

Onomatopeai, rhyme and alliteration

Today's session is all about sound.

Several authors recommend reading your writing out loud after you've written it to be sure it sounds natural.   Philip Pullman  even goes as far as to say:

"When I’m writing, I’m more conscious of the sound, actually, than the meaning. I know what the rhythm of the sentence is going to be before I know what the words are going to be in it."

For today's exercise, choose the name of a song and write for 10 minutes as if that's the title for a short story. Focus on how your writing sounds and aim to include at least one onomatopoeia, rhyme or alliteration.  At the end of the 10 minutes, read it out loud to yourself, or to the group.

Alliterations

An alliteration example from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”

The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew, The furrow followed free; We were the first that ever burst Into that silent sea.

Onomatopoeias

Buzz, woof, quack, baa, crash, purr, beep, belch,...

The alphabet story - creating a story as a group

This is a novel way to write a story as a group, one word at a time.  The first person starts the story that begins with any word starting with “A”, the next person continues the story with a word starting with “B”, and so on.

Keep going round until you have completed the alphabet.  Ideally it will all be one sentence, but if you get stuck, start a new sentence.  Don’t worry if it doesn’t make complete sense!

It can be tricky to remember the alphabet when under pressure, so you may wish to print it out a couple of times, so the storytellers can see it if they need to, this is particularly helpful if you have dyslexics in the group.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Here’s an example of an alphabet story:

A Band Can Dance Each Friday, Ghostly Hauntings In Jail Kill Lucky Men, Nobody Or Perhaps Quiet Rats, Still That Unifies Villains Who X-Ray Your Zebras.

As I mentioned, it doesn’t need to make sense!

A question or two

Small or large groups

The standard format in our group is a short writing exercise followed by an hour and a half of silent writing on our projects.

At one point I felt like we'd done a lot of small group exercises, and wanted to gain an insight into what everyone was working on, so we did the following exercise instead:

Go round the table and ask everyone to briefly talk about their writing.  Each person then asks one or two yes/no questions.

Everyone responds either by raising their hand for 'yes' or shaking their heads for 'no'. You can also leap up and down to indicate a very strong 'yes'.

Questions can be about anything, and you can use them either to help guide your writing or to help find other people in the group who have similar interests.

Here are some random examples you might ask:

• I want to write a romance novel and am considering setting it in Paris, a traditional romantic setting, or Liverpool which is a less obvious setting. Who thinks Liverpool would be best?
• I need to know more about the life of a farmer. Has anyone got farming experience who I can interview in exchange for a drink?
• My character gets fired and that night goes back to his office and steals 35 computers. Does that sound realistic as the premise of a story?

This works best when you give participants some advance notice, so they have time to think of a question.

Murder Mystery Game

Groups of 3 or 4

This exercise takes 20-30 minutes and allows participants to create a murder mystery outline together.

Phase 1 (3 minutes)

• Split into groups of 3 or 4
• Decide as a group where the murder occurs (e.g. the opera house, a bar, a casino)
• Decide one person who will write the details of the victim and the murder itself.  Everyone else writes the details of one suspect each.
• The ‘victim author’ then invents a few extra details about the scene of the crime, who the victim was (a teenage punk, an adult opera singer, etc.) and the murder weapon and summarises this to the others.

Phase 2 (10 minutes)

Each person then writes a police report as if they are either describing the scene of the crime, or recording the notes from their interview with a single suspect:

Write the following:

• 1 line description of the victim.
• When they were last seen by a group of witnesses (and what they were doing).
• How the murder occurred in more detail based on the evidence available.

Write the following (from the perspective of the investigator):

• 1 line description of the suspect
• What they said during the interview (including what they claim to have doing when the murder occurs).
• A possible motivation (as determined by the police from other witnesses).

Phase 3 (5 minutes)

• Each person reads out their police reports to the other members of their small group
• As a group, decide who the murderer was and what actually happened

See more ideas on  creating murder mystery party games

The obscure movie exercise

Pick a famous movie and spend 5 minutes writing a scene from it from an unusual perspective.  Your aim is to achieve a balance between being too obscure and making it too obvious.  Feel free to add internal dialogue.

At the end of the 5 minutes, everyone reads their movie scene to the others and all the other participants see if they can guess what the movie is.

How to hint at romantic feelings

Write a scene with two people in a group, where you hint that one is romantically interested in the other, but the feelings aren’t reciprocated.

The goal of this exercise is to practice subtlety. Imagine you are setting a scene for the future where the characters feelings will become more important. Choose a situation like a work conference, meeting with a group of friends, etc. How do you indicate how the characters feel without them saying it in words?

Some tips for hinting at romantic feelings:

• Make the characters nervous and shy.
• Your protagonist leans forward.
• Asks deeper questions and listens intently.
• Finds ways to be close together.
• Mirrors their gestures.
• Gives lots of compliments.
• Makes eye contact, then looks away.
• Other people seem invisible to your protagonist.

A novel idea

Take it in turns to tell everyone else about a current project you’re working on (a book, screenplay, short story, etc.)

The other writers then brainstorm ideas for related stories you could write, or directions your project could take.  There are no right or wrong suggestions and the intention is to focus on big concepts, not little details.

This whole exercise takes around 15 minutes.

Creative writing prompts

Exercise for groups of 3-5

If you're in larger group, split up into groups of 3 or 4 people.

Everyone writes the first line of a story in the Zoom chat, or on paper. Other people can then choose this line as a writing prompt.

For this exercise:

• Say who the protagonist is.
• Reveal their motivation.
• Introduce any other characters

Once everyone's written a prompt, each author chooses a prompt (preferably someone eles's, but it can be your own if you feel really inspired by it.)  Then write for 10 minutes using this prompt. See if you can reveal who the protagonist is, what their motivation is (it can be a small motivation for a particular scene, it doesn't have to be a huge life goal), and introduce at least one new character.

Take turns reading out your stories to each other.

• Write in the first person.
• Have the protagonist interacting with an object or something in nature.
• The challenge is to create intrigue that makes the reader want to know more with just a single line.

Creative story cards / dice

Cut up a piece of paper and write one word on each of the pieces of paper, as follows:

Give each participant a couple of pieces of paper at random.  The first person says the first sentence of a story and they must use their first word as part of that sentence.  The second person then continues the story and must include their word in it, and so on.  Go round the group twice to complete the story.

You can also do this creative writing exercise with story dice, your own choice of words, or by asking participants to write random words down themselves, then shuffling all the cards together.

Alternative Christmas Story

Every Christmas adults tell kids stories about Santa Claus. In this exercise you write a Christmas story from an alternative dimension.

What if every Christmas Santa didn't fly around the world delivering presents on his sleigh pulled by reindeer? What if gnomes or aliens delivered the presents? Or perhaps it was the gnomes who are trying to emulate the humans? Or some other Christmas tradition entirely that we humans have never heard of!

Group writing exercise

If you're working with a group, give everyone a couple of minutes to write two possible themes for the new Christmas story. Each theme should be 5 words or less.

Shuffle the paper and distribute them at random. If you're working online, everyone types the themes into the Zoom or group chat. Each writer then spends 10 minutes writing a short story for children based on one of the two themes, or their own theme if they really want to.

If working alone, choose your own theme and spend 15 minutes writing a short story on it. See if you can create the magic of Christmas from another world!

Murder Mystery Mind Map

In a murder mystery story or courtroom drama, there's often conflicting information and lots of links between characters. A mind map is an ideal way to illustrate how everything ties together.

Split into groups of 3 or 4 people each and place a blank piece of A3 paper (double the size of A4) in the middle of each group. Discuss between you who the victim is and write their name in the middle of the piece of paper. Then brainstorm information about the murder, for example:

Feel free to expand out from any of these, e.g. to include more information on the different characters involved.

The idea is that  everyone writes at the same time!   Obviously, you can discuss ideas, but anyone can dive in and write their ideas on the mind map.

• Who was the victim? (job, appearance, hobbies, etc.)
• Who did the victim know?
• What were their possible motivations?
• What was the murder weapon?
• What locations are significant to the plot?

New Year’s resolutions for a fictional character

If you’re writing a piece of fiction, ask yourself how your protagonist would react to an everyday situation. This can help you to gain a deeper insight into who they are.

One way to do this is to imagine what their New Year’s resolutions would be.

If completing this exercise with a group, limit it to 3 to 5 resolutions per person. If some participants are historical fiction or non-fiction writers, they instead pick a celebrity and either write what their resolutions  will  be, or what their resolutions  should  be, their choice.

Verb Noun Fiction Exercise (Inspired by Stephen King)

Stephen King said, "I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs, and I will shout it from the rooftops."

He also said, "Take any noun, put it with any verb, and you have a sentence. It never fails. Rocks explode. Jane transmits. Mountains float. These are all perfect sentences. Many such thoughts make little rational sense, but even the stranger ones (Plums deify!) have a kind of poetic weight that’s nice."

In this fiction writing exercise, start by brainstorming (either individually or collectively) seven verbs on seven different pieces of paper. Put those aside for later. Now brainstorm seven nouns. Randomly match the nouns and verbs so you have seven pairs. Choose a pair and write a piece of fiction for ten minutes. Avoid using any adverbs.

It’s the end of the world

It’s the end of the world!  For 5 minutes either:

If working as a team, then after the 5 minutes is up each writer reads their description out to the other participants.

• Describe how the world’s going to end, creating evocative images using similes or metaphors as you wish and tell the story from a global perspective, or
• Describe how you spend your final day before the world is destroyed.  Combine emotion and action to engage the reader.

7 Editing Exercises

For use after your first draft

I’ve listened to a lot of masterclasses on writing by successful authors and they all say variants of your first draft won’t be good and that’s fine. Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman summarise it the best:

“The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.”  

Terry Pratchett

“For me, it’s always been a process of trying to convince myself that what I’m doing in a first draft isn’t important. One way you get through the wall is by convincing yourself that it doesn’t matter. No one is ever going to see your first draft. Nobody cares about your first draft. And that’s the thing that you may be agonising over, but honestly, whatever you’re doing can be fixed… For now, just get the words out. Get the story down however you can get it down, then fix it.”

Neil Gaiman

Once you’ve written your first draft, it will need editing to develop the plot, enhance the characters, and improve each scene in a myriad of ways – small and large. These seven creative editing exercises are designed to help with this stage of the process.

The First Sentence

Read the first paragraph of the novel, in particular the first sentence. Does it launch the reader straight into the action? According to  On Writing and Worldbuilding  by Timothy Hickson,  “The most persuasive opening lines are succinct, and not superfluous. To do this, it is often effective to limit it to a single central idea… This does not need to be the most important element, but it should be a central element that is interesting.” Ask yourself what element your opening sentence encapsulates and whether it’s the best one to capture your readers’ attention.

Consistency

Consistency is crucial in creative writing, whether it’s in relation to location, objects, or people.

It’s also crucial for personality, emotions and motivation.

Look at scenes where your protagonist makes an important decision. Are their motivations clear? Do any scenes force them to choose between two conflicting morals? If so, do you explore this? Do their emotions fit with what’s happened in previous scenes?

As you edit your manuscript, keep the characters’ personality, emotions and motivation in mind. If their behaviour is inconsistent, either edit it for consistency, or have someone comment on their strange behaviour or be surprised by it. Inconsistent behaviour can reveal that a character is keeping a secret, or is under stress, so characters don’t always need to be consistent. But when they’re not, there has to be a reason.  

Show Don’t Tell One

This exercise is the first in  The Emotional Craft of Fiction  by Donald Maass. It’s a writing guide with a plethora of editing exercises designed to help you reenergize your writing by thinking of what your character is feeling, and giving you the tools to make your reader feel something.  

• Select a moment in your story when your protagonist is moved, unsettled, or disturbed… Write down all the emotions inherent in this moment, both obvious and hidden.
• Next, considering what he is feeling, write down how your protagonist can act out. What is the biggest thing your protagonist can do? What would be explosive, out of bounds, or offensive? What would be symbolic? … Go sideways, underneath, or ahead. How can your protagonist show us a feeling we don’t expect to see?
• Finally, go back and delete all the emotions you wrote down at the beginning of this exercise. Let actions and spoken words do the work. Do they feel too big, dangerous, or over-the-top? Use them anyway. Others will tell you if you’ve gone too far, but more likely, you haven’t gone far enough.

Show Don’t Tell Two

Search for the following words in your book:

Whenever these words occur, ask yourself if you can demonstrate how your characters feel, rather than simply stating it. For each occasion, can you use physiological descriptors (a racing heart), actions (taking a step backwards) or dialogue to express what’s just happened instead? Will this enhance the scene and engage the reader more?

After The Action

Find a scene where your characters disagree – in particular a scene where your protagonist argues with friends or allies. What happens next?

It can be tempting to wrap up the action with a quick resolution. But what if a resentment lingers and mistrust builds? This creates a more interesting story arc and means a resolution can occur later, giving the character development a real dynamic.

Review how you resolve the action and see if you can stretch out the emotions for a more satisfying read.

Eliminating the Fluff

Ensure that the words used don’t detract from the enormity of the events your character is going through. Can you delete words like, “Quite”, “Little”, or “Rather”? 

Of “Very” Florence King once wrote: “ 'Very' is the most useless word in the English language and can always come out. More than useless, it is treacherous because it invariably weakens what it is intended to strengthen .” Delete it, or replace the word after it with a stronger word, which makes “Very” redundant.

“That,” is another common word used in creative writing which can often be deleted. Read a sentence as is, then reread it as if you deleted, “That”. If the meaning is the same, delete it.

Chapter Endings

When talking about chapter endings, James Patterson said,  “At the end, something has to propel you into the next chapter.”

Read how each of your chapters finish and ask yourself does it either:

• End on a cliff hanger? (R.L. Stine likes to finish every chapter in this method).
• End on a natural pause (for example, you’re changing point of view or location).

Review how you wrap up each of your chapters. Do you end at the best point in your story? Can you add anticipation to cliff hangers? Will you leave your readers wanting more?

How to run the writing exercises

The editing exercises are designed to be completed individually.

With the others, I've always run them as part of a creative writing group, where there's no teacher and we're all equal participants, therefore I keep any 'teaching' aspect to a minimum, preferring them to be prompts to generate ideas before everyone settles down to do the silent writing. We've recently gone online and if you run a group yourself, whether online or in person, you're welcome to use these exercises for free!

The times given are suggestions only and I normally get a feel for how everyone's doing when time's up and if it's obvious that everyone's still in the middle of a discussion, then I give them longer.  Where one group's in the middle of a discussion, but everyone else has finished, I sometimes have a 'soft start' to the silent writing, and say, "We're about to start the hour and a half of silent writing now, but if you're in the middle of a discussion, feel free to finish it first".

This way everyone gets to complete the discussion, but no-one's waiting for ages.  It's also important to emphasise that there's no wrong answers when being creative.

Still looking for more? Check out these creative writing prompts  or our dedicated Sci-Fi and Fantasy creative writing prompts

If you've enjoyed these creative writing exercises, please share them on social media, or link to them from your blog.

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TWO WRITING TEACHERS

A meeting place for a world of reflective writers.

Ways to Warm Up for Writing (At All Ages and Stages)

Athletes warm up before practice, musicians warm up before a rehearsal–so why wouldn’t writers warm up before writing?

Warming up for writing means getting your mind ready to write. For some writers, that means recalling your most recent word solving or spelling strategies so that they are fresh on your mind when you need them. For other writers, that might mean doing something to generate ideas for content, and for others it might mean doing something to refresh your memory on where you left off.

Here are a few quick and easy warm up routines that some of your students might find helpful.

Reading the Word Wall or a Ring of High Frequency Words

In many K-2 classrooms, teachers introduce a handful of high frequency words each week, adding them a few at a time to a “word wall” displayed in the classroom for easy reference. Other variations include adding to a smaller personalized word wall or ring of index cards. If this a tool that exists in your classroom, kids can warm up for writing by reviewing the word wall words – then those words will be fresh on their mind as they write. They might simply read the words to themselves, or they might write them on a dry-erase board in different sizes, or they might do a word hunt, searching through their previous writing for word wall words. Anything that gets them reading and/or writing the words they’ve been studying will give them extra practice with the words and set them up for success with spelling those words when they encounter them in their work.

A Spelling or Conventions Checklist Warm Up

For some kids, there are a few particular conventions that they seem to have trouble with day in and day out. With things like writing in lower case (instead of a mix of upper and lower case), common spelling errors, or fogetting punctuation, daily reminders and routines can be very helpful. After all, most conventions are habits, and habits really aren’t developed in one single sitting, or in just one minilesson. Instead, repetition is what forms a habit.

A short checklist highlighting just a few priorities for the indivdual student can help them self-monitor their own habits. Reviewing the checklist as a warm up to writing will put those conventions at the front of the writer’s mind as they begin to write, helping them incorporate the items on the checklist into their writing during writing, instead of always waiting until after writing to go back and check for mistakes.

Doodling or Drawing

For some writers, doodling or drawing helps them get ideas for what to write. It can also serve as a nice transition from an unrelated activity (recess, a math game, a science project…) into writing workshop. Ambient music or white noise often goes along nicely with doodling, and can have a calming effect, in addition to helping kids get ready to do their best work.

Talking or Rehearsing Aloud

Another way that writers often warm up for writing is by talking… talking A LOT. This might take the form of talking into a device to record all their great thinking, or talking to another person to brainstorm ideas, or rehearse a story idea to see how it sounds out loud. Talking might involve a lot of drama and expression, perhaps even role-playing different parts, or taking on different voices–or it might be done quietly and individually, whispering to oneself and sketching out a few ideas for what to write.

Re-reading What You’ve Already Written

Adults might do this without even thinking twice about it, but to novice writers it may not occur to them to reread what they’ve already written before they get started on new work. You can reread with many different lenses – reading your own work out loud helps you hear how it sounds and may help you discover parts to add on to, or shorten up. Rereading for spelling or punctuation from previous days work is helpful because you have fresh eyes for finding your own mistakes when you’ve taken a break from it. And rereading old finished work can help you generate new ideas for your next piece of writing.

Taking a Look at Some Mentor Texts

As a student, I would often get so carried away with a project or a piece of writing that I would lose sight of what the actual assignment was supposed to be. Now, I’ve developed a routine of looking at examples nearly every time I write. Sometimes I look to published, professional authors, but often I look to student writing, or writing created by friends or colleauges. This not only helps me stay focused on what I’m “supposed ” to be doing, I find it helps me generate new ideas, and gets my mind ready to write. Sometimes I look at a mentor text and I think, “Oh! I could use the same strategy in my work!” Other times I think, “Oooh. I would not do it that way. I think I’ll do it this way instead.” Either way, revisiting an example (or mentor text) is a helpful for routine for a lot of writers — especially those of us who benefit from clear expectations and focus on the task at hand.

Putting Warm Up Routines into Practice

In the classroom, each of your students may benefit from warming up for writing in a different way. In your next unit of study, near the beginning of the unit, perhaps you’ll introduce a few of your own favorite warm up routines that students can choose from, and invite them to invent their own routine. Then, each day at at the start of independent writing time, you can remind all your students to warm up, each in their individualized way. You may want to have a set ending time for warming up, signaling to students to stop warming up and start writing — or you may find that students transition into their work on their own and don’t need the signal.

For the writers in your classroom that need a little time to get settled in, a warm up routine might be just the thing that was missing.

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Published by BethMooreSchool

Literacy Coach, Consultant, Author, Graduate Course Instructor, and Mom. Passionate about fostering a love of reading and writing in learners of all ages. View all posts by BethMooreSchool

3 thoughts on “ Ways to Warm Up for Writing (At All Ages and Stages) ”

Such great ideas! Thanks for this awesome post Beth!

I appreciate the way you likened warming up for writing to warming up for a workout. I’d never just jump right into exercise without getting ready. Same should be said/done for writing too!

Love this list! I could see this at all ages for sure!

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Start Strong with Writing Warm-Up Exercises

My name is Debbie, and I am passionate about developing a love for the written word and planting a seed that will grow into a powerful voice that can inspire many.

Building the Foundation: Why Writing ⁣Warm-Up‍ Exercises Matter

Unlocking creativity: how writing warm-ups enhance imagination and ideas, 1. overcoming writer’s ​block:, 2. stimulating creativity:, boosting confidence:⁤ the power of ⁣writing warm-ups in overcoming writer’s block, improving‌ focus and​ productivity: ​writing ⁣warm-ups ​to refine⁢ concentration, enhancing writing ⁢skills: techniques and strategies for effective ‌warm-up‍ exercises, exploring different avenues: diverse writing warm-up exercises for every writer, creating habits for‌ success: incorporating writing warm-ups into ⁢your routine, frequently ⁣asked questions.

Writing warm-up exercises are often ‌overlooked or​ seen as unnecessary in‌ the writing process. However, ‌they play a vital role in building​ a strong foundation for your writing journey. These exercises serve as a creative workout for your mind, helping to ⁤unlock⁣ your imagination ⁤and ⁣enhance your⁣ writing⁢ skills.

One of the key benefits of writing warm-up exercises ‌is that they ⁤help ​you get into⁣ the writing⁤ mindset. Just like⁣ stretching ⁣before​ a workout, these‌ exercises prepare ‍your⁢ brain for the ⁤task at hand. They allow you to clear your mind, focus ‌your thoughts, and⁣ start writing with ⁢intention. By ⁢engaging in warm-up exercises regularly,​ you will⁣ notice an improvement in ‍your writing speed and productivity.

Additionally, ‌writing warm-up exercises help you to overcome writer’s block. ‌They enable you to⁤ break free from⁢ the fear of a blank page and ignite your creativity.⁢ Through brainstorming, freewriting, or prompts, these exercises encourage⁣ your mind to explore new ideas⁤ and perspectives.⁤ The ⁤more you practice, the more you will train your brain⁣ to ⁢think‌ critically and generate unique ⁢content.

It’s important⁤ to​ note that writing⁢ warm-up exercises can be tailored to your specific needs and preferences. You can choose exercises that focus on specific writing techniques, such as dialogue or ​descriptive writing, ‌or opt‍ for more abstract exercises‌ that challenge you to think outside the box. The key is to find exercises that ⁤inspire you and make the⁤ writing process enjoyable.

In conclusion, writing warm-up exercises may seem like just‍ another task to add to⁢ your writing routine, ⁤but⁤ they offer numerous benefits ⁢that can significantly impact your writing skills. From getting in the right mindset ⁣to overcoming writer’s block, these exercises ⁣are the building blocks to a ‍successful and fulfilling writing​ journey. So, let’s embrace the power of writing warm-up ‍exercises ​and watch our​ creativity⁣ soar!

Engaging in writing ‌warm-ups is like flexing your ‌creative ​muscles before embarking on​ a journey of imagination ⁢and ideas. ⁤These simple exercises not only help kickstart your​ writing process ​but⁣ also‌ provide a ​unique space ‍for your mind​ to wander,⁢ explore, and embrace its creative potential. ‍Unlocking a realm of untapped inspiration, writing warm-ups ‌can elevate your writing to new heights, allowing ideas to flow freely and effortlessly. Here’s how these exercises‌ can ⁢enhance your imagination and spark a surge of new ⁢ideas:

One of the greatest ⁤hurdles ‍for ⁣any writer is‍ the ​dreaded⁣ writer’s block. Writing ⁤warm-ups offer an effective solution‍ and act​ as ⁤a powerful ​antidote ​to‌ this creativity-stifling⁣ challenge. By⁤ engaging in free writing exercises or prompts, ‍you can loosen‍ up your ⁣mind and‌ break through the ⁤wall of creative barriers. This creates⁤ a fertile ground⁤ for new ⁢thoughts, allowing your imagination to roam free without the pressure of perfection. Unlock your mind from⁤ the ⁢constraints ​of ‍writer’s block and unleash‍ a cascade⁣ of innovative ideas.

Writing ‌warm-ups serve as a playground for your creativity.‍ These fun⁤ exercises encourage you to think⁤ outside the box, embrace spontaneity, and explore unconventional ideas without judgment. Through activities like brainstorming, mind mapping, or word‍ association exercises, you can tap into your‌ subconscious and‌ uncover⁤ hidden ⁣connections that spark⁣ imaginative concepts. By actively engaging in these ⁢warm-ups, you train your ​brain to‍ think creatively, leading to an abundance of fresh ideas that ⁤can fuel your writing projects. It’s like embarking on a thrilling adventure where your creativity takes center stage, guiding you​ to uncharted territories of⁣ inspiration.

Unlock ​Your Creativity with Writing Warm-Ups

Writer’s ⁣block can be‌ a frustrating hurdle that many writers ⁢face at some point in their creative journey. However, there⁢ is a powerful tool‍ that ⁤can​ help you overcome ⁤this​ common⁣ obstacle: writing warm-ups. Just like stretching exercises before a workout, these ‌exercises can prepare your ​mind and get​ your creative juices ⁤flowing, increasing your confidence and productivity.

So, what exactly are writing warm-ups? They are short, low-pressure writing ​exercises designed to stimulate ⁣your imagination and ignite your‍ writing flow. ⁢By dedicating a few ​minutes to these ‌warm-ups, you can​ break free from the‍ chains of ‌writer’s block and boost your confidence.

• Free‌ writing: Set ​a timer for five minutes, ‍and write continuously‍ without worrying about grammar or coherence. Let your thoughts flow and explore different​ ideas. This exercise helps unleash‌ your subconscious mind‍ and sparks ‌new ⁤creative pathways.
• Word association: Choose a word at random and write down the⁤ first word that ⁢comes to mind.‌ Keep going and see where this chain of ​associations takes ⁣you.⁤ The aim ⁢here is to let your ‌mind ⁣wander‌ freely and make unexpected connections.
• Character monologue: Imagine a character ‍from your story and‌ allow them to⁢ speak⁢ directly to you.​ Write down ⁤their thoughts, feelings, and desires as if you are having⁢ a ‌conversation.⁤ This ⁤exercise helps⁢ you understand your characters on⁣ a deeper level and can inspire ‌fresh ideas⁤ for​ your writing.

Remember, the key to writing warm-ups is to approach them with an ‌open mind and without⁢ judgment. By making ⁣writing warm-ups a⁣ regular part of your ⁤routine, you ⁣will strengthen your writing muscles, boost ​your confidence, and⁣ overcome writer’s block with ease.

When it⁣ comes to improving⁤ focus and productivity, writing warm-ups can‌ be ‌an effective ‍tool to ​refine ⁤concentration. These⁢ simple exercises can ‌help sharpen your mind, enhance creativity, and get you​ in the right ‌mindset ⁢for productive work. Whether you are a writer, a student, ⁢or‍ someone looking to improve their‍ overall cognitive⁢ abilities, incorporating ⁣writing ‌warm-ups into your routine can make a significant ​difference.

So, what exactly are writing warm-ups? They are short​ writing​ exercises designed to ⁢stimulate your brain and get your creative juices flowing. By engaging⁣ in these warm-ups, you are giving yourself the opportunity to⁢ focus solely ⁢on the act of writing, free from ​distractions and ⁣other pressures. Not only do writing warm-ups improve your concentration, but they also help you become more comfortable expressing your thoughts and ideas‍ on paper.

• Stream of consciousness: Set a timer‌ for a short period of time, say five minutes, and just let your thoughts flow onto the paper without‌ any censorship or judgment. Write down ‌everything ⁣that crosses your mind, no matter how random or disconnected​ it may seem.
• Word association: Start ⁣with a single word‍ and write ⁤down the first word that comes ​to your mind‍ when you think of it. ​Then, continue the⁣ chain by associating the new⁢ word⁢ with another one, and so on. This exercise helps you think⁢ quickly ⁣and‍ make connections between different ideas.
• Prompt-based writing: Use a writing prompt‍ or a​ question ‌as⁣ a starting point and ‍challenge yourself⁣ to ‍write a response ⁣within a ​certain time⁤ limit.⁤ This helps improve your ⁢ability⁣ to think on‍ your feet and enhances ​your ‍ problem-solving skills .

By incorporating these writing ⁤warm-ups into⁣ your daily routine, you can refine your concentration and enhance your overall productivity. ​Remember, the key is to make⁣ these exercises a regular practice rather than a one-time occurrence. Over ‌time, you will notice a significant improvement ‌in your ability to focus, ideate, and produce‍ high-quality work .

Effective warm-up exercises are ‌essential for enhancing writing skills. These ‍techniques and strategies can ‍help writers get in the right mindset and⁤ improve the quality of​ their writing. Here are some creative ways⁢ to warm up before diving into the writing ⁢process:

• Free Writing: Spend a few minutes writing continuously ​without⁤ worrying about grammar, spelling, or punctuation. This ‍exercise helps unlock creativity ‍and allows ideas to flow⁢ freely.
• Brainstorming: Use a ‌mind map or ⁤a bullet-pointed list to ⁢jot down⁣ all the​ ideas related ⁢to your topic. This technique ​helps ​organize ⁢thoughts and ‍provides a solid foundation for your ⁤writing.
• Word ‌Association: Choose a random​ word and ​write down‍ all the words that come to mind when you think of⁣ it. This exercise stimulates the brain⁤ and encourages you to think outside the box.

Furthermore, ‍it is beneficial​ to engage in warm-up exercises that focus on⁣ specific writing skills:

• Grammar and Vocabulary⁢ Drills: Test your knowledge by practicing grammar rules and expanding ‍your vocabulary. This can be ⁣done through online quizzes, ​flashcards, or even word games.
• Reading ​and Summarizing: ​ Read short articles or books and then write a concise summary of what you’ve⁢ read. ​This exercise helps improve comprehension,⁤ summarization⁣ skills, ‌and the ability to convey⁤ information effectively .
• Editing and Proofreading: Take a short piece of⁤ writing and edit it ​for grammar,⁢ punctuation, and clarity. This exercise trains you to spot errors and improve the⁢ overall quality of⁣ your writing.

By⁣ incorporating these warm-up exercises‍ into your writing routine, you’ll find yourself more prepared and confident, resulting in enhanced​ writing skills and improved ‌overall productivity.

There ⁣are countless ways ⁢to invigorate your writing and break free from⁤ creative block. Take your writing journey to new heights with these diverse, yet⁢ exhilarating warm-up exercises ‍tailored for writers of ⁤all ​backgrounds. Allow⁣ your ⁤imagination to ⁢flourish and your creativity to soar as you engage in‍ these stimulating activities.

1.⁤ **Word Association**: Kickstart your‍ writing session with a⁢ game of word association.​ Let your mind roam freely⁣ and make connections between⁤ seemingly unrelated words. ‌Jot down‌ every word​ that comes⁢ to mind, and ‍let them guide⁢ you​ to unexpected storylines, characters, or themes. Embrace‌ the serendipity of this exercise and watch as new ideas unfold effortlessly.

2. ‍**Poetry Snapshot**: Expand your expressive capabilities by exploring the world of poetry.‍ Grab a book or head ‌outdoors to find inspiration in the⁤ smallest of ‌details. Capture every ​vivid ⁣emotion, color,​ scent, or sound through a⁤ snapshot poem.‌ Paint ​a picture ⁢with your words, crafting verses that transport ⁤readers into your unique worldview.

3. **Character Juxtaposition**: Imagine an unlikely ⁣pairing, such as a fearless explorer and a timid librarian.⁤ Take a moment to flesh out both characters by exploring their backgrounds, quirks,⁣ and motivations. ‍Next, throw them into a compelling scenario together and watch the sparks fly. ⁢Will their‍ differences complement each other or ‌result in hilarious clashes?‍ Delve‌ into this exercise, and uncover new⁢ dimensions in character development.

These are just a⁤ few examples of⁢ the numerous⁢ writing ⁢warm-up exercises awaiting​ your exploration. Each ‌method serves as a key to unlock your creative potential and provide a fresh perspective on your writing ​endeavors. So, roll​ up your ⁤sleeves, ​let⁤ your‍ pen⁤ dance across the page, and embrace the excitement that lies within these diverse avenues of inspiration. Happy writing!

Incorporating Writing ​Warm-Ups into​ Your Routine

When it comes⁤ to ‍achieving success, ‌developing good⁣ habits is key. ⁢Whether you’re an ⁤aspiring writer ​or a professional ⁤in any field, incorporating writing warm-ups into your⁣ daily routine⁣ can ‍make a ‌significant difference in your overall productivity and creative output. ​Not only do these warm-ups help get your ⁤creative juices flowing, but they also provide several⁣ other benefits⁤ that ⁤can improve ‌your ⁤writing skills and ⁤boost⁣ your confidence.

1. ⁤Enhancing ​creativity:

Writing warm-ups serve as‍ a powerful tool ⁢to unlock your ⁣imagination and tap into your creativity. ​By engaging ⁤in exercises that⁢ require your​ mind to think flexibly ⁤and push beyond its usual ⁤boundaries,‍ you’ll ​be able to generate unique ⁣ideas and perspectives. These warm-ups can ‌range from⁣ free ⁢writing sessions where‌ you ⁢let your⁤ thoughts flow without restraint, to unconventional ​writing prompts⁣ that challenge your ‍imagination. ⁣No ⁢matter the​ approach,​ writing warm-ups prompt⁤ you to think ⁤differently and ‌explore new possibilities, all while honing⁣ your creative‌ skills.

2.⁤ Improving writing skills:

Regularly practicing writing​ through warm-ups can help you refine ⁢your writing⁣ skills and⁢ overcome common obstacles. By dedicating ‌time to these exercises, ⁣you’ll develop a stronger grasp ⁣of‍ grammar, syntax, ‍and vocabulary, all ⁣of which⁢ are⁣ essential for effective communication. ⁤Moreover,⁤ writing ⁤warm-ups enable you to experiment ⁣with ‍different writing styles ​and techniques. By‍ exposing yourself to various literary ⁣devices and‌ practicing‍ them in a‌ low-pressure environment , you’ll become more confident and proficient when employing them in your actual writing projects.

Q: What are writing⁤ warm-up exercises and why are they ⁢important? A: Writing ​warm-up‍ exercises are short activities or prompts‌ designed to ⁤prepare your mind‍ and body for writing. They help shake off ‍any mental blocks, spark creativity, and improve focus. Warm-up exercises are‌ crucial ⁣for setting ‌the right tone⁣ and getting ⁢yourself⁤ in the ⁣writing zone.

Q: How do writing​ warm-up exercises help with creativity? A: Writing​ warm-up exercises serve as‍ a creative jumpstart for your brain. By engaging in these exercises, you⁢ allow yourself to ‌think freely and generate new ideas. They help break away⁢ from any inhibitions or fear​ of⁢ judgment, allowing your creativity to ⁤flow more effortlessly.

Q: ​Can ​you provide some‍ examples of ‍writing warm-up ‌exercises? A: ⁤Certainly!‍ Here are⁤ a few examples: 1. Freewriting: Set a timer for five ⁢minutes⁤ and‍ write continuously without ⁣worrying about grammar, ⁣spelling,​ or coherence. Just⁣ let ​your thoughts flow onto the paper. 2. Sentence ⁤starters: ​Begin a⁢ piece​ of writing ⁤using a variety of sentence starters like‍ “Once upon a time,” or “In a world where.” 3. Image​ prompts: Choose an interesting image and write a short story or describe what you‍ see⁤ in the image. 4. ‍Word⁤ association: Take ⁣a random word and write down everything that comes‌ to mind when you think of ⁣it. ‍Allow your thoughts ‍to wander by following the associations naturally.

Q:⁢ How much time should I⁣ spend on writing‌ warm-up exercises? A: ​The⁤ time you spend on warm-up exercises can vary depending on your personal preference and schedule. ⁢It⁣ can range from just a few minutes to⁤ half ⁤an hour.​ However, even a ⁣short warm-up exercise, like five minutes​ of freewriting, can⁣ significantly improve ⁢your‌ writing mindset and productivity.

Q: Are ⁤writing warm-up exercises ⁢only beneficial for professional ⁢writers? A: Not at all! Writing warm-up⁢ exercises can​ be beneficial for anyone who engages in ⁣writing, ⁣regardless​ of their skill level or profession. Whether ‍you are a ​student, a professional writer, or just someone ​who enjoys writing as⁤ a hobby, warm-ups can help you get into ​the right frame of mind⁢ for ‍more focused and productive writing.

Q: Is it ⁤necessary to do writing warm-up exercises every​ time before writing? A: It is not mandatory to do warm-up exercises⁤ every time you sit‍ down ⁤to write, but they⁢ are highly ‌encouraged. Just like stretching‍ before⁢ a workout, warming up your writing ​muscles can‍ greatly ‍enhance your performance. Consistently incorporating warm-up ⁣exercises into your routine‍ can lead‍ to improved ⁢creativity, increased productivity, and⁢ better overall writing skills.

Q: Can ​writing warm-up exercises‌ be done in a group⁤ setting? A: Absolutely! Writing warm-up exercises can be adapted for⁣ group settings, such‌ as ‌writing workshops or creative writing ⁢classes. Group warm-ups can encourage collaboration, foster​ a ⁤supportive environment, and provide inspiration through ⁤shared ideas. It⁢ is an excellent way to build ​camaraderie⁤ and promote⁤ a sense of community among ⁤writers.

Incorporating ​writing warm-up exercises⁣ into your routine​ can ⁤greatly enhance your writing skills ‍and boost creativity. Start strong today!

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Writing warm-ups.

“Don’t wait for inspiration. Work inspires inspiration. Keep working. If you succeed, keep working. If you fail, keep working. If you’re interested, keep working. If you’re bored, keep working.”

— Michael Crichton

15 Ways to Jump-start Your Day

In a candlelit garret, William Shakespeare spins in a circle, rubs a quill between his hands, then spits over his shoulder before sitting down to put plume to parchment.

That scene from 1998’s “Shakespeare in Love” is played for laughs, but in today’s world of deadlines and day jobs, warm-up rituals are no joke. A warm-up routine can help you banish distractions, loosen “cold” creative muscles, and get down to the serious business of putting words on pages.

I recently asked the most prolific writers I know—the members of Romance Writers of America—to reveal how they jump-start their writing each day. Here, they share 15 fresh ways to get beyond the “blank page” stage as quickly as possible.

• Create a routine . Become a creature of habit. “I arise at 6 a.m., read the newspaper and take a short swim,” says Virginia Henley (The Border Hostage, Dell). “Once I’ve begun step one of the ritual, I can’t turn back, and therefore I turn on that computer and start work at the same time every day.” Take note: All of the New York Times bestselling authors who responded to the survey stressed this point.
• Don’t use e-mail or the Internet as a warm-up . Going online is the fastest way to make your writing time vanish without a trace. “I smack my hand when it tries to push the Outlook Express button first thing,” says Kathleen Eagle (Once Upon a Wedding, William Morrow). Reward yourself with Net surfing at the end of your writing session, after you’ve met your daily goal.
• Set a limit on warm-up time . A warm-up ritual is meant to improve your productivity, not give you another excuse to procrastinate. As you read this list, circle two or three ideas that appeal to you, then weave them into a daily routine that lasts about 10 to 20 minutes. If you find yourself overdoing it, set a timer.
• Relocate. Take your show on the road: Pack up your laptop and head for the nearest dining room, coffee shop, park or beach. One New York Times bestselling author starts every day far from her office: After waking up and making a quick pit stop, “I hop right back under the covers with my laptop,” says Susan Elizabeth Phillips (Breathing Room, William Morrow). “I like to write this way for about an hour before I go downstairs and tend to everything else. Two hours later, when I finally get resettled in front of the computer, I already have something to show for my day.”
• List. If you’re nagged by thoughts of errands to run and groceries to buy, banish your distractions by jotting a quick to-do list. Put a star next to anything that needs to be done today (just as soon as you’re finished writing). Now set the list aside and focus on your book.
• Dictate . If you find the “blank page” stage too daunting, turn off your computer and dictate the rough draft of your scene into a digital recorder. Use a portable model and jump-start your writing in the car, at your daughter’s soccer game or anywhere that’s convenient.
• Type . Put your fingers on the keyboard and type whatever pops into your head: random phrases, a description of the weather, the room where the scene takes place—anything that will move you into the story. “I know I can delete these ramblings, and I often do,” says Victoria Hinshaw (The Fountainebleu Fan, Zebra Regency). “I’m sometimes surprised, however, to find a new insight or even a worthwhile sentence or two.”
• Plot . Take a moment to think about what you want this scene to accomplish: Who are the focal characters? What are their motivations? What conflicts will they encounter? What action might take place? What’s the emotional tone? How will this scene move the story forward? Brainstorm 10 or 20 quick ideas and dive in.
• Skim . “If I’m stalled, I often go back and speed-read through the entire manuscript,” says Robin Lee Hatcher (Firstborn, Tyndale House). “Major procrastination usually indicates that I’m missing motivation for one of my characters. This helps me find the answer.”
• Journey . If you’re a historical author, take a time-traveling journey into the era you’re writing about: Look at letters, diaries, prints or other material from the period. While writing The Exiles (Zebra), Nita Abrams started her day by tracing her characters’ movements on a map of 1813 Vienna.
• Spark . Decorate your writing space with pictures that instantly spark your creativity. In her “Poof, It’s a Book!” workshop, Susan Wiggs (Passing Through Paradise, Warner) suggests making a collage with clippings from magazines. The collage for my current novel-in-progress features photos of Alaskan scenery, a helicopter, Mel Gibson, a blonde in a slinky red dress and phrases like “Strong & Beautiful.”
• Believe . Create a folder filled with self-esteem boosters: inspiring quotes, praise from contest judges or critique partners, award certificates—anything that helps you believe in yourself and your talent. Spend a moment looking through it before you start your day.
• Relax . A few minutes of guided relaxation can quiet your mind and awaken your creative spirit. Step-by-step instruction is available on DVD or audio CD. Try “Yoga Journal’s Yoga Practice for Relaxation” (DVD) or “The Theta Meditation System” by Dr. Jeffrey Thompson (CD), both available at Amazon.com, or “Ten Minutes to Relax” by The Relaxation Company (CD, available at www.therelaxationcompany.com).
• Ask a question. Before leaving the keyboard, ask yourself a question about tomorrow’s scene: What’s the heroine feeling at this point? Or, How are they going to get out of this alive? Write it down and sleep on it. Your subconscious might provide a surprising answer.
• Blaze a trail . Type a few quick sentences to be continued. “I try to always end my workday by beginning a new strand of action or adventure—just enough to draw me into the next day’s work with a bit more ease,” says Ruth Ryan Langan, author of more than 70 novels (His Father’s Son, Silhouette).

Experiment a bit until you find the warm-up that meets your needs. If any part of your routine causes you trouble, change it. “What will motivate one writer may not work for another,” says Tina St. John (White Lion’s Lady, Ballantine). “It’s important to look for the things that inspire you, then use them shamelessly.”

USA Today bestselling author Shelly Thacker has earned lavish praise from Publishers Weekly, Locus, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Detroit Free Press and booksellers who have called her “a virtuoso beyond compare.” A two-time RWA RITA Finalist, she has won numerous other honors for her fiction, including a National Readers’ Choice Award and many Romantic Times Certificates of Excellence. There are more than one million copies of her novels in print.

Published in Writer’s Digest’s Writer’s Forum magazine, Winter 2005 © Shelly Thacker. All Rights Reserved. Permission is granted for individual writers to print one copy of this article for personal use. Any other reproduction by any means, print or electronic, is strictly prohibited without written permission of the author.

10 Writing Warm-Ups to Engage Your Students in the Middle School ELA or High School English Classroom

In the public education setting, timed-writes are a required part of many standardized tests. Rather than try to cloak that reality, embrace it! One great way to do this is with fun and engaging writing warm-ups! Show your students that timed writing can be a fun challenge, and develop their expository and analytical prowess by beginning every class with a writing warm-up. These warm-ups should take only five to ten minutes, and you can easily implement them into your daily bell-ringer routine.

Here are 10 writing warm-ups  to build your students’ writing confidence:

1 minute story.

Get your students in the habit of writing from the word “go.” Set the time for 60 seconds and task them with writing a complete short story with a beginning, middle, and end in that time. The first time, many of them will probably find themselves caught up in the pressure or struggle over what to write. That’s okay! The more they practice, the better they will become at thinking quickly and excluding any unnecessary information. By the end of the school year, an essay in forty-five minutes will seem like a piece of cake! It’s best not to score these short stories. Instead, work on progress. If a student has trouble with this, encourage them to keep adding to their story with the one-minute you give them in class.

A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words

Put an image up on the board, and have your students write a short paragraph about it. You can have them pen a short story, a long-form poem, or an explanation of what a student perceives the situation depicted to be. This exercise will encourage creative and critical thinking skills, both of which are essential in rhetorical analysis.

Note: the image should have as much or as little visual information as is appropriate for the type of response you are seeking. For example, for a poem, a picture of an apple would suffice; whereas, a stock photo of a couple might better suit a short story or analysis.

Teaching Resource: Descriptive Writing .

Musical Manuscripts

Using instrumental music is a great way to activate your students’ creativity and ability to write intuitively. Play the piece once in its entirety, and allow your students to make notes along the way. Then have them determine the mood of the song in a single word, and write a paragraph about why the song is “sad”, “happy”, “romantic”, etc. Because most of your students probably won’t yet have written a master’s thesis in music theory, this activity will force them to think analytically to get their point across. Plus they’ll get to listen to music in class!

Everyone’s A Critic

Have your students write a short review of a book, television show, or movie they recently read or watched! Reviews have a clear, if highly subjective, prompt: Was it good or bad? This warm-up is a wonderful practice for plot analysis, critical thinking, and supporting claims with evidence from the source. Plus, you may be able to avoid a bad film or two yourself. Kids are notoriously harsh critics, after all.

Alphabetical Order

This activity will make your students groan, but it will undoubtedly get them focused. This exercise will require your students to write a 26 line account of their day so far, each line beginning with the corresponding letter of the alphabet. For example: “ A bird flew by my window this morning. B irds are nice. “ C aw,” the bird said…” Students may experience frustration, but the structure will help them become used to producing fantastic work while working with strict guidelines. Furthermore, this activity will get them thinking about the process of writing.

Reverse! Reverse!

If you enjoy nonsensical fun, look no further! In this exercise, you will select any word out of the English language and present it to your students. Then reverse all the letters, creating an entirely new word. Each of your students will decide the meaning of this new word, and provide a dictionary entry for it, complete with a definition and an example sentence. This is a fun little exercise that gets the creative juices flowing and lets students feel more in control of language.

Tip: To make the activity more challenging, place specific guidelines on how the word fits into the English language, i.e., “this word is a verb,” etc.

Dear New Me,

Letters are a great, low-stress activity that still helps your students practice communicating their thoughts effectively in writing. In this exercise, students will write a short message to their future selves, detailing personal goals or worries about the near future. I recommend doing this at the beginning of a new unit or even before an extended assignment/project so that students can go into the next learning experience with a more focused mindset. Self check-ins are necessary and important!

Dear Old Me,

Here’s a fun mirror of the above warm-up, in which your students will write to their past selves! This can work in a broader sense, such as writing a letter full of things they’d wish they had known when they were six. They can also use this as a reflection upon the ending of a unit or project. It can even pair with the “Dear New Me” project, resulting in a constant stream of conversation that marks each student’s progress. It’s a great way to remind students that we are all learning and growing every day.

Dear Alter Ego,

Yet another twist on letter writing: This activity is one students can engage with every day and one that allows them a snippet of fantasy to liven up the classroom. Ask your students to create an alter ego for themselves. Then set aside a few minutes at the beginning of each class for your students to write to their alter egos. Not only is this an exercise in writing, but it’s also an exercise in self-esteem. Often alter egos are who we imagine ourselves as, but fear we are too plain or weak to be. The more acquainted your students become with their alter egos, the more they will realize that they are exalting themselves and their own potential.

Everything comes out better when love is added to the mix. When you ask someone about a subject they love, it seems as if they could talk for hours. Ask your students to write down a list of things they are passionate about: This can be anything from food to a sport to a stuffed animal they always keep on their bed. Have them choose one, set the timer, and let them write! They’ll surprise themselves with how much they have to say. Some more specific questions you can use to prompt them are: Why is ___ special to you personally? When did you first become interested in ___? What are 3 facts you know about ___?

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Creative Writing Warmups and Exercises

As with any skill, writing requires practice if you want to get any better at it. However, unique ideas can be hard to come up with on your own. If you want to warm up and get some ideas flowing, or you need some prompts for practicing a new technique, check out some of the ideas below! 

A lot of these prompts work best if you have an existing character (or several) to use, but you can also make up a character on the spot if you’d rather do that. 

Short Story Rewrite

Write a short story. It can be about anything, and don’t worry about making sure it’s perfectly edited—it’s a first draft, after all. Write the whole story in one sitting, then set it aside and don’t look at it again. (If you can’t write it all in one sitting, try starting over with a shorter story!)

Immediately after you finish writing your short story, start over. Don’t look at your first draft at all, and rely only on your memory to rewrite the story from scratch. Once you’re done, set the story aside and come back tomorrow.

The next day, rewrite the story again without reading or looking at your first two drafts. If you can’t remember everything, try to fill in the gaps with new ideas that will draw the plot towards the same conclusion. 

Once you’re done, compare the three stories. How similar are they? What aspects are different? Rewrite the story one last time, using all three drafts as a reference. Take your favorite parts of each draft—whether that’s dialogue, phrases, descriptions, ideas, etc—and combine them into one. 

Writing About Confrontation

Write a scene in the first person where a character is confronted by their loved ones about something. What is the reason for the confrontation, and how do the other characters present the issue?

Focus on the emotions of the scene. Is your main character defensive about the problem, or ashamed? Or something else? Remember that emotions can be confusing and multi-faceted, and try to convey that complexity based on the character, the situation, and the other details. 

The scene can be as short or as long as you want to be, but if you feel like continuing the story with extra scenes, do so! Explore the character’s emotional journey to acceptance or denial to bring the story to a logical conclusion.

The Silent Film Approach

Write an emotionally charged scene, like a big argument or a character getting bad news. Describe the scene with absolutely no dialogue . Do not write any thoughts, spoken words, or written notes like diary entries or anything like that. Do not include dialogue in flashbacks.

Narrate the story with as much emotion and descriptive language as you can to bring the story to life without writing a single line of dialogue from either character. Try to convey the meaning behind this scene using only the emotion, the setting, and the details you include.

You can of course imply that the characters are speaking, but do not write what they are saying. Leave some things for the readers to imagine, and illustrate the scene like it’s a silent film.

Different Perspectives

Write a short scene in first-person or closed third-person where your main character is attacked by another character. An easy option for this is to write about someone mugging them with a weapon, like a knife or gun, but I won’t limit the possibilities. Work through the main character’s reaction to the situation, and how they come to a decision about what to do, whether that’s fight back, run away, give in to the attacker’s demands, or something else.

Then, rewrite the entire scene, but this time from the perspective of the attacker. What’s going through their mind as they carry out their plan? Does the story still start from the same point in time, or does it have to go farther back in time for more context? What is their reason for doing this? Are they a sympathetic character, or are they just despicable? Work through their emotions and motivations, then their reaction to whatever the victim does. Are they able to walk away with what they want in the end?

Rewrite the story again, now from an omniscient perspective. Layer the first two scenes together to show how each character struggles individually with the situation at the same time. There was a witness to the scene, but they never come forward, and otherwise would have been absent from the story from the closed perspective of the first two characters. How does this additional character and enhanced perspective provide more context and interest to the scene? Is it too much context?

After you’ve written all three stories, consider which of the three perspectives best communicates the story’s intent. Which was the easiest to write? Which one makes the most interesting story? If you were making a second draft, which option would you move forward with, and why?

Stream of Consciousness

Your character hasn’t been sleeping well. As they lay in bed, staring up into the darkness of their room, what are they thinking about? What are the thoughts that are keeping them awake? Has this always been a problem for them, or is this insomnia the result of something that happened to them recently?

The world feels different at 3 am. Explore the character’s unique state of mind at this moment, and follow their stream of consciousness wherever it takes you. Let their mind wander uninterrupted, and write out each thought as it leads to the next. You might learn some things about them that you hadn’t considered before. 

If you need a little help with this, check out Losing Sleep Over How to Write a Character with Insomnia?

Unreliable Narration

Write a story with an unreliable narrator.

There are many ways to create a story with an unreliable narrator. Your narrator could have biases, and want to steer readers towards believing the same thing they do. Your narrator could experience hallucinations or delusions that make it difficult for them to understand objective reality. Your narrator could be deceptive and tell lies or be untrue to themself. Your narrator could be a child who doesn’t fully understand the complex workings of society within the context of your story. 

However you choose to make your narrator unreliable, you need to find a way of making readers question the narrator’s credibility. Does the narrator’s unreliability become more obvious over time, or was it always obvious that they are not to be trusted? Is there a plot twist at the end that reveals that they’re unreliable? 

An unreliable narrator can vastly alter the tone of a story. Consider what you’ve written. How would this story be different with an objective or omniscient perspective? How can this technique be useful in adding depth to a story? 

Subjective Setting

A character’s mood can change how they perceive a setting, and the way a setting is described can have a large impact on the overall tone of a scene. 

Think of a particular environment, such as a countryside in the rain, a cityscape late at night, or a breezy beach at sunrise. Once you’ve decided on the environment, write a really brief, objective description of it, as if you are setting the scene for a script. These are just notes to keep the setting consistent. 

Describe this setting from the first-person perspective of a pessimistic character who has had a really rough day. They’re in a bad mood, and maybe they just dislike this type of weather or location in particular. How would they perceive their environment? What words do they use to describe what they see around them? What do they think about where they are? How does their environment impact the way they feel?

Now, write a new description for the exact same setting , but from the first-person perspective of a character who is feeling at peace and happy. Maybe this is their favorite weather or place. Maybe they’ve just received really good news. Regardless, this character is feeling good about life and where they are right now. How does their description differ from the pessimistic character’s description? 

Compare these two descriptions of the same location at the same point in time. How do they influence the tone of the scene? How can the way a setting is described add more depth to a character’s emotions? Based on how this scene is described in each of these descriptions, what can you expect to happen here? 

Personal Experience

Think about a time you did something stupid as a child. How old were you? What were you doing? What did you think about what you were doing? 

Take this memory, and write about it in first-person and present tense . Try to make your protagonist think and act like a young child, or however old you were at the time of this incident. Use your experience and the way you remember the situation to help you write an internal monologue for this child protagonist.

If you can’t remember everything that happened, then just fill in the gaps with anything that fits the narrative. If you want to, you can even write a different ending from the one that actually happened in your past.

If you find yourself struggling, try checking out A Guide to Writing Child Characters Authentically . 

Changing Genre

Take an old story you’ve written and rewrite it to be a different genre.

If the story you wrote is filled with magic and myth, how can you keep the overall plot while retelling the story in a realistic, modern setting? If you wrote a romance, how can you keep the general themes the same while placing the characters into a horror setting?

Stories often have core meanings (like “nothing can stop true love” or “friendship always prevails”) or simple fundamental plots (like “save the girl” or “dispose of a cursed object”). Interesting things can happen if you find a new and creative way of sending the same message within an unexpected context. 

Try to find the overarching themes of your story. Does a character overcome a major internal struggle? Do the characters go on a road trip? Do the characters have to embark on a grand quest to retrieve a priceless artifact? Then, consider how you can keep these themes intact as you manipulate the other elements of the story to fit into the conventions of a new genre. 

If you’ve never written fanfiction before, you’re missing out on a great opportunity to learn from your fellow storytellers! 

Take a show, movie, book, game, or any other piece of media that you enjoy, and try to come up with a story that you could tell with the characters within the confines of their world. This will require analyzing each character you use to fully understand the nuances of their personality, behavior, and manner of speech. It will also require a deep understanding of the setting in which their original story takes place, so you can keep your story authentic to the canon. 

Fanfiction is a great way of analyzing another story’s worldbuilding and characters. You can create a new conflict for the characters to deal with, explain a loose end that was never tied up in canon, or delve into lore that is never completely explained. You can even explore a possible dynamic between characters who have never met in canon, or rewrite a new ending for the story.

There are many possibilities when it comes to writing fanfiction, but no matter how you choose to write it, you’re going to end up learning something. Fanfiction is fun, but it also requires a lot of analysis, and you can end up learning a lot from other creators this way. 

Use Your Environment 

Take a look around you right now. 

How would you describe your exact surroundings in a story? Which details do you think would be important to include, and which details would you omit? How would you give readers a sense of who you are based only on how you describe your surroundings? If your characters walked into this room, what would be the first things they notice? How would they feel about it, and why? How would you bring readers into your space, and share with them what your environment represents? 

Exercises like this can make you better at capturing the essence of an environment, as well as make your scenes feel more realistic overall. It’ll help you add little touches of personality to characters’ rooms, ground readers in a setting, and make the world around your characters feel all the more immersive. 

I hope you find these exercises useful! 

Write on, writers!

55 Creative Writing Activities and Exercises

Have you ever heard these questions or statements from your students?

• I don’t know where to begin.
• How can I make my story interesting?
• I’m just not creative.
• What should my story be about?

If so, you won’t want to miss these creative writing activities. 

What Are Creative Writing Activities?

Activities that teach creative writing serve as drills to exercise your student’s writing muscle. When used effectively, they help reluctant writers get past that intimidating blank paper and encourage the words to flow. 

When I think of creative writing exercises , writing prompts immediately come to mind. And, yes, writing from a prompt is certainly an example of a creative writing activity (a highly effective one). 

However, writing prompts are only one way to teach creative writing. Other types of activities include games, collaboration with others, sensory activities, and comic strip creation to name a few.

Unlike writing assignments, creative writing activities aren’t necessarily meant to create a perfectly polished finished project. 

Instead, they serve as more of a warmup and imagination boost.

Picture-based writing exercises are especially fun. You can download one for free below!

get this picture prompt printable for free!

How to use creative writing exercises effectively.

When teaching creative writing , the most effective exercises inspire and engage the student. 

Remember that worn-out prompt your teacher probably hauled out every year? 

“What I Did This Summer…” 

Cue the groaning. 

Instead of presenting your student with lackluster topics like that one, let’s talk about ways to engage and excite them. 

For Kids or Beginners

Early writers tend to possess misconceptions about writing. Many picture sitting down for hours straight, polishing a story from beginning to end. 

Even for experienced writers, this is next-to-impossible to do. It’s preconceived ideas like these that overwhelm and discourage students before they’ve even started. 

Instead of assigning an essay to complete, start with simple, short writing exercises for elementary students such as:

• Creating comic strips using a template
• Talking out loud about a recent dream
• Writing a poem using rhyming words you provide
• Creating an acrostic from a special word

Creative writing exercises don’t have to end in a finished piece of work. If the exercise encouraged creative thinking and helped the student put pen to paper, it’s done its job. 

For Middle School

Creative writing activities for middle school can be a little more inventive. They now have the fundamental reading and writing skills to wield their words properly. 

Here are some ideas for middle school writing exercises you can try at home:

• Creating Mad Lib-style stories by changing out nouns, verbs, and adjectives in their favorite tales
• Storyboarding a short film
• Writing a family newsletter
• Creating crossword puzzles

For High School 

Your high school student may be starting to prepare for college essays and other important creative writing assignments. 

It’s more critical than ever for her to exercise her writing skills on a regular basis. 

One great way to keep your high schooler’s mind thinking creatively is to have her make “listicles” of tips or facts about something she’s interested in already. 

Another fun and effective creative writing exercise for high school is to have your student retell classic stories with a twist. 

List of 55 Creative Writing Activities for Students of All Ages

No matter what age range your students may be, I think you’ll find something that suits their personality and interests in this list of creative writing ideas. Enjoy! 

• Using only the sense of hearing, describe your surroundings. 
• Write a paragraph from your shoes’ point of view. How do they view the world? What does a “day in the life of a shoe” look like?
• Imagine what the world will be like in 200 years. Describe it. 
• Write a letter to someone you know who moved away. What has he or she missed? Should he or she move back? Why? 
• Make up an imaginary friend. What does he or she look like? What does he or she like to do?
• Create a story about a person you know. Use as many details as possible.
• Write a poem that describes a place you have been.
• Soak up the season you’re in with seasonal creative writing prompts. Here are some ideas for fall and winter .
• Write a song where each line starts with the next letter in the alphabet. 
• Create a list of words related to something you love.
• Write a short story based on a true event in your life.
• Rewrite a chapter of your favorite book from the antagonist’s point of view. 
• Write a letter to your future self. What do you want to make sure you remember?
• Go on a five-senses scavenger hunt. Find three items for each sense. Create a story using the items you found. 
• Create a story around an interesting picture ( try these fun picture writing prompts! )
• Find an ad in a magazine or elsewhere and rewrite the description to convince people NOT to buy the advertised item.
• Write a story using the last word of each sentence as the first word of the next.
• Describe everything you’re sensing right now, using all five senses.
• Write a list of animals A to Z with a one-sentence description of each one. Feel free to include imaginary animals.
• Design your dream room in detail.
• Write a script of yourself interviewing a famous person. Include his or her answers.
• Describe what high school would be like if you lived on the moon. What would you be learning about? How would you be learning it?
• Describe a day in the life of a famous person in history. Include both mundane and exciting details of things they may have experienced on a normal day.
• Pick up something on a bookshelf or end table nearby. Now write a commercial script for it to convince your audience that they absolutely must own this thing.
• Plan a birthday party for your best friend. Describe the decorations, food, and everything else.
• Write a very short story about three siblings fighting over a toy. Now rewrite it twice, each time from a different character’s perspective.
• Tell a story from the point of view of a pigeon on a city street.
• Create a menu for a deli you’ll be opening soon. Name each sandwich after something or someone in real life and list the fillings and type of bread.
• Pretend you just became famous for something. Write 3 exciting newspaper headlines about the topic or reason behind your newfound fame.
• Keep a one-line-a-day journal. Every day, write down one thought or sentence about something that happened that day or how you felt about the day.
• Have you ever had a nightmare? Write what happened but with a new ending where everything turns out okay (perhaps the monster was your dad in a costume, preparing to surprise you at your birthday party).
• Write a “tweet” about something that happened to you recently, using only 140 characters. 
• Take an important event in your life or the life of someone in your family. Write one sentence answering each of the 6 journalistic questions: Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How.
• Set a timer for 5 minutes and write nonstop, starting with the words “I remember.” If you get stuck, write “I remember” again until you get unstuck.
• Pick something you use often (a toothbrush, your desk, etc). Then tell the story of how it was invented. If you don’t know, make something up.
• Choose a princess or hero and write a one-paragraph story about him or her traveling to a distant land.
• Pretend you are a tour guide for a local attraction. It can be a library, a park, or a museum, but it could also be a place that wouldn’t normally hold tours (such as an arcade). Write a speech about what you tell your tour group as you walk around the attraction.
• Create a marketing brochure for your favorite activity or fun place to go.
• Make a list of 10 future story settings. Write one sentence describing each. For example, “ in the dark, musty cellar of my grandmother’s house, surrounded by dried-up jars of canned peaches… ”
• Make a list of foods included in a dinner party catered by the world’s worst cook, describing how each course looks, smells, and tastes. Include your reactions while eating it.
• Write out your own version of instructions for playing your favorite game.
• Pretend you’ve lost your sight for one night. Describe going out to eat at a restaurant, using smells, textures, and sounds to tell your story.
• Write a script for an interesting phone conversation in which the reader can only hear one side. 
• Tell the story of an object someone threw away from the perspective of the person who tossed it out. Then tell the story of that same object from the perspective of a person who finds it and deems it a treasure.
• List your 3 least favorite chores. Pick one and write a one paragraph detailing why you can’t possibly complete that chore ever again.
• Write an excerpt from your dog’s diary (pretend he keeps one).
• Write the script for a movie trailer—real or imagined.
• Create an acrostic for a holiday of your choice. 
• Pretend you’re the master of a role-playing game, describing a sticky situation in which the other players now find themselves. Describe the scenario in writing.
• Compose a funny or dramatic caption for a photo.
• Parents, place a textured object in a box without letting your student see it. Have him or her reach in, touch the object, and then describe how it feels.
• Write lyrics for a parody of a song.
• Make a list of 10-20 songs that would be played if a movie was made about your life.
• Describe the sounds, smells, sights, and textures you’d experience if you went to the beach for the day.
• Write an election speech with ludicrous and impossible campaign promises.

One of the best ways to encourage students to write regularly is by providing fun creative writing activities . 

They serve to encourage both the habit and mindset of writing with imagination. If you need extra help with that, check out Creative Freewriting Adventure :

bring excitement into your student’s writing – no prep required!

About the author.

Jordan Mitchell

The Writing-Based Curriculum

Students and Teachers living a writing life together

• About Leif Gustavson
• Curved Lines On The Terrestrial Sphere

Limbering up in the ELA Classroom: The Serious Fun of Writing Warm-Ups

Note: For those of you just looking for the warm-up ideas, click on the links below to take you directly to them. Thanks for returning to this post and if you have a moment, let me know what you think. 

New Entries: Only in the room – 6/18/2021; The Gift – 7/8/2021

Writing warm-up ideas.

# A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Other Warm-Up Ideas

Over the years, I have had teachers ask me if I had a comprehensive list of the writing warm-ups that I do with students. This post is my attempt to get that list started. The goal of the writing warm-up is to provide a space at the beginning of the class for my students to limber-up and consistently practice being a writer. I learned after several years of teaching that just because my students walk into my classroom and sit down in their desks does not mean that they are ready to take advantage of the time. Just like a musician or an athlete, we need to warm up our writing muscles to be ready for the work ahead. We also need to signal our brain to be present in the moment instead of lingering on what happened in the hall or what happened the night before. Once I started warming up through writing, I found that my students were more awake, more engaged, and more excited about the rest of class. Most importantly, I found that they were becoming very skilled writers. In fact, I would argue that there are few better ways to get more skilled at writing than to dedicate five to ten minutes every day to just putting the pen to paper.

I intentionally throw my students challenges so that they are thinking and acting in divergent and convergent ways. I want them to surprise themselves on the page because if they do that, their sense of what is possible in writing, in their writing, expands exponentially. I work hard to never schoolify the warm up. It is rarely a time for students to show me what they have learned in some artificial way. Instead, we are being real writers, playing around with words on the page, often in a collaborative way.

Collaborative writing is just plain fun. Collaborative writing is creating texts together one word, one phrase, one sentence at a time. The piece is constructed by passing paper between two, three, five, ten, 26 people. While it can be done on a screen, it is a heck of a lot more fun to do it the ol’ fashion way – with paper and pencil, pushing it back and forth across the desk, seeing your partner gasp, laugh, or just pause with what you have offered him/her. Collaboratively building a text takes the burden of the whole off of the individual and frees him or her up to throw something down on the page, knowing that others will pick up the offer and build on it. Collaborative writing also pushes writers to think and act strategically, a skill that makes for interesting writing. Jack Collom beautifully describes what happens when we write collaboratively:

  As you trade off, you note with renewed amazement how different your thought process and speech rhythms are from those of your partner. Your attention is thus plunged into language as something to dance with, not just as the means of expressing your opinion. You don’t have to worry about what to say; there’s always something to respond to. You become conscious of your own ‘voice’ as it adapts to, opposes, ignores, or imitates the other ‘voices’ present in the poem.

Isn’t this exactly what we want our students to be able to do – dive into language, swim around in it, play with it, and in the process become more skilled at how to use their voices on the page? So, I suggest to you that you try many, if not all, of these writing warm-ups as collaborations. Have your students get out pieces of paper, give them the constraint (one word, three word, four words and pass) and then let them go to town. You will be surprised by the results. I also recommend that you read a bit more about collaborative writing. Jack Collom is the master, and you can find his thoughts on the form here .

I have divided the warm-up ideas into Collaborative Warm-Ups, Five Minute Quickies, and Other Ideas. Most of the collaborative warm-ups can be done individually, though you won’t get that wildness of energy and thought that you would by doing it in small or large groups. All of the ideas on the list have been road tested in actual classrooms, with actual students, grades PreK through Graduate School. When writing with young kids, I suggest being the conduit for the writing by writing what you hear the kids say on a big sheet of paper or the board. More on that below. My hope is that you will add to the ideas for great writing warm-ups. In the comment box below, include your idea for a great writing warm-up, with a description of how to go about doing it, and I will add it to the list with your name attached, if you would like.

Important note : writing warm-ups, particularly collaborative writing, get better over time. Students need to develop the skills associated with it. So, don’t be surprised if the first few weeks are difficult and result in so so writing. Like any form, students need to practice warming up to get good at it. There are a few moves you can make as the teacher to ensure that your students develop the foundation for deep skills very quickly.

Move 1 : Stick to it! Make the promise to yourself and your students that you are going to take the first few minutes of every class to warm up, and don’t back down, no matter how slow the start is. Your students will thank you and the benefits of the warm up will spill over into the rest of the class as well as across disciplines (for you self-contained teachers out there).

Move 2 : Write with them! Sit right down amongst your writers, get out that pencil and write along with them. Let ‘em see you take on the challenge. There are fewer teaching moves more powerful than students seeing their teachers genuinely getting involved in the work that they are doing, struggling and enjoying with them along the way.

Move 3 : Share the writing! In all of its glorified messiness. Our minds are manipulative beasts. They will make us think that what we have written is junk. It isn’t until we read it aloud, and let more than one sense in on the action, that the possibilities of the writing emerge. Sharing doesn’t need to take a lot of time. Break ‘em up into groups of two and let them share. And you should share your writing too!

Move 4 : Talk a bit about the writing! We get better as writers when we talk about the craft of writing, the moves that the writers is making on the page. Once folks have shared, spend a few minutes talking about what makes some of the pieces work. Listen to your students articulate for themselves why a particular piece was funny or surprising. Focus on the moves that the writer is making in the piece, not what the piece means. This is not a space for interpretation. It is a space for appropriation. We are becoming writers, not critics!

Move 5 : Don’t grade it! This is an evaluation free zone. Students should feel like they can throw anything down without reprisals. That is the only way that we can get a sense of the impact of our writing and feel that we can experiment unfettered.

If you have all of these things in play, you and your students will be firing on all cylinders very soon, and chances are that they are going to come to your class begging for the next warm-up. And after a time, you are going to see how rich these warm-ups are. You will see how the warm up itself is a fantastic mix of intense reading, writing, and thinking. You will begin to think to yourself, “That warm-up could be a whole lesson!” And you will be right. The warm-ups will also reveal to you numerous ways to extend them into longer pieces and larger projects.  And when that happens, you have achieved what I like to call “Serious Play” – learning that is filled with deep skill and conceptual development, challenge, wonder, discovery, and joy.

Now, on to the warm-up ideas…in alphabetical order and indicating which are particularly good for individuals, partners, small groups, and/or large groups.

Collaborative Writing Warm-Ups

6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 (individual, partners).

You are probably familiar with   6 word memoirs  where you tell a personal story in 6 words. This experiment takes that idea and expands it…or shrinks it as the case may be. The overarching question for this series of experiments is “Can you tell a story in six words? 5? 4? How about three or two or one?” For the first day, share some examples of 6 word memoirs or stories. You can click on the link above to find some good ones. Here’s an example:

Wanted mohawk, got a bald spot.

Talk for a minute or two about what makes them tic: Establishing the who, what, where, when in very few words; concreteness and specificity in terms of word choice; surprise, the well-placed comma. Then, let them go to town. Have them write as many six word memoirs or stories as they can in the amount of time that you have. The more they write, the better they will get. Once time is up, have them look through the pieces they have written and find one or two that seem to stand out. Have your students read them aloud to each other in pairs or small groups.

Next day, change the constraint to five words. See what they can do with one less word. Go through the same process. Once they have read one or two to each other that they really like, have a brief conversation about the difference between 6 and 5 words. What changes? Does anything change? Are you forced to do something differently as a writer?

Next day, change the constraint to four words. You get the idea. Go all the way to one, having brief craft conversations at the end of each experiment to develop an understanding of what the word limit does to the writer and to the writing.

This experiment in the form of a series encourages all kinds of writerly behavior. The constraint of the word limit pushes strategic thinking. Students will spend time considering what words will convey the most meaning and the most multiple meanings. They will scrutinize the use of grammar for effect. And when you put the added constraint of taking a word away each day, you provide your students the chance to see how the stories change because of the amount of words one has to use. “Can you tell a story in one word” becomes a highly debatable topic and a conversation your students will definitely want to have once they have experienced writing in the form.

Acrostics – (individual, partners, small groups, large groups)

Ah, the thousand year old form that gets mangled in schools. Do it justice and let your students play with it! Come up with a bunch of great “spine words.” Those are the words that the lines of the poem are created off of. Then, do one together so that you can show them the freedom in the form. Throw a word up on the board and have them riff off of it. Acrostics can be stories. They can be riddles. They can be omens. They can be definitions. They can be pretty much anything really. Lines in acrostics can have many words. You don’t need to just write to the right of the letter. You can break the spine, writing on both sides of the spine letter. So many ways to experiment! Then, have each student decide on a word, have them write it vertically down the middle of the piece of paper several times, and let them experiment. You can create a constraint to add intrigue – line trade-offs, one word trade-offs, three word trade-offs, etc.

                G rip                 R ip                 A nd                 S ay                 S o long                                  U rban nature is          R eal,          B eautiful, grit.          A lways changes with the times, it N ever stays the same.          N ot for a second.          A sk yourself-is the world we live in really          T he image of deer prancing thro U gh a meadow, or is it di R ty beauty that E veryone must learn to embrace?

Acrostics – Doubled! (individual, partners, small group, large group

Amp up the acrostic, and have the spine word be at the beginning of the poem and at the end! It can be the same word, like this:

H                                                                     H I                                                                     I S                                                                     S T                                                                     T O                                                                     O R                                                                     R Y                                                                     Y

If you want to be a purist, you could challenge your students to begin each line with a letter from the word and end each line with the letter from the word. You could also just encourage them to work the word or words into the poem, freeing them to break the spine. The two spine words can be the same or different, and it doesn’t matter if they are the same length. The idea here is to create challenging constraints that encourage young writers to think anew about language and its use. Explore all of the ways that they could play around with this form.

Answers with no questions  – (partners)

Swap line for line with writing imaginary answers to unknown questions: Turn right at the 7-11. Simply pause for one moment. It’s behind the bookshelf! See Questions without Answers for a similar form.

Aphorisms – (partners, small group, large group)

Pithy sayings – they hold all kinds of wisdom ie: Ben Franklin’s “Life’s tragedy is we get old too soon, and wise too late”.  Read a bunch of them to your students. Talk about them a bit. What makes them tic? Notice how each aphorism has a “turn” at the end, a little surprise. Once you feel that they get the gist, try this as one word trade-offs.  Each person writes one word and passes it until the wild, made-up aphorism is complete.

Authors’ Notes (individual, partners, small group, large group)

The perfect warm up for when you have come to the end of a writing project. The students have workshopped their pieces. They have elaborated and crafted. They have done the polish, and you are moving toward publishing their pieces. Now it’s time to write an author’s note. Authors’ notes tend to be pretty formulaic and stale: what the author has written before, where they come from, the kind of dog they have, blah, blah. This time around, spice the authors’ notes up by writing them collaboratively. First, take a look at a few examples of authors’ notes.. Read them aloud. Talk about what makes them tic. Then, tell your students that you are going to write your own authors’ notes for the anthology you are publishing, and you are going to write them collaboratively. Coach them to keep the spirit of the author’s note, but work to warp it in as many interesting ways as possible. Do them in the form of a three word trade-off  (see below) and watch the zaniness and creativity that comes out! Here is an example:

Laura Fornwald: Laura Fornwald wants to know – Is your gnome home? A glutton for punishment, she’ll usually end up talking about her cat. Loves apples and tomato soup. Time will slip into California- free the wood into ashes and air! On the crest of morning, breaks for roadkill.

Avalanche (individual, partners)

With a tip of the ol’ chapeau to the OULIPO, this experiment is a doozy, and kids love it. It truly is the linguistic equivalent of an avalanche. Here is the constraint: the first line and first stanza is a one letter word; the second stanza’s first line is a one letter word, the second line is a two letter word; the third stanza’s first line is a one letter word, the second line is a two letter word; and the third line is a three letter word. And so on and so on for as long as the kids can go! The poem visually tumbles down the page. Here is an off the cuff example:

A   I am   O to see   A on sly lips

The longer it goes, the better it gets. I have had fourth graders take it out to an eleven letter word! See here for another great example. Another way to do it is to have the avalanche consist of number of words rather than word length. For example,

Up   The dirt path   which bends left between a split   fallen tree across two paths with lingering scent of pine

Coach your students to go on their nerve. The avalanche doesn’t have to be linear or literal. Remember, the energy for writing comes from specificity, concreteness, and detail.

Avalanche – Story Form – (individual, partners, small groups, large groups)

Ron Sillliman, contemporary language poet, wrote a really interesting book titled “Ketjak.” The premise? I’ll let Ron describe it:

[Ketjak is] written in a series of expanding paragraphs where the sentences of one paragraph are repeated in order in subsequent paragraphs with additional sentences inserted between them, recontextualizing them. As the paragraphs double, the space between the reoccurrence of the sentences doubles and the context from which they reemerge grows thicker. In this, they have reminded some in the language movement of characters in a novel. But the narrative effect is more peculiar as the sentences keep reappearing against different sentences.

You can read the book online here . The gist is that each paragraph doubles in number of sentences. Give this a try: like a poetic Avalanche, have each student start a story. The first paragraph consists of one sentence. Pass the paper. The second writer writes the second paragraph consisting of two sentences, maybe repeating the first for effect. Pass the paper. The third writer writes the third paragraph, consisting of four sentences. Pass. The fourth paragraph has 8 sentences. And so on. Amp it up by coaching your students to repeat certain sentences at different times for surprising effect. As Silliman writes, the form highlights context and narrative effect – great things for writers of all ages to think about. B

Big Swap, The (partners, small groups, large group)

Once your students and you have several warm-ups down on paper, it’s time to think about all of the other things that you can do with them. Remember, good writers reuse, recycle, and repurpose. To get your students into the habit of doing this, have them choose one of their warm ups ( it could also be a draft of a story, poem, play, or speech that they are working on for you). Then, have them select a section from it – a couple of contiguous sentences or a paragraph, for example. They can do this by cutting the section out with scissors or typing or writing it down on a different sheet of paper. Once they have done this, have them pass the cut out section to a partner or someone else in the class. Have the lucky recipients read the section to themselves. Then, challenge them to use the cut-out section as a whole in some way in a new piece of writing. Ask them a few questions: What would happen if you started with the section? Could you write in a way where it was in the middle of a new piece? What if you challenged yourself to make it the last few sentences or the last paragraph of a new piece? Let the cut out section guide you in terms of what needs to happen. Again, remember not to talk for too long about the challenge. Always spend a little time up in the head and far more time down on the paper trying to figure something out when it comes to writing. Give them 10 minutes or so to play, and end of course by sharing in pairs or larger groups.

Ok, so what does this do? It requires your students to be nimble with text. It pushes them to read carefully. It also creates an active writing moment where your students have to write themselves out of a corner, proving once again, that there is no such thing as writer’s block if you are willing to put pen to paper. Finally, it helps your students see that the original intention for a piece of writing can change or can be used for other purposes. All really good things to learn if we are going to help develop flexible, fluent, and precise writers!

Bout Rime – (partners)

French for “End Rhyme.” Have your students take out a piece of paper. Then have them write 14 words down on the page in this rhyme scheme: abab cdcd efef gg. For example:

  egg liar beg fire   no tickle foe nickle   left stinky cleft pinky   wrong song

What you have here is the last word of each line of a modern sonnet. Once your students have written down their words, have them switch with someone else in the room. Then, challenge them to write a poem where each line ends with the corresponding word that has been given to them. Don’t constrain them with iambic pentameter or anything like that. The constraint of the rhyming 14 words will push the students to explore rhythm naturally.

Build A Monster (individual, partners, small group, large group)

Great warm up to do around Halloween, but can be done at any time. Spend ten or fifteen minutes…or longer…building a fantastical monster with your students.

First, ask your student “What are some parts of a monster?” Have them suggest parts: e.g. head, mouth, eyes, nails, hair, teeth, feet, legs, horns.

List these body parts on a big sheet of paper or the board. Each part getting it’s own line. Like this:

Head Mouth Eyes Nails Hair Teeth Feet Legs Horns

Once you have a decent number of body parts, 10 to 15, write a monster poem with them where each body part is a line of the poem. You could have them do this in several different ways. You could do it collaboratively as a whole group where each student is responsible for one line. You could do it in groups of two where they pass their papers back and forth with each other, trading lines. You could have each student do their own. To make it easier for your students to get into the spirit of it, turn each line into a simile, like this:

Head like Mouth like Eyes like Nails like Hair like Teeth like Feet like Legs like Horns like

This warm up can do wonderful things for opening up your students’ imagination and wildness with use of language. Encourage them to create a monster never seen before! Surprise us with your rich, detailed language. Encourage them to be funny, disgusting, and scary all at the same time. Here is a line trade-off Monster Poem, written by a group of teachers:

Hair like a green and purple shag rug Eyes that are yellow and red Nose of flaring smoke and bubbling fire Mouth that is open ready to eat something yummy Barely any neck at all, like a pigeon But perfect shoulders that everyone envies A large stomach protrudes from beneath her shirt Knees that knock together as she walks Feet are swift but smell of rotten cabbage Clown like red shoes that she does a tap dance with Ankle bracelet jingles with every step

Bumper Stickers – (individual, partners)

Akin to fortune cookies, see below, creating bumper stickers are a wonderful exercise in concise and witty writing. Make sure to share several really great bumper stickers to get the juices flowing. See  here  for some great environmental bumper stickers Jack Collom wrote with his students or go online and find images like the one to the right. Like any form of writing, spend a bit of time exploring with your students what makes bumper stickers tick. Listen for your students saying things like – brevity, a twist, humor, sarcasm. It can be good to provide a theme for bumper stickers – the environment, school issues, political issues. It can also be good to provide a word limit, say, no more than 8 words. Finally, encourage your students to write many of them in the time that they are given. The more they write, the better they get. Then, when time is up, have them select their favorite one and then put it up on the board in the form of a bumper sticker. Have the class vote on them. Next step? Choose one or two to actually turn into real bumper stickers! C

Captured Conversation – (individual, but could be partner)

Special thanks to Dan Kirby for this idea. Have your students pick up their writing notebooks and a pen or pencil. Then, tell them that you are going to give them five or ten minutes (you decide) to walk through the school and capture what they hear down on paper. Encourage them not to worry about getting things down verbatim. Instead, capture voices in snippets, samples, having each thing that they hear be a line on the paper. Tell them to keep moving slowly through the space so that they can capture as many voices as possible in the time that they have.  Challenge them to try to fill a page. Could be a tall order, but always a good thing to say as you launch your students off to write. The more material, the better!

When they come back from their mission, you could just have them sit with a partner and read aloud what they captured to hear the wonderful raw poetry of it. Or, if you had a bit more time, you could give them five minutes to go back through what they captured and craft it a bit, focusing on how the piece flows (e.g. tenses, plurals, etc.). Tell them not to lose the wonderful wildness of the piece because the wildness is a true account of the moment – all of these different voices swimming around in space at the same time. That is the beauty of this experiment. In a way, you are having your students capture a moment in time through sound. You could also have students trade their pieces and let the partners tinker around with the material to see what they come up with. This warm-up coaches students to listen carefully and to strategize how to get what they hear down on paper – two important skills for a good writer.

Extension!: A cool way to utilize this warm-up during class is to appoint one or two or three students to wander around the room, capturing what they hear on paper as the rest of the class is having a conversation. The conversation could be about a book, about a math problem, about a project that they are engaged in. Then, at the end of the conversation, have the one, two, or three students read back to the larger group what they heard as a way of echoing and deepening the learning. You could have the students type these up and post them in your room as a record of that learning moment.

Cento – (individual)

A very cool experiment to do once your students have written or read a lot in a particular form. The Cento is a form of found poetry where the writer takes words, phrases, lines, sentences from other texts and combines them into a completely new form. See here for more explanation and a few examples. Think sampling, mashing-up, or remixing.  There are many many ways to do this. One is to have your students go through a collection of their own work and poach different pieces from each to create a new text. Another way to do it is to have students share their writing with each other so that the writer is building a new text out of the pieces of his or her peers. The example below is from a high school class. I’ll let the teacher describe what they did:

So I’ve been noodling around with catalog verse as a warm up… that’s not that interesting… but after students do the normal thing, read share etc… I ask for a volunteer to collect everyone’s paper and ask them to use the students work to make a class compilation… to start out, many students would make a representative list picking one or two from each student… sort of an all-star list poem… they have now sort of evolved into something a little more unique… this one is really tremendous… the student using the other students work, came up with something quite interesting and doesn’t have a Frankenstein feel at all… check it out… Things That Drive Us Crazy When people think they’re above me People Feeling inferior When someone takes a joke personally Being excluded My family My friends Love Bitches, man High School College talk Deadlines Pressure My stupid mistakes When I can’t solve a math problem, or a problem of any kind The uncertainty of my future My anxiety Schizophrenia When they just don’t shut up Ignorance Arrogance and opinionating Failure A bad loss in anything Having to be an adult about it Irresponsibility Ambiguous directions Double Standards Foggy Brain Thinking I drive myself crazy

One of the qualities of the Cento that makes this a must do warm up or writing experiment is the opportunity it provides for students to revisit writing, to look at it with new eyes, to experience how they can manipulate it, and to realize that writing begets other writing. Students must think strategically for Centos to work. Plus, it privileges surprises through juxtaposition – a move that energizes writing.

Definitions – (partners, small groups, large groups)

The challenge is to collaboratively write definitions for common words. Begin by showing students a few definitions from a dictionary: what are some common moves that are made in definitions (parts of speech, multiple definitions, examples of use, synonyms, antonyms)? Then, ask the students to suggest a few common words that would be interesting to define (e.g. desk, smile, run, lettuce, crime). Write ’em up on the board. Partner the students up or organize them in small or large groups and have them each get out a piece of paper. Have them choose a word from the list or one they have in their head and put it at the top of the paper. Next, have them collaboratively build definitions for the chosen words in a three or four word trade off. Coach the students to use the moves that are commonly made in dictionary definitions, but surprise us with new and surprising definitions, uses, synonyms, and antonyms for the words (e.g. Lettuce: Common contraction of the two words “let” and “us.” “Hey, lettuce  entertain you!”. 

Dice – (partners, small groups, large groups)

Throw a dice and write as many words as show on the dice for that line. Good, strategic fun!

Dueling Voices – (individual)

Great warm up for flexibility and for cultivating what Burroughs called the “Third Mind.” To start, choose two seemingly unrelated texts: A compendium of film reviews and a field guide to North American birds, or Great Expectations and a computer users guide. Choose one of your students who is a good reader or have a parent, student teacher, or colleague be your partner. Have your students get out a piece of paper and a pencil. Then, challenge them to write down exactly what they hear as you read the two texts aloud at the same time. When the students are ready, have your partner and you read the two texts aloud simultaneously so that the words from the two texts blend in the air. Read slowly, clearly, with emotion. As you read together, you will begin to hear when to emphasize and when not. Have fun with this. Meanwhile, your students will be channeling what they hear down on the paper. At first, they might try to only get down what they hear from one text, but that will soon fall apart, and instead, they will start to let the blur of language flow on the page. That is what you are aiming for. Read aloud for five minutes or so. You’ll know when to stop. Then, have the students read what they wrote to themselves. Suggest that they can add punctuation to help with flow. Next, have them read the piece to someone else so that they can hear the real possibility in the writing. What should happen is this otherworldly, often times quite funny, mash-up of the two texts. Like many of the experiments on this list, the more you do this, the better you get at it. While on the surface it seems like a pretty simple experiment, the work that is happening is quite deep and sophisticated. It is not easy for students to open up and allow a cacophony of language to spill out on the page. Here is a cool example. This dueling voice piece comes from a colleague reading David Crystal’s Dictionary of Language and me reading from the Philadelphia Film Festival film descriptions.   This particular piece was written by a 10th grader.

The Dying Surviving Talking Head The peas in the 18 th century was construed by dollops of language, nasal liquids, large frittatas connected inside, drenched in abstract tactile experiences.  Stability and founder of snare of avant-garde  present active teacher, Lilly, comprised recognition for the row of his dying surviving talking heads.  Tone muscle movement stage deadpan techniques.  Eroticism bowels vowels body parts fricative arousal blade waitress in the palette.  Bully of bicuspids soap opera.  Production of vocal Australians dangling behind that minimal cinema mirror.  Religious cults in one such case dispossession of thought. Where did the pursuit of cross Aldon Brown occur?  I left carry of cats and Canadian wars and the thinking cap of the lustful bluebell daughter, a wit rose.  Sydney stringing satirical. Sydney spending too much time focusing on us. You shouldn’t even focus on pen.  Glory performance, touch knockdown but David is at odds with Humpty-Dumpty and this confrontation between sickness and honor could lead to so many deserving dispossession and conclusions. Nick Dekker

Erasure – (individual)

No not the New Wave group. Instead, it is a chance to have your students interact with a published poem or excerpt from a short story or novel. The idea comes from Ronald Johnson’s RADI OS poems where he took poems from Milton’s Paradise Lost and blacked out certain words, phrases or whole lines to create entirely new poems. The title “RADI OS” is extracted from Pa radi se L os t. You can check out some of Johnson’s RADI OS poems here . And here is an excellent article on the art of erasure from Jacket magazine with numerous examples. This is an excellent warm up to have your students read a section of text, or a poem, deeply. Basically, what you do is handout a published poem or an excerpt from a story or novel. Every student needs to have their own copy, and they need to be able to write on it. Once you have handed out photocopied excerpts or whole poems, challenge your students to black out sections of the text to make a completely new text. Sharpies are helpful here, but you can always use pencils or ball point pens. This is a visual as well as textual experiment because the way they black out single words, phrases, and lines creates an interesting image on the page. The crafting of a new text out of the old develops fertile ground for deeper understandings and new interpretations of the original piece. Could be a great thing to do with student writing as well. Give it a shot!

Exquisite Corpse – (partners, small group, large group)

Ah, the granddaddy of collaborative writing! Everyone starts with a piece of paper. Coach each student to write a line, and then fold the paper over the line to conceal it. Then pass. The next person writes the next line, not being able to see the line(s) before, and so on, until the paper is all folded up. Then, have each student grab a finished one and read it for her or himself first, to get the inner logic of the piece. Then have them read them aloud in small groups or pairs, depending on time. It is best for you to read one aloud first so that they can hear what it can really sound like to read an exquisite corpse with meaning. Important tip: what gives exquisite corpses their energy is to not write in complete sentences. Instead, coach your students to write in phrases and single words. Encourage them to leave their line hanging, right in the middle of a thought. See what happens.

Family Circus one liners – (individual)

Go online and find a few Family Circus comics. Once you have found a few that you like, print them out and make copies of them without the caption. Then, the morning of the warm up, hand out these caption-less Family Circus comics and have the students come up with as many crazy and surprising captions as possible. Another way to do it is to show one on your smartboard without the caption and have all the students come up with captions for the same one. Share!

Fill the void – (individual, partners)

This is a great warm up or writing experiment to push strategic thinking, and deep, close reading. Take a poem, short story, or excerpt from a novel, essay or play and remove a section of it (see below for an example). If it is a poem, remove a stanza. A short story, remove a small paragraph. You get the idea. Share the poem, story, novel, essay, or play with the section missing with your students, telling them that you have removed a section. Make sure that they can see the void that is left. The visual aspect of this is important. Read the piece aloud. Once you have read it with the gap, challenge your students to fill that void. Prompt them with the question “What is missing?” Give them ten or so minutes to fill the void. If there is a short section that you have removed, push your students to write several different versions. Then,  give them a chance to share what they created with a partner so that they can hear it aloud. If they have written several versions, have them chose the one that they think is the strongest to share. Once your students have shared their ideas aloud, reveal to them the piece as it was originally written. Read it aloud.

Here is an example, using Franz Kafka’s A Little Fable:

Franz Kafka A Little Fable “Alas,” said the mouse, “the whole world is growing smaller every day. At the beginning it was so big that I was afraid, I kept running and running, and I was glad when I saw walls far away to the right and left, but these long walls have narrowed so quickly that I am in the last chamber already, and there in the corner stands the trap that I must run into.”

I have removed the ending to Kafka’s fable. It is a separate paragraph, one sentence long. What would you write for the ending? What’s missing?

An added challenge: Kafka’s original ending to this fable is 14 words long. Can you write a 14 word ending?

Did you give it a shot? Ok, here is the piece with Kafka’s original ending:

Franz Kafka A Little Fable “Alas,” said the mouse, “the whole world is growing smaller every day. At the beginning it was so big that I was afraid, I kept running and running, and I was glad when I saw walls far away to the right and left, but these long walls have narrowed so quickly that I am in the last chamber already, and there in the corner stands the trap that I must run into.” “You only need to change your direction,” said the cat, and ate it up.

What you will find with this experiment is your students working really hard to imitate Kaka’s style, thinking deeply about what a good ending would sound like, and reading the piece over and over and over again to really understand it. The writerly conversation once they see the original ending is fantastic too. Have your students share their thoughts about the original ending. Is it what you expected? Why? Why not? Do you like your or your partner’s ending better? How did you decide to write your ending?

Fortune cookies – (partners, small group, large group)

Not sure where I got this idea. Share a few fortunes from fortune cookies first. Talk about what makes them tic. Then, have your students come up with their own – word for word, trade off style.

Four word trade-offs – (partners, small groups, large groups)

Same as three word trade-offs but with four words. See three word trade-offs.

Gibberish – (partners, small group, large group)

Special thanks to the improv game Gibberish (see  here ). The goal and fun here is to write something that makes absolutely no sense. Do so in three or four word trade-offs. This is a great warm up for keeping students on their toes the whole time, working hard to not make any surface sense. Added bonus: pass the gibberish to another partner team, small group, or large group, and have that group translate the gibberish in three or four word trade-offs.

Gleaning – (individual, pairs, small groups)

Gleaning: extracting information from various sources; collecting gradually and bit by bit. The term gleaning is traditionally used in relation to the collecting of left-over grain or fruit or vegetables after the harvest. Farm workers and others comb the plowed field or plucked orchard for the left-over wheat or fruit. For more on this, check out the fantastic film – The Gleaners and I (Les Glaneurs et la Glaneuse). You can watch it here in its entirety. We can apply this practice in writing as well. For this warm up, first collect odd scraps of text – bits of newspaper, flyers, junk mail, pages from old books, old letters salvaged at garage sales. You can collect these or you can have your students collect them and bring them in. Make sure that there is enough collected that every individual, or pair, or small group has a good collection from which to work. The day of the warm-up, put the gleaned writing in a pile in the middle of the room. Have your individual students, pairs, or small groups go to the pile and select a random assortment. Once this is done, challenge your students to create a new text out of the gleaned scraps in ten minutes: a word here, a phrase there, a sentence or two from another source. Don’t give too much direction more than that. Let your students figure out what to do.  Of course, have them share their results.

Amp it up!: Provide scissors and glue so that your students can cut out the words, phrases, and sentences that they want to use and then have them paste them on a large sheet of paper to create a work of art.

Glen Baxter riffs – (individual)

A particular favorite with middle and high school students. First, Go to Glen Baxter’s   site   and take a look at all of his great paintings. Notice how surprising the non-sequitur captions are. Then, pick one that is appropriately zany for your students. The morning of the warm-up, show them the painting with the caption. Have them talk a bit about it. Ask them what they see. Have them be specific. This will help with the writing. Then, challenge them to write the story of the painting, and the story must end with Glen Baxter’s caption. Give ‘em 10 minutes to do it. The added constraint of the time ups the creativity and surprise.

Alternative: Have your students write down something that they heard at some point in the day before coming to class. Push them to make it as close to verbatim as possible. They don’t need to be serious, or funny, or profound. They just need to be real and genuine. Once they have written down a quote, have them fold it up and then pass it to the person next to them. The challenge is to write a story in five minutes that ends with the quote that has been handed to them.

Ice cubes – (partners, small group, large group)

A la Kit Robinson, a wonderful poet. These are four line stanzas with one word per line. Have students try these in pairs. The “cubes” can stand on their own or link together to form fantastical stories or thoughts. See   here   for some examples.

Ingredients – (partners)

Special thanks to John Ashbury and Kenneth Koch. Have your students come up with five ingredients. For example, a piece of furniture, a sense, the word “fabricate,” a famous animal, and a condiment. Then, challenge them to write a poem or story where each line or sentence needs to contain the five ingredients. Trade off line for line or sentence for sentence.

Initials – (individual, partners, small group, large group)

Cool form of acrostic poem. Do it with everyone’s initials! Great in partners, small groups, or whole classes. Trade line for line.  Here is an example. The initials are LCG:

          onLy If you Can              Gargle the Magna Carta

I Know/ I don’t know – (partners)

Line trade off. First person writes a line starting with “I know…” and completes it, then passes. The second person writes the next line starting with “I don’t know…” and completes it. Coach the students to be wild, unpredictable, funny, serious, specific and concrete.

I remember/I don’t remember – (partners)

A tip of the hat to Joe Brainard. Same as above, only using “I remember and don’t remember” instead.

I used to/ but now I… – (partners)

You are probably getting the idea now! A form of catalogue verse. First person writes a line starting with “I used to….” and completes it. The paper gets passed. The next person writes the line “But now I…” and completes. it. Remind your students to stay on their toes. The two lines do not have to relate! Surprise us!

Illot Mollo – (small or large group)

Thanks to Jack Collom. This is an individual game, but it is played in a group. To set up, have everyone take out a piece of paper. Explain that when you say go, you want everyone to start writing. It can be a letter to a friend. Directions to a secret location. A rant about the lack of choice at lunch. Then, after about 10 seconds, one person is going to shout out a word. Determine who is going to start this ahead of time. When that word is shouted out, everyone in that moment must incorporate that word into what they are writing. Then, after 10 more seconds (about the equivalent of writing two lines on a page), the next person shouts out a word. It cannot be a word that they just wrote. It must be from another place in the person’s brain! And so on until everyone in the circle has shouted out a word. In the set up of this, coach the students on a few things. First, shout out your word loudly and clearly. Second, do not ask the person to repeat their word. It messes with the flow. Instead, write what you think you heard. Third, do not get in a rut. For example, the first person says “sand.” The next person says “sun.” The third person says “beach.” This is a deadly pattern. The words should come from the deep recesses of the brain. They should not be connected to what was said before. Four, you keep tabs on the pace. If the words are coming too quickly, slow the group down. Too slow, up the tempo a bit. Oh, and let ‘em read these aloud. They can be incredibly inventive and funny!

Love Poem, the Worst – (individual, partners, small groups, large group)

Challenge your class to write the worst love poem in the world. You can look at an example or two of love poems to prime the pump, but it isn’t necessary (see here for some models). There is something inherently understood about what makes for a bad love poem so not a lot of set-up is necessary. What is wonderfully surprising about this warm-up is that you will find that the poems that you and your students write aren’t bad at all. In fact, they will probably be pretty darn good because of the surprising language used, the funny images created, and the light touch that the students will apply. In fact, often what happens is that the students come to realize that they have actually written a pretty darn good love poem. But don’t reveal that surprise ahead of time. Just whet their appetite with the idea of writing a really bad love poem and see what they produce. Other ideas: worst poem in general, worst jokes, worst one-liners, worst excuses, worst menu items. This can be done collaboratively as well, trading line for line, for example.

One word trade-offs poetry-style alphabet – (partners, small group, large group)

Everyone starts with their own paper. Each line is one word and follows the order of the alphabet. Swap line for line and see what happens.

One word trade-offs prose-style -(partners)

First person writes the first word. Second person writes the second word right after it in narrative form, and so on. Coach them to stay on their toes and to accept the offer and build on it. This results in a wonderful, stream of collective-conscious story.

One word trade-offs prose-style alphabet – (partners, small group, large group)

Quite a challenge, particularly if you make it a practice in your class. Everyone starts with their own paper. First person writes the first word starting with A and passes. Second person writes the second word starting with the letter B right after the A word in narrative form, and so on, following the order of the alphabet. Challenge your students to work to make the narrative “make sense” and to not take the easy way out with letters like Q, X, and Z. The more they do this form, the more they will realize all of the choices they have for words. This experiment also opens up an opportunity for the class to collect words beginning with certain letters. Here’s an example:

“Avast!” Bruce cantered delicately entering France, gesticulating heretically, “Infadel!” Just knowing, let Monsieur Nunchucks open posthumous queries regarding succession. Tyranny usually voluntarily wanes xylyls, yawned zealots.

Punctuation is always fair game.

One word trade-offs, single letter-style (individual, partners, small group, large group)

A great way to raise the stakes with one word trade-offs. Introduce this experiment like the other versions of one word trade-offs, but this time, challenge your students to only use one letter (e.g. B). This means that every word in the piece must begin with the letter B. This is a fantastic way to push your students to dig deep into their vocabulary reserves as well as to see all of the different ways that a word can be used in context. Here is a great example:

Bert Battles Barry Behind boundaries of Bert’s bar, Barry bellowed behind Bert’s barmaid. Barry bombastically bequeathed berries. “Boy,” Bert began before being berated by Barry, “Berries before bed become bastardly.” “Bah!” Bert belted before basking by Barry, “Berries… Barf!” Barry’s battle by Bert beleaguered Bert’s bartender badly. “Banish Barry, Bert!” Bert’s bartender back-talked. Bemused, Barry befell Bert beneath Bert’s bar, beating Bert by barraging back-punches before backstabbing Bert with Bert’s beaten boards. Barry buried Bert beneath Bert’s barn. Being bereaved, Barry blubbered by Bert’s body before becoming born-again. Barry’s bulls bent Bert’s bones. Nick Dekker

One word trade-offs, slo-mo (individual, partners, small group, large group)

Really slow the process down here. This is an experiment to do over the course of a year. Each day, have the students get out their one word trade-off, and add one new word to it, building the text over months. Slowing the experiment down in this way really gives students the chance to focus on how the story is developing, word by word. The choice of the word each day becomes paramount. Not for the faint of heart. This form of the collaborative exercise reminds me of what some piano instructors will do with their students. They will have them play a song extra slow in order to truly understand it. In this case, instead of notes, we are playing words and in the process really coming to an understanding of how the writing of a story evolves over time. Added bonus: students appreciate time in a new way – 180 words equals a school year. Pretty cool!

Only in the room (individual, partners, small group, large group)

Grabbed on to this idea after learning a bit about the Neo-Futurist Theater group out of New York City. One of the games that they play when writing plays is to place the constraint of only being able to write about what is in the room at the time. The people, the space, the things, the sounds. Only what is in the room. Give this a shot with your students as a writing warm up. Ask them to get out a piece of paper or fire up their laptops. Open by setting the stage with “We’re going to write a story for this warm up, and the story can only happen in this room. Nothing outside of this room can enter the story.” Like usual, coach them to follow the ink. Don’t spend a lot of time in your head. Don’t cross things out. The tendency here will probably be for a lot of questions: “What about…” “Can we…” “Is it ok if I…” Don’t spend time answering those questions. Instead, encourage your students to try to stick to the constraint the way that they understand it. Set a timer if you want for 5 minutes, and let ’em go! You write with them, of course. This seemingly very restrictive constraint tends to open writers up to be expansive, imaginative, and surprising. Give them a chance to read what they get down to a partner so that they can hear the possibility. This exercise can be done individually or collaboratively. In small or large groups. Also a great way to get a quick draft down of a story idea. Something that students can return to at a later date and elaborate and craft. 

Piece it together (individual)

Bring in a box of assorted found objects: buttons, string, old lightbulbs, ceramic shards, business cards. The more the merrier. Put the box in the center of your room. Have your students come up and pick three or so objects from the box. You can have each of your students do this for themselves, or you could have one student pick three objects for the class as a whole. Then, have your students put them in an order on their desk or in front of the class (e.g. button first, business card second, torn glove third). Next, challenge them to write a story where they uncover how the first object led to the second which led to the third. To put this in the form of a question: “How did we get from a button to a torn glove?” Don’t spend a lot of time explaining it. Give them 5 to ten minutes to write, and then have them share.

Postcards (of apology, giving directions, providing clarification, of frustration) – (partners, small group, large group)

Begin by asking your students if they even know what a postcard is! Then, ask them what the qualities of a postcard are: pithy comments, highlighting a particular moment, “wish you were here.” Then tell them that they are going to warp the postcard form. Challenge them to write a postcard as a three word trade off. Make it even more challenging by telling them that the postcard is in the form of an apology. Have each student get out a piece of paper. Turn it horizontal. Draw a line down the middle. Draw three lines for the imaginary address on the right, maybe put a square in the upper righthand corner for a stamp. Then, have each student begin the postcard by writing the salutation to a person or thing: Dear epiglotis or Dear anxiety or Dear my ninth grade teacher, Ms. Maunbraut or Dear Lone Ranger. Once they have done that, have them write the first three words of the postcard, keeping in mind that it is an apology, and then have them pass to the next person. When the time is almost up, challenge them further by having the last person come up with a great sign-off and a three word PS! Make sure to read aloud! This experiment should be done prose-style, meaning that the next three words should come directly after the three words before on the page to read more like a narrative than a poem. Encourage them to play with punctuation!

Predictions – (individual, partners, small groups)

Beginnings of schools years, right before breaks, and end of school years are perfect times to warm up with Predictions. Challenge your students to make as many predictions as they can in 5 or ten minutes. You can do it in the form of a list poem, starting with “I predict…” or “that…” Or you can let your students find their own form for this idea. As always, it can be good to prime the pump by cranking out a few of them on the board as a whole group. Then, at a later date, you can return to them and see if any of their predictions have come true! These can be done individually or in groups, trading off line for line. Push your students to make wild, serious, funny, poignant, and predictable prognostications. The back and forth creates surprise and humor.

Extension: Have your students swap their predictions. Then, have them choose a prediction that they are particularly intrigued by and have them write the story/explanation of what, how, and why it happened.

Questions without answers – (partners)

Swap questions, line for line. Can you grow smaller? What if we had 800 teeth? Do birds ever get sore throats? Coach your students to play with tone: some serious, some playful, some funny, some sad, etc.

Radio Poems – (individual)

This is a fun one! Bring in a portable radio to school one day. Ask your students to take out a sheet of paper and a pen or pencil. Challenge them to write what they hear, capturing snippets down on paper. Each snippet can be its own line. Then, turn on the radio, and flip the dial, landing on a station for only a few seconds at a time so that the students and you can only hear a fleeting moment. The goal isn’t to write down everything you hear, just tidbits. This will create a wonderful pastiche of a poem that will make surprising sense. Do this trip around the dial for 5 or so minutes. Then, have your students read what they have aloud to a partner so that they can hear the possibilities. This is an excellent experiment to build careful listening  skills and to grow flexibility in writing. The quest for perfection stifles good writing. In this experiment, it is impossible to write down all that one hears so students must be flexible, giving themselves the freedom to only capture snippets and then allowing themselves to move on to the next soundbite. This can be quite liberating and can influence the way they approach the page in other writing projects.

Story Machine – (individual)

A fantastic writing game to keep students on their toes and to help generate great story ideas. This will take longer than 15 minutes, but it is well worth it! Consider it a lesson that builds on convergent and divergent thinking/writing. Follow these simple steps to have your students scrambling to put pencil to paper!

Everyone gets 10 index cards. On five of them write down an occupation or character label (e.g. cat lady, circus clown, computer repair woman) On the other five, write down an interesting, mildly unusual behavior or action. For the action, avoid the commonplace (reading a book, shopping) and the outrageous (curing cancer, murder). Examples might include, punches people in the nose, steals small things from people’s houses, breaks light bulbs, hordes rubber balls, reads other people’s mail).

Once the students are finished making their two piles of five, have them switch their piles with a partner. Each person should get five cards from the two piles – five character cards, and five behavior cards. Have the students flip over one of each type of card, one at a time, looking at the pair. Encourage them to imagine the possible story behind it. Why did the Mall Santa punch someone in the nose? Have your students continue flipping pairs of cards until they find a combination that really sparks their imaginations. Once they’ve found the combination they like, have them write story behind the combination. Ask your students: What brought your character to this moment? What are the consequences of this action? Have fun!

This can be an excellent game to begin the process of writing a story that is a project in and of itself. It can also be a good game to play to add a new dimension to a story that students are already writing. For example, students in fourth grade write stories about the Gilded Age. In the middle of the process of writing their stories, Debbie used Story Machine to challenge her students to introduce a new character into the story. This instantly added a new energy to the stories, making them more immediate and interesting to read.

For younger students, consider playing this game as a group. Have the group come up with the two piles and then choose a pair that seems intriguing. Tell an oral story as a group based on the pairing. Have the students draw the picture behind the pairing. You could even have them act out the story behind the pairing! All kinds of possibilities!

Take One, Take Two, Take 3  – (partners, small group, large group)

Each writer writes a line on a page. Pass the paper. The next writer approaches the same line from a different angle, a different take, similarly to taking a picture from a different perspective. Pass the paper. A different take. Pass the paper. Another take. See how many different takes, different perspectives, can be made on any given line. Great for opening up and practicing the skill of perspective and empathy in writing.

Ten Thousand Years (individual, partners)

I got this idea from a great episode of 99% Invisible . I highly recommend that you listen to it. Here’s how to set it up. Tell your students that they have been contracted to create a simple sign warning people to stay away from the radioactive waste buried in the ground. The catch is that it needs to be able to be read and understood 10,000 years from now.  Tell them you will give them 10 minutes to come up with the design…maybe 15. After they draw their ideas and share them, I would highly recommend listening to the 99% Invisible episode about this exact project. It will take the whole period, but it will be worth it. Oh, and send me some of their designs. I would love to see them!

The Gift – (partners, small group, large group)

Hopefully you have been having your students collect the warm ups that they have been doing in your class. This game is an excellent way to have them dig back into that writing, remind themselves of what they have done, do a bit of close reading, and pass along a nugget to a classmate. For this game, have your students take out some or all of that wonderful warm writing that you have been doing, and give them a few minutes to just peruse it as a way of refreshing their memories of the writing that they have done. Then, ask them to root through the writing and find a phrase or a sentence that sticks out to them for some reason. Don’t take too long for this. Maybe a minute or two. Ask them to write the phrase or sentence down on a piece of paper or at the top of a Google doc that they are going to share. Next, depending on how you have organized the game, have them share their phrase or sentence with someone else in the class. This could be done in partners. If in small groups, you could have them pass their gift to the person to the right. You get the drift. Finally, challenge your students to start a piece with whatever phrase or sentence gift that they have received. Form is up to the writer. Encourage them to go for it. As always, give your students the freedom to not worry about spelling or crossing things out. Spend all of the time finding what that phrase or sentence has to offer. Give them 5 minutes to write. At the end of five minutes, allow them to share in whatever format makes sense in terms of the time you have (i.e. in partners, in small groups, handed in to you for you to pick a few to share). 

Things that go away and come back again – (partners, small group, large group)

Again, a good line trade-off, but can be done word for word. This is a form of catalog verse. Have students or partners or groups make a surprising list of things that go away and come back again (e.g. Nose whistles, cravings for kalamata olives, the electric bill, my memory of where I parked the car)

Three word trade-offs – (partners, small group, large group)

This is a classic. Everyone has a piece of paper. Everyone writes the first three word line and then passes for the next person to write the next three word line. Coach the students to write three word lines that are not complete thoughts. Instead, let them hang there so that the next person has something to play off of.

Tzara’s Hat – (individual, small group, large group)

Unplanned Collaboration – (large groups)

This idea comes with a tip o’ the writing chapeau to Geoff Hewitt, a fantastic writer-teacher who documents this warm-up in the equally fantastic book Old Faithful . This is a great warm-up for pushing students to ‘start anywhere,’ for creating order out of writing chaos, for seeing the possibilities in words and phrases, and for acting strategically as a writer. Once your students have settled into their seats, have them take out a piece of paper and something to write with and ask them to write down the first phrase that comes to them from something that happened to them that morning or day. Might be helpful to show them an example from you: ‘strawberry jam and peanut butter on toast’ or ‘hit snooze twice’ or ‘sunlight through blinds.’ Coach your students to capture something that happened to them that day in the form of a phrase, not a complete sentence. Don’t spend too much time on this. Like always, you want to keep it light. Then, have them write the first phrase that comes to their mind. Once they have done that, choose students to read their phrases aloud. Write them down on the board, one phrase for each line.  Stop once you have 14, same number of lines as a sonnet. Now the fun starts. Have your students write down the 14 lines that you put up on the board on their pieces of paper. Then, challenge them to make those 14 seemingly disparate, unconnected lines, into a poem in about 10 minutes. Important rules: students can remove words, alter words in terms of tense, part of speech, or number, switch lines, and add grammatical choices. They must use all 14 lines in some way. In other words, they cannot remove one or more of the 14 lines completely. The key here is to design a challenge for your students to make sense out of text that has been given to them. After ten minutes is up, have them share with a partner what they have created. Of course, if you have more time – which you should make because this experiment is so great! – have your students share the strategies that they employed to make poetic meaning out of what they were given. This step deepens the learning significantly. Final thought: like with all of these experiments, the more you and your students do them, the better they will get and the deeper the impact will be on their overall writing.

Writing On Other Things (individual, pairs, small groups, large groups)

This warm up is powerful for many reasons. Often, writing on something other than traditional paper can unfreeze a student.  Writing on objects opens up other possibilities for expressing oneself in writing. There is a tactile quality to it that isn’t found when writing on paper – the student can hold the object, turn it, write all over it, feel the texture, etc. Objects can be “anthropomorphosized” more readily than paper which encourages students to talk to them or from them – all good stuff when it comes to coaching students to be flexible, fluent, and precise in their writing.  Finally, this experiment can be done collaboratively as word trade-offs, or done individually, or maybe both. Remember, the more you do this kind of stuff, the better the writing gets. Also, at the end of this experiment, you can then have the students set up their objects in a gallery and have them walk around and look at them. Other Warm-Up Ideas

5 Minute Quickies

Have your students write for five minutes at the beginning of class. Coach them to find the flow and to not correct spelling or cross anything out. The idea is to follow the ink. You can provide them with a prompt or not. I recommend that you provide a prompt for the first few weeks or months and then the students may be ready to write for five minutes without a prompt. Prompts can connect to the work you will be doing later in class (e.g. if you had one chance to write a letter to the main character in this novel, what would you write?) or they may be completely random (e.g. an alien is about to eat you. Convince it not to).

Other prompts that are connected to the work of the class

• What colors does this story make you think of? Why?
• Make a list of ways that you are like the main character
• Convince your friend why you should read this book
• Draw a picture of the main character. What does he/she look like?
• Make a list of sounds that this book makes you hear
• What questions does this book make you ask?

Other prompts

• Why does 2 plus 2 equal four?
• What would it feel like to be born inside a tree?
• What color is rain?
• Write a letter to your pencil
• Speak in a completely made up language
• Draw the inside of your mouth
• Write as many questions as you can
• Make a list of people you would never want to meet
• Make a list of names you wish you could be called (Coach your students to think realistically and unrealistically here. It gives them a chance to put down actual names they wish they had as well as fantastical and ridiculous ones. Potential next step: Choose one of these names and write a short  short story about him or her)
• Challenge your students to write one-side of a phone conversation. It’s trickier than you would think! What you leave out is just as important as what you leave in. Before jumping into this, you might want to transcribe a short and interesting phone conversation and show it in dialogue form and then show one side of the conversation to reveal the interesting moves that can be made in representing one side of a conversation. Lots of room to explore tension, mystery, and intrigue.

Another idea

List poems are fantastic warm up exercises. You can do them collaboratively or individually. The idea here is to allow your students to be wild, fantastical, and surprising. It’s good to read a model or two before sending them off to do list poems. Here are a few ideas:

• Lists of words you know
• Lists of books never heard of
• Lists of newly discovered body parts
• Lists of apologies I’ve made
• Lists of never before seen colors
• Lists of things I’m afraid of
• Fifty things I like a great deal
• Things that give an unclean feeling (a la Sei Shonagon)
• Things that give a clean feeling (a la Sei Shonagon)
• Monster poems
• List of clouds I have seen
• List of movie titles never heard of before
• List of names you wish you were called (push them to be literal and also fantastical)
• List of names you would never want to be called (same here)
• Things I’ve lost and others will find

Great resources for warm-up ideas

• Poetry Everywhere – Jack Collom
• The List Poem – Larry Fagin
• The Teachers and Writers Handbook of Poetic Forms – Ron Padgett
• Your crazy thoughts that happen usually right before you fall asleep

Special Note for our youngest of writers: For our really young writers, I have used the first part of the day as ‘writing time.’ Each student has their own box (I have used cigar boxes that the kids decorate). In these boxes are paper, pens, pencils and other things that the kids collect over time. The idea here is to provide the students with 15 or so minutes of uninterrupted writing time. I may provide a prompt (e.g. one of the ideas provided above) or not. I coach them to keep the pen, pencil, or crayon moving. They can draw, write, draw/write. At the end of the time, I have them share what they have created with a partner. I make sure to do this with them, modeling the kind of writing behavior that I want to see.

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15 comments on “ limbering up in the ela classroom: the serious fun of writing warm-ups ”.

Noelle McNesby

September 20, 2013 at 4:24 pm

Excellent! I’ve successfully used many of these creative warm-ups in my classroom. This compilation is essential for all teachers!

Deborah Kim

September 20, 2013 at 6:51 pm

Warm ups are necessary to anyone constantly exercising a skill/art and wanting to get better. Writers need to warm up in fun and meaningful ways, and these are GREAT ideas to do it!

September 24, 2013 at 8:01 pm

It’s also important that the teacher is warming up with the students. We all need to get warmed up for the writing, reading, thinking that we are going to do in the class. Plus, we should get to have fun as well!

Martha Crowell

September 20, 2013 at 6:54 pm

Great fun to read this. I loved your comment, “I want them to surprise themselves on the page.” I look forward to trying more of these.

Mary Ann Domanska

September 24, 2013 at 7:53 pm

It’s great to have these warm-ups in one place as a reminder for all that can be done… it’s so easy to get overwhelmed at the beginning of the year so having step-by-step activities like these are much appreciated!

September 24, 2013 at 8:02 pm

Glad to hear it! Do you have a warm up that you love to do with your students? If so, send it my way, and I will make sure to add it to the list with your name attached.

Peter Appelbaum

October 4, 2013 at 4:46 pm

I like the idea of the experiential “exclamation mark” that Sharon Friesen and Pat Clifford write about in their article, “Hard Fun.” http://pan.intrasun.tcnj.edu/ELEM690/HardFun.pdf

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July 23, 2015 at 11:18 pm

Thank you for all the great ideas! I’m a librarian in California and am going to try my hand at a FLASH fiction writing workshop. I was looking for warm up ideas before we dig in and this REALLY helped me! I’m thinking of using your comic idea and possibly doing book covers and having them write a quick description of the book! Thank you for all of these wonderful ideas!!

July 23, 2015 at 11:23 pm

Glad you found me, Loryn! Check out my post on writing author’s notes as well: http://www.writingbasedcurriculum.com/?s=warping+the+author%27s+note . You might get some good ideas there too. Also, I can connect you with other great teachers who have done and are doing flash fiction units. Just let me know if you are interested!

Amanda Paez

April 6, 2016 at 9:54 pm

Thank you for this wonderful post! I am the ELL/ Resource Teacher at my school and work with individuals and small groups all day. This week, I started using “one word trade-offs prose-style” and my students–even young ones and those who despise writing– are loving it! I love it too, because I get to work collaboratively with them and give them a little extra encouragement. I have found it really challenges them to use precise language and since they can only use one word, they really think about making it count.

I can’t wait to try more of your wonderful ideas!

June 12, 2018 at 12:00 am

Sorry for not seeing this when you originally posted it! Great to hear that you find these experiments helpful and that you are writing with your students!

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Free Creative Writing Worksheet with 5 Warm-up Exercises

• by Domestika @domestika

Download these free writing exercises to challenge your creativity and come to the blank page filled with inspiration

Writing a unique and engaging book that readers simply can’t put down often means finding ways to put a twist on well-known tropes and writing habits. Prompts are a great way to open your mind by introducing new ideas and rules to experiment with .

Emily Barr ( @emily_barr ) is an award-winning novelist and Domestika teacher who combines a love for travel with her talent for writing addictive thrillers to take readers on a journey. Here, she shares five warm-up prompts that will help you stretch your writing muscles in a downloadable PDF worksheet.

How to get started with writing prompts

“It’s much easier to not write a book, than to write a book!” Emily explains. As the author of several adult and young adult thrillers in the UK, and horror and sci-fi in the US, she needs to stay motivated and engaged with her projects through lots of drafting and editing.

While reading Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way , Emily was introduced to the practice of morning pages , where you begin a writing day by filling three pages by hand. This can help “unstick” your mind.

And if you’re struggling to think of things to write about, writing prompts are your best friend. They might be a single word or image you can bounce off, or they might be a whole scene waiting to be explored.

Benefits of using writing prompts

1. You can discover new ideas and themes you want to explore in your main project.

2. It’s easier to get started on a slower writing day.

3. You can experiment with styles or genres you don’t usually write.

4. They give your brain a break from writing the same thing every day.

5. It’s liberating to write something completely silly, that you don’t have to share with anyone!

Download the free PDF worksheet with five writing warm-up exercises

After clicking on the download button below, you’ll find a PDF file titled Creative Writing Warm-up Worksheet by Emily Barr in your Downloads folder.

Inside, you can learn more about Emily’s course, and also discover the prompts she recommends to stimulate your creativity before you work on your novel. They will push you to think about a range of aspects in your writing, from dialogue to description—and even challenge you to write a story with every letter of the alphabet!

Join for Free and download

EN download-20230825T091752Z-001.zip

Sign up for Emily’s course, Writing a Psychological Thriller . There, you’ll write the opening of your own book, a 25-word synopsis, and plan the rest of your plot with an experienced novelist as your guide.

Discover more writing resources

1. Try these two additional writing exercises to overcome creative block.

2. Learn the difference between a novel and a short story , so you can make the right choice for your narrative.

3. Watch these six free creative writing tutorials for all levels.

4. Go from the blank page to a daily writing practice with this course by Aniko Villalba.

5. Develop your first novel idea with this course by Shaun Levin.

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50 Fantastic Creative Writing Exercises

Good question.

Creative writing exercises are designed to teach a technique. They are highly specific, more specific than creative writing prompts, and much more specific than story generators.

Creative writing exercises for adults are not designed to lead the writer into crafting a full story, but are only designed to help them improve as a writer in a narrow, specific category of writing skills.

I’ve broken the exercises below into categories so you can choose what category of skill you’d like to practice. Can you guess which category in this list has the most prompts?

If you guessed characters, then you’re right. I think characters are the heart blood of every story, and that a majority of any writing prompts or writing exercises should focus on them.

But I also think any of these will help you create a narrative, and a plot, and help you generate all kinds of dialogue, whether for short stories or for novels. These writing exercises are pretty much guaranteed to improve your writing and eliminate writer’s block. 

Also, if you’re a fledgling writer who needs help writing their novel, check out my comprehensive guide to novel writing.

Enjoy the five categories of writing exercises below, and happy writing!

1. Think of the most deafening sound you can imagine. Describe it in great detail, and have your character hear it for the first time at the start of a story.

2. Have a man cooking for a woman on a third date, and have her describe the aromas in such loving and extended detail that she realizes that she’s in love with him.

3. Pick a line from one of your favorite songs, and identify the main emotion. Now write a character who is feeling that emotion and hears the song. Try to describe the type of music in such a beautiful way that you will make the reader yearn to hear the song as well.

4. Have a character dine at a blind restaurant, a restaurant in pitch blackness where all the servers are blind, and describe for a full paragraph how the tablecloth, their clothing, and the hand of their dining partner feels different in the darkness.

5. Select a dish representative of a national cuisine, and have a character describe it in such detail that the reader salivates and the personality of the character is revealed.

7. Describe two characters having a wordless conversation, communicating only through gestures. Try to see how long you can keep the conversation going without any words spoken, but end it with one of them saying a single word, and the other one repeating the same word.

8. In a public place from the last vacation you took, have two characters arguing, but make it clear by the end of the argument that they’re not arguing about what they’re really upset about.

9. Write a scene composed mostly of dialogue with a child talking to a stranger. Your mission is to show the child as heartbreakingly cute. At the same time, avoid sentimentality. 

10. Have two character have a conversation with only a single word, creating emphasis and context so that the word communicates different things each time it is spoken. The prime example of this is in the television show “The Wire,” where Jimmy and Bunk investigate a crime scene repeating only a single expletive.

11. Pick an object that is ugly, and create a character who finds it very beautiful. Have the character describe the object in a way that convinces the reader of its beauty. Now write a second version where you convince the reader (through describing the object alone) that the character is mentally unstable.

12. Write down five emotions on slips of paper and slip them into a hat. Now go outside and find a tree. Draw one emotion from the hat, and try to describe that tree from the perspective of a character feeling that emotion. (Don’t mention the emotion in your writing — try to describe the tree so the reader could guess the emotion).

13. Describe a character’s bedroom in such a way that it tells us about a person’s greatest fears and hopes.

14. Root through your desk drawer until you find a strange object, an object that would probably not be in other people’s drawers. Have a character who is devastated to find this object, and tell the story of why this object devastates them.

15. Go to an art-based Pinterest page and find your favorite piece of art. Now imagine a living room inspired by that flavor of artwork, and show the room after a husband and wife have had the worst fight of their marriage.

16. Pick a simple object like a vase, a broom, or a light bulb, and write a scene that makes the reader cry when they see the object.

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17. Make a list of the top five fears in your life. Write a character who is forced to confront one of those fears.

18. Write an entire page describing the exact emotions when you learned of a happy or calamitous event in your life. Now try to condense that page into a single searing sentence.

19. Think about a time in your life when you felt shame. Now write a character in a similar situation, trying to make it even more shameful.

20. Write a paragraph with a character struggle with two conflicting emotions simultaneously. For example, a character who learns of his father’s death and feels both satisfaction and pain.

21. Write a paragraph where a character starts in one emotional register, and through a process of thought, completely evolves into a different emotion.

Characters:

22. Create a minor character based upon someone you dislike. Now have your main character encounter them and feel sympathy and empathy for them despite their faults.

23. Have a kooky character tell a story inside a pre-established form: an instruction manual, traffic update, email exchange, weather report, text message.

24. Write about a character who does something they swore they would never do.

25. Have a character who has memorized something (the names of positions in the Kama Sutra, the entire book of Revelations) recite it while doing something completely at odds with what they’re reciting. For instance, bench pressing while reciting the emperors in a Chinese dynasty.

26. Write a paragraph where a character does a simple action, like turning on a light switch, and make the reader marvel at how strange and odd it truly is.

27. Have a couple fight while playing a board game. Have the fight be about something related to the board game: fighting about money, have them play monopoly. Fighting about politics, let them play chess.

28. Write about two characters angry at each other, but have both of them pretend the problems don’t exist. Instead, have them fight passive-aggressively, through small, snide comments.

29. Describe a character walking across an expanse field or lot and describe how he walks. The reader should perfectly understand his personality simply by the way you describe his walk.

30. Write a first-person POV of a character under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and try to make the prose as woozy and tipsy as the character.

31. Describe the first time that a character realizes he is not as smart as he thought.

32. Describe an hour in the life of a character who has recently lost their ability to do what they love most (a pianist who has severe arthritis; a runner who became a quadriplegic).

33. Write an argument where a husband or wife complains of a physical ailment, but their spouse refuses to believe it’s real.

34. Write a scene where a stranger stops your main character, saying that they know them, and insisting your main character is someone they are not. Describe exactly how this case of mistaken identity makes your character feel.

35. Describe a small personality trait about a person you love, and make the reader love them, too.

36. Write a personality-revealing scene with a character inside a public restroom. Do they press a thumb against the mirror to leave a subtle mark? Do they write a plea for help on the inside of the stall door? Do they brag about the size of what they’ve just dumped off?

37. Give your character an extremely unusual response to a national tragedy like a terrorist attack or natural disaster. Maybe have them be aware their response is unusual, and try to cloak it from others, or have them be completely unaware and display it without any self-consciousness.

38. Have one of your main characters come up with an idea for a comic book, and tell a close friend about the idea. What about this idea would surprise the friend, upsetting what he thought he knew about your main character? Also, what would the main character learn about himself from the comic book idea?

39. Think of an illness someone you love has suffered from. How does your character respond when someone close to them has this illness?

40. Have your main character invent an extremely offensive idea for a book, and show their personality faults through discussing it with others.

41. Have your character write down a list considering how to respond to their stalker.

42. Write a scene where a man hits on a woman, and although the woman acts repulsed and begs her friends to get him away from her, it becomes apparent that she likes the attention.

43. Write about a 20-something confronting his parents over their disapproval of his lifestyle.

44. Have your character write a funny to-do list about the steps to get a boyfriend or girlfriend.

45. Have a risk-adverse character stuck in a hostage situation with a risk-happy character.

46. For the next week, watch strangers carefully and take notes in your phone about any peculiar gestures or body language. Combine the three most interesting ones to describe a character as she goes grocery shopping.

47. Buy a package of the pills that expand into foam animals, and put a random one in a glass of warm water. Whatever it turns out to be, have that animal surprise your main character in a scene.

48. Have your character faced with a decision witness a rare, awe-inspiring event, and describe how it helps them make their decision.

49. Imagine if your character met for the first time his or her long-lost identical twin. What personality traits would they share and which ones would have changed because of their unique experiences? 

50. If a character got burned by a hot pan, what type of strange reaction would they have that would reveal what they value most?

Once you’ve taken a stab at some of these exercises, I’d recommend you use them in your actual writing.

And for instruction on that, you need a guide to writing your novel . 

That link will change your life and your novel. Click it now.

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34 comments

John Fox, you have some excellent resources, and I thank you. I read your comments, then scrolled down to glance at the list of 50 exercises. The FIRST one, “loud noise’ is already in my head. My Hero is going to be side swiped in my Cozy. I was side swiped on a state highway here in Virginia a couple of weeks ago and, although the damage was minor, the sound of that big SUV “glancing” off my little car was SCARY!!! I once heard a fast-moving car REAR-END is stand-still car; that sound was something I’ll never forget. So, your exercise is very timely. THANK YOU!!!

This is a great list! Thanks!

You know what would be motivating? If we could turn these in to someone and get like a grade lol

I can really see the benefit of doing these writing exercises. (Versus using prompts) The purpose is so much clearer. Some I can imagine my response fairly easily. (Though the task of not jumping on the obvious might make it harder than I imagine at this point) Some however I would struggle with ( number 42 for example), where I have zero sympathy for the main character’s plight. Hhhmmmm. But maybe they are the very ones I should be tackling – to see if I can develop them in a way that explains their behaviour and so creates sympathy. Thank you. Much food for thought.

I’ve been thinking a lot about “how to master writing,” and this is the first time that I found an article that makes it clear the difference between prompts and exercises. I fully agree with you. These are bound to make you a better writer if you focus on doing a variation of them daily.

An excellent list – thank you very much. I run a small writing group and we’ll be trying some.

Yes, thank you. I too run a small writing group and you got me out of a slump for tomorrow’s group!

yes,thank you . It’s good for improve your writing skills.

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What a lovely list! I am working on the final draft of my very first novel, and am constantly working at improving the final product. Your exercises are just what I need to kickstart my writing day. Thank you so very much.

Thank you very much When I turned50 I received my diploma from Children’s Institute in West Redding Ct I got my inspiration from being near water however now that I am in Oregon I have had a writing block thanks to your list my creative juices are flowing

I suppose I better have good punctuation, seeing this is about Writing. Thank you for this great list. I am the Chair of our small Writing group in Otorohanga and we start again last week of Feb. I have sent out a homework email, to write a A4 page of something exciting that has happened over the holiday break and they must read it out to the group with passion and excitement in their voices. That will get them out of their comfort zone!

A formidable yet inspiring list. Thank you very much for this. This is really very helpful. I am from India, and very new to writing and have started my first project, which I want to make it into a Novel. This has been very helpful and is very challenging too. Prompts look sissy when compared to this, frankly speaking. Thank you very much again.

Where can I get the answers for these?

There aren’t “answers.” You create responses to these exercises.

Thank you so much for the detailed suggestions focusing on HOW to put the WHAT into practice; really helpful & inspiring.

Just started rough drafting a story I’ve always wanted to write. Do you have any advice for someone writing their first real story? I’m having trouble starting it; I just want it to be perfect.

I consider this very helpful. Just started my journey as a creative writer, and will be coming back to this page to aid my daily writing goal.

I have always loved writing exercises and these are perfect practice for my competition. I have tried lots of different things that other websites have told me to try, but this by far is the most descriptive and helpful site that i have seen so far.

This is really a creative blog. An expert writer is an amateur who didn’t stop. I trust myself that a decent writer doesn’t actually should be advised anything but to keep at it. Keep it up!

I’ve always enjoyed writing from a little girl. Since I’ve been taking it a bit more seriously as does everybody else it seems; I’ve lost the fun and sponteneity. Until now…..this is a marvelous blog to get back the basic joy and freedom in writing. Or should that be of?:) These exercises are perfect to get the creative juices flowing again…..thank you:)

These are interesting exercises for writing.

These are fantastic! I started reading a really awesome book on creative writing but it just didn’t get any good or easy to follow exercises. So I found your site and having been having a lot of fun with these. Exactly what I was looking for, thank you!

creative and inspiring, thank you

I always wanted to have an exercise where a friend and I each wrote a random sentence and sent it to each other to write a short story from that beginning sentence, then exchange the stories for reading and/or critique. Maybe both writers start with the same sentence and see how different the stories turn out.

Thanks for these exercises. Some are really challenging. To truly tackle them I’m having to spend as long beforehand thinking “how the HECK am I going to do this?” as I do with ink on paper. Would be a great resource if other authors submitted their replies and thoughts about how they went about each exercise.

Start the conversation: submit one of yours.

I think I can use these to inspire my students.

Hi there. Thank you for posting this list- it’s great! Can I ask you to consider removing number 42 or perhaps changing it somewhat? I teach sex ed and every year am shocked by how many young people don’t understand issues around consent. Stories about woman who ‘say no but really mean yes’ are deeply unhelpful. Really appreciate your post but felt I had to ask. Thanks.

What’s wrong with the number 42?

It promulgates the belief that when a woman says no, she doesn’t mean it, potentially resulting in sexual assault.

I just make this list a part of my teaching in Creative Writing Classes. Very good list of ideas!

Thank you so much for posting this! I have used it to create a creative playwriting activity for my high school creative writing class–so much good stuff here for me to pick through and select for my kiddos that will allow them to shine and improve their knowledge of writing as a craft!

These exercises are amazing! Thank you so much for sharing 🙂

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7 Fun and Easy Warm Ups to Start Your Writing Day

The fastest way to become a proficient content creator is to make writing part of your daily routine.

When you write habitually , you open up a channel that allows the ideas in your head to more easily become a physical expression of those ideas. You go from thoughts to words on a page faster. Your writing improves.

And because you’re better at writing, you enjoy it more.

And because you enjoy it more, you write more often.

It’s a happy circular pattern of, “Doing more, which leads to doing better, which leads to doing more.”

But none of the above helps you when you’ve fired up your computer only to find yourself in a stare down contest with that frightening little vertical bar that inspires dread in the best of us.

The cursed cursor.

From here on out, you may find yourself looking forward to being taunted by that blinking bar. Because you’re about to learn how to dive in and warm up your “writer’s brain” with fun techniques that will get your fingers moving and your ideas flowing.

What’s the purpose of a writer’s warm up?

A writer’s warm up is a fun exercise that prepares you for the work ahead. It’s designed to help you leap past any writer’s block you may feel and get you started writing quickly and easily.

• To get your fingers on your keyboard and typing.
• To begin getting your writer’s brain in gear.
• To write — with no judgment and no expectation of an outcome.

The point of a writer’s warm up is not to create publishable material . It’s to spend a short time getting yourself ready to create publishable work.

You don’t need to spend a lot of time on these warm ups: 10–15 minutes should do it.

Remember: no judgment and no expectation of results. Let your fingers do the thinking, not your mind.

1. Write a letter to the six-year-old you

There you were, all shiny-eyed and fresh-faced, heading off to the big world of school, friends, and life outside your home. Everything was new and different.

If only you knew then what you know now. All those hard-earned lessons life taught you along the way.

Of course, you wouldn’t want to pass all of them along to six-year-old you. You don’t want to scare yourself!

But if you could lean down and look six-year-old you in the eyes and speak a few words of wisdom, what would you say?

Write that.

2. Answer a question friends or family have asked about your business

Remember the first time you told someone about your new website and they clearly didn’t understand your business?

You were diplomatic about it then. You explained what you do in simple terms you knew they’d comprehend.

But what if you could do it over?

What if you were given a soapbox to stand on where you could go on and on about what motivates you to work so hard, why you’re passionate about the work you do, and how you plan to change the world with your work?

3. Put your blog categories in front of you and brainstorm ideas

Remember back when you set up your blog categories?

You thought you had a good idea of the topics you planned to cover. Over time, though, you may have found your content drifting into other areas of interest. You may have forgotten what your original intentions were.

In this exercise, you’re not going to write a piece of content to fit one of your categories. You’re going to dig out your categories, put the list in front of you, and simply brainstorm content topics that will fit into the categories you haven’t touched in a long time.

Don’t write content … write content ideas.

What content ideas can you come up with for categories you’ve ignored for a while?

4. Troll your comments and write to one reader

If there’s one thing a lively comments section is good for, it’s the reliable intelligence you can gain from simply paying attention to the comments your readers write.

They’ll let you know if:

• They understand your point.
• Your content created more questions than answers.
• They want to know more about your content topic.
• Their situation is different and they don’t understand how to apply your information.

For this exercise, look for a particularly passionate comment. Write back to the person.

Remember, this won’t be published. If you could say anything back to the commenter, what would you say?

5. Write a “Dear John” letter to the person who doesn’t fit your market

One of the first and most difficult decisions we must make when we’re marketing a business is to decide who we want to target with our products and services — and who we don’t want to target.

Intentionally choosing a group to appeal to and a group who you don’t want as customers is crucial. Why waste time attracting prospects you don’t want as customers?

Make no mistake — this step is tough. It’s not easy to walk away from potential sales.

That’s where this warm up can help.

Write a “Dear John” break-up letter to the people you don’t want to serve.

Remember, no one will see this. This warm up will help you reinforce your concept of who you serve and who you don’t want to serve.

What will you say to the person you really don’t want to sell to?

6. Write in present tense describing what your life is like after achieving a big goal

Do you have a big dream you’re working to achieve?

In this warm up, you’re going to imagine you’re already there. You’re going to write about what life is like now that your dream is a reality.

Spend 10–15 minutes describing what your life is like in the present tense now that you’ve achieved your big goal. Write in first person, too, so you feel the experience first-hand.

Put yourself in the shoes of the future you. What is life like now that you’ve finally achieved your big dream?

7. Let go and free write

If the above ideas don’t work for you, or if you’ve done them all and want to try something else, consider a free writing session .

Free writing is a technique where you put your fingers to your keyboard and type whatever comes to mind. It’s truly “thinking with your fingertips.” It’s a way to get past any blocks or resistance you may feel about writing on a particular day.

To have a productive free writing session, follow these guidelines:

• Set a timer.
• Type whatever comes to mind, even if you start with “I really don’t feel like writing today.”
• Do not look back at what you’ve written and don’t edit anything you write.
• Aim for speed and don’t expect anything usable to come from it.

Remember, no one will see the gobbledygook this warm up produces. The end result is not the point: it’s the act of writing that will make a difference.

What will come out of your fingertips when you place them on your keyboard?

What do you do to warm up your writer’s brain?

Build your writing momentum by getting your fingers moving and your brain in gear using the seven warm ups above.

Do you have a favorite technique for warming up your writer’s brain? Share it with me in the comments!

Pamela Wilson

Pamela Wilson coaches people in mid-career to build profitable online businesses. Apply for her Offer Accelerator program here . Have you read her Master Content books ?

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Reader Interactions

Reader comments (32).

April 6, 2016 at 7:34 am

I personally am never stuck and don’t need this, but for most other people I know, these ideas are pure gold. I have taught them in my corporate training seminars on technical writing with good results reported by the students.

April 6, 2016 at 9:20 am

Thank you, Bob.

I tend to go straight into free writing mode if I’m feeling stuck. (Just need to remember to delete that “I really don’t feel like writing today” first line).

April 6, 2016 at 8:05 am

Pamela–

Great ideas. I call sitting in front of the computer not knowing what to write, “Blank Screen Syndrome”.

Like vitamins, developing your writing habit and collecting ideas help avoid it.

I also love your “Dear John” letter approach. The Sales Lion, Marcus Sheridan calls it “Who don’t you want as a customer?” (BTW, it’s one of the strongest converting posts on his site!)

Happy marketing, Heidi Cohen

April 6, 2016 at 9:23 am

Very cool, Heidi. I haven’t seen that post yet and will have to go look for it on Marcus’s site.

That “who don’t I want to serve” question is tough for people to answer, so I stuck it in here as a no-pressure prompt to help people think about it.

April 6, 2016 at 8:58 am

This list is brilliant! I find a lot of writing prompts to be rather ‘blah’ but I appreciate the relevance to blogger. The ‘Dear John’ letter has to be my favorite here. There is no doubt that I will use this. Thank you.

April 6, 2016 at 9:24 am

Glad you enjoyed it, Jim!

April 6, 2016 at 9:26 am

Great tips, Pamela. Seems likely that doing these exercises over time will increasingly lead to clicking “publish” – as posts, sales copy, or even book chapters, eh?

April 6, 2016 at 9:29 am

You’ve got that right, Tom!

The more you write … er … the more you write!

April 6, 2016 at 9:46 am

I knew there must have been such a thing as a cursed cursor! That explains a lot.

Love the idea of writing to your 6 year old self. However, I think I would literally frighten the poor (but cute and loveable) lad to death.

Would love to read some other peoples letters to their little six year old versions.

April 6, 2016 at 9:55 am

It’s such a pivotal moment in our lives, right? Six years old and all the world’s a stage.

April 6, 2016 at 9:50 am

Great post!

Personally, I found that writing answers about writing on Quora worked wonders for me. Teaching others what I know and sharing insights on writing rekindle my spark and usually open that blockage after answering only one or two questions.

Try it if you’re ever feeling really, really stuck – it may just help you too!

April 6, 2016 at 9:58 am

Interesting, Selena. I haven’t done anything at all on Quora but it sounds like a fascinating way to get your writing brain in gear. Thanks for sharing the idea.

April 6, 2016 at 11:00 am

Such great ideas! As any writer, freelance or otherwise will tell you, getting in front of the computer is the toughest part of writing. It’s only when we get in front of the screen and just let the fingers fly that we can see great results. Thank you for sharing!

April 6, 2016 at 12:33 pm

Dear Pamela: Wonderful topic and suggestions. I especially like your allusion to what I call a “Judgment Free Zone” where you can write what you want to without worrying about likes, shares, and metrics.

For 3 years, my Judgment Free Zone has been a friend’s weekly newsletter where I’m introducing the basics of content marketing to a shrinking niche where few have adopted it. (Yes, it *is* a niche!) The benefits are I enjoy the ritual and the freedom to choose and express the topics. But, more important, I’m increasingly using these posts as the first drafts of longer posts I submit elsewhere!

Hint: I number the posts as a series, and now have over 144 ready to be adapted, reformatted, and reused!

A final idea that often works for me and my clients: I just pick up the phone and call a friend and say: “This is what I’m trying to do, but I can’t find the words. Can I take 10 minutes of your time to try to describe my project?” At the end of that time, the yoke of frustration has been broken–whether or not I recorded the call.

Again, thank you for a great topic!

April 6, 2016 at 12:44 pm

Love that “phone a friend” idea, Roger.

Once in a while I say to my ever-patient husband, “Would you mind if I just talk about something for a few minutes?” It’s strange how simply verbalizing a problem helps unlock ideas (and words to describe them) in a way that plain thinking doesn’t.

April 6, 2016 at 12:37 pm

This was just what I wanted to warm up my writing gear. The last time I updated my blog was 7 days ago. I’ve really been BUSY doing……NOTHING.

I really need to get writing now.

thanks Pamela, for the helpful tips…

April 6, 2016 at 12:45 pm

Great ideas! I used to write very fast and precise in my native language (Spanish) but now that I started writing in English I became slow and now I spend hours in front of the screen thinking what to write.

Definitely, I will use some of this ideas.

Thanks, Bianca

April 6, 2016 at 1:11 pm

Wow…this is amazing. Warm up’s for writing. The elaborate explanation makes the deal for me. True…when our fingers jump to typing, ideas flow more freely and then we end up writing without stopping at the blinking cursor.

Writing a letter to six year old self is similar to giving advice to younger self trend.

This could be even an entire blog post altogether.

Apart from the warm up one would also get to evaluate self with writing to self. It would open up the inner human, decrease doubt and we will understand ourselves much better.

Explaining about the business in writing will do much more than warm up for writing. It will make ourselves clearer in our mind about our business. What we think our business model is, are we working towards it and are we making change happen.

Yes…the categories of our blog do help in brainstorming content ideas. We can look up to our competitor’s blog too for different categories and blog post ideas.

I loved how you emphasized on writing content ideas. It would help us to expand on it later. For now, we can jot down weeks or maybe months of blog post.

Ha..ha..ha…comments.

Comments are the source of warm ups like you explained. It is also the source of content which would go viral. Analyzing comments, we can find ideas and contents which readers want more of it.

Then we can go ahead and answer their queries, delivering value and connecting too.

The best warm up and breaking the writer’s block is to write something totally out of your niche. Since we haven’t exhausted on the niche, we can easily write up on anything ranging from fashion to relationships to story telling.

Sometimes we can incorporate trends in our niche.

I read in “The Secret Book”, feeling success by imagining it helps our mind to accelerate our hard work. And as a side kick, it is fun and reality check too writing about success which we are chasing.

The best free writing is to race against the timer. Whenever I tried free writing without any timer, I failed to write even 100 words.

When I set up timer, (20 minutes anyone), I found I was able to write more and it was fun. Sometimes I churn out epic contents like that.

Yes…yes..I have my warm ups technique.

I comment on other blog’s. When ever I feel like I unable to get past few words, I hop to other amazing blogs and comment.

When I do that and come back, I end up creating articles meaningful and thought provoking.

Beautiful post. Stay awesome!!!

April 6, 2016 at 2:16 pm

I’m an odd one I think because I have a million ideas and write a lot of starter phrases and outlines and a couple of paragraphs for “brilliant” content, but then I never get around to completing them with a full out writing exploration. Maybe I’m lost in research too much because I’m often working on more than one article or project at a time and, of course, with everything absorbed–read, webinars, etc. that I attend, and all the information (overload)–just gives me more and more ideas. It’s almost like I need to lock myself away and devote myself to doing a writing project (and only that) for as long as it takes to complete. For me, a good piece of work takes many forms, edits, and time to do well, but ideas flow like a fountain. What is wrong with me? I’m opposite from the norm it seems! Thanks for more useful Pamela insights. Sue-Ann

April 6, 2016 at 2:19 pm

Nothing “wrong” at all, Sue-Ann!

It sounds to me like you know exactly what you need to do … buried in your comment is your solution. Maybe once you get used to that awesome feeling you get when you complete something, you’ll want to repeat it. 🙂

Great ideas here, Pamela. I especially like the letter to 6 year old me. And Dear John to a crappy client. ?

These prompts should help me avoid some of the pain of an empty brain mocked by a blinking cursor.

April 6, 2016 at 5:02 pm

I’ve found the ‘old school’ pen to paper helps get the creative juices flowing. Just the kinesthetics of fluid motion prior to fully formed ideas jump starts the creative process for me. And I’m always pleasantly surprised with the outcome.

Great advice, Pamela! I like number 1 especially.

April 6, 2016 at 5:14 pm

Thanks for sharing, Kevin. Glad to know you found some good ideas for your next pen-to-paper session. 🙂

April 6, 2016 at 6:09 pm

Very good tips, Pamela. I have used #2 quite a bit with good effect. For me, it is one of the easiest ways to find inspiration on days when nothing is coming to mind.

April 6, 2016 at 10:26 pm

Great ideas!

April 6, 2016 at 11:08 pm

Hi Pamela, Great, practical advice. Thanks for this post. A technique I like to use is to consider an activity or an object that initially seems completely unrelated to my blog and try to find something about that activity or that object which I can use as an analogy in a post or group of post.

For instance, you think about how you could fit an object, like a box of facial tissues, into an article on content marketing or content creation.

April 7, 2016 at 7:27 am

Achoo! Could you pass me a facial tissue please, Mike? 😉 (Great idea, BTW: very creative!)

April 7, 2016 at 12:05 am

Thanks for sharing this awesome tips. Already I try to follow some of the tips in my routine life, but sometime how hard you try you can’t help it cause its all about creativeness and passion that you need for your writing.

April 7, 2016 at 2:36 am

Very great tips i have jotted down the main points. i always fumbling for tips and ideas which can cultivate my mind for next great Post . Thank you Pamela, i really enjoyed it.

April 10, 2016 at 9:47 am

I love your writing prompts. Any suggestions where I can look online for additional prompts that are similar to the ones you included in the blog? Something short that can be written in 10 minutes?

April 10, 2016 at 9:25 pm

Marcela, if you’re on a Mac or an Apple device, there’s an app called Day One which provides daily prompts.

April 11, 2016 at 8:03 am

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Writing warm-up games for your homeschool

by Kim Kautzer | Jul 25, 2008 | Writing Games & Activities

There’s nothing quite like a writing warm-up or game to put some fun into writing and get the creative juices flowing. Whether you’re teaching young children or teens, writing games serve an important purpose in the writing process .

Spend five or ten minutes a day gearing your kids up for writing with some of these enticing activities!

Five-Word Stories

This is a great group activity to play with several children at home or with a co-op or class group.

Directions: Each person begins with a 5-word prompt and then adds exactly five words of his own. Pass papers in a circle. Each time the papers are passed, players add exactly five words to the story in front of them in round-robin style. When you’re ready to wrap things up, tell the kids to begin bringing their stories to a close. Finally, pass the papers one last time so players can add their last five words to the ending.

Five-word story prompt ideas

• Once upon a time there . . .
• The mystery began when the . . .
• In a kingdom far away . . .
• Once, long ago, a tiny . . .
• Last week, while digging in . . .
• Today was far from normal!

Word Association

Another fun family writing warm-up or group exercise!

Directions: Each person begins by writing a word on a piece of paper. When you exchange papers. Read the word the other person wrote and write down the very first word that comes to mind . Don’t think, just write! Keep exchanging and adding to the list!

Here’s one we did with our family. See how each word connects to the next?

dog – Casey – baseball – diamond – sparkling – cider – apple – pie – sky – clouds – storm – thunder – lightning – flash – Gordon

Unrelated Words Game

Directions: Write two unrelated words on a white board such as fish and trampoline or stapler and zucchini . Ask your kids to write sentences using both words . Repeat several times.

For older kids, write up to ten unrelated words and have them create a silly story using as many of the words as possible.

Messing with Modifiers

This is a great vocabulary-building exercise for all ages. Don’t think this activity is beneath your teenagers! The thesaurus will help them come up with some challenging, advanced word choices.

Directions: Ask students to write the letters of the alphabet down the side of a sheet of lined paper. Next, have them leave a blank space followed by a noun that begins with each letter. Finally, tell them to go back and add an adjective in front of each noun . If you want to give points, add an extra point for alliteration (using the letter of the alphabet for both the noun and the adjective).

Example (younger child)

A – _______ apple

B – _______ beaver

C – _______ cat

A –  crunchy  apple B –  busy  beaver (extra point for alliteration – b/b) C –  purring  cat

Example (older student)

A – _______ argument

B – _______ borrower

C – _______ collection

A –  abstract  argument (extra point for alliteration – a/a) B –  delinquent  borrower C –  haphazard  collection

These writing warm-up activities barely scratch the surface of the wealth of pre-writing games you can use to tickle your kids’ fancy! You’ll be happy to know that WriteShop Primary , WriteShop Junior , and WriteShop I & II all include a wide variety of creative pre-writing activities to enhance each lesson and add an element of fun to homeschool writing.

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