Writing Exercises sounds so much better than "Writing Tips". And I prefer to think of them as exercises, because in reality your working out your mind and your writing technique. Below are a few of my favorites. Feel free to use them for your class or personal use. Before you start writing, I recommend reading the exercise, closing your eyes, and taking a few deep breaths. Then, just unleash on the paper. At this point perfect punctuation and grammar don't count, this is just to get the mind working and to tap into that creativity.

1.) You are sitting in an waiting room, maybe waiting for a doctor or a job interview. There are several people around you, also waiting. Pick three of them. What are they wearing? Is anyone with them? What are they wearing and what does that say about them? Why are they there? What will they do once they leave?

2.)The following quotes are from famous literary works. Incorporate the line into a piece of your own. Build your own story from it. And if you really want to know where the quotes came from, you can click Here
a.)"The young have aspirations that never come to pass, the old have reminiscences of what never happened. It's only the middle-aged who are really conscious of their limitations--that is why one should be so patient with them."
b.)"It was a harder day's journey than yesterday's, for there were long and weary hills to climb; and in journeys, as in life, it is a great deal easier to go down hill than up. However, they kept on, with unabated perseverance, and the hill has not yet lifted its face to heaven that perseverance will not gain the summit of at last."
c.)"Though amid all the smoking horror and diabolism of a sea-fight, sharks will be seen longingly gazing up to the ship's decks, like hungry dogs round a table where red meat is being carved, ready to bolt down every killed man that is tossed to them . . ."
d.)"He had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it--namely, that in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain."
e.)"He looked like an Italian, was dressed like an Englishman, and had the independent air of an American--a combination which caused sundry pairs of feminine eyes to look approvingly after him, and sundry dandies in black velvet suits, with rose-colored neckties, buff gloves, and orange flowers in their buttonholes, to shrug their shoulders, and then envy him his inches."

3.) Describe your favorite food in intense detail. Include the taste, but also the other senses. How does it smell, feel, look? Does it make noise when you eat it? Now, describe it again in a way that seems completely unappetizing. Use as many adjectives as you can in this exercise.

4.)Imagine that you are lying in a hammock, gazing up the trunk of tree that holds the hammock. You are profoundly relaxed; summer is almost over. Your mind drifts with the slow rocking of the hammock. Your spirit soars toward the top of the great white pine. Suddenly....

5.)Write a dialogue in which two people are having a very surface conversation - discussing the weather, or sports, or such- but underlying the discussion is a major conflict. Show what is going on beneath the surface.

6.)Put yourself in a historical event (e.g. the Titanic sinking, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, a political assassination) and write from a first person point-of-view about what is going on.

7.)Your character has just forked over hard-earned cash to have their fortune told. Sitting in a dark room with lots of smoke, your character hears what? And how do they react?

8.) Write an entire page about what your character looks like. Is their hair messy or meticulous? What are they wearing? Describe every little detail, then turn the page over and describe in-depth their personality.

9.)Look around at someone's hands. Describe them. How are their nails? Are they wearing jewelery? What do their hands say about the person?