How to get started with creative writing exercises

Creative writing is significantly harder than many other forms of writing such as copywriting or essay writing. Learning creative writing is considered to be one of the hardest things in a writer’s world. There are many ways of improving your creative writing. Leading among them is to deploy creative writing exercises.

What are creative writing exercises?

As with nearly everything, creative writing skills can also be honed by routinely doing certain exercises. These exercises range from very easy to pretty difficult.

Some involve something as simple as reading whereas others might involve taking part in creative writing classes, workshops, courses, or competitions.

In this piece, we’ll pin down the most effective creative writing exercises. It’s not necessary to attempt all of these.

We’re going to talk about these exercises:

1. Reading more and more,
2. Writing fanfiction
3. Writing a letter to your younger self,
4. Focusing on rewriting,
5. Building an opinion, and
6. Blogging.

Without further ado, let’s get right to it.

1. Reading more and more

The more you read the better you can write. It’s that simple. Reading is fundamental to good writing of any type, including creative writing. Surely, you have heard something along similar lines before.

2. Writing fanfiction

Imagination is central to good creative writing. There are various methods of improving your imagination specifically for writing. Some prefer to write new superhero concepts whereas others like to write flash fiction. Let’s take it a step further. A more effective way is to write long-form fan fiction about your favorite fiction. It could be laden with emotions, details, or your own feelings – doesn’t matter. Pour your heart and feelings into it.

3. Writing a letter to your younger self

This is always a great creative writing exercise. Writing to your past self always sparks ideas that often gravitate on past mistakes, missed opportunities, or simply advice. Tell yourself from a few years ago all about what you should have done or known. This is also going to build your skill in writing in the past form.

4. Focusing on rewriting

Authors often skip on rewriting. To be clear, here’s the flowchart you can follow:

1. Write,
2. Proofread,
3. Edit,
4. Rewrite.

Rewriting your older pieces is always a great creative writing exercise because it allows you to measure your own improvement – which can go a long way if taken positively.

5. Building an opinion

Having a take, perspective, or opinion on a subject is great. It allows you to write passionately about it. The alternative is writing a dull, emotionless piece. Creative writing is the opposite of writing a neutral Wikipedia article.

Build opinions on matters and write on those matters from your perspective.

6. Blogging

Blogging is a great way to get your creative juices flowing. It allows you to tackle a variety of different things in a personalized manner. It also helps you write for people while helping them solve their problems, or just narrate your tale – which are both amazing qualities to have as a creative writer.

Other creative writing exercises

That’s not all! There are a few other creative writing exercises as well:

• Writing fake advertisements for imaginary products.
• Using literary prompts and creative writing prompts.
• Taking part in a workshop or competition.
• Doing a basic course to build up on or brush your preliminary skills.
• Deriving inspiration from someone else’s story.