|
One way to keep yourself writing is to do writing exercises. Here are some for your enjoyment.
Just Write!
The other night I watched the movie, Finding Forrester. At one point in the movie Forrester seats his young friend at a typewriter and tells him to start writing. Then he moves to a typewriter across the table and starts typing.
A minute later he asks his young friend why he isn't typing. "I'm thinking", he replies.
To which Forrester responds that there is no thinking, just writing. Just get on with it and write.
That is the first rule of writing - WRITE!
I also appreciated his comment that the first draft of writing should be from the heart, so just pour out whatever you have to write. The rewriting (editing) can be done with the mind later.
Writing Prompts
Find writing prompts in books - one of my favorites is "A Writer's Book of Days" by Judy Reeves. She has prompts for every day of the year.
Look for writing prompts online.
Explore the writing prompts here on this website.
Or get yourself a notebook and start finding or creating your own writing prompts.
The 100 Things Character Study
Sometime ago a friend send me a list of things about herself - one for each year she has lived. Today I came across another list like that. So for the fun of it I wrote out my own list of things about myself.
It occurred to me that this could also be a neat way to develop characters for your writing.
Start by writing out a list of 100 things about yourself. They can be anything you want.
Here are some of mine:
- I'm a nature photographer
- I collect glassware - especially footed bowls and plates.
- My favorite magazine is Victoria.
- I grew up on a small mixed farm.
- My favorite perfume scent - a clean fresh rose scent.
- What I hate to hear - "I don't want to talk about it."
- I have a Christmas village with over 100 buildings.
- My favorite fruit is blueberries.
- My favorite clothing colors are navy, burgundy and white.
- I'm a night-owl.
- I have a nickle-sized scar on my left wrist just below the base of my thumb from the time I fell off my bike on a gravel road.
Then create a list like this for each of your characters. Notice how you will come up with odd quirks and things that may turn out to give your character just that extra edge of authenticity.
Or - why not ask your friends and family to send you lists like this. You might be able to glean all kinds of interesting tidbits for your characters.
|