#Creative writing exercises

[thewriteadviceforwriters]

Random Writing Prompts For Your Next Story | For Writers

If you need some inspiration for your next story, current WIP or even for scenes for your book. Here's a compilation of random things for you all.

A single rose petal, an ornate pocket watch, a stack of weathered letters, the scent of lavender

Candlelight flickering, a raven's feather, a worn leather satchel, an old family photograph

Frost-covered windowpanes, a gilded mirror, the taste of cinnamon, an emerald ring

A glass unicorn figurine, the sound of violin music, a tarnished key, a faded floral dress

Shifting sand dunes, the crash of ocean waves, a vintage compass, a tattered mappaemundi

Dancing fireflies, the smell of freshly baked bread, a silk ribbon choker, a velvet-bound journal

Flickering gaslight, a regal peacock feather, a stack of vintage postcards, the caw of a lone crow

Moonlight on still water, the feel of worn denim, a bronze astrolabe, the faint taste of honey

Dusty rose petals, the crackle of an old record, a leather-bound tome, the soft glow of a crystal ball

Distant thunder, the gleam of polished silver, a withered sprig of lavender, the weight of a family heirloom

[andromeda4004]

Thanks for the tag @sabotage-on-mercury!

Rules: In a new post, show the last line you wrote and tag as many people as there are words (or as many as you like)

Conveniently, I was in a writers' workshop this afternoon, and the last thing I wrote was a response to this quote from Harry Winston, "People will stare. Make it worth their while."

Sometimes it's nice to get the attention though. I put effort into this. I spent time and money and thought on getting this look, creating this image, becoming this version of me that you see here. So yes, please stare; you owe me that. You can clap, too, if you feel like it.

I appreciate the encouragement to share! Tags without pressure, if you'd like to join in: @afrenchwriter, @aracloptia, @tawnyontumblr, @adverbian, @voluptatiscausa, @malachitegrey, @carry-the-sky, @homemadeapplecider, @copperplatebeech

[creativepromptsforwriting]

Writing Motivation

The 15 Minute Rule

Set a timer for 15 minutes (or however long you want) and then write. Do not stop. Don't edit or delete anything. Don't hesitate. These 15 minutes are just for you and your writing. Afterwards, you can leave the work as it is, delete it, or edit it. You can either move forward with it or move on from it. But for these 15 minutes, get it all out of your system.

[docescene]

List of Types of Kisses

This list is divided by category, kiss type, emotion conveyed, and description. You can do whatever you want with this information.

More prompts!

Location

[BELLY KISS] Love, care: a gesture of affection and protection;

[CHEEK KISS] Respect, affection: gesture of greeting, friendship, or affection;

[CHIN KISS] Passion, desire: an intimate and sensual gesture.

[EAR KISS] Desire, intimacy: a sensual and provocative gesture;

[EYELID KISS] Love, affection: a delicate and romantic gesture;

[FOOT KISS] Adoration, devotion: a gesture of submission or adoration.

[FOREHEAD KISS] Love, care, comfort: a gesture of affection, protection, and tenderness;

[HAIR KISS] Affection, tenderness: a gesture of affection and care.

[HAND KISS] Admiration, reverence: a gesture of respect and admiration;

[KNEE KISS] Passion, desire: an intimate and sensual gesture;

[MOUTH KISS] Passion, love, desire: the most common, can vary in intensity and technique;

[NECK KISS] Desire, passion: a sensual and provocative gesture;

[NOSE KISS] Affection, complicity: a gesture of affection and intimacy;

[SHOULDER KISS] Passion, desire: an intimate and sensual gesture;

Intensity

[CHASTEN KISS] Friendship, affection: a light touch on the lips, expressing affection and friendship;

[OVERWHELMING KISS] Passion, desire: a strong and urgent kiss, expressing intense passion;

[PASSIONATE KISS] Passion, love: an intense and desire-filled kiss, with tongue and light bites;

[SHY KISS] Insecurity, desire: a hesitant and delicate kiss, expressing insecurity and desire.

Type

[CINEMATIC KISS] Romance, idealization: a long and passionate kiss, idealized in movies;

[BUTTERFLY KISS] Romanticism, delicacy: kissing with eyelashes, expressing delicacy;

[ESKIMO KISS] Affection, friendship: rubbing noses, a gesture of affection in cold cultures;

[FISH KISS] Sensuality: kissing with lips slightly open;

[FRENCH KISS] Passion, desire: exchange of saliva and tongue movements;

[INVERTED KISS] Passion, adventure: kissing with bodies inverted, like in Spider-Man;

[LIZARD KISS] Sensuality, playfulness: licking the other person's lips;

[PECK] Friendship, affection: a quick and light touch of the lips;

[VAMPIRE KISS] Sensuality, mystery: kissing the neck with a slight suck.

Context

[APOLOGY KISS] Regret, forgiveness: expressing regret and seeking reconciliation;

[COMFORT KISS] Compassion, comfort: expressing compassion and comfort;

[FAREWELL KISS] Longing, hope: expressing longing and hope for reunion;

[THANK-YOU KISS] Gratitude, recognition: expressing gratitude;

[WELCOME KISS] Joy, happiness: expressing happiness at seeing someone.

[choshashio]

12 Writing Exercises to help develop your character and their voice.

Editors note - There's a lot of boring writers drivel. So, to spare you from the headache if you're not interested, your characters individual voices and personalities are important for engaging stories and interesting plots. You can skip down to the end for the exercises.

Think about the people you know, the people you love. What's one thing they have in common, besides the obvious? They're all uniquely different. Everyone in the world is different in some way, even in media. Books and movies all have unique sounding characters that are different from each other. In Harry Potter, for example, All of the characters have their own voice, even the Weasley twins are different in their own ways.

Complex and unique characters that sound different, interact and speak differently, make for engaging books and dynamics.

I don't know anybody who would want to read a 50,000 word novel about two boring characters, who're exactly alike, and talk in the same monotonous tone. You can have a character who is "boring." who speaks monotonously and still have an interesting novel that people would read.

Having different characters who come together to create funny, interesting, or weird dynamics makes for a readable piece. Take your monotonous character, by themselves, they're kind of boring. They're not engaging to follow. But, introducing different characters to come and interact with your "boring" character, creates funny and memorable dynamics.

Think the anime Saiki K, or Veronica Sawyer from Heathers. If you took only those two characters, and stripped away all of the background characters, they wouldn't make for very interesting stories. Saiki would be happy, living his days in peace and quiet. Veronica would just be a normal edgy high school girl. But if you bring the side characters back, you bring the story and their conflicts back. Saiki goes back to being annoyed by his weird and goofy friends, wishing for peace and quiet. Veronica goes back to being tormented by JD and the group dynamic in the Heathers clique.

These stories utilize background characters to create conflict in their main characters' lives, and makes fun and interesting stories and dynamics with them.

Without further ado, here are 12 exercises to help you develop your characters, and get you thinking.

Ask your character what they want, and have them monologue about it.

Think about who, in your life, does your character remind you of.

Ask yourself, What does my character want, and what does my character need? How do they conflict with each other, and how does this affect my story?

A good exercise to help you write characters interacting, and practice dialogue is to do the ABCD exercise. 

The ABCD exercise is writing a full page, or 500 words, of dialogue between two characters, character a and character b, talking about what they think character c thinks of character d. Then, write another page depicting how character c actually interacts with character d.

Write journal entries from the pov of your character.

Think about your character's habits, nervous tics, or tells, and write out a page where they do those things.

Think about something your character holds dear to them, and give the item a backstory.

Think about how your character interacts with other characters, and write a page for each interaction. 

Think about a belief or opinion your character has, and write a page of dialogue, where your character is explaining their belief, and why they believe in it, to another character.

Write a page about your character reminiscing, or talking, about a cherished memory from their past, or childhood.

Write a page of dialogue about character a telling character c about character b, whom c has never met before, what kind of things do they say? What do they think of b? Then write another page from character c’s point of view, what are they thinking? How do their thoughts of b change? What do they think of character a? How do they imagine character a and b’s relationship?

Write a page about a character being forced into a situation with their greatest fear. Then, if you want to go a step further, write a page of the same thing, but introduce another character that the first holds dear to them, or wants to protect.

[inkskinned]

i love when words fit right. seize was always supposed to be that word, and so was jester. tuesday isn't quite right but thursday should be thursday, that's a good word for it. daisy has the perfect shape to it, almost like you're laughing when you say it; and tulip is correct most of the time. while keynote is fun to say, it's super wrong - i think they have to change the label for that one. but fox is spot-on.

most words are just, like, good enough, even if what they are describing is lovely. the night sky is a fine term for it but it isn't perfect the way november is the correct term for that month.

it's not just in english because in spanish the phrase eso si que es is correct, it should be that. sometimes other languages are also better than the english words, like how blue is sloped too far downwards but azul is perfect and hangs in the air like glitter. while butterfly is sweet, i think probably papillion is more correct, although for some butterflies féileacán is much better. year is fine but bliain is better. sometimes multiple languages got it right though, like how jueves and Πέμπτη are also the right names for thursday. maybe we as a species are just really good at naming thursdays.

and if we were really bored and had a moment and a picnic to split we could all sit down for a moment and sort out all the words that exist and find all the perfect words in every language. i would show you that while i like the word tree (it makes you smile to say it), i think arbor is correct. you could teach me from your language what words fit the right way, and that would be very exciting (exciting is not correct, it's just fine).

i think probably this is what was happening at the tower of babel, before the languages all got shifted across the world and smudged by the hand of god. by the way, hand isn't quite right, but i do like that the word god is only 3 letters, and that it is shaped like it is reflecting into itself, and that it kind of makes your mouth move into an echoing chapel when you cluck it. but the word god could also fit really well with a coathanger, and i can't explain that. i think donut has (weirdly) the same shape as a toothbrush, but we really got bagel right and i am really grateful for that.

grateful is close, but not like thunder. hopefully one day i am going to figure out how to shape the way i love my friends into a little ceramic (ceramic is very good, almost perfect) pot and when they hold it they can feel the weight of my care for them. they can put a plant in there. maybe a daisy.

[angstober]

Welcome to another year of Angstober! We're delighted to unveil the prompts for this year of angsty, spooky fun.

What is Angstober?

Angstober is a yearly October challenge with 31 angst-themed prompts to inspire you to create. The challenge is open to all sorts of creative work - writing, art, edits, whatever you want - in whatever medium you want. Original work or fanworks? Whatever you feel inspired for!

How do I take part?

Tag your works with #angstober2024 and the day of the prompt (e.g., #day 01) to share on tumblr. Feel free to @ us directly in the post as well! To share your work on AO3, add it to the Angstober 2024 collection.

You can post your works whenever - early or late - and use as many or as few prompts as you feel inspired for! We'll do our best to reblog as many works to the @angstober blog as we can.

Is there a banner to post my work with?

Absolutely!

Anything else?

Nope. Happy Angsting!

2024 Prompt List

Again

2. Countdown

3. Self-Destruction

4. Blood

5. Do Better

6. Medication

7. “You Still Don’t Get It.”

8. Growing Pains

9. Promise

10. Humiliation

11. Wake Up

12. Rotten Touch

13. Shaking

14. Only Around You

15. False Hope

16. No One Else To Turn To

17. “Shhh…”

18. Falling Stars

19. Tear-Stained Cheek

20. Spare Me

21. Abandoned

22. Crocodile Tears

23. Safe/Unsafe

24. Dark Sunrise

25. You’re No Better

26. Persuasion

27. Curled Up

28. Perfect

29. Get Out

30. Nothing Else To Tell You

31. It Ends Here

[dionysiaproductions]

Ides of March Writing Challenges:

🗡️ Stab it: Write 23 words (or 23 sentences if you're playing on hard)

🗡️Settle a debt: Finish an old unfinished work

🗡️Become a dictator: Outline a version of your narrative world where your protagonist has complete control. What would they want the world to look like?

🗡️Kill Caesar: Outline a version of your story where the main character dies. What would all the supporting characters do?

[me-writes-prompts]

:-"I've found my other half" Two introverts in love with each other prompts-:

(I looooooove this trope, so thank you anon for this request! Tag me if you write these, pleaseeee!!!!)

By @me-writes-promtps

Going to the same bookstore, and they notice the other one is checking out the same book as them

^^"I love that book. It's my 7th re-read." "No way. I'm also doing a re-read :)"

The classic bumping into each other in a coffee shop, except they're both a little awkward and don't know what to say

"It's crowded in here, isn't it?" "Yeah. I hate having to take the subway every day." "Really? me too!"

"I hope you don't mind the silence." "It's alright when it's with the right person."

Exchanging shy smiles across the room <3333

Noticing little details about them

^^"How do you know this is my favorite food?" "You're always eating it." "Well, not always!" "Oh yes, always."

When they both love museums>>>

"This place is my favorite getaway." "Mine too. It's quiet and peaceful here."

They can communicate through their eyes alone

Sitting next to each other in an empty theater and finding out they both love the not-so-popular movie

[scealaiscoite]

⋆˚࿔ prompt sets of three 𝜗𝜚˚⋆

write a piece featuring - in any capacity you can think of - all three things depicted in the given prompt!

¹⁾ a polka-dot bikini, a throw blanket and a pint glass

²⁾ a sliotar, a flat tire and a thunderstorm

³⁾ a teakettle, a fresh bruise and rosewater

⁴⁾ a chipped enamel bathtub, a blue sweater and basil leaves

⁵⁾ howling gale winds, an inflatable paddling pool and an oil lamp

⁶⁾ a fresh buzzcut, pink bubblegum and rolling tobacco

⁷⁾ gas station bandaids, a cellophane-wrapped bouquet and muddy footprints

⁸⁾ a lipstick print, skinned knees and stained-glass windows

⁹⁾ a busted streetlight, green olives and a teak countertop

¹⁰⁾ gun oil, red lace and an old armchair

¹¹⁾ a fresh tattoo, a sacristy, and guilt

¹²⁾ a corner booth, sweet patchouli and a wallet

¹³⁾ donuts, orange juice and a jail cell

¹⁴⁾ a cold red bull, shaking hands and broken traffic lights

¹⁵⁾ new graves, a busted headlight and silver rings

¹⁶⁾ handcuffs, brightly coloured building blocks and fir trees

¹⁷⁾ a shortwave radio, takeout containers and a bare lightbulb

¹⁸⁾ broken windows, waist-high grasses and lit matches

¹⁹⁾ orange segments, divorce papers and a front porch

²⁰⁾ horror movies, steaming showers and cold bedsheets

²¹⁾ brazilian lemonade, a split lip and daisy chains

²²⁾ a red convertible, a priest’s collar and dogtags

²³⁾ a corner office, parking tickets and greyhound races

²⁴⁾ bitten lips, army fatigues, and coca-cola

²⁵⁾ old wives’ tales, creaky stairs and cherry lipgloss

²⁶⁾ smooth whiskey, greying hair and warm hands

²⁷⁾ hospital food, full moons and a reconciliation

²⁸⁾ exes, candy wrappers and a twin bed

²⁹⁾ a rural motel, a pocket knife and iodine

³⁰⁾ a dirty martini, a dressing gown and blood under fingernails

³¹⁾ slept-in braids, a lamplit office and an explosion

³²⁾ blueberry pancakes, a restraining order and the taste of rum off someone’s lips

³³⁾ farmers’ market peaches, burnt coffee and houseplants

³⁴⁾ a late text, faded jeans and lightning strikes

³⁶⁾ desert air, zinnias and chocolates

³⁷⁾ an old truck, freshly turned earth and a tv dinner

³⁸⁾ wedding rings, wildfire and wrought iron gates

³⁹⁾ a hostage situation, evergreen trees and a pierced tongue

⁴⁰⁾ unripe strawberries, bitter wine and a kitchen table

⁴¹⁾ a head laid down in a lap, green tea and a break news announcement

⁴²⁾ a fire alarm, a flower-patterened apron and an ajar kitchen window

⁴³⁾ a jar of jam, two shots of vodka and a stack of car manuals

⁴⁴⁾ techno music at 4am, knitted jumpers and a broken watch

⁴⁵⁾ a green silk scarf, a pan of burnt food and the trunk of a car

⁴⁶⁾ bound hands, a crescent moon and laughter

⁴⁷⁾ a winter coat, a heatwave and fresh mangos

⁴⁸⁾ a thrift store sofa, a highrise apartment building and creaking floorboards

⁴⁹⁾ missing teeth, a house half covered in ivy and cheap beer

⁵⁰⁾ undeveloped camera film, stomach kisses and cigarette smoke

[daily-prompts]

"Your results are negative."

"Is that the good one?"

[deerspherestudios]

If anyone's wondering how the new VN for the Monstrous Desires jam is going,,

[morallysuperiorlips]

Oddly Specific Romance Prompts Vol. 1: Under Protection

"You're in danger. Please let me protect you."

"I'll be there at 9:20. Out front, in my car. Do not leave the building until then, understand?"

"If anything else happens, you call me immediately, okay?"

"You're under my protection, and that includes sustenance. What do you want to eat?"

"If anything ever happened to you, I don't know what I'd do. But it sure as hell wouldn't be anything good."

"I don't know what to do." "It's okay. I've got you, and you're safe."

"Would you feel safer if you slept with me tonight?"

"I'm going to get you out of here, but you need to hang onto me."

"Why are you so dead set on protecting me?" "I don't know. It's my job, it's what I was born to do, I might be slightly in love with you." "But--wait, what?"

"I'm not really used to this 'protection' thing." "Well, you better work on that. I'm not going anywhere any time soon."

"Am I allowed to be in love with the person protecting me?" "It's not standard, but it's definitely welcome."

"Stay here." "But--" "I don't want to hear it. You scared the shit out of me last time, and I'm not letting you do it again."

"You can't protect me from everything, [NAME]. This world is fucked." "You're right. But I sure as hell am going to try."

"Why are you here?" "You needed help. So I'm here to help you."

[creativepromptsforwriting]

Botanical Names Part III

Names you can choose for your characters. Taken from the little signs in a botanical garden. So they are names of plants.

Cassine

Orlaya

Bumelia

Maranta

Artemisia

Dionaea

Xyris

Heliamphora

Drosera

Patrinia

Khaya

Dalea

Callisia

Ruellia

Justicia

Dracaena

Pellionia

Tectaria

Monodora

Ardisia

Myrsine

Davallia

Gloriosa

Uniola

Ageratina

Cenia

Aralia

Felicia

Diascia

Nassella

More names!

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Exploring your Setting

(Excerpted from the Young Novelist Workbook) ⚜ Basics: Setting

PART 1: Settings That Create Moods

Mood - the feeling of your novel; its emotional quality.

You can also think of the mood as how you want someone to feel while reading your novel. 

Examples: playful, serious, mysterious, tense, warm, dangerous, joyous

The setting of a novel - where and when the story takes place. As you know, most novels have more than one setting.

Usually, the author decides to have one large setting.

Example: Los Angeles in 1995

and then many smaller settings

Examples: The laundromat where the characters hang out on the weekends, or the classroom where they get in a fight

Settings do more than serve as a backdrop to the action in your novel. They can also create or enhance the mood of your novel. 

Example

If you wanted to create a creepy mood for a scene in your novel, you could start with something like: 

"A dead tree stood alone in a dark field. Its branches creaked in a cold wind, and in the distance, something howled.”

These images remind us of dark, disturbing things, and show the reader that the scene of the novel is “creepy��� without having to tell them directly.

Describing the Setting: A Sample Exercise

Describe the settings that would help create each of the moods listed below.

Try to write 2 or 3 sentences for each mood.

Include specific details about the sights, sounds, sensations (and maybe even smells) of the settings you choose:

Creepy, Joyous, Suspenseful/tense

Now make up 2-3 of your own moods and describe a setting that would go along with each one. 

The last step is to apply your new skills to your upcoming novel.

Think of a scene from each section of your novel.

Then, write or list details to describe a setting that will help create the right mood for each scene.

Example: You might set your climax on the edge of a crumbling cliff at sunset in the middle of a thunderstorm. 

A setting from your set-up:

A setting from your inciting incident:

A setting from your rising action:

A setting from your climax:

A setting from your falling action:

A setting from your resolution:

Now you have settings to enhance the different moods that will be in your novel.

PART 2: Settings That Reinforce Characters

Another advanced writing trick is to show things about your characters just by putting them in specific settings.

Examples: If you were writing about a mysterious person, you might place them in a dark mansion on a hill outside of town; if you were writing about a musician, you might place them in a messy room filled with instruments, speakers, and microphones.

Sample Exercise

For each of the following characters, try to come up with a setting that will reflect or reinforce what you imagine about them.

As you write, try to be as detailed as possible.

Don’t forget colors, sounds, and even smells.

Focus on where the character is.

The shy new kid in town:

A secret scientist superhero:

A character from your novel:

Another character from your novel:

Source ⚜ Writing Notes & References ⚜ On Setting

[prompt-heaven]

100 different AUs

academic au

alien au

alpha/beta/omega au

amnesia au

apocalypse au

artist au

arranged marriage au

assassin au

athlete au

babysitter/nanny au

bakery au

bartender au

billionaire au

bodyguard au

bodyswap au

bookstore au

bounty hunter au

brother's best friend/dad's best friend au

camgirl au

camp counselor au

chef au

circus au

coffee shop au

cowboy au

cult au

dark au

deserted island au

dog walker au

dystopian au

enemies to lovers/rivals au

fairy tale au

fake relationship au

fantasy au

farm au

firefighter au

fisherman au

flower shop au

friends with benefits au

ghost au

grocery store au

guardian angel au

haunted house au

historical au

hitchhiker au

holiday au

hospital au

hunter/prey au

kidnapping au

law enforcement au

library au

lifeguard au

lumberjack au

mafia/mob au

maid/butler au

magic au

master/slave au

mechanic au

mermaid au

model au

modern au

monster au

mundane au

music store au

neighbour au

office/coworker au

paranormal investigator au

pen pal au

pirate au

prison au

private detective au

reincarnation au

road trip au

rockstar au

roommate au

royalty au

scientist au

sex worker au

single parent au

slasher au

soulmates au

space au

spy au

stalker au

stepcest au

street racer au

sugar daddy au

superhero au

surfer au

tattoo artist au

teacher/professor/tutor au

time travel au

treasure hunter au

undercover au

vampire/werewolf au

veterinarian au

vigilante au

wedding planner au

western au

witch au

yandere au