I teach creative writing on a Thursday morning to a wonderful group. The people who come are eager to try and happy to share. It is, at least for me, a wonderful way to spend an hour and a half once every two weeks.
I get my writing exercise ideas from a whole host of places. But two books I love are Naming the World, by Brett Anthony Johnston and Writing Fiction: The practical guide, from the Gotham Writers’ Workshop.
Here’s the exercise we tried today. If you’re looking for a writing prompt, give this a try:
Characters
Characters are all about the details. When you think about what you love (or hate, for that matter) about someone real, it’s usually a detail, a characteristic, a feature. And when you describe that person, using that feature, s/he comes alive for your audience.
Spend five minutes describing a feature you love about yourself. It should be something physical. Now spend five minutes describing something that you hate.
Now, incorporating those features, write about someone fictional, in a café, buying a cup of coffee, whose hands are shaking.
