Writing Exercises

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1)      Writing teachers will tell you that stories start with characters.  Try creating the following two characters:

a.       A new hero – imagine that you have to write a second book to follow Red Slider.  Benjamin has already been the hero once, so you need to make a new hero.  Answer the following questions about your hero:

                                                               i.      What species is your hero? (turtle, frog, lizard, human…)

                                                             ii.      What does your hero look like?  Strong or weak?  Lovely or ugly?  Young or old?

                                                            iii.      Choose three words to describe your hero’s personality.

                                                           iv.      What is your hero’s favorite food?

                                                             v.      Does your hero have any unusual hobbies or habits?

b.      A new villain – imagine that your characters have to face a new bad guy.  Bad guys can either be really evil (like Voldemort in Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling), sort of funny (like Count Olaf in A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket), or any number of other things.  Think about your bad guy and answer the following questions?

                                                               i.      What species is your villain?

                                                             ii.      What does your villain look like?  Does he or she look normal, or look creepy?

                                                            iii.      Choose three words to describe your villain’s personality.

                                                           iv.      In what way does your villain like to make life difficult for others?

                                                             v.      What are your villain’s evil goals?

                                                           vi.      Does your villain have any unusual interests or habits?

2)      A good story starts with a problem.  The hero of the story should be trying to solve the problem.  The villain either causes the problem, makes it worse, or stands in the hero’s way.  Think about a new problem that could face the characters in either Red Slider or its imaginary sequel.

a.       What is the problem?

b.      Is the problem fairly ordinary (eg. the sunning log is too slippery), bizarre (eg. the dragonflies all grow two heads), or catastrophic (eg. an earthquake swallows up the pond)?

c.       Why does the hero need to or want to solve the problem?

d.      What ideas will the hero have about how to solve the problem?

e.       In what way will the villain cause problems for the hero when he or she tries to solve the problem?

3)      A good writer makes his or her readers feel like they’re actually in the scene of the story.  A writer does this by using all five senses in descriptions.  Make up a setting for your story.  It could be somewhere normal (like a pond, a field, a house) or somewhere imaginary (like a cloud, a fairyland, a magic cave).

a.       Where does your story take place?

b.      What is the temperature of the air?  How does it feel on your skin?

c.       What does it smell like in this place?  Is it fresh or musty?  Sweet or sour?  Familiar or unfamiliar?  Are the smells strong or hard to find?

d.      What sounds do you hear?  Where are the sounds coming from?  Are they loud or soft?

e.       What does the place look like?  Is it indoors or outdoors?  Is it bright or dark?  Is it beautiful or ugly?

f.        Imagine that you reach out and touch the nearest thing you see in your mind.  Is it soft or hard?  Wet or dry?  Smooth or rough? 

g.       Is there any food in your setting?  If so, does it taste good or bad?  If not, is there any taste in the air (for instance, ocean air tastes salty)?

h.       Use five words to describe what your setting is like.