Exercises

[dr_mabeuse]

I stay away from most writing exercises myself. I think that too often they're artificial and contrived and teach you nothing more than how to write under artificial and contived conditions, with arbitrary limits ("Write a story involving three people, a waffle iron and an inflatable boat" Things like that.) They can be fun, in the way that a puzzle is fun, but, for the most part, they rarely teach you to write well.

I have a friend who taught creative writing, and he said that whenever he went into class unprepared (which was often), he would give them an "exercise", and it was his belief that that's where most writing exercises come from.

So I'm wondering what people think of writing exercises and which, if any, they've found valuable or useful.

---dr.M.

 

[MathGirl]

I have a friend who taught creative writing, and he said that whenever he went into class unprepared (which was often), he would give them an "exercise

Dear Dr M,
I've never taken or taught a writing class. When I taught freshman Calculus, though, if I didn't feel like lecturing, I made the students go to the chalkboard and work problems. Same idea as your friend. Humiliating to the students and gives the teacher a chance to read the sports page.
MG

 

[dr_mabeuse]

A very interesting and perceptive question, Dr. M!

May I take the opportunity to present some exercises I think might be useful. Each deals with a specific and familiar kind of problem one might encounter in writing fiction:

--Write 5 or 10 alternate opening lines for a story.

--Write a dialogue involving 4 people who are just sitting around talking (this deals with the problem of repeated attributives ("John said"/"Joe said"/"said Jane")

--Write a dialogue in which one character is doing something else as he talks--making coffee, working on an engine, &c--in such a way that talking and working are interweaved.

--Write a scene in which one character is disappointed and show that disappointment without resorting to cliches (drooping shoulders, etc) and without coming out and telling us. (Substitute any of the more subtle emotions and moods in this one, the point being to show and not tell a character's internal state)

---dr.M.

 

[cookiejar]

A very interesting and perceptive question, Dr. M!

May I take the opportunity to present some exercises I think might be useful. Each deals with a specific and familiar kind of problem one might encounter in writing fiction:

--Write 5 or 10 alternate opening lines for a story.

--Write a dialogue involving 4 people who are just sitting around talking (this deals with the problem of repeated attributives ("John said"/"Joe said"/"said Jane")

--Write a dialogue in which one character is doing something else as he talks--making coffee, working on an engine, &c--in such a way that talking and working are interweaved.

--Write a scene in which one character is disappointed and show that disappointment without resorting to cliches (drooping shoulders, etc) and without coming out and telling us. (Substitute any of the more subtle emotions and moods in this one, the point being to show and not tell a character's internal state)

---dr.M.

I want to try these...sounds like fun. A really dumb question for you peoples. Is there a way to find out how many words you have in a story, other than counting?

 

[MathGirl]

I want to try these...sounds like fun. A really dumb question for you peoples. Is there a way to find out how many words you have in a story, other than counting?

Dear Coo,
Most word processors offer word counts somewhere on their menus.
MG
Ps. My usual method is to ask Og. He knows everything.

 

[oggbashan]

Dear Coo,
Most word processors offer word counts somewhere on their menus.
MG
Ps. My usual method is to ask Og. He knows everything.

Useless on Art - I ask my brother; Science - I ask my youngest daughter; Current Affairs - middle daughter; Pop music - middle daughter's SO; Films and Tv - eldest daughter's SO (also boxing and cricket); Languages - wife and eldest daughter or Svenskaflicka; if desperate and I haven't got a book on it I Google.

MSWORD has a word count facility under "Tools" on the menu bar.

Writing exercises: I'm attending a creative writing class. One of this term's exercises was "Go out a buy an orange. Examine it; eat it. Describe what you have done." The results were interesting and those who DIDN'T actually get an orange were obvious. We had extended discussions on what the "zest" of an orange was, and how few times you could use the word "orange" when writing about one.

Og

 

[McKenna]

.

 

[Guest]

I agree with Mab. and Maths. Most of the exercises posted here bore me. When I have done one it's because one or two people have made something brilliant of it so it inspires me to try. But for one or two I'm not especially satisfied with what I've done, so I won't be doing many more I'm sure.

I recall a writing class once where we were to write the autobiography of an onion. Excruciating and boring.

Perdita

 

[cookiejar]

Thanx MG & Og...I found this...http://www.lettermall.com/word_counter.html

 

[wildsweetone]

Of all the exercises I've found and shared here, I think the one I found most memorable was where I had to write six sentences on one topic without repeating any words.

Posting exercises is simply sharing. Actually doing the exercises is where the learning comes in.

 

[TheEarl]

I occasionally like writing exercises, but I have to be in the right mood. Whether they teach you anything or not I'm not sure. Some do, but I feel it's more from the practise of writing that I learn, rather than the exercise itself.

The Earl

 

[reohoko]

I stay away from most writing exercises myself. I think that too often they're artificial and contrived and teach you nothing more than how to write under artificial and contived conditions, with arbitrary limits ("Write a story involving three people, a waffle iron and an inflatable boat" Things like that.) They can be fun, in the way that a puzzle is fun, but, for the most part, they rarely teach you to write well.

I have a friend who taught creative writing, and he said that whenever he went into class unprepared (which was often), he would give them an "exercise", and it was his belief that that's where most writing exercises come from.

So I'm wondering what people think of writing exercises and which, if any, they've found valuable or useful.

---dr.M.

I have done many writing exercises, and while I am not sure if everyone can learn from them, I do think they can be helpful.

Some of the exercises is to practice vocabulary, some for grammar. There is a cool exercise where you write non-stop for I think 700 words. Using no punctuation (and no spell check, which I SO need), set it aside for a few days and then come back and put in all the punctuation and seperate the paragraphs and stuff. It's supposed to be helpful, and it did, sort of, help me. I am still staring for days editing though.

Some exercises I think are to make us look at things more deeply, study them, get to the heart of them (tootsie pop commercials come to mind here), and some I think are to help with the formalities of writing.

Writing is an artform, like art, and you can't learn to paint the most beautiful painting (not with all the talent in the world) if you don't practice and do at least some exercises. Without the wonders of mixing colors, the art world would be a blah statement of depression. I can spend hours just making the colors before I ever get around to painting with them, LOL.

 

[Black Tulip]

Re: Re: Exercises

Writing is an artform, like art, and you can't learn to paint the most beautiful painting (not with all the talent in the world) if you don't practice and do at least some exercises. Without the wonders of mixing colors, the art world would be a blah statement of depression. I can spend hours just making the colors before I ever get around to painting with them, LOL.

When it comes to colors, I am like a kid in the toyshop. I have loads of pencils and paints.
But what I do most of the time, is use the colors on somebody elses work, not making my own.

As for writing excersises, Dingus Guy started a thread called The Challenge Club.
Maybe you knew that?

I like trying my hand at something like that because it forces me to focus on my writing instead of just pouring my thoughts all on paper as if I am emptying a bucket of water. And yes, I think that will help me improve my writing.

 

[Dirt Man]

A writing exhersise to me is...

Nothing more than taking my mind off of my own writing. In effect a writing exercise would be just another distraction to keep me away from a current project that I am involved in, and no writer needs that. However I do understand how they can be made to help new authors hone their limited skill, and become better writers. The thing to remember is that they are just exercises, and not much good for anything else, except perhaps for working out of a writer's block, but I do that by writing erotica/porn here.

As Always
I Am the
Dirt Man

 

[gauchecritic]

I've joined a few exercises but there are more that I haven't. I seem to pick the ones that inspire me rather than ones that challenge me.

As for their usefulness isn't everything we write practice?

Gauche

 

[Uther_Pendragon]

Writing exercises are like anything else. Some help you;
some don't. Egomaniacs get in the habit of saying that
the ones which help them are helpful -- the ones that don't
help them are useless. Helping others develop *their*
skills doesn't matter.
Just 'cause somehing helped me doesn't mean it will help
you, and vice versa. Where exercises help is where they
are on one of your boundaries. I found writing
all-dialogue stories helpful because I find dialogue comes
more easily than narrative, BUT. (I know what happens in
the story, and what happens in dialogue is just dialogue.
OTOH, describing the motions and actions of a character
-- even when you can see the actions clearly in your mind --
is one of the harder parts of writing for me.) BUT my
dialogue tends to wander, just as true-life dialogue
wanders; conveying all the action through dialogue is a
challenge.

 

[oggbashan]

Re: Re: Exercises

I have done many writing exercises, and while I am not sure if everyone can learn from them, I do think they can be helpful.

Some of the exercises is to practice vocabulary, some for grammar. There is a cool exercise where you write non-stop for I think 700 words. Using no punctuation (and no spell check, which I SO need), set it aside for a few days and then come back and put in all the punctuation and seperate the paragraphs and stuff. It's supposed to be helpful, and it did, sort of, help me. I am still staring for days editing though.

Change 700 words to 50,000 and it sounds like NaNoWriMo. I must start editing.

Og

 

[reohoko]

Re: Re: Re: Exercises

Change 700 words to 50,000 and it sounds like NaNoWriMo. I must start editing.

Og

I think, next time they do that Nano thing I want to try it . Sounds like fun. Keeps you really busy?

 

[Boota]

My short stories are writing exercises. I use them to warm up and sharpen my chops for writing novels. I don't think I would have patience for some of those writing exercises. I have a friend who is a teacher and writing exercises is also what he does when he isn't prepared.