Hello Bookworms!
Alright, so it took me a little longer than I had planned to get this written, but I think it was worth it. Today I am covering a few writing exercises I use when I feel my writing is lacking in something. If I know what my writing is lacking, I just start writing one of the ideas listed and see where it leads. If I don't know, then I'll just pick one randomly and start rambling seeing where my mind goes. These are some of the areas I find myself dealing with, and trying to work past.
My sister once said that the main difference between a short story and a novel or novella is that a short story focuses on one idea, while a novella can focus on several. As such, these ideas are simply inspirations for short stories, and I hope they help you as such. Also, the stories you write are ones you can keep to yourself, or dispose of if you find they aren't helping. (Or just aren't your style).
#1: Dialogue.
Sometimes when I'm writing, I look at the characters, then what they are saying; and they don't really match. So, I will go to the shelf, pull out a book of fairy tales, and start rewriting one in first person. This helps for several reasons. Firstly, it's a story which you already know, so you don't have to decide what's going to happen unless you want to. Secondly, first person is pretty much dialogue on its own, so you don't have to add much for whatever character you choose. Thirdly, you can choose whichever character you want to tell the story from, and also get some experience trying to find the right dialogue for each personality presented.
#2: Humor.
This idea was Esther's however I personally love the concept. Try writing a random list of insane ideas and rules, (Like, rule 9: Cedar wood makes bad spaghetti, go for pine.) then write a story explaining it. Another way to work on humor is not exactly an exercise, but it is a good way to get past the block: Reading Douglas Adams' works. Douglas Adams is best known for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and his humor is amazing. He balances the insanity of science fiction with the typical experiences of everyday life, and frankly of all the prologues I've read, his are the funniest. (No, I haven't read all his works, I'm working on it).
#3: Fear.
This is one I've been working on for over a year, since I tried writing a haunted forest into one of my books. For some reason, I can't get past a mental block of being too scary, and then I'm not scary at all. If you are dealing with being too scary, this isn't for you. If you can't write anything scary, this should help. In trying to deal with this I started asking a lot of people for help, and it was my dad who finally gave me the biggest hint. "When you give fear an image, it becomes less terrifying." He was probably quoting someone, but the principle is the same. If there is a vicious nameless terror behind one door and a vicious 30 headed dragon with razor sharp teeth behind the other, most people will choose the 30 headed dragon. The unknown is more terrifying than any monster of your own concoction, because you can always imagine something worse. So if you are writing something terrifying, don't say exactly what it is; let the reader's imagination tell him.
That was a rather long introduction, sorry, I'll get to the point now. I came up with a short story idea, and you can come up with whatever ideas work for you. (Yes, my first inspiration came from Doctor Who: the god complex.) Basically, a journalist is investigating an abandoned hotel, and there is one door which he is told up front to never, ever open. And when he goes around to the rooms, he finds that everyone there is insane with a multitude of random psychosis, however they all tell him the exact same thing: Never Open the Door. You can try coming up with whatever closed door scenario you want and experiment with it, it's your writer's block.
#4: Tension.
I've had difficulty expressing the tension of others on paper, so what I often do is write down my own tension. Whenever I'm tense or nervous about anything, I will sit down, and write down exactly what I'm feeling. This accomplishes two things. Firstly, I have a basis for writing other people's tension; and secondly I have something to get my mind off of what is making me tense or nervous.
#5: Death.
Depending on the type of book you are writing, you will probably need to write a death scene at some point or other. Also, depending on how important this character and his/her death is; you might need to spend a lot of time and depth in arranging it. I used to deal with this problem a lot, until I got around it by describing the person's death through through the eyes of someone else. (Yes, I need to get over that; I'm working on it.) This might be a good exercise if you can't seem to convey the importance, or in some cases the unimportance of someone's death. Find a war which intrigues you, write a platoon/garrison/squad in the army, and write how each of them die all within 24 hours of each other. It can be on the battlefield, through poison, assassination, anything. But they all have to die in 24 hours, and you need to include how each particular one died.
That's all, I hope you enjoyed this post, I hope it helped! If there is an area which you can't seem to get past, please let me know! I would love to find an exercise to deal with it! Leave a comment, share, and be looking for my next post! It will be long, however it is also a Shady Friday, and beyond that it will be a complete Shady Friday! (Meaning that it's not a segment of a story, it's a complete short story!) It might not be next Friday, but it should be in the next few weeks!
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