5 Challenges for Writers
71There is this guy, a bad writer. I bump into him all the time and I find him always staring at me. It's crazy! Is he following me? Why?! And how am I supposed to improve my writing if I have to deal with this guy day after day? Maybe I should get those damn mirrors off the wall.
Anyway, I'm doing my best to put on writing muscles. Yep, that's why I do these writing exercises. They're rumored to be helpful. They'd better be, because otherwise I'd need to help myself to some other avocation. And since you are a good friend of mine, I guess, I can share them with you. They are from the heart.
Challenge #1 - The Legend
Dig up a family legend. Ask
your family members if anything interesting happened to them or to
someone they know in the past. They don't need to be convinced that
it's true. If the story is not particularly interesting you can spice
it up a bit, but it shouldn't loose its personal touch.
Challenge #2 - Displaced Story
Look at a local paper
from a foreign country (can be English-speaking) on the net. Try to
find a story that intrigues you, maybe something weird and read it
carefully. Can you imagine this same story happening in the streets of
your home town, maybe in your own street? What would change? What would
stay the same? What kind of characters might become involved?
Challenge #3 - The Safe
Imagine that two people are
trapped overnight in a safe. It's a large safe but nevertheless a
small, cramped, stifling place for two people. You can decide who these
two are, how they got into the safe, how they relate to each other,
what their night spent together in the safe is like, what their
emotions are when rescued in the morning.
Challenge #4 - Eavesdropping
Get out to the streets
maybe to a crowded park or square and look at your fellow citizens.
Pick one that you find interesting and follow them. Stay close enough
to be able to watch how they move and what they do. Try to overhear
what they say. Gather as much information about your target's life as
you can. Then write up some fiction about this character based on the
details you've collected.
Challenge #5 - Free Choice
Pick any of these topics:
- imagine your parents together before they got married and write about what they could be like back then,
- take an inspiring photo and write anything that comes to mind,
- take a personal secret or ask your friends for one and write a story about it,
- describe a ritual that you have in your life,
- pick an object you like and tell your story imagining yourself as that object.
If you do any of these stories please leave a comment and perhaps a link for me. I'd like to read them. Thank you. :)
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I am definitely going to do at least one of these. Thanks for proposing them this way, because now I'll be able to come back here and remember what I was writing about!
In my mirrors hub you said you didn't like mirrors so I though you were referring to that, but then about ten minutes later I remembered thatthere are mirrors in this one too. lol
Great ideas, Haunty! Writing fiction can be daunting, casting around for characters and plot. It can be hard to realize that stories are everywhere. I hope you don't get in trouble following those people around, they might think you are a stalker! (haha)
Yes, actually there's nothing wrong with that exercise as long as you don't make a habit of it. :) Thanks.
I am going to try challenge #2 sounds interesting to me and even a senior hubber could use this valuable information. :)
Thanks NT and J.
awesome ideas. thanks enjoyed
Good writing challenges. I use a variation of #4 all the time in my screenwriting. I go to the local mall and observe (in a non-stalking kind of way) it helps me create a voice for certain characters.
Great tips. I have done #1 already, twice. Tried #4 and got slapped. #5 would just be too sick for me because you know where that would lead me. LOL
lol, you've got me hooked, I'll go and find those two instances. :)
Wow, some great tips I must try them all now. Now shall I rise to the challenge and write them all?
Thanks for this great tips.
I like # 5 best, this is a great set of novel ( no pun intended ) ideas. Well done
What a fascinating hub loved the ideas so useful I may have a go at them soon
I am a poet who hit a very hard wall when my house burned to the ground last May. I used the family legend idea to break through. Thanks for the tip.
...now i have an idea on what to do..:) thank you very much Sir! :)...(i'll try this one time)
Great ideas! I've been expericing writer block for awhile now due to stress. Thanks though! I'll be sure to give these a try!
great ideas thank foe posting
This challage has enthused me. Thanks.
I like to say thanks for becoming one of my follows it is appreciated and I hope I answered your question to the best of my ability. I think you would be interested in a hubber/writer who goes by the name of MrDSpade, the poetry will not disappoint.
Goodbye, for now
I am always scouring any source for writing ideas, so this came at a perfect time. I enjoy your humor and creativity.
Very interesting, I can't wait to try them out
Great stuff; thanks for this post! :)
I'll be doing challenge number 1 this week. It involves much mystery. I would really like to solve the "Flying Torso" legend that haunts my 7 year old mind.
Haunty,
It's not only challenging but very informative. Thanks for doling out the ideas. Wiil definitely try one.
Lots of Love,
MAKUSR
Thanks for the story idea tips. Very useful. I like the eaves-dropping one.
Hawkesdream Level 2 Commenter 3 years ago
Really good ideas , gonna try them. Get rid of those damn mirrors, they are nothing but a nuisance lol