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119 Best Creative Writing Exercises for Authors in 2025

Showing 119 writing exercises curated by Reedsy.

Use Your Words

Dialogue

_Voice separates MEH stories from the ones that grab attention. _Voice is the unique way _a writer combines words and strings together sentences. It is _a story's personality, its manner of expression. _A compelling voice is the difference between "Oh, shucks!" and "Oh, slippery slush!" (Little Red Gliding Hood)_. Between "Charmaine's showing off" and "Charmaine's strutting hard enough to shame a rooster" (The Quickest Kid in Clarksville). And between "Pancake _escaped_" and "Pancake rappelled down a rope of linguini" (Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast)_. _Examine your story for common language - for example, circle blah verbs and insert something more unique.

It's All About Your Point of View

Character Development

Write a pivotal scene in your novel from a different character's POV. For instance: at a funeral, you may have written the grieving widow's thoughts and feelings. Write about that funeral from the deceased husband's POV, the eldest son's, or the step-sister's.

Dialogue Only, Please!

Dialogue

Flex the writing muscles in your brain by writing a short story that ONLY uses dialogue. For an extra challenge, introduce and juggle more than 3 characters throughout the course of this story.

The Hammer and the Hatchet

Writer's Block

A stranger walks into the general store and buys a hammer, a hatchet, some rope, and an apple. What does he do with them?

Flowers

Writer's Block

Pick one of the following flowers: Camellia, Azalea, Persimmon, Marigold, Holly, Elder, Ulmus, Verbena, Zinnia, Jonquil.Now locate it in the list below to find out the symbolism behind your flower. Write a short story based around that meaning as a theme. Specifically mention your flower in passing in the story at least once.

  • Azalea: Fragile passion
  • Camellia: My destiny is in your hands
  • Persimmon: Bury me amid nature's beauty
  • Marigold: Grief
  • Holly: Foresight
  • Elder: Compassion
  • Ulmus: Royalty, age
  • Verbena: Pray for me
  • Zinnia: I mourn your absence
  • Jonquil: Desire

The Next Great Author

Character Development

Develop a character that's an author. Write a short story from the point of view of that author.

The Page-Turner

Plot Development

Have you read a book you couldn't put down? A good writer knows how to keep the reader's attention - and the secret of that is pacing. Take a page-turner and analyse how it kept you gripped. Usually it's because each scene introduced something new, which might be a major revelation or a tiny shift in the way the reader perceives a character. Run through the entire book and write down the purpose of every major scene and turning point.

"Blue"

Writer's Block

You are talking to a blind man who asks you to describe the color of the sky. Write down what you would tell this man without once using the word "blue" in your explanation.

Stranger Comes Knocking

Character Development

There's a saying: "Everyone is the hero of his or her own story." For a 10-minute writing exercise, enter your book from another character's eyes. Think about how differently that character would experience your plot and capture that in a short story.

Translate Your Memories

Writer's Block

This exercise is particularly helpful for those who write for children and youth. Study an old photo of yourself or your family from your childhood. It's probably easy to remember the who, the where, the what. But for this exercise we want to go deeper.Close your eyes and remember the details of the event. Then remember how you felt at the event in that photo. How did you feel when anticipating the event? How did you feel if it was a surprise? How did you feel if it didn't turn out as you anticipate? How did others at the event treat you? How did you react/respond to them?Now, translate those FEELINGS into an event, place, child that would take place today.

RBE | Golden Cat for You | 2025-02

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