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A Writer's Block Writing Exercise
3-2-1 Gone
Your protagonist opens a purse or a desk drawer and finds three objects. By the end of your piece there's only one item left. What happens to the other two?
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Similar exercises
Get your creative juices flowing with these similar writing prompts.
Eight
Pick a fiction book from your shelf. Go to page eight and find the eighth sentence on the page. Start with that sentence and write an eight-line poem that connects in some way to your work-in-progress. For instance, write from the POV of a character, or set the poem in a story setting. Don't worry about poetry forms. Just write eight lines of any length that flow and explore some aspect of character, setting, or theme.
One Word
Open a dictionary, close your eyes, pick a random word, and write about it. Go on, see how much you can write about one word in thirty seconds. It doesn't matter if you think it's great or silly or you think it's a beautiful word that everyone should use in every conversation. Write it!
No Vowel
Write a passage without the letter "E" or "A." This is known as a lipogram and has been used by authors in many languages to write their novels. You will use unusual sentence constructions, and it may slow you down for a while, but it will certainly force your brain to work in different ways.
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First Meetings
When you meet new people, how do you react? Tell a story to illustrate this.
The Hammer and the Hatchet
A stranger walks into the general store and buys a hammer, a hatchet, some rope, and an apple. What does he do with them?
