: Re: What helpful writing exercises do you use? The two I do most are dialog and description related. When I meet a person or I'm just sitting people watching, I try to write their description

Take the opening sentence from a short story that you have not yet read (this likely won't work as well if you have read it). Write a story starting with the opening sentence.
Find a painting, post card, or photograph. Describe it with as much "showing" as possible. Try to incorporate all five senses.
Pick a relative whom you don't know very much about. Starting with what you do know and common traits in your family, create a character portrait. Focus more on motivation questions (loves, hates, wants, desires, fears, needs) than on facts (job, age, sex, location).
Write your dreams down.
Take a scene from a work of fiction that you admire. Try re-writing from a different point of view, from a different character's perspective, or against a different back drop.
Try writing a piece of extremely short fiction in which you manage to convey an interesting character in 55 words or less

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: How do I recover my confidence after a harsh writing group? Having majored in writing in my undergraduate studies, I spent lots of time getting critiques from my fellow students, some of whom

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: What should be in a cover letter for short story submission to a magazine? It's been about five years since I last submitted any of my work for publication, and my memory of what I was taught

: Re: What helpful writing exercises do you use? The two I do most are dialog and description related. When I meet a person or I'm just sitting people watching, I try to write their description

More posts by @Alves689

: How do I recover my confidence after a harsh writing group? Having majored in writing in my undergraduate studies, I spent lots of time getting critiques from my fellow students, some of whom

: Is there a Market for Poetry with a Fixed Verse Form I find that when I structure my poetry according to an accepted form such as a villanelle, sestina, or sonnet I am able to think more

: When is it a good time to move on to another project? I've seen it mentioned in software development the concept of Fail Early, Fail Often. Using failure as a learning process is important

: What should be in a cover letter for short story submission to a magazine? It's been about five years since I last submitted any of my work for publication, and my memory of what I was taught

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