Anyone that is writing for a living can benefit from writing exercises. How you approach the challenge, however, will greatly influence how much you get out of it.

Some people swear by writing prompts, to help get the creative juices flowing. Even if you are not going to publish your writing, it helps to practice responding to cues and to (I hate to say it) "think outside the box." If nothing else, it will give you something on which to fall back when you fall victim to writer's block.

For example, I have a number of topics on which I love to blog - mostly related to renewable energy and cooking. Exercise topics come in a close second. But when I was hired to write articles pertaining to cosmetic procedures, it was a big challenge. Heck, I'm a lawyer - I'm trained to research and write about nearly anything! But stretch marks and nose jobs, just didn't do it for me.

Instead of wringing my hands about the unfortunate topics, I treated the assignment as just that.... an assignment! I would show my employer that I could - indeed - research and write excellent articles on just about anything tossed my way.

Since I joined HubPages in January 2008, I've enjoyed the constant challenge that the community offers me as a writer. It started for me in February 2008 with the HubLove Contest. Each day for 30 days, hubbers were given clues to decipher and then were challenged to publish up to 10 hubs on the topic in a 24 hour period.

No, I didn't win, but I did manage to put up a healthy number of hubs, including my best trafficked article about Gary Larson's Far Side Cartoons (topic: jokes). Since then, I believe that there is almost no topic on which I cannot write, if I push myself and put my mind to ti.

If you ever suffer from writer's block here at HubPages, you can always check out the "requests" section.  There, hubbers put out ideas for Hubs that they would like to read.  These requests can be answered any number of times.  Just because one person wrote about seasonal allergy remedies does not mean that you cannot do so too!

It also helps me to read what is going on at the HubPages Blog. You can even get ideas from visiting the forum - see what is hot and talked about.

One of my best online - and almost real time - friends has said that writing is a solitary experience. That is 100% true. When you are looking for topics on which to write, or support along the way, you may feel entirely alone. That is why it is so important to have a supportive community like HubPages (or a similar group) on which to rely, bounce ideas off of, and generally ground you.

Indeed this is one of the reasons that hubbing is better than blogging!

No one ever grows by staying in their comfort zone. That is why I keep coming back to HubPages, even though I have several independent blogs. Blogs have to be pretty niche-specific in order to succeed. This is because your readers - and Google - find you more easily when you're consistently blogging about a specific topic.

However, with a profile on HubPages, you can publish on a much wider variety of articles. Its a great way to push yourself.

Like now.

There has been much ado about the HubChallenge from June-July 2009. Hubbers elected to publish either 30 or 100 hubs in 30 days. Potential for spam? Sure. But really good hubbers are taking the time to put up quality hubs that will be part of their HubPages portfolio for years to come.

The time frame itself is challenging. Coming up with new, unique and evergreen topic ideas on a daily basis is an excellent writing exercise for any author.

If you are reading this after the HubChallenge has ended, or if you aren't a member of HubPages (you may want to sign up now), you can still employ similar techniques:

1. Set a reasonable goal for yourself each day, whether it is to write 1000 words, or complete an outline for an article.

2. Establish monthly targets. For example, publish 10 blog posts, or 15 hubs.

3. Be open to inspiration in daily life. This means that you'll have to log off occasionally and get out into the "real world."

4. Be accountable to a group of friends - whether online, offline, or both! When I was training for a marathon with my sister who lives 400 miles away, we both logged into a Google Document and wrote our miles each and every day.

I'd love to hear about successful writing exercises that you've used. Let's share ideas and keep the creativity high and the experience fun.

Writing doesn't have to be the solitary experience of our ancestors. With the Internet and web 2.0 groups like HubPages, our participation can inspire and enhance our enjoyment of writing - whether as a hobby or as a profession.