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5 Challenges for Writers

Updated on June 8, 2012

There 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.

My ancestor was in the Trojan Horse.
My ancestor was in the Trojan Horse. | Source

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.

Special Edition: Man eats underwear to beat breathalyzer.
Special Edition: Man eats underwear to beat breathalyzer. | Source

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?

Condom machine. (I don't practice Safe sex. I've mastered it.)
Condom machine. (I don't practice Safe sex. I've mastered it.) | Source

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.

Eavesdropping: Trust No One.
Eavesdropping: Trust No One. | Source

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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