Creative Writing: Exercises for creative texts

Get upset, get angry, get indignant.

Let off steam about a topic. Let off steam - or whatever else is inside you.

You'll notice how your choice of words changes. How authentically you suddenly write and how easy it is for you to write.

In this state of rage, you are you. In this state you write most honestly.

The beginning is always the biggest obstacle in creative writing. Stop thinking about your beginning for hours. Just take the beginning of another text and make it your own. After the text is finished, just change the beginning. Done.

Why do so many texts sound like the author has a broom up his butt?

Why do people pretend as soon as they write an article? Often it's the desire for a "serious appearance. You can save yourself this polite posturing.

Be human, be honest and be like the boy in the fairy tale "The King's New Clothes". Say it: "The king is naked!"

Often the mere thought of the huge novel or article blocks us. This mountain is so big that we don't want to tackle it.

The trick: sit down to write just one sentence. Say to yourself, "I'm only going to write one sentence." You can do that.

That's how you outsmart yourself. Because after the first sentence, you can write a second one. And you're already at half a page.

You'll find this rule in all writing guides: "Show, don't tell." The reason is also clear: it's more true to life. Don't tell me that the soccer player "left in a huff." Rather, say that he "packed his things and left without saying a word." That he was offended I can and should then guess.

Stop describing feelings. Rather describe what happens - the feelings result from it.

Task: replace the following narrated states with "show":

1. He was tired.
2. He was angry.
3. She was happy.

Write a text completely without verbs.

Example:

"Rain. Dark night. Porsche Cayenne. Accident."

This is how you learn to shorten a text to the essential information. From time to time, you can also incorporate moments like this into real articles to increase the pace of the text. That way, your writing style will be nice and crisp.

What was the most embarrassing situation in your life? What was the most beautiful moment? What was the worst vacation?

Now you can exaggerate. Yes, you must exaggerate.

This exercise is to practice the art of hyperbole (linguistic exaggeration).

"It felt like an elephant kicked me in the balls."

"The food tasted like five others had eaten it and thrown it back up before me."

"I was more in love than Jack and Rose in Titanic."

What if Germany had won World War II? What if you had never met your current partner? What if you had been born in another city?

Write it down.

You can play such great mind games and exercise your creativity. Remember, your brain is a muscle. Only training will make you and your writing better.