Write a 400-word short story that actually feels finished
Four hundred words isn’t much, and it feels like even less once you have to fit a complete…
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Write a single scene in which something has changed by the end
A scene can be vivid and still do nothing for the reader. Everything reads smoothly, but as soon…
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Write one scene and find out whether you can build suspense
A character hears a sound on the other side of the front door. As the writer, you already…
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Start the same story twice and find out what an opening does
An opening line really doesn’t have to be brilliant, but it does have to set something in motion….
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Plot a storyline in which every choice causes something
You can come up with three interesting events without having a story. Each part may be absolutely fascinating,…
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Write a flashback that shapes your character’s choice
Writers often use a flashback to explain why a character does something. The story stops, a chunk of…
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Write the top of a news story that puts the most important news first
Say you have ten facts for a news story. It’s tempting to cram them all into the first…
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Cut a text down without losing anything important
Cutting a text down seems simple: you just take out the sentences you don’t need. But deciding which…
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Write an ending that gives an earlier detail new meaning
Some stories end at exactly the moment you, the reader, finally understand everything you’ve just read. Others keep…
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Write the same event once fast and once slow
Say a scene takes twenty seconds in real life. On the page, you can easily wrap that event…
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Fifteen writing exercises with instant feedback on your own work
Most online writing exercises are well thought out, but they don’t give you anything back. Just think about…
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Describe one room and you’ll know whether your details work
If you check off all five senses in your scene, you end up with a list of what…
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Write one scene and you’ll know whether your point of view holds
It’s easy to let your point of view slip in a story, because when you write from one…
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Write one description and you’ll know whether you’re showing or telling
You can take every emotion word out of your writing and still be telling. Words like “shabby,” “bleak,”…
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Dialogue writing exercise: find out whether your dialogue works
What’s going on between your characters lives mostly in your head and doesn’t always come through in your…
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Write one scene and you’ll know whether your character works
You can know your main character inside out and still have them do nothing in your scene that…
