Creative Writing Workbook: 20 Simple Exercises To Unleash Your Creativity (creative writing for beginners, creative writing exercises, thinking skills, writing skills, stop writer's block)

CREATIVE WRITING WORKBOOK

20 Simple Exercises to Unleash Your Creativity

I want to thank and congratulate you for downloading my book, “Creative Writing Workbook:  20 Simple Exercises to Unleash Your Creativity”.

This book contains proven steps and strategies on how to boost your creativity and enable you to drastically improve your creative writing skill
s–
even if you do not have a writing background.

While creative writing is a personal process, and there are different methods and habits that people develop to dig deep into their reserves whenever they are faced with a drought in creativity, there are basic techniques upon which these personal systems are based. This book will present them to you. Hopefully, you can develop your own system from there.

Thanks again for downloading this book, I hope you enjoy it!

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When it comes to boosting creativity, there are many different ways through which this can be done,and it can vary greatly from one person to the other. There are people who cultivate special routines and habits meant to help them whenever a creative drought occurs. Others have special items our rituals that they must do in order to ensure maximum inspiration. Needless to say, this can be a very personal process. That said, there are basic techniques upon which these are all based and these are what w
e’
re going to tackle.

Le
t’
s get right to it.

Most people tend to think that routine is the furthest thing from being creative as one can get. In fact, it might bring to mind images of long commutes, 9 to 5 workdays, tedious repetitions, and so on; basically, all the stuff that might drain someone of any inspiration. However, this is
n’
t always the case. In fact, quite a lot of successful creative writers make use of routines to their advantage. Instead of waiting and sitting around until inspiration shows up, they wrestle and wrangle it to their will.

These people would typically get up at around the same time, eat a fairly similar breakfast each day and then take it upon themselves to sit at their writing desk or stand inside their studio at the same hour each day. History provides us with exemplary example
s—
Franz Kafka began writing at 11pm every night whileBenjamin Franklin would wake up at 5am every morning to ask himself one question
:“
What good shall I do this day
?”
A lot of creative, as surprising as this might sound, find that routine actually stimulates their creativity. Some view it as a way of nudging the mind to get into creation mode.

So, what kind of routine should you develop? Something simple. Keeping things this way should help in preventing you from becoming overwhelmed by the routine itself. Of course, if you choose something more complicated, you can end up wasting time and energy on it that you could have been using for your writing instead. Writer Stephen King always keeps water or tea by his side whenever h
e’
s writing. It is simple, yet effective judging by his prolific writing. Keep your routine to a maximum 2 to 4 things and change things as you go along. Tweaking would help you perfect your pre-writing routine to a tee.

Some things that you can include in your routine:

• Going for a walk before you begin writing.
  
• Waking up at a specific hour.
  
• Writing down a specific number of words within an hour before taking a break.
  
• Listing down 20 different ideas before you begin.
  

These are just a few simple things you can try out. Yo
u’
re bound to discover what works and what does
n’
t work for you once you do get started with this method. Remember, do your best to stick to the routine you created and observe how it helps get your creativity flowing.

The thing with routine is that it can get very boring and you might find yourself becoming just a tiny bit frustrated over it. The whole process might become tedious and in some cases, even drain you of much needed motivation. This is why it's also important to plan ahead. This does not mean that you should plan out your day down to the very last minute. It simply means that you know what you need to do for that day while also leaving some allowance should something unexpected come up. You wouldn't want to shut yourself off from anything just because you want to keep up with your routine, right?

How do you begin planning? Well, take your routine in consideration. How much time will it consume? Now think about how many hours you want to spend on writing, an approximate time would be enough as most writers do not really have a set time for this. Think about the things you want to achieve within that time and which ones are of higher priority. You can opt to make a list of these things or simply keep them in mind as you work through your writing. Not only will this list give you direction, it will also put your mind into work and create mode. Having a clear guide always helps.

Give yourself a deadline instead of simply going with the flow. While the latter can work, it might also create unhealthy writing and work habits. A deadline would provide you with an approximation when it comes to your time. You might find that the simple addition of this step to your writing allows you to write more without needing to forget everything else-- as quite a few writers have a tendency to do.

Do remember, planning need not be rigid. Keep it simple and suited to your personal preferences. The less you have to think or worry about, the more creative you can become.

Here's the deal with this, many writers are often offended whenever they are asked to do this-- they are writers after all, and wouldn't be so if their spelling and grammar are
n’
t up to par. However, even the best do make mistakes and are also prone to becoming repetitive when it comes to the words they use. Simple grammar mistakes such as interchanging the uses of they're and their or lose and loose are quite common. Make mistakes like that and you can easily be considered an amateur.

And you wouldn't want that to happen, right?

Grammar mistakes are just as common as spelling mistakes. However, it can be a bit more flexible. For example, it is totally fine to start your sentences with "and" or "but" if it better suits your writing style. The same goes for
the
well-know
n“
don't end your sentences with a prepositio
n
” rule-- this can be broken too. For more modern readers, these might even go unnoticed.

However, not all rules are made to be broken. A lot of them do make sense and actually make your work much easier to understand. The difference is in knowing that you made a mistake. If you are fully aware that you're making a mistake and doing so to experiment or get creative with your work, then go ahead. However, if you keep making mistakes unknowingly, it might cause your credibility to weaken.

Another common mistake that people make would be using punctuation wrongly or not using it at all, which then renders their sentences unintelligible. This is one of the easiest mistakes to make and most people don't even realize it. Commas can be very tricky little things, so always use them wisely. The same goes for using apostrophes. In fact, some people have tried to get it banned! Lastly, there's also the common misuse of "me, myself and I". Mistakes like this one could have been easily avoided if they continuously brushed up on it.

Knowing the rules when it comes to writing is important. Not only for avoiding them, but also for getting creative when it comes to breaking them in order to suit your style better. It would also make your writing a lot more seamless and enjoyable to read.

A lot of times, adverbs and adjectives are actually not needed as much. For example:

1. Anna ate her food quickly.

2. Anna gulped down her food.

So which of the two do you think is better? Most people would opt for the 2nd one as it makes use of a strong verb instead of relying upon an adverb. It immediately creates an image in the reader's mind which you can develop even further to get them more immersed in the story you're trying to tell. However, don't get too carried away with this. Avoid long-winded descriptions of simple actions. It would make your work tedious to read and only very few people can really pull this off-- think of the classics. There are always better ways of adding color and life to your writing. Experiment with what works best for your genre and style.

Do keep in mind that this is not meant to change your overall style and character as a writer. However, it is also a healthy habit to always look at one's work with a critical eye and improve on it. This is something that a lot of authors often do and is also a sign of the ever evolving creative mind.

There's nothing better than the feeling of finishing a full draft. It's a testament go your hard work and it also means that the job is done- for now. Surely, you feel ready to show it off and publish, but pause for a minute and look at your draft again. It is called a first draft for a reason. It is still rough and will certainly need a lot more polishing.

Here's your next step: Read through it. You may have the best plot, the most interesting characters and scenes, but none of these things would truly shine if your writing remains unpolished and raw. Revise and rewrite parts, don't just look for typos or grammar errors-- go in depth. Check for plot holes, for the flow of your story, its structure and overall tone. Look at it through the eyes of both reader and critic.

Revising does include proof reading and editing, but it is much more than that. It takes any time from a week to months. Editing for structure, for flow, for holes, for cutting a lot of prose, for characters and setting. Perhaps your plot could be made simpler or further expanded to create a more interesting story. Revising is no simple task, but if you manage to do it properly, you can make your work truly shine.