Get Creative with Prompts – Week 3

September 6, 2018October 10, 2018 F.A. HuffmanLeave a comment

Welcome back to my nine-week creative writing lessons. This is your third lesson to help get you writing and to improve your writing style. So far you answered questions and written a letter to yourself. This time you are going to be writing an actual story.

Today’s less is writing prompts.

Writing prompts are little ideas that help to jumpstart a story. These prompts could be a single sentence, a paragraph, or a picture, but they are meant to inspire a story. These types of prompts are great ways to help you when you feel stuck for ideas.

You can spend ten minutes writing on a prompt, and then return back to the book you’ve been working on with new inspiration. It works by stimulating your writing process. Google can provide you with a whole host of writing prompts, but I’ve got a few for you.

You’re enjoying your favorite show when you notice that the window is open. You know you didn’t raise the window, and you live along. Who could have opened the window? Are they still in your house? What are you going to do?
You wake up in the morning excited about the day you have planned. Out of nowhere, you are hit with a blinding headache. As quickly as it hit, the headache is gone, but now you can’t remember anything. Who are you? What happened? Where are you going to go? Can you get help?
You’re walking along the beach when you trip over something. You inspect the ground where you tripped and find a hidden staircase. Will you explore it? What’s down the stairs? Is anybody there? Who will you tell?

If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it. – Toni Morrison

Become a Creative Writer with a Letter – Week 2

August 30, 2018October 10, 2018 F.A. HuffmanLeave a comment

Welcome to the second lesson in my creative writing exercise series. If you’ve done the first lesson, then you have answered three questions. You may have even fleshed those out into a complete story.

Today’s lesson will have you writing a letter to your younger self.

It is literally as easy as it sounds. This younger self could be from just a few years ago, or it could be you as a child. In your letter, you can offer yourself some advice, explanations, praise, forgiveness, or compassion. Or you could even tell your younger self a story of what has turned you into the adult you are now.

When you are writing, try your best to view this younger self as a completely different person. This exercise will help you to see your reader as a real person with feelings and emotions. You can move or inspire a person with your writing.

Again, do your best not to overthink this. Take a couple of minutes to figure out what your core message is going to be, and then start writing.

There you have it. Day two, done. Come back again to get day three.

There is nothing to writing. All you do is sid down at a typewriter and bleed. – Ernest Hemingway

Get Writing with 3 Questions – Week 1

August 23, 2018October 10, 2018 F.A. HuffmanLeave a comment

I strongly believe that everybody is capable of being a writer. We all live extraordinary lives. We all have inspiration around us and it just takes a little work to get it down on paper.

If you are able to talk, then you are able to write. The thing is, the more you write, the better you will be at writing. That’s why I have decided to spend the next nine weeks sharing with you creative writing exercises to make you a better writer.

Welcome to week one.

Today’s exercise is called: Answer 3 Questions.

That probably sounds like a weird exercise, but hang in there.

For this exercise, you will come up with the answers to three questions. This is supposed to help you stimulate the writing process. The great thing is, you can come up with the three questions yourself. Of course, I will provide you with some examples.

Try to answer your questions as quickly as you can, and use whatever ideas come to mind. You can write as much or as little as you want, but the point is to let the creative juices flow. Try not to think too much.

Here are some example questions:

Why is the window open?

Who just snuck through that window?

Why did they have to sneak through?

Who is Stephanie?

Why is she so happy?

What is she going to do next?

What are Theresa’s plans for the day?

Why does she hate going to the doctor?

Where are her children?

That’s your first day. Come back next week to get the second creative writing exercise.

There is no greater agnoy than bearing an untold story inside you. – Maya Angelou

10 Ways to Find Writing Inspiration

August 22, 2018October 10, 2018 F.A. HuffmanLeave a comment

Being a writer isn’t as easy as some people think. It takes time. You have to come up with ideas. Then ultimately you have to write it down into a cohesive manner. After a while, you will find it hard to find inspiration. Inspiration has evaded me before, and there have been times where I had to make myself write. I don’t like feeling like I’m being made to do something, and I’m sure most of you are the same way. If you’re looking for some inspiration to help you get motivated to write, I’ve got a few tips for you.

Books

What better way to find inspiration that with a book. You don’t even have to go with inspirational books, but you can. Any type of book; fiction, non-fiction, young adult, fantasy, horror, whatever your favorite type of book is. That book might just hold that piece of inspiration you’ve been looking for. Stephen King’s book IT helped me figure out how I wanted to organize my book.

2. People Watching

This is my favorite. I’ve always been a fly on the wall type person. Or a wallflower. Whatever you want to call it. So sitting around and watching other people has always been entertaining, and it’s the perfect way to get inspired to write.

3. Brainstorms

Sit down with a pen and paper and start writing things down. Write the different ideas you’ve been playing. Don’t worry about organizing anything, just write. Something on that paper could end up becoming your next big success.

4. Writing Journal

This is great for any writer. It’s not something you have to write in every single day, but it’s there for you if inspiration strikes. You can write down quotes, snippets, plot twists, characters, or dialog. All you need is a simple spiral bound notebook.

5. Dreams

This may not be very easy, but keeping up with your dreams may give you some ideas on what to write about. There was one morning I woke up and I could remember a dream I had that night, and I wrote it down because I thought it would be a great plot for a story. I’ve not used it yet, but I still have it written down and ready if I ever want to write it.

6. Exercise

Breaking a sweet is a great way to find inspiration. There’s something about physical exercise that gets the brain working.

7. History

It’s amazing but looking back at history can give you inspiration. Look back at some of the greats like Leonard di Vinci, Helen Keller, Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, and Gandhi.

8. Nature

Tired of staring at a blank screen? Take a walk outside. Spend some time and nature and let your mind relax. Appreciate the things around you. Notice the beauty of a sunrise or sunset. You’ll be amazed at how well this will help you find inspiration.

9. Friends

Have real conversations. Spend time with people you like and just talk to them. You never know what’s going to come up, and it might just inspire something inside you.

10. Music

Find some music that inspires you and play it while you’re writing. This could be classical, hard rock, metal, whatever gets your mind working.

That’s my tips for you today. I hope some of these help you to find inspiration the next you are stuck. If you have some tips to help people find inspiration to write, please share them in the comments.

The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today. – H. Jackson Brown Jr.