When I'm blocked, I like to do writing exercises.
The one that I've used the most is about character development. You write 100 facts about a character in a list. Twenty come pretty easily. Fifty, you're reaching for. By the time you get to 100, you really do have a character with depth.
I love to do this for secondary characters that I want to make interesting.
Do you like writing exercises? Would you share ones that have worked for you?
When I'm blocked I eat fiber bars.
Sorry, couldn't resist. I'll slink off now.
One of the exercises I've found pretty helpful is to write the most detailed description possible of a location, person, or object. For example, you could go into your kitchen, and write pages and pages about your stove, what it looks like, what it sounds like when you're frying bacon, how it got that little scratch on the side, the way that you tend to favour one burner over another, the reflection of kitchen light in a spot of spilled grease, and how it reminds you of an antique glass paperweight you owned when you were in college... etc. Mostly, the writing will probably be boring and tedious, but in it you can discover unique details that really illuminate the thing you're describing in an amazing way, and sometimes these details can spark a story.
Post-avant-retro-demelodicized-electro-yodel-core is my jam.
Not a writing exercise, per se, but a great writer's block cure for me is to do something mind numbingly tedious. Like wash the dishes. Doing something boring while watching the world go by outside the window allows my head to freewheel. Ideas tend to flow again. What if such-and-such, or wouldn't it be great if...
By the time the dishes are clean, I usually scribble a tonne of stuff on the pad and pen I leave nearby.
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* 25 Editor's Picks, 69 Recommended Reads.
* 14 competition podium places, 9 other times in the top ten.
* 20 collaborations.
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Another great thread. Go me thinking! I need to develop characters and plot for an idea away from lush and this may just have nudged me.
I've been doing pencil finger curls with a finger sized barbell.
Here's another for when you're (non-biologically) blocked....
Describe your surroundings. Write it down.
Now write it like you're writing the start of a romance story.
A Sci-fi story.
A horror story.
Write three separate paragraphs with each of the three genres in mind. They should sound different, since you're writing with different tones in each. If they don't, think about your focus on the setting you're trying to create.
This is wonderful if you have a hard time with setting tone. It's all about word choice.
