Best Creative Writing Exercises (PHOTOS)

The Huffington Post

Posted: 01/10/2011 9:35 am EST Updated: 05/25/2011 6:25 pm EDT

Writers block, oh, writers block ...please go away!

Even though it's the bane of all writers' existence, there are a bevy of ways to bypass the darn thing. From writing prompts to writing exercises, there are thousands of ways to get the creative juices flowing.

Here are just a few of our favorites. Trust us, they work! Try them out and report back. Let us know how they go. Please also let us know what your favorite writing exercises are in the comment sections below.

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Best Creative Writing Exercises

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Grab the 7th book from your bookshelf. Open it up to page 7. Pinpoint the 7th sentence on the page. Begin a poem that begins with that sentence and limit it in length to 7 lines.
Open the dictionary to a random page. Find a word that you do not know how to define. Write an imaginary definition for it. Repeat.
Describe each of your family members, but limit the number of words in each description to the age of each person. For example, your 71-year-old mother must be described in 71 words, your 43-year-old sister must be described in 43 words, and your 12-year-old cousin must be described in 12 words.
What did you eat for lunch? Write a haiku about each item you ate ...
Describe a first. Your first kiss, your first bike ride, your first day of school -- all will make excellent stories.
Imagine an outer-space alien landed at your office. The creature has never before been to Earth. Explain to it -- that is, write in extremely meticulous detail -- how exactly to travel from your office to your home.
Grab a sheet of paper and start two columns. In one column list ten nouns and in the other column list ten verbs. Pair them up randomly and write a sentence for each pair. Write a story that uses all ten sentences.
Write a story that is 26 sentences long. Each story begins with a different consecutive letter of the alphabet, beginning with "a" and ending with "z."
Hum the tune of "Mary Had a Little Lamb." Then compose new words that match the melody of the song. (Feel free to do the same with any other song you like!)