119 Best Creative Writing Exercises for Authors in 2026

Describe your house - or the dream house you hope to get some day.

Sometimes writers think up a character and jump straight into writing, without fully fleshing out the concept at a foundational level. This then means they falter and end up writing a very confused draft. I call this 'The Story Swamp.'Avoid The Story Swamp by writing a 'logline' or 'pitch' of approximately 25-60 words. This logline should cover what B2W calls The 3 Cs:Character: Who is your protagonist? What does s/he need or want?Conflict: Who is the antagonist? Why does s/he want to stop or counter your protagonist? What other obstacles are in your protagonist's way?Clarity: Do we know what genre or type of story this is? Are you using familiar or clich_d language? Are your word choices too vague?

Who are the three most unlikely people your protagonist would have dinner with? Why? Write the scene.

If you're working on a novel or short story, write a pivotal scene from an outside observer's perspective who has no role in the story.

If you have 5 minutes, prep for your outlining by making a list of lists. This could include:

• 5 possible endings for your book
• 5 twists
• 5 possible subplots
• 5 ways the subplots could tie into the main plot
• 5 ways the character could grow
• 5 surprising things that we could learn about a character
• 5 ways to add some unexpected elements to the book (humor, suspense, sadness, fear)
• 5 ways to describe the main setting/another setting

In order to dive deeper into your character's emotional depths, ask a round of questions - both probing and seemingly innocuous alike. (Hey, you never know when your character's favorite choice of ice cream topping might come in handy!) While we encourage you to build and refine your own set of questions, these questionnaires will provide solid inspiration for now: Arthur Aron's 36 Questions That Lead to Love, and The Proust Questionnaire.

Your protagonist's name is called. They approach the stool, where an old and tattered hat lies. They put on the hat. They will next hear one of four words called out: Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, Slytherin, or Hufflepuff. Which one is it? Write down the reasons detailing why.

Open a dictionary, close your eyes, pick a random word, and write about it. Go on, see how much you can write about one word in thirty seconds. It doesn't matter if you think it's great or silly or you think it's a beautiful word that everyone should use in every conversation. Write it!

_Voice separates MEH stories from the ones that grab attention. _Voice is the unique way _a writer combines words and strings together sentences. It is _a story's personality, its manner of expression. _A compelling voice is the difference between "Oh, shucks!" and "Oh, slippery slush!" (Little Red Gliding Hood)_. Between "Charmaine's showing off" and "Charmaine's strutting hard enough to shame a rooster" (The Quickest Kid in Clarksville). And between "Pancake _escaped_" and "Pancake rappelled down a rope of linguini" (Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast)_. _Examine your story for common language - for example, circle blah verbs and insert something more unique.

Your protagonist sits down at a desk and begins penning a letter to his or her younger self. What would they tell their past selves? What regrets do they voice? What lessons have they learned? How have they changed? Write this imagined note yourself, in your protagonist's voice.