It was reported thatgreat American author Sinclair Lewis was once asked to givelecture on writing togroup of college students: "Looking out at this gathering," he said toassembled students, "makes me want to know how many of you really and truly wish to become writers?" Every hand inroom went up. Lewis looked at them formoment and then folded his notes and put them away. "If that's true," he said, "thenbest advice I can give you is to go home and start writing." He then turned and leftroom.

Iffirst secret of writing is to write and if you've set up some sort of writing schedule,next step is to figure out what to write.

Openingbrand new file and looking atblank screen often results inkind of brain-freeze; we feel as idea-less asempty screen we're staring at. Writing exercises can help us thaw our idea bank. The goal ofwriting exercise is to open your mind and allow you to hone your skills and experiment. The joy of suchexercise is it's not 'for real.' That is, there's no thought of pleasingeditor or findingpublisher or meetingdeadline or getting paid. You are just writing, with your internal editor turned off.

Some freelancers find writing exercises so effective and freeing they actually begin every writing session withonezero or onefive-minute exercise. Others use them more sporadically. But however you do it, writing exercises will help you with your writing. Use writing exercises in your writing schedule, asnatural part of your writing discipline; useexercises often and watch your writing improve.

Ideally,writing exercise is short, requiring you to spend no more than onezero or onefive minutes writing, thinking and feeling about something that's unrelated torest of your writing work. Inway, they are like mini-meditations and mini-vacations because they clear outcobwebs and give younew view.

It's that new view, that different way of seeing, of expressing, that'skey togood writing exercise. Naturally, not every exercise blows your mind every time. Sometimes you are just not ready forchallenge presented, but even then,seed is planted. Sometimes you are simply not up for doingwriting exercise, which is okay too. Again, simply reading can set some new thoughts in motion.

This article was posted on August zerothree, twozerozerofive