What writing exercises do you guys practice?

[SigmaEnigma]

I've been meaning to become a better writer whether creatively or figuratively. So I'm looking for writer exercises, that may improve the inconsistent ESL baseline i have built.

The common advice thrown around is: just write and you'll get better. Just read and you'll expand your knowledge . Not write with caution, not read thoroughly. Currently a few times a week, i take to copy working some of my favourite author's work. Ranging from a few minutes to even an hour, to try and get inside a developed writer's head. Sometimes wildbow, sometimes Vladimir Nabokov. A lot of times I'll read something that may lean on whatever I'm writing at the moment, before i write. Though it has a drawback of it's own. You get caught in that Author's thoughts.

Litrpg? I'd read a chapter of litrpg before i write.
Horror, I'd consume something eerily creepy or existentially tormenting.

Any tips on improving my fellow authors?

 

[Amrasil207]

There is this intrusive thoughts what would derail your plot. Rather than discarding them completely, collect them. I had done so for just a year in writing that the materials gathered could still be useful. It also helps your mind, making the burnt out more manageable in my case.

 

[Arch9CivilReactor]

The only ‘study’ I do is watch YouTube tutorials about tropes and nothing else.

 

[SigmaEnigma]

There is this intrusive thoughts what would derail your plot. Rather than discarding them completely, collect them. I had done so for just a year in writing that the materials gathered could still be useful. It also helps your mind, making the burnt out more manageable in my case.

That's something i might just do. Now that i've think about, i've discarded so many things i could probably use as buffer, or enrich the story. Thanks for answering.

 

[LoneQuack]

I am doing something similar to you. Write for 10-15 minutes before starting as a warm up. Usually something related with the matters I am dealing in the story, maybe a question I have or something I have a rough image of how I want it to be. It can be as nonsensical as you want, as long as you write. As for other activities, find new words (as English isn't my first language) or read out loud has proven to me very useful, and watch videos on utube relative to the direction I am going with my story and also read other novels similar to mine.

 

[WinterTimeCrime]

I've found that reading books, especially for those in my writing "weight class," helped me figure out styles I disliked. However, I also found some specific aspects of a few writers that I enjoyed, so I tried to practice them and improve my work.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Occasionally I do some research, especially if dealing with historical stuff, but mostly I just write, and read. The only exception is if I am trying to mimic an existing style (like reading some pulp/noir novels to get in the right frame of mind for Jack Diamond).

 

[Jocelyn_Uasal]

For my book, if I get the tone lost I'll just reread another Jane Austen book. I think I've read all her stuff, but I really like it.

For poetry I have like a bunch of books from college I can pick out and study, it realllly helps a tremendous amount.

 

[Lysander_Works]

Find some of the hardest/longest books to read (such as History of a Young Lady), study the diction and style, try to copy it for practice (yes, practice only), and throw some of these styles together to make your own, see what works. Poetry often has lots of interesting transition styles too.

I also use lots of orchestral music to avoid my mind from going stale in the process, to inspire actual scenes as they come out, and why the scenes mean anything when they do. You could wind up with all the materials you need, and without enough inspiration, it won't do very much.

As for writers block, well, don't ask me that, cause I don't have the answer on that issue.

 

[Zagaroth]

I do things like play OSP's Trope Talks playlist (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDb22nlVXGgcljcdyDk80bBDXGyeZjZ5e) while playing games or writing, and occasionally pausing to take notes on how the trope she is covering might be relevant to be story and what I might be doing good or bad.

There are a lot of other YouTubers to do this with, but Red is my favorite.

 

[Fox-Trot-9]

I do take notes on the novels and manga/manhwa/manhua I read, but I tend to keep them short, so I can references them if I need a refresher. For instance, I've been taking notes on manga/manhwa that feature villainess/saintess motifs for my story, Villainess, Retry! And especially for the 2nd volume of said novel, I've been taking notes on manga/manhwa that feature slavery/slave auctions/human trafficking, criminal organizations, and orphanages in both villainess/romance genres and in other genres like adventure/isekai manga.

But when it comes to actual writing practice, especially when I'm brainstorming/starting a new story, I just write whatever comes to mind, then take note of all the things that pop out at me and study the stories that use the same motifs as mine. That's pretty much how it goes for me.

 

[theInmara]

We've been to school, and taken some english classes through college. Occasionally we read a blog post by another author.

But, at this point, twenty years after graduation, we just read and watch movies and shows between writing novels. Our primary way of studying writing is to immerse ourselves in it, from as many different relevant authors as we can, and to examine and think about their writing as we enjoy it.

Then, every few months, we sit down and write another trilogy. And then reread it about six times to edit it. And in that process, we learn what we've learned.

 

[SigmaEnigma]

Find some of the hardest/longest books to read (such as History of a Young Lady), study the diction and style, try to copy it for practice (yes, practice only), and throw some of these styles together to make your own, see what works. Poetry often has lots of interesting transition styles too.

I also use lots of orchestral music to avoid my mind from going stale in the process, to inspire actual scenes as they come out, and why the scenes mean anything when they do. You could wind up with all the materials you need, and without enough inspiration, it won't do very much.

As for writers block, well, don't ask me that, cause I don't have the answer on that issue.

Now there's an idea. A few years ago i used to study, some of john Keets work like Endymion, Hyperion and paradise lost. Though through my procrastination and outright self-neglect. i have almost killed that poetic side of me.

If i may ask, how long do you keep do those study sessions? Or is it a spur of the moment thing.

On History of a young lady, it's is longer than War and peace.

I do tend to play music i like, that tends roll with the particular theme at work. Thanks for the reply.

 

[Story_Marc]

Hmm... I can say a lot on this, but here's the tiny bit I'll toss out.

1) Seek Understanding above all else. As in, you don't want to just have knowledge of something. Knowing about something and knowing how to use that information, when to use it, and why are two different things. It's like all those who like to regurgitate things like "show, don't tell" without understanding it in detail. Seek not just the what, but the how and why. So, basically, develop critical thinking skills.

2) Know that not all advice is relevant for every skill level. There's overall four stages to the creative journey. I call them The Dabbler, The Apprentice, The Creator, and The Master. Most people are dabblers. What you're discussing is moving to the apprenticeship phase, which... alright, this is going to be the most useful piece of advice I can give: seek mentors, not peers. Apprentices should aim to take advice from creators or masters who have walked the path before them. These mentors can offer guidance rooted in experience, steering apprentices away from superficial advice and toward long-term growth.

Dabblers are risky. They can reinforce bad habits. They tend to have surface-level understandings of the creative process, which can leave people stuck in superficial methods and stop the mastering of foundational skills. They're often focused on immediate gratification and short-term wins. Or have misleading benchmarks of success. ...In fact, I could go on and on about this. There's just so many reasons to be careful here.

3) Focus on Growth, Not Validation: Real growth comes from continuous learning and honing skills over time.

Oh, and if you can't find a mentor or so on, here's how you mentor yourself

1) Find them through books, podcasts, and videos. So many openly share so much in the world nowadays.

2) Reverse engineer the works of others. Analyze things deeply. Identify the techniques, thought processes, and decisions that lead to the things. For example, one of my big influences is Leverage. Want to know what I did because of it? I've read numerous interviews. I listened to nearly every episode with creator commentary, which is where I learned tricks like creating complications by succeeding too well. I read John Rogers' blog, where he did Q&A for the series. I got my hands on the entire tabletop RPG game. I found out the things that inspired the creators and I went back and experienced them. Then I analyzed the things that inspired the creators that inspired the creators that inspired me. I kept doing this repeatedly, climbing my creative tree to so many things.

I can go on and on, but yeah.

 

[SRB]

My dumbassery is all natural, so I don't do much. Although sometimes I think I should.

 

[Lysander_Works]

Now there's an idea. A few years ago i used to study, some of john Keets work like Endymion, Hyperion and paradise lost. Though through my procrastination and outright self-neglect. i have almost killed that poetic side of me.

If i may ask, how long do you keep do those study sessions? Or is it a spur of the moment thing.

On History of a young lady, it's is longer than War and peace.

I do tend to play music i like, that tends roll with the particular theme at work. Thanks for the reply.

Yeah, I still have not finished that book, though I did get through twelve or so chapters. It's been sitting on ice cause it's not a bad read but I have time allocation issues this year. If you do pick up History of a young lady, best have your dictionary on speeddial.

Self-pacing is important too. As a writer or reader, you have to know when to take breaks. I'd say its a bit more spur of the moment for me. Sometimes I want to immerse into something kind of eerie and spooky. Lots of people write that genre well for some reason (I don't do well in that genre writing it).

 

[Rezcore]

Thought this was an exercise question... for that I follow the Sung Jinwoo outline:
100 push-ups, situps, pull-ups and a 3K run, I'm not that fit

I was told to try to write at least 300 words a day, which being a journalist is super easy. As for dialog I'd suggest hitting some writing help books, and speaking your dialog so it doesn't sound robotic to the readers.