Writing Exercises
Études de Plume
“Étude: a piece of music intended to be played to improve a musician’s technical skills. The word comes from the French for study.”
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The purpose of Études is twofold: I hope to expose you to quotes, literature, history, and culture, and to teach you how to improvise with words. You should never be stuck when you are writing. If you can write nonstop for several minutes using a one-word writing prompt, then imagine what you can do with all of the words, worlds, and thoughts inside your head.
Études consists of twenty days worth of writing activities and exercises. At the bottom of the page is the cover of the downloadable PDF. Click on the cover to access the document.
For each day, you will find the following:
Part I: Word Production
Part II: Word Dissection: Understanding Words on the Page
Part III: Word Production: Getting Words on the Page Part II
Part IV: Word Worth: Judging Words on the Page
Use it as you see fit. It is your work to do, so do your work in whatever manner suits you the best. At the bottom of the page is the cover of the PDF. Click on the cover to access the document.
Below you will find more information about each section.
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What does a writer do?
A writer gets words on the page. Do you need help getting words on the page? Do you sit at your keyboard and computer (or pen and paper) and nothing happens? The exercises in this section of the course are designed to help you learn to get words on the page – without hesitation.
1. With practice, you should be able to write without pausing for a certain length of time in response to a writing prompt (word production).
2. With practice, you should be able to discern the meaning of quotes from famous people (word dissection).
3. With practice, you should be able to write extended passages in response to writing prompts (targeted word production).
4. With practice, you should be able to make judgments about writing.
5. With practice, you should be able consider important ideas and how writing can impact our ability to express these ideas.
Even if you don’t do the writing prompts, then read through the quotes at your leisure. All of them. They were all chosen for a good reason. All are worth reading and rereading. These quotes are part of our cultural heritage.
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“When a man writes from his own mind, he writes very rapidly. The greatest part of a writer’s time is spent in reading, in order to write; a man will turn over half a library to make one book.”
Samuel Johnson
One goal of Études is to get you to write from your own mind.
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Some writers are better than others. That is not to disparage one, but some writers are worthy of effusive praise. They are master craftsmen. Such as Johnson. Here’s an example to illustrate my point.
A tale of two writers
Two men of letters chanced upon the docks. There each spied a tall ship. One looked at the vessel and said, “Look a conveyance for travel across the sea.”
The other said, “Being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned.”
End
Who is the better writer?
It is the second, of course, for as he spied the ship he saw more possibilities – looked upon it with humor. The “second” happens to be none other than Samuel Johnson.
How should you use Études? You can do the work as I have laid it out or not. You can just read and remember the quotes. Absorb the language. You don’t have to do any of the writing exercises. If you just remember the main point of these exercises is that you can get words on the page without thinking, then that is enough.
Writing Dialogue
When you are writing dialogue it is important to keep things simple. Consider the passage below:
“One credit?” I said. “That’s it?”
“That’s why I’m a year older than everybody else. I lost a whole year of school. A whole year,” he repeated. “Do you know what that’s like? Losing a year of your life?”
“Maybe not a year, but…” I said. I’d lost several weeks of my life in the hospital. That had to count for something.
He shook his head and held up a hand.
“Don’t bother,” he said. “I’ve heard it before.
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It is best to keep things simple by using the word “said”. In the passage, the characters did not utter, blurt, call, cry, exclaim, blab, babble, jabber, or affirm a single word. Primarily, they “said”. Only once did the author choose a different word, and that was done to emphasize a point.
Also, the characters never said anything softly, carefully, sharply, etc. There is no need to qualify “said” with an adverb. It detracts from your writing.
And so remember, when it comes time for your characters to utter achingly poignant prose, don’t let the thesaurus get in your head. Keep things simple and use the word “said”.
For Part I: Word Production, I want you to take a single random word and write for a certain length of time…without stopping. Don’t hurry. Don’t worry. Don’t fight. Just write. Whatever thoughts emerge from the dark recesses of your brain should be placed on the page. This is an exercise in word production. Not word perfection. I want you to do this for twenty days (or more).
Days 1 – 5: Write for one minute without stopping.
Days 6 – 15: Write for three minutes without stopping.
Days 16 – 20: Write for five minutes without stopping.
In order to engage in Part I: Word Production exercises, you are going to need find some words. You can use an online tool such as the random word generators listed below (click on the links).
Or…if you don’t want to use an online tool such as those listed above, then simply make a list of twenty random words and write them down on notecards. Shuffle the stack of cards, and then pick one at random each day. Or open a book – any book, a favorite book – and place your finger somewhere on the page. Whichever word you are pointing to is the single word writing prompt for the day.
For writing, I want you to use whatever tools that best suit your needs for getting words on the page. When I am trying to get words on the page, I am most successful when I use pen and paper. However, I also use keyboard and computer as well as voice notes. I get more words on the page (exponentially) when using pen and paper. Certainly, I can type faster than I can write by hand, but the thoughts flow more easily with pen in hand. If I am sitting at a keyboard, then thoughts come in fits and starts, like a hiccoughing engine. There is rarely any flow.
You must understand how you work best.
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There are several important takeaways from these exercises.
First and foremost, you will have the opportunity to practice getting words on paper. This is an important skill for a writer. Later, when you have something specific that you are working on, you should use the same skills practiced herein to get words on the page.
The final word counts may vary from day to day, depending on the time given to write, but should be fairly consistent – if you are writing without stopping.
When I was doing these very same exercises I did not stop writing. I wrote whatever was in my head at the time. The end result was a stream-of-conscious string of words and thoughts all jumbled together. Now, I can write consistently about anything – no matter what – and when I am writing a story I am better able to focus my thoughts. What is most important is that I am able to get words on the page without hesitation.
In Part III, Word Production: Getting Words on the Page Part II, I will provide you with longer and more in-depth writing prompts.
For Part II: Word Dissection: Understanding Words on the Page
Maybe – hopefully – you noticed that my words paled in comparison to those of the original speakers. Yes, I was able to paraphrase all of the quotes, but in so many cases, the original words are so much better – richer. These writers displayed an uncommon command of the language.
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For Parts II and IV, I am going to offer up some of the best quotes that the world has to offer. Why? There are certain writers that are gifted. Their writing has survived the test of time – for a variety of reasons. And you should be exposed to their writing. These are not random quotes just pulled willy-nilly from the air. I want to expose you to the thoughts and words of some excellent thinkers and writers. Keep these ideas and quotes for later use in your writing. They are a part of our common literary and cultural heritage.
Another point to consider is this: the very best writers are ofttimes well acquainted with these very same quotes. Consider Robert Heinlein, a noted writer of science fiction. References to these quotes are sprinkled throughout his writing. (Note: I am continually surprised when I read Heinlein’s books. He was writing before the age of the Internet. Information was not so easily obtained. And yet, his depth and breadth of knowledge is remarkable.) Bruce Catton – a historian of some repute – also had a broad understanding of history and culture and you will find passing references to these quotes in his writing too.
Click on the cover below to access Études.
