3 Writing Exercises To Kick Off the New Year
2020 has been a rocky year for many reasons - Coronavirus, climate change… you name it! Our lives are definitely not going to be the same entering 2021 as they were this time last year, so it’s no wonder that many people (myself included) are suffering from an extraordinary amount of writer’s block.
How can you find motivation when everything is overwhelming?
How can you find inspiration in the world at a time when nothing seems particularly optimistic?
My top piece of advice for right now is to try and take the pressure off yourself. Writer’s block is natural, and beating yourself up for not being creative or productive enough won’t help to get rid of it. Sometimes you have to make yourself take a beat, have a rest - and the end of a year like 2020 could be the perfect time for you to take some time out to do things you enjoy without guilt.
But if you do fancy doing some small pieces of writing, if you fancy flexing those creative brain muscles in a low-pressure, no-stakes kind of way, then I have prepared three writing exercises that can get your juices flowing.
Let us know over on our social media if you produce any writing based off of these prompts! Happy writing, happy holidays, and bring on 2021!
Childhood Inspiration
What book inspired you as a child? I’m talking about the book that revolutionised you, the book that showed you how powerful words could be. The book that convinced you that writing was the path that you wanted to explore.
For me, it was Harry Potter. I devoured that entire franchise (questionable representation of minority groups and all) and I’m fairly sure it changed my entire brain chemistry. I fell in love with that whole world of magic.
So think about the book that meant everything to you as a child. Now ask yourself a series of questions:
What is the first thing you think of when you think back to the book - what scenes, moments, characters spring to mind?
How did the writer craft the text to draw you in? Are there any particular plot devices or familiar tropes that you can recognise?
How does the book make you feel now? Does it remind you of childhood optimism and help you rediscover a positive mindset, or do you view it with a more critical eye?
Now I want you to think of that memorable aspect of the story that sprung to mind for the first question. This could be any part of the book, but I want you to focus in on it, and create a piece of writing based around this.
This writing could be anything you want it to be - you could re-tell part of the story from the perspective of a different character, or you could examine the story’s setting with new eyes. The writing can be as long or as short as you like, but I want you to create something new from something that was once familiar to you. Transformation and adaptation is an important part of the writing process, and so hopefully this activity will encourage you to think about new ways of viewing older material.
Netflix Time
Now, if you're anything like me, you've spent a lot of 2020 binge-watching TV shows and films as a form of escapism! And sometimes that can feel like a waste of time or a lack of productivity. But if you want to spice up your watching habits with a little creativity, then I have a fun activity that you can do.
So I want you to find a scene in a TV show or film that has a big crowd of people, or a lot of extras in the background. Pause it and look closely at the people, at anyone who isn't involved in the story. Pick someone at random, and write their backstory!
What's their name? Why are they at this particular location? What did they have for breakfast this morning? It's up to you!
You could create a piece of writing based around this, or you could do this activity as a game, perhaps with friends and family, and maybe even include alcohol if you’re feeling up to it!
Looking to the Future...
It might feel difficult to be optimistic about 2021 when 2020 was such a rough year for many people. But I like to believe that 2020 has taught us all some valuable life lessons and skills (even if that’s just remembering to carry a mask with you wherever you go, and learning how long 6 feet is), and so my hope is that we will all be entering 2021 ready for whatever weird things will get thrown at us.
For this exercise, I want you to imagine yourself in 2021 doing something that makes you happy. This could be a concrete event that you know will be happening in 2021, e.g. your birthday (although of course don’t go imagining any large crowds of mask-less people!), or it could be something more abstract, for example a season.
You could use this as a meditative exercise, visualising where you want to be in 2021, what kind of person you will be, and how you will be feeling. This can help you to work out things in your current life that you want to change! But I would recommend writing down whatever comes to your mind in as descriptive a style as you can. What do you see when you think about this? What can you smell, hear, touch?
For me, I see myself in the height of summer 2021. I am wearing one of the dresses I bought to cheer myself up but haven’t been able to wear yet because of the cold weather. I have just gotten back from a walk, and the sun outside is warm on my skin. I like to imagine that I will feel warm and happy.
After the year that 2020 has been, hope is a powerful resource, and I hope that this activity will encourage you to think of ways of finding hope in your future.
