3 Writing Exercises For Reluctant Writers / Warm-Up Exercises
Writing is a useful skill to have, but it can also be a very freeing and stress-relieving -- *takes a moment to wait for the laughter to subside* -- activity for those who use it creatively. But how can you help someone else to get to a point of enthusiasm for writing or practice writing if they’re reluctant to do so, or worse, don’t like doing it at all?
Here are some activities you can do alone or in groups to help encourage someone to write, or overcome your own reluctance! But they also double as GREAT activities to practice your own writing even if you don’t know the meaning of reluctance!
(SOURCE material by Matt, but each activity has an altered version offered by members of our staff.)
“Round Robin” (Best with groups of 2 or more) This activity is best if you have at least one other person to participate -- bonus if you’re sitting in a circle for convenience. To start, each person has a sheet of paper and writes an opening sentence together. Then each writer continues the story with one more sentence before everyone’s papers are rotated to the person sitting beside them (clockwise or counterclockwise, doesn’t matter as long as it’s not confusing). Each writer then silently reads over the story that was passed to them and adds another sentence to that sheet. Repeat as many times as you like, or until your original sheet returns to you. The group then takes turns reading the stories aloud.
A slightly altered version of this, described to us by the current/alumni students on staff (shout out to @ucflibrary), is to NOT decide the opening sentence together, and thus not write a second sentence before rotating the papers. Rather each person begins their own story with a single sentence then stops. Also, once you pass on your paper, you either read ONLY the previous sentence rather than the whole story (a preference among said staff), or you don’t read it at all before writing your contributing sentence. The benefit of this version is that things tend to be much more humorous as the writers later share outrageous and sometimes barely cohesive stories.
The benefit of both is that your imagination gets some exercise as you’re forced to think outside the box to contribute to a story not your own and leave room to keep it going. Note: Can also be done with poetry!
Free Writing (Can be done solo or in groups) Matt’s version of free writing, which he affectionately calls “FreeWrite Friday,” involves turning down the lights (but obviously just enough so you can still SEE), inserting a loud soundtrack of some kind, and writing while the music plays -- an additional timer being optional.
An altered version of this activity, again provided by current/graduated students on staff, is to first decide as a group (or solo) on a “magic phrase.” The phrase would ideally be between 5-7 words so that it is easy to remember but also long enough to give you time to process information. (An example phrase one of our staff used was “The moon over the bridge.”) Then, they keep the lights on and have the room silent or music quietly playing (just enough to cover white noise) before writing non-stop until a timer of 20-30 minutes goes off. And by “non-stop” they mean to say that you never let the tip of your pen/pencil leave the page nor do you let it stop moving until the timer sounds. If you get stuck and can’t think of anything else to add, you simply write the “magic phrase” over and over until you either think of something new to write about or figure out how to continue what you had written before.
The benefits of both versions is that your mind is efficiently “warmed up” to a more creative mindset and is thus better-equipped to make connections between ideas. Problem solving, creating writing, and logistical thinking come easier once the mind is warmed up, which can help in assignments of any subject or personal projects and tasks! Bonus: Sometimes it sparks inspiration for a new story/poem/etc!
Voice Typing (Solo or group) For some, their reluctance in writing has nothing to do with a disinterest in creating, but rather stems from their struggles between thought and action. We all work at our own speed and some think faster than they’re physically able to keep up with. This could put a strain on the writer as they are forced to stop or slow their ideas to accommodate the pen (or keyboard), oftentimes resulting in a lost train of thought. Or, as Matt says, sometimes it’s a lack of organizational skills that keeps thoughts from going onto paper.
Using any kind of voice-to-text program or app, voice typing provides a great way for anyone to quickly get their ideas down and create a launching point for their report, stories, or other writing. The benefit of this (for reluctant writers) is that you’re still writing and creating without it feeling like you are.
To create a group exercise similar to Round Robin, our staff suggests taking turns speaking to write out a story. A fun twist can be to attempt to do it as fast as possible, with little to no pauses. Don’t worry if the story doesn’t make sense; if it becomes a game, it becomes all the easier to encourage writing to the reluctant writer!
Give these exercises a try and HAVE FUN! Remember, never stop writing!