Writing exercises can be a great way for the fierce, creative woman that needs to get her emotions out on paper. As featured on the “Your Period Questions and Pains Solved…Naturally” section of our website, Writing in Red is an all-natural way to relieve ourselves of the stress and frustration associated with our periods. You can write out your anger, and you can write personal anecdotes about your period past, but these are all very personal and can sometimes be difficult to write.
I’ve always been the kind of girl that keeps a diary, updates it constantly, and works out most of my problems on those personal pieces of paper. Yet, in times of intense emotional struggle and personal obstacles, I sometimes dabble in writing fictional stories to help me cope. It really helps me when I can release my emotions in a way that boosts my mood and allows my imagination to fully mesh with my mood in a freer and more fun way. It really is the best outlet for me, as a fierce woman, to find my center.
Here are a few exercises I learned as outlets:
1) Stream of Consciousness Sprint: Sit down at your desk in front of two pieces of paper. Stare at your clock until the second hand reaches the 12. In that time (less than a minute) think of a beginning to the first sentence of your fictional story. Then write nonstop, as fast as you can, until you fill up both pages. It should take about 20 minutes, and it shouldn’t make sense. Just pour your imagination onto the two pages. You can increase the amount of pages you write every time you perform this exercise.
2) From the Starter’s Block: Sometimes, the hardest part of writing is the start. It’s writer’s block before you even get out of the gate! It’s awful. The best way around this it provide yourself a starting block. You can either pull sentences from your favorite book, or the first sentences of some of history’s most renowned tales, or you can just use some of these. Try and work your way into a story starting with these sentences: A) When Amy came home, she found that things were a bit off… B) You can’t always see what’s coming next, but Meredith was special. She could… C) I can’t seem to find my way out; the doors were locked; there were no windows; I could only shout at the top of my lungs. That’s when I found…
3) Wordplay. Sometimes, picking a subject to write about can be a bit impossible. Why write about a sibling rivalry when you’ve always wanted to write a great romance? Well, why not choose six words that you must use in the one story. These will help guide you in finding a subject you must write about. Allot yourself a certain amount of time, say an hour, and write a story that incorporates five words or sayings. For example, use the five words, Crash, jumping-jacks, Mount Rushmore, Don’t have a cow, and crevasse. Or, choose your own five words, and incorporate those into your story. It’s a difficult method of writing, but it will guide you into a great story.
4) Dialogue Theft. This one is a bit tougher than the others, but it is actually the most fun. Go out, and buy yourself a nice cup of coffee. Sit there for a while. Now, this is where it gets a bit weird. Listen to the people having a conversation next to you. Write down word for word, or as close as you can get, the dialogue that the adjacent party is having. It will look funny in writing. But, this is how real dialogue looks. You can embellish, and you can exaggerate their story. It’s actually a ton of fun trying to guess at what lives these anonymous people lead outside of the cafe, and it will get your creative juices flowing.
5) The POV shift. Here’s a test of true creativity. Try writing from a point of view that is completely out of your element. Try writing from the point of view of the person that has really been grinding your gears lately. Write from the point of view of a guy, or a member of your family that you haven’t spoken with in ages, or of the girl with the ‘tude behind the counter at Anthropologie. This activity really does give you a better perspective of the world you live in, and it will help you understand what other people are going through, which sometimes will ease or even erase your frustration with them.
So, write! Write whatever you want, and have a blast doing it. Getting it out on paper will help you not take it out on the people you love in your life. Writing is a great creative and emotional outlet, and it’s really fun! It’s good for the mind and spirit. Enjoy these exercises, and let us know if you have some of your own that you’d like to share.