My Favorite Writing Exercises

Write a letter to send to yourself at fifteen, twenty-seven, forty, fifty-six or eighty-three.

Describe the first home you remember living in through an experience you had or an event that took place there. Focus on the sensory and physical details you can recall.

Recall a time where someone tried to teach a lesson and the recipient learned something else entirely.

Working with another writer, compose an essay about an experience you shared. Each of you should contribute part of the narrative.

Describe an important social event that you took part in (wedding, church party, sports event, school event) focusing on the sensory and physical details of the place in which it happened. Frame your narrative inside a bookend.

Write and submit an essay to the This I Believe project. It’s harder to write 500 words than you think.

Discuss some issue of national or international significance and its importance to you. Be careful to keep the "importance to you" at the heart of your essay and don’t rant.

Think of an experience you would never consider writing about, and then find a way to write about it in a fresh, non-intimidating way.