C reative writing exercises can help add a touch of personality to any writing. They can also make writing more fun.
This article includes 8 creative writing exercises:
1. Play with words
2. Hotwire your words
3. Find fascinating details
4. Write vivid imagery
5. Create movies with your words
6. Strengthen your metaphoric muscles
7. Harness the power of parallelism
8. Discover delight
8 Creative Writing Exercises
Let’s be honest …
A lot of business content is rather meh. It sounds boring. It lacks a human voice.
It feels like anyone in any marketing department could have written it.
How can you add a touch of personality?
Start by nurturing a sense of play.
When writers are having fun, they’ll connect with their readers more naturally. Readers will sense the fun in their writing.
Let’s go …
Creative writing exercise #1: Play with words
Settling for the first word that comes up in your mind?
That’s usually a word commonly used.
To add a splash of personality, try a slightly unusual or a more precise word; or play with sensory words.
This exercise works best for a single sentence, so:
- Choose a headline for a blog post, play with an email subject line, or rewrite one important sentence in an article.
- Use different words to rephrase your chosen line in as many ways you can—aim for at least a dozen variations.
Consulting a thesaurus is allowed.
Here’s an example—I’ve written several headline options for this post:
- Drab Business Content? Here’s How to Add a Splash of Fun and Personality
- Ho-Hum Content? Try These 8 Writing Exercises to Add Sparkle
- Lack of Personality? Try These 8 Fun Writing Exercises
- Boring Writing? Ignite Your Creativity With These 8 Exercises
- Dull Corporate Text? Here’s How to Seduce Readers With an Enchanting Writing Voice
- Meh Content? These 8 Writing Exercises Add Pizzazz and Personality
- Wishy-Washy Writing? Here’s How to Make Your Words Dazzle and Dance
Can you think of more variations?
Be warned: This exercise is quite addictive.
39 Ways to Write Deliciously Seductive Headlines (and Attract More Blog Readers) >>
Creative writing exercise #2: Hotwire your words
This exercise works especially well if you feel stuck in a wordy rut as it helps break through habitual word patterns.
We all follow habitual word patterns. Hikers roam. Shoppers stroll. A lion roars. A bird sings.
How can we break through such patterns?
Songwriter Jeff Tweedy suggests a 4-step creative exercise:
- Write a list of 10 verbs related to one topic (e.g., swimming).
- List 10 nouns related to a completely different topic (e.g., corporate management).
- Link each verb with one of the nouns.
- Write a paragraph or a poem using the verb and noun combinations.
The aim of this exercise is not to produce a beautiful text instantly. As Tweedy suggests, this exercise jump-starts your brain so “language and words have [your] full attention again.”
Try this writing exercise with nouns and verbs to hotwire your words >>
Creative writing exercise #3: Find fascinating details
This exercise helps you express your personality by using vivid details.
On About pages or in short bios you often read boring sentences like: So-and-so loves travelling, photography, and spending time with her two kids.
Why is this boring?
Because you can’t visualize such sentences. They’re too generic.
To make your writing more fascinating:
- Choose a statement for your About page or social media profile.
- Play with different details to add a splash of personality.
For instance, instead of suggesting I love cooking, I could write:
- She has spent years fine-tuning her signature dish: Beef Rendang—an Indonesian curry, slightly spicy, lightly sweetened, and amazingly fragrant.
- On a Saturday afternoon, you may find her in her steamy kitchen, grinding spices, chopping onions, and tasting her favorite curry with a smile on her face.
- Her perfect night out is staying in—cooking for her husband and one or two friends, chatting, and nipping a glass of wine.
Note how each sentence gives you a glimpse of personality? And how you can picture me in my kitchen?
How to write a short professional bio (with pizzazz!) >>
Creative writing exercise #4: Write vivid imagery
This is a quick 5-minute exercise in sensory writing.
Sensory language has the power to transport readers to a different world because we experience sensory words as if we’re actually hearing, smelling, tasting, seeing, and feeling what’s going on.
Here’s what to do:
- Choose to describe your environment right now or a scene where you’ve been in the last 24 hours (choosing a scene further away in the past makes the exercise more difficult).
- Take 5 minutes to describe your chosen scene using at least two different senses. What do you see? What do you hear? Is there something you can touch or feel? What’s that smell? Are you tasting something?
As a writer, describing your surroundings can help ground you in the present. Plus by sharing your sensory description, you invite readers into your world. It’s as if they’re there with you.
Imagery examples: How to paint vivid pictures with only a few words >>
Creative writing exercise #5: Create movies with your words
The best writers direct mental movies in their readers’ minds.
How?
They describe actions and sensory details so readers can experience the stories they’re reading.
Here’s how to practice:
- Choose a simple statement such as: She’s happy; he’s kind; they’re a rich family.
- Note down any actions or sensory details that demonstrate that statement is true.
For instance, how would you describe someone who’s tired? Perhaps she’s rubbing her eyes, yawning, or dropping all her shopping in the supermarket aisle.
As Anton Chekhov said:
Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.
18 “show don’t tell” exercises: Turn bland writing into colorful stories >>
Creative writing exercise #6: Strengthen your metaphoric muscles
Metaphors are connections between two unrelated topics.
With a little practice and patience anyone can dream up metaphors.
Let’s give it a try, shall we?
- Pick an important point you want to make.
- Choose a completely different field—gardening, parenting, travelling, cooking, and sports are all popular fields for creating metaphors.
- Try to find comparisons at the same level—e.g., compare a process to a process, a thing to a thing, or a role to a role.
Let’s take the key point of this post as an example. The key point I’m making is that you can add personality to your writing by nurturing a sense of play.
One of my favorite areas to draw metaphors from is cooking. I could come up with a metaphor like this:
Imagine being a kid and you’re given permission to decorate a table full of cup cakes.
You’d play, right? One cup cake might be decorated with red M&Ms. Another gets chocolate shavings, or sprinkles, or little flags, or everything.
With writing, nurture a similar sense of experimentation. Try different words. Play with fascinating details. Dream up some metaphors. Have fun!
18 metaphor examples & why they work >>
Creative writing exercise #7: Harness the power of parallelism
Parallelism is when parts within a sentence or whole sentences follow the same pattern.
This creative writing technique helps communicate your message with power and style. Plus, it makes your writing easier to read as readers follow the pattern.
For instance:
So-so writers use a lot of words to communicate little.
Good writers use fewer words to communicate a lot.
Parallelism can feel like a straightforward technique. But to condense information in such a simple format requires you to consider carefully:
- What are you contrasting with what?
- And what’s the difference between the two?
Parallelism helps communicate with power and rhythm, and it may even help sharpen your thinking.
8+ parallelism examples: How to communicate with punch and style
Creative writing exercise #8: Discover delight
Writing is not just about playing with words.
It’s also about paying attention.
When we direct our attention to the small beauties around us, we can find delight and joy everywhere. The abundance of green colors in the woods. The shapes of the clouds in the sky. The cheerful birdsong. The card received from a friend. The tulips received as a present. The smile of a passerby.
This exercise on discovering delight is inspired by the poet Ross Gay. A few years ago, he set himself a target to write a daily essay about a delight. For instance, Gay describes the delight of seeing two people carrying a sack of laundry together:
It at first seems to encourage a kind of staggering, as the uninitiated, or the impatient, will try to walk at his own pace, the bag twisting this way and that, whacking shins or skidding along the ground. But as we mostly do, feeling the sack, which has become a kind of tether between us, we modulate our pace, even our sway and saunter—the good and sole rhythms we might swear we live by—to the one on the other side of the sack.
As Gay writes, his essayettes emerged from “a practice of witnessing one’s delight, of being in and with one’s delight, daily, which actually requires vigilance. It also requires faith that delight will be with you daily, that you needn’t hoard it. No scarcity of delight.”
This is not just a useful writing exercise. Noticing small beauties and acts of kindness can fortify us and keep us grounded.
Try these 3 exercises to practice the art of noticing >>
Nurture your sense of play
As kids, we knew how to tell stories and draw pictures. Without worrying about results. Without worrying about what other people would think.
We got into a creative flow, just naturally.
As adults, we can rediscover that innocent creative flow.
But is your inner critic telling you you’re not creative enough?
Ask them to go out for a half-hour walk. Then, embrace your inner child and choose the exercise that appeals to you most.
Grab a drink, a sheet of paper and pen, and give yourself some time to play.
There’s no pressure. Results don’t matter.
Have fun!
Note: This post was originally published on 26 April 2016. It was updated and expanded on 9 August 2022.
I’m forever grateful to the day I found this blog. I feel so confident selling myself these.
Having someone by the side that shows you how to stand out from the overcrowded marketplace is heaven.
Thank you Henneke for this brain decluttering exercise.
Thank you so much for your kind words, Zion. Happy writing!
These all sound like really fun and interesting suggestions to play around with!
I personally love the use of metaphor, and end up using them a lot in my coaching sessions. I will experiment and use them in my writing, too!
As always, thank you Henneke for your inspiring and thoughtful posts. They’re like a breath of fresh air in my stuffy, overcrowded inbox!
I’m so glad you found this interesting, Marta.
As you’re already using metaphors in your coaching sessions, it seems a great option to start using them in your writing, too.
Thank you for stopping by and for your lovely compliment!
FABULOUS ideas! Got my motor running!
Yay! Happy creative writing 🙂
I am a budding writer and work in the eLearning industry. Loved your post. Look forward to more interesting stuff fro you!
Hi Sujata, I’m glad you like this post. Welcome 🙂 And thank you for stopping by!
Henneke,
Lovely Post. Am looking forward to thế creative ebook you promised to make.
Thanks.
Thank you. I haven’t made much progress yet, but I WILL write that guide 🙂
Henneke I like your #3 advice to write freely and quickly before you get into the habit of self-editing for ‘perfection’ on screen. It is much easier to read hard copy and add excitement away from the PC. Thanks again for more good stuff!
Paul – Sydney Australia
Yes, I don’t know why PCs sometimes seem so bad for creativity. Is that in our minds? Or is it something about the typing or the monitor?
Happy writing, Paul!
Hello Henneke,
I never used to think of myself as a writer either. When I just started blogging, my first posts we’re rubbish!
My writing skills evolved over time through studying the art of writing, doing it and developing my own voice.
These creative writing excercises are fantastic. The first one is my favorite. It really fires up the brain to start making connections which is what creativity is all about.
#2 is something I already play around with regularly in my posts but my about page would definitely benefit from this. Thank you for the nudge. 😉
I’ve heard Kevin Kelly mention that writing actually helps him to think more clearly on a Tim Ferris podcast, I have a similar experience. Metaphors and good ideas just pop into my mind when I just make myself sit down and write. It’s like I’m tapping into my subconscious.
Other times I consciously construct them or fine-tune them to make my posts juicier after writing my first draft. The more time I spend on polishing and letting it simmer, the better my writing gets.
I relate to the emphasis you place on fun and play because they not only take away a lot of the resistance that writers often have, but they are also resourceful states to be in.
I also happened to notice that you said you’re thinking about writing a whole book of these kind of excercises. I would absolutely purchase that, Henneke.
Thank you for this lovely post.
Fijn weekend!
– Jasper
Yes, writing brings a lot of clarity for me, too. It forces me to simplify my ideas and get to the essence. I love this process of discovery 🙂
I also think a lot of us feel a lot of resistance when writing our own About page. So that’s definitely a task where nurturing a sense of play can help. Same is true for social media profiles of course. Corporate life didn’t allow me much time for play, so I’m happy to be on my own and be able to dedicate more time to having fun and experimenting 🙂
Thank you for stopping by again, Jasper. I hope you’re enjoying your weekend, too!
Hello There,
How many times have I used the first words that came to mind? More times than a teenager takes a selfie.
There you go again, encouraging me to think. I hope I don’t hurt myself. Time to paint some word pictures. I hear you Henneke. Thanks.
Of course you won’t hurt yourself. Have fun! 🙂
Great ideas as usual Henneke.
“boring the boots off your audience”
Made me laugh.
Thank you.
I published a guest post with nearly the same title: 11 Ways to Bore the Boots Off Your Readers. 🙂
Thank you for stopping by again, Barry!
On Sundays, you can find her lying on a couch overlooking a church yard 😉
Ssssht. We don’t want people to know how lazy I am 😉
Because I received your email this morning. It motivated me to go back and tweak a blog post I was working on one more time before I publish it this weekend.
Thank you for your writing inspiration and tips!
Julie
Yay! That sounds great 🙂
Thank you for stopping by, Julie.
This comment is unrelated to this article but the email I received that landed me here. Regarding the email, I initially thought it was spam. Why? #1 the sender’s name was “Henneke Duistermaat”, a name I didn’t recognize. So I would consider changing the sender’s name to “Enchanting Marketing” so future subscribers can immediately recognize the sender and know its not spam. #2 When I opened the email, I still thought it was spam until I browsed to the bottom and saw “Enchanting Marketing”. At this point I still wasn’t sure how I knew Enchanting Marketing but it sounded familiar enough for me to read and click the link. To solve this problem I would add a visual reference within the email. In your case the visual reference I would add is the book cover “How to Write Seductive Web Copy”. If I saw that, I would immediately recognize and know who its from.
Thank you for your suggestion, Richard. I’m glad you still decided to click through! 🙂
You might have first learned about me and Enchanting Marketing via my book, so the book would be a good visual cue for you, but most people find my blog first and then decide to buy one of my books. I’ve also been told that in general, emails that look like they come from a person (without design elements) tend to get read and clicked more often than emails with a slick design. I appreciate there are pros and cons to every approach; and will think about what I can do to ensure people know my name before they get my first email. I might be able to improve the confirmation email or confirmation page.
Thanks for replying,
The email I got from this response was fantastic. I immediately noticed the email name was Enchanting Marketing. That’s perfect for me. 🙂
You’re right on how I learned about you. I’m not sure how I found your book but when I did I think I clicked on a link within the book that took me to your site. From there I signed up to your e-newsletter.
As for a visual reference, I do agree for some people if the content has visual design elements, engagement levels might be lower because the content appears and feels more commercial. But I wasn’t thinking about adding or changing design elements to the email content but more along the lines of adding an image somewhere within the email.
I’ve seen other emails I receive where the writer’s automated signature is at the bottom of the content with their head shot next to it. So in your case to appeal to the book and blog audience, I would consider experimenting adding an image of your book and your head shot at the closing remarks next to your name to see if your response rates improves. I’m assuming this won’t change the design elements of your emails.
Having these visual references is primarily designed and useful for early subscribers who may not remember you or your work. After maybe their 8th opened email, your subscribers maybe familiar with you enough to where you may not need the visual references anymore.
I hope this helps. Keep doing what you’re doing. It’s great work.
Hey Henneke,
This post really motivated me as I’m writing a new post.
There’s always a need for improvement and you have given me some ideas I can apply to my old posts. I can put a little more personality by adding more descriptive words into each point I convey.
But in all it makes the posts more engaging, keeping your audience interested. Thanks for sharing Henneke! Have a good one!
Even choosing only three sentences or so and making them a little more sensory can make a big difference to a post.
Happy writing, Sherman. And thank you for stopping by again!
Hi Henneke,
Since I began freelancing full-time in July 2014, I’ve signed up with quite a few writing “gurus.” I ended up opting out of several. Others, I get but usually delete. They send too much email and there’s too much selling.
I appreciate the volume of your communication but mostly, I appreciate the value. Today’s post in particular.
I write business content full-time and yeah, it gets grey and “boooring.” Thanks to this post, I was able to spice up the title, which helped increase my interest in what I was writing, which brought up from gray to a subtle shade of green (hey, it’s an improvement).
Thanks for being helpful,
Steve
stevewagnercopy.com
A subtle shade of green sounds quite pleasant, Steve! No need to go for loud and garish colors 😉
Thank you so much for your lovely comment — it puts a smile on my face 🙂
Love this Henneke, especially the parts about playing with a first draft and picking visual words. I’m always working on those. Writing is a constant work in progress. We never learn everything, which is what makes it so meaningful. Thanks. Laurie
Yep, so true! I love learning more about writing and collecting new words.
Thank you for stopping by again, Laurie!
Skipping to the swings and slides now with a fairy cup cake in my hand. That’s how happy your post made me feel.
Thanks for your sweet and tasty writing sprinkles Henneke. Do please create your ebook/cookbook of similar excercises. You have hundreds and thousands of fans waiting hungrily to download it.
I love the imagery of you skipping to the swings and slides with a cup cake in your hand 🙂
And thank you for the thumbs up on the ebook idea. I appreciate your input.
Happy writing!
Hey Henneke,
Great post here. Really love exercise #1 and playing with words.
Every post a person writes has so much potential to be better. I think most writers, me included, get lazy and don’t ‘do the work’ to make our blog titles pop. And if we really want to stand out, we have to start doing that.
So #1 is definitely what I’m planning to focus on for now.
Great overall post here. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
– Andrew
Yeah, I know … it’s hard to make time to play with your headlines sometimes. But it pays off!
It can help to move away from your normal work place, perhaps go to the park or a local cafe. I’ve also found that a short train trip can be great for a short burst of creative energy.
Have fun!
Like bland food, meh writing is everywhere.
This is good news for a bad reason–you have little competition,. So a sparkling piece of writing sweeps and soars above the dismal landscape.
Your recipes to spice things up should do the trick!
Love reading your posts, Henneke!
Yep so true, when we make a little more effort to polish our words, then it’s quite easy to stand out from the crowd!
Thank you for your lovely comment, Saleem. 🙂
Love the cupcake imagery, Henneke. And I don’t even like sweets. 😉 Metaphors are one of my favorites. I had a boss in my corporate days who I said had a metaphor for every occasion. But you know what? You never forgot his example. 🙂
I don’t have a sweet tooth either! I originally made this drawing for my sister who loves baking cupcakes. 🙂
Good to see you again, Cathy!
Still slaving over my About page and desperate to think of all these helps as I write. How timely this is for me this morning, to launch a thorough edit! Last night, I actually wrote, “I can show you the door so you can get out and get a break, sometimes…” and thought that was a metaphor, and in a very weak way, it was, but how about “I know how to shine a beacon on that secret escape hatch, so you can slip (float?) away to a simpler world…”
At first, I thought that if I wrote this way, I’d be using a voice that was too “Henneke” for my readers, but I see, now, that if I gravitate to your voice, why shouldn’t I adopt some of the qualities that do fit my topic!
Probably I am a turtle in this race to create web content, but Slow and Steady is the preferred pace for multitudes, right? Oh, me!
When I was learning how to write, I studied writers I liked most, trying to figure out why I liked their writing, and then used their writing techniques in my writing, too. As Austin Kleon suggests: “We learn by copying.”
So, go ahead, “steal” the qualities you like. You’ll automatically mix in some of your own. 🙂
Very helpful! Thank you. Looking forward to writing some juicy headlines!
Great! Have fun! 🙂
Henneke, I often cook when I’m having a writing day. I’ll intersperse my writing time with cooking something simple but delicious. This brings in a sense of play and freedom. It helps free up my writing. Love your examples!
A day of cooking and writing – is there a better way to spend the day? 🙂
Yes, I like your advice, Henneke, first to have fun with writing, with a pen and paper.
Our creative ideas flow. We can make a first draft and then fine tune it.
Good article, Henneke, Thank you.
Yes, I find a computer can sometimes stifle creativity. Perhaps because I associate it too much with trying to be productive?
Creative and imaginative! Your article is just what I needed. Thanks Henneke 🙂
Kind regards
Mark
Great! Happy writing, Mark 🙂
PS It’s cloudy with sunny intervals today and the wind is surprisingly cold.
Thank you so much for this wonderful post and for suggesting these exercises, Henneke! I often feel I can’t get rid of the boring-bug and my mind gets stuck on the same old. But these should definitely help coming up with something better, hopefully more appealing to the reader. 🙂
Yes, it’s normal to get stuck in the same old rut. We all experience it from time to time. I find reading fiction can also help us get out of a rut.
Happy writing, Ralitsa! And thank you for stopping by.
This was fantastic! I teach adults who are learning a new hobby and the struggle is to get them to play, to move them into the ‘right’ side of their brain, so they can experiment and experience flow. Without the play, they are too analytical, and their performance is rigid.
Thank you, Kathy!
Have you read the book Play by Stuart Brown? It’s an interesting take on how important play is not just for our imagination, but also for our happiness.
I haven’t, but I just added it to my Kindle! 🙂
Hello Henneke,
This has been one of the most practical posts you have ever written. Although some of these suggestions may be obvious to you, they aren’t. The compelling way in which you introduce each excercise is very helpful. Loved tip #2!
Maybe more practical examples in the future?
Thank you, Virginia.
I’m thinking about creating a whole ebook with exercises like this. 🙂
An ebook with exercises would awesome! I will be looking for it.
Thanks so much! Very interesting and useful post.
Thank you, Daniela. Happy writing! 🙂