by Conny Manero

Created on: July 29, 2010

To improve a skill, or to maintain a level of excellence, one must exercise.  Singers warm up their vocal cords, dancers exercise their muscles and writers, if they are to keep up their writing skills, need to write.

In case a writer finds himself with nothing to write about, the following is not only an exercise to write, but to battle writer’s block.

Draw a circle and write a word, for instance cat, inside that circle.

Now draw a slightly bigger circle and fill it with words related to the word cat.

Pick three words out of the second circle, draw an even bigger circle and fill it with words related to the three words you picked.

From that circle pick another three words and write about them.

Chances are that the three words you end up with have nothing to do with the word you started off with, which is precisely the point of the exercise.

Another exercise is to write about people.  The next time you are out walking, shopping or taking a break at a coffee shop, look at those around you and focus on a particular person. 

Write about him or her, trying to guess where the person was born, what he does for a living, what he likes and dislikes and what motivated him to be out walking, shopping or being in the same coffee shop as you.

Start a blog or journal that you update every day.  List your goals at the beginning of each day and your accomplishment at the end of the day.  When something good, bad or funny happened, describe the event in detail.

Another exercise is to think of something you have seen, heard or experienced and trying to describe to event to your best friend.  Imagine you are writing a letter or email and start off with ‘Dear ....’ and take it from there. 

Join a forum and interact with the other members.  Not only will your writing get exercise, but you will be drawn in to the lives of others, which in turn might inspire you to write about certain subjects.

If you have absolutely nothing to write about, write about why you have nothing to write about.  You will be amazed how easy this is and how much you have to say once you get going.  As a bonus, you might get some clarity in your writer’s block situation.

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