Literary Device Exercises

October 28, 2021

Creating a Foil for Your Character & More

My goal for this article is to cover all aspects of creating a foil for your character (or characters): what a foil is, how to create a foil, and ways to use a foil in a story. Using Foils in Your Story What is a Foil? A foil is a character that contrasts another character. They’re most often used to...

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June 10, 2021

3 Rainy Day Writing Prompts

Is it raining where you are? Well, if it isn’t, it will be sometime. 😛 When it is, and you have a moment to write, why not try a rainy day writing prompt? Or 3. 3 Ways to Use Rain in Writing Feel the Rain Rain is sensuous – it’s something you experience with all the senses. That makes it...

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July 25, 2017

Breaking Hyperbole as Writing Inspiration

Breaking hyperbole as writing inspiration is one of the mainstays of creative writing. Especially genres like fantasy and science fiction. And since this tactic is so common, I’m guessing it’s not going to be a totally unfamiliar idea for most writers. That’s why this article isn’t meant to be a treasure trove of new ideas. Although that would be cool. ...

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May 2, 2017

A Spring Writing Prompt in 3 Acts

Well, 3 parts. It’s not a play or theatrical piece (or cohesive whole), so “acts” may be a bit of hyperbole. But don’t worry – it’s definitely a spring writing prompt for exercising different skills. 3 Takes on a Writing Prompt for Spring Technically, these are 3 different writing exercises that relate to the idea of Spring. After much debate,...

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April 6, 2017

A Writing Activity for Music and Poetry

This exercise is great for demonstrating how so much of a song’s power and meaning come from how the music and lyrics work together (I may refer to lyrics as poetry and vice versa). Technically, it’s only a writing activity for music and poetry if you do both parts; however, even the first part alone is worth the doing. Both because of...

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October 18, 2016

A City’s Character: More Writing Inspiration from Travel

A while back, I talked about how to make the most of travel delays with the people-watching writing prompt, but even if there are no (or few) people around, you can still find plenty of useful inspiration in your travels by considering a city’s character. Places are like people. They have a certain look, a certain feel. They have their...

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June 11, 2016

A Writing Prompt for Dreams

I don’t mean the goals kind of dream. This writing prompt is meant for those weird, hazy, wtf dreams that happen in your sleep and fade within hours (if not minutes) of waking. Most of the time, they make no sense – talk about the art of the unexpected! That’s actually one of the best reasons to apply dreams to...

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May 17, 2016

A Writing Prompt for the Worst Time of Your Life

Unless you’re amazingly lucky and have never had a low point in your life (*sigh* Wouldn’t that be nice?), as soon as you read the title, you knew what time of your life that would be. Or maybe you’ve thought of a series of moments that are all in the running for that title – the worst time of your life. If...

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May 4, 2016

5 Ways to Simplify the Writing Prompt Game

Anyone remember the Writing Prompt Game? (If you don’t, click the link.) Well, if you’re not thinking of 3 random things easily, you don’t have anyone to give you the 3 words, or you simply want to mix it up a little, then you can use 1 of the 5 options below. 1. Rory’s story cubes The story cubes are...

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April 22, 2016

Writing Prompt: Explore the Outrageous with Similes & Metaphors

When your writing feels stagnant, you’re struggling to come up with a new or unique idea, or the art of the unexpected is completely evading you, it can help to spend some time exploring the ridiculous and outrageous with a simile/metaphor writing prompt. It’s like how Robin Williams explained part of the acting process in his interview with Inside the Actor’s Studio (one of...