15 Collection of Generative Writing Exercises
BLUEPRINT DRAWING
Have students pick a shape, or draw a simple shape. Have them write an essay that structurally follows the shape of this drawing – rather than say, the freitag pyramid (Perhaps pair with a discussion of Ursula K. Le Guin’s essay “Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction.”) As if the shape is the schematic or the blueprint for the essay itself.
OBJECT PERSPECTIVE
As students are working on their class essays, have students write from the point of view of an object in the room, rather than the point of view of their narrator.
TEXT CARD IMAGE CARD
Give every student two notecards. On each notecard, students will write one question they have about live at the moment, and one image that struck them in the past week. Collect the cards. Mix them up. Have each student draw one question and one image. For 20 minutes have the students write an essay with the question they choose as their guiding “aboutness” — and the image they drew as a moment in the piece.
RANDOM WORD GENERATOR
Have students write for 10 minutes. To begin writing, give students one word to incorporate into their writing (example: “sugar”) After a minute, read out another word from the list for them to incorporate (“archipelago”). As they write, continue offering a word each minute to incorporate.
PROMPTED BY ANOTHER’S BEGINNING
Bring your students to the museum. Have them each sit in front of a piece of art, silently, for 15 minutes. They should not write down anything, they should not look away from the piece of art. They will spend time with it. Getting to know the art. The average museum goer spends 15 seconds with a piece of art — how does a piece of art change when we allow it to emerge, when we live with it? After this exercise, have the students describe what the art is. Write for 15 minutes.
JOURNAL PROMPT
JOURNAL OF SENSE AND METAPHOR