Recently I joined a creative writing workshop at my university, and we've already gained so many fantastic writing tools. The course is being taught by a YA Fiction author, Sarah Maria Griffin (author of Spare and Found Parts), and she brings her wisdom to share with about a dozen of young aspiring writers. One of the very first activities she had us do to test our use of language and capabilities was the exercise I'm encouraging any writer out there to try. Feel free to try along with my instructions, or tuck the idea away for later.
The first step is to think about the moon. Write "moon" at the top of a page and let every word that could possibly be associated with it in your mind. Write down every word or phrase that pops into your head. It is very important that you use every word you think of.
Have you done it? Great, now prepare for the twist. Write for 10 minutes about the moon without using any of the words you wrote down -- and yes, that includes "moon." Get creative and find alternative ways to work around the words. This will push you out of your comfort zone, encourage creativity and innovation in your writing, and keep you from using words repetitively.
When writing in the future, think back to this exercise. Keep an eye out for language that can be improved on and adjusted. Find out how to describe something without being too boring, while keeping the words beautiful and concise.
Doing activities like this every day can instill a great habit in your writing progression and will only serve to improve your narratives. Try taking the subject of your poem or story and doing this exercise in relation to them. Consider every adjective you associate with them, then try to work around the words. If it doesn't leave you with quality writing you want to incorporate, use the thinking you've done about the subject to understand it better. An author's understanding of the subject is essential to creating a full, effective story.
As an aspiring writer myself, I found this to be an extremely challenging and rewarding exercise. It left me feeling frustrated and confused at first, but once I got started, I felt proud of myself and my creativity. I hope it does the same for all of you creators out there.
