DIGITAL WRITING 101

CREATIVE NON-FICTION
# 1: Observe and Analyze

Today, notice all the people that grease your day but
who you rarely think about: the newspaper delivery person,
the mailman, the elevator doorman, the pizza delivery guy,
the cashier at the grocery store or the hostess at your
favorite eatery. One of them is a murderer. What’s the story
here? Who tells it? What happens next?

# 2: Found Objects
A. You find a checkbook on the ground-perhaps you’re
in a park, jogging along the highway, or in the parking lot at
the Mall. You decide to return it. What happens next?

B. You’re tired. Who isn’t? You make a mistake, a costly

mistake. What happens next?

E. Paper clips. How important are they? Pick up your pen

and write about paper clips for ten minutes.
# 3: Highlighting Details
A. Start a story with a word that starts with the letter B – any
B, any word.

B. Pick a particular time of day and a particular window.

Spend 10 minutes describing what you see out of the
window.

C. Write about what you hate most about writing.

# 4: Narratives
Writing has tremendous energy. If you find a reason for it,
any reason, it seems that rather than negate the act of
writing, it makes you burn deeper and glow clearer on the
page. Ask yourself, “Why do I write?” or “Why do I want to
write?” but don’t think about it. Take pen and paper and
answer it with clear, assertive statements. Every statement
doesn’t have to be one hundred percent true and each line
can contradict the others. Even lie if you need to, to get
going. If you don’t know why you write, answer it as though
you do know why.
— Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones
Tip: If you feel stuck, start out: I don’t know why I write,
but . . . . or I feel that as a writer I have something to say, but.
. . . But? But what? Stay with this “but” until you are about
“but,” the most knowledgeable person in the world.

Since everyone likes a good story, it’s no wonder that the

narrative is such a popular form of writing. Fairy tales,
anecdotes, short stories, novels, plays, comics, and even
some poems are all examples of the narrative form. Simply
stated, a narrative is a story based on fact or fiction. Any type
of narrative (or story) writing is built on a series of events. By
telling about these events one after the other, just as they
occurred, your story will satisfy a reader’s curiosity about
what happens next. (A more complex narrative device of
moving back and forth from past to present within a story is
call the flashback technique.) A narrative composition can be
used to entertain, make a point, and/or illustrate a premise.

A. Write a story about wanting and glue and staring.

B. Respond to the following quote. Follow where the words

lead you.

A man’s life is nothing but an extended trek through the

detours of art to recapture those one or two moments when
his heart first opened.
— Albert Camus

# 5: Dialogues and Expositions

Write some funny dialogue between a father (or
mother) and his/her daughter (or son) who must explain
explain why she/he is two hours past curfew.

Describe a lake as seen by a young man who has just

committed murder. Do not mention the murder. (Exercise
taken from John Gardner’s The Art of Fiction.)

# 6: Motivation
“Always do what you’re afraid to do,” Ralph Waldo
Emerson’s visionary Aunt Mary advised him. We tie ourselves
in knots to sabotage the energy that might be unleashed if
we move resolutely ahead. The risks of making changes are
great. . . especially great changes.
— Gail Sher, One Continuous Mistake
Write out all the things you are afraid to do concerning your
writing and your writing life. Do not simply make a list, but
use sentences so you can experience the flow of your
thoughts. If you are stuck, start your sentences with
something like, “I am afraid my writing will. . . .” or “I am
afraid writing is . . . .”

Now make a list of other things you’re afraid of doing. Be as

outrageous as you can.

# 7: In the Moment
Today celebrate what you still don’t know. Make a list of the
elements you are unsure of in the plot of your story; the
ideas as yet undeveloped in a poem; or the point of an essay
that hasn’t yet crystallized. These are your reasons to keep
on writing. Or, write the phrase “I still don’t know” as a diving
study and fill the page with whatever comes out. Select one
thing you don’t know to write/learn about today.
— From Bonni Goldberg, Room to Write
A. In this exercise we’re going to practice being present to
what is around us and reflecting that present reality in our
writing. Get up and walk around the house, the porch, the
deck, and/or the yard. Spend five or six minutes. Then write
three pages about whatever comes to mind. This isn’t even a
rough draft; this is just flow; pure mental, emotional,
associative pure flow.

# 8: New Perspectives
A. Write a story about a person turning eighty.
B. Write a dialogue between two people who have to share a
seat on a plane and who are attracted to one another.
Introduce an obstacle to the smooth sailing of this attraction.

F. Write about a birthday.

G. Write the saddest thing you know about friendship.

# 9: Disclosures
A. Make up a word and tell us what it means. Use it in a
sentence, a story, a scene. The word can reflect something
you always thought needed a word or it can be a set of
sounds that trigger your imagination. Try it as a verb, an
adverb, or a noun. Be playful.

B. Write a short paragraph/essay about something you used

to do with your grandmother or grandfather that you still do
today. Questions you might ask and answer: Why do I still do
whatever it is? Do I enjoy it, how have my feelings for the
activity changed? Why? Have I passed this on to my children?
Explore the then and now.

# 10: Explorations
A. Write a paragraph or story about noise.
B. Make a list: Start each phrase with “It would be crazy to. . .
” Go until you run out of sentences. Then, write the other
side of the coin: Start each phrase with “It would be perfectly
sane to. . . .”

D. Put on a piece of music and write where it takes you.

E. Comment on a newspaper or T.V. clip.

F. Imagine yourself as a child, looking at your mother’s

wallet. What do you see? How do you feel? Write a story
from this child’s perspective.

# 11: Suspense
Write in any form (poetry, drama, short story, nonfiction,
memoir, etc.) a piece that incorporates the phrase, “Don’t
pick up the phone.”

# 12: Reinvention
Write about an incident in your past that you would like a
chance to relive and do differently.
# 13: Celebration
Write about a special birthday.

# 14: Recollections
Write some memoirs about a favorite teacher..

# 15:  Word Lists
Word lists can sometimes be a great spur to creativity. Try this one. Set your timer for ten
minutes, then read the word list below and attempt to write something (a poem, a story,
a short play) that contains all nine of these words.

iris handbag

fire engine cantata

M&Ms Shinto

porcelain jell

illusion

Once you’ve completed this exercise, reread what you have written. Is there a character
or a situation worth pursuing farther?

# 16: Characterization
Use the following format to create your own character. No
cheating. Do not simply fill in the blanks by describing
yourself or someone you know. Instead, fill in the blanks
describing someone you’d find it interesting to know. Then,
remembering that conflict is the essence of all dramatic
writing, repeat the process by imagining a character whose
value, attitudes, etc. would likely put them in opposition to
the first character you invented.

Full Name:
Nicknames:
Sex:
Age:
Height:
Weight:
Hair:
Eyes:
Skin:
Posture:
Appearance:
Health:
Birthmark:
Abnormalities:
Heritage:
Where born:
Where live:
Favorite food:
Favorite subject in school:
Favorite game as child:
Best memory:
Worst memory:
Smoke/Drink/Drugs Profile:
Favorite section of newspaper:
Favorite type of music:
Last book read:
Last movie seen:
Morning or night person:
Introvert/Extrovert:
Indoor or outdoor person:
Greatest fear:
Closest friend:
Dearest possession:
Favorite season:
Class:
Occupation:
Education:
Family:
Home Life:
IQ:
Religion:
Community:
Political Affiliation:
Amusements/Hobbies:
Reading Interests:
Sex Life:
Morality:
Ambition:
Frustration:
Temperament:
Attitude:
Psychological Complexes:
Superstitions:
Imagination:

# 18: Self-Searching
When you’re struggling with what to write about, sometimes
it helps to get reacquainted with yourself…who you are…
what matters to you. Here is an exercise designed to help you
discover, and inspire you to explore in your writing, those
things you feel most passionate about.
Pick one of your answers and recreate it into a story, an essay, a poem, a performance
piece, that you would like to share.

PHASE ONE QUESTIONS PHASE TWO QUESTIONS

Has a book ever changed your life? If so, which one and why?

Has a relationship ever changed your life? When, how, why?

Describe a friendship you wish you had. Why?

Describe a friendship you wish you had

never had. Why?

What is the angriest you’ve ever been? When? Where? Why?

At what moment in your life thus far have Describe the incident, recalling how it
you felt the most powerful? made you feel and why.

At what moment in your life did you feel a Describe the incident, recalling how it
sense of wonder and awe. made you feel and why.

What would you like most to change about

yourself ? Why?

What would you like most to change about

the future world? Why?

What would you most like to change

about the world’s past?