QuickTips Index

"The Blues" Creative Writing Prompt
For this creative writing prompt, you may want a little music playing in the background for added inspiration. In a structured writing session, move from brainstorming to freewriting to writing.

Examples of Metaphor
Examples of metaphor are easy to find, both in great literature (and not-so-great literature) and in everyday speech. These examples of both will help you make the most of this writing tool.

Examples of Metaphor from Raymond Chandler
For examples of metaphor in contemporary literature, it's hard to do better than Raymond Chandler, the hard-boiled detective novelist. Here we look at some examples from The Long Goodbye.

Examples of Metaphors from Everyday Speech
We don't have to look very far to find examples of metaphor. From expressions like "raining cats and dogs" to "table leg" and "old flame," everyday speech is full of them. But why are the useful? And exactly how do they work? Discover the logic behind everyday metaphors.

The Well-Used Bad Metaphor
Believe it or not, there are times when really bad metaphors -- mixed metaphors or clichés -- come in handy, as in this example from George Saunders.

Your Mother Creative Writing Prompt
A teacher of mine once used this creative writing prompt with good results. In it, you use a common phrase to jumpstart a freewriting session -- and hopefully a story or poem.

Things Lost and Found Creative Writing Prompts
These creative writing prompts encourage you to delve into two of the most fertile topics for writing. Spend some time writing today -- it only takes a few minutes to get started.

Create Your Own Metaphors
Spending just a little time on metaphors and similes can spur you to make better use of them in your writing. This exercise designed for poets works for fiction writers as well.

Ten-Minute Creative Writing Exercise
If you think you don't have time to write, think again. See what you can produce with a simple set of writing prompts and ten minutes of your time with this creative writing exercise.

Invisibility Creative Writing Prompt
I found this prompt in Beth Baruch Joselow's book of writing prompts, Writing Without the Muse, but it just as easily could have come from Woody Allen's Alice. In it you're asked to imagine a scene you might observe only if you were invisible.

Winter Counts Creative Writing Exercise
In this creative writing exercise from Alan Ziegler's The Writing Workshop Note Book, a Sioux Indian practice of record keeping called "Winter Counts" becomes a creative writing exercise.

Storyteller Exercise
This imaginative exercise inspired by one in Julia Cameron's The Right to Write, encourages writers to listen for story ideas.

A Writing Exercise for Finding the Drama in Daily Life
Alix Ohlin uses this creative writing exercise, set in a mattress store, to help her students find the drama in everyday life.

Listening for Dialogue
For many writers, writing natural-sounding dialogue is one of the hardest parts. This little exercise helps you develop an ear for the way that people really talk.

Punctuating Dialogue
Provides the absolute essentials for punctuating dialogue: the details that most clearly mark a beginner from a professional.

Creating an Idea Box
An idea box is one way to ensure that you always have a stock of ideas for your creative writing.

Rewards of the Publishing Process
In spite of the rejection and the work involved, the process of publishing can be rewarding in and of itself. After all, the people who run journals and magazines aren't that different from you and me.

Testing a New Novel or Short Story Idea
How do you know if your short story idea is compelling? Robert McKee, in his book, "Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting," has this tip for testing out a new idea.

Recording Your Dialogue
Having trouble getting your dialogue to sound just right? One way to approach the problem is by recording it to play back to yourself.

Writing for Fun
Steve Martin, in his introduction to "Pure Drivel" talks about taking time off as a means to accessing greater productivity.

Examples of Assonance and Alliteration
Examples can help you make use of a literary device in your own work. These examples of assonance and alliteration have been compliled to help you do just that.

Writer's Block and Your Relationship with Your Writing
In dealing with writer's block, it is helpful to remember that you have an ongoing relationship with your writing, and as with any relationship, it's not always going to be the same.