How to Practice Your Imagination as a Writer

One of the great benefits of writing is that you don't need many tools to do your job. One thing you do need, though, is an active imagination. But, when you write often, it can become difficult to keep the imagination fresh. Some simple exercises can help. Follow these tips to practice your imagination as a writer.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Sign up for a daily writing prompt to be sent to you via email. These short messages, available on most writing resource websites, often consist of an unfinished sentence or partially written scene that you need to complete. Writing prompts like this are designed to spark the writer's imagination and allow ideas to flow more freely.
2. Join a writer's group. These groups, which can be found through community calendars, your local library or online, meet regularly to discuss members' current writing projects and usually contain exercises to help get your imagination moving.
3. Start an idea box. Write down snippets of conversations you overhear, names of people who would make interesting characters or plot ideas in one or two sentences and keep them in a box or jar. When you're in need of some inspiration, pull one out and try to write a short story based on it.
4. Use your daily life as an opportunity to exercise your imagination. While you are going about your daily business, make it a point to observe the people around you. Try to write a scene about each person you see in your head, or draft a short character profile of who they are and what they do. This gets your imagination about building characters working.

Tips & Warnings

• Buy a journal and carry it everywhere. You never know when your imagination will flare up, and you want to be able to capture your ideas right away.

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