10 Writing "Warm-Ups" to Spark Your Creativity
General disclaimer: There are external links to products and websites within this post. None of these are paid or incentivized promotions. I simply enjoy these products/sites and think that you might enjoy them, too!
Writing warm-ups were an unfamiliar concept to me just a few short years ago.
I don’t quite recall who it was that first suggested them to me- I can’t remember if it was a favorite writing instructor (who gave a lot of wonderful advice in the short semester I spent in his workshop), or if it was a fellow writer at some NaNoWriMo meet-up, or perhaps the English professor who had us free-write for the first ten minutes of every class. Regardless, making warm-ups a staple of my craft has changed the game for me in a lot of ways.
A writing warm-up way to shake off any cobwebs that have gathered since you last wrote and let you flex and stretch your creative muscles before you tackle the big stuff. I mean, athletes do it, right? Dancers stretch before they take the stage, and any trainer worth their salt is going to stick their client on a treadmill to up their heart rate and get their muscles warm for the workout ahead. Why can’t writers do the same?
The concept is simple: a 10-15 minute block at the start of a writing session, a prompt, and a big ol’ stop sign on the backspace bar. Just. Write. At least, this is how I do them.
I’ve found that warm-ups tend to center me. They help me switch on “Writer Mode”, so to speak. Turn off the student brain that’s reminding me of all the readings to prepare for next week. Turn off the dog mom brain that is trying to remember if Ozzy ate his vitamin that morning or if he just spat it onto the floor. Turn off all the parts of the brain worried about what to write and whether or not it will be any good, whether or not I’ll actually achieve all the lofty goals I’ve set for myself, and just. write.
I don’t do them every single time I write. Sometimes, I’m just hammering out a few words before class starts, or banging out a page before bed. These more rushed spurts of writing often happen when I’ve thought of something that needs to be put on paper lest it fly away for good. But when I’m sitting down for a longer session, when I’ve blocked out a good chunk of time to focus on writing and writing alone, I find that they help me get in the zone.
Here are the 10 “Warm Up” Prompts (aka: exercises I recycled from my days as the St. Anthony’s High School creative writing club president or thought up when nothing in my Writer’s Block “sparked joy”) I Return To Most Often:
Put your playlist on shuffle. Listen to three songs in full. No skipping! As the songs play, write down how they make you feel; what they make you think of; what the words or melodies mean to you.
Write a letter to your younger self. I say “younger” because I like to play with the ages. I’ll talk to my 6 year old self one day, my 13 year old self the next, maybe even my 21 year old self. Pick an age, and write to yourself.
Pick a random object in the room and write about it. A book, a lamp, a pen, a glass of water. Describe it in great detail. Personify it if you want! Just write everything you can about it.
Pull up Poetry Foundation (or your favorite online poetry source, including but not limited to literary journals or your favorite poet’s website) and read the first poem you see. Write a response to it.
Play in someone else’s sandbox. Or, more colloquially, write some damn fanfiction. I’m serious. It’s a ready-made playground. Predict Stranger Things 4, redo the ending of Dexter, or explore the psyche of an 80s scream queen. Hell, put yourself into the action if you want. How would you fair in The Walking Dead? Set a timer for 15 minutes and find out.
Write a letter to your favorite author (or filmmaker, or actor, or musician, or generally creative person) about their most recent work or about your favorite work of theirs. Spill your guts. Tell them everything you want them to know.
Go onto Flickr and click on the first photo that catches your eye. Write about it. This can also be done with pictures on Instagram or Pinterest, or even Facebook and Twitter, but I try to stay away from social media while writing, so Flickr is my go-to.
Write about your day as if it were a chapter of a book; describe the people in your life as if they are characters in a story, write about a significant event that happened, etc.
Look outside your window and write down everything you see. Describe it in detail. Is it sunny out? Do you see any people outside? What about the animals?
Go full stream-of-consciousness. Set a timer for 10 or 15 minutes and write. If a thought pops into your head, write it down. Follow it and see where it leads. Don’t stop. Don’t erase any words. Just write.