Writing Exercises? Ideas?

[Gravy]

Just curious.
My friend and I send pictures back and forth for the other to write little stories for.
It can actually work as a forum game (I was thinking of starting one here if anyone's interested?) but I digress.
It helps to keep my mind creative, and provides a distraction from writing problems, a breather of sorts if you will.
It can also be alot of fun.

What about everybody else out there?

[DATo]

That is an interesting way to come up with ideas - pictures. Some of my stories are inspired by true life events which either happened to me or to people I know. Others are the result of ideas I'd like to elaborate upon.

In a recent thread I posted a half-dozen or so stories I've written this year. The first, Werewolf, was the result of an experience I had when I was 7 years old which profoundly effected me. The werewolf became my favorite monster and I've always wanted to write my own werewolf story ... so I finally did. The second, The Dreamer, deals with real-life experience with people suffering from dementia. I have always wondered what it must be like to be in the mind of a person suffering from dementia. I came to the conclusion that it must be a lot like dreaming where scenes and people change abruptly. Crossroads was a true experience I had while working for a university. iL SIndaco was just a playful exercise in which I challenged myself to write a story with a twist. The Kiss was yet another true story that had a pleasant and profound effect on me. The Wisdom Of Herr Hoffmann was based upon a true story I had heard about which took place a couple of centuries ago. I found the premise of the story very engaging and decided to write a story based upon it. Acceptance is my shortest story in which the main character reacts in a very uncharacteristic manner to some very important news. I have always been amazed by the coolness with which some people deal with catastrophic events. This story was actually inspired by the tsunami which took place in 2011 in Japan and the stoicism with which the Japanese people dealt with the crisis.

One of the things I try to do is to make the style of writing and topics of my stories very, very different from each other as an exercise. I think this makes a writer (especially a short story writer) more diversely eclectic in his/her writing practice.

So, you see, the ideas for stories come at me from many directions. The key, I suppose, is to be on the alert for ideas which can spring to mind which are inspired by everyday events, occurrences from our past, ideas which we have internally philosophized about, or stories told to us by others which had piqued our interest. Often an entire story can be created from the memory of a childhood friend or experience when we were very young, or a coworker's story related over lunch. The key is to keep alert to recognize when a story premise presents itself.

If you'd like to read the stories I mentioned above you can find them here:
http://forums.onlinebookclub.org/viewto ... 15#p319709

[Maddy_Knapp01]

Just start writing whatever comes to your mind and don't stop for about 5 minutes. And then circle some good passages that you like best.

[lou wakey]

why not have a photo album under "book " put them all togther and use them as a platform for ideas for your new writing, just sit looking at a photo you have taken can spark a thousand memories from that moment

[SharisseEM]

If I run out of ideas during a dry spell then I'll take a break and read. If not, I'll read writing books and do some of the exercises inside to expand the very basic ideas I already have. Books like 'Break Into Fiction'.