Short exercises to 'loosen the writing muscles'

At the start of a writing session, in order to 'break the ice' and get some words written, it can be useful to provide short exercises which reduce anxieties. These may be shared in pairs, with the whole group - or not at all. It can be a good idea to give writers the right to share only when ready.

Words

List 5-10 words which are currently interesting you. These could be chosen for their sound, their shape (short words, compound words), their association - place names and product names are good - words from different languages, dialect words, slang, nonsense words. 2 mins. Read one by one around the circle. 'Get the words in the air' and see what coincidental sequences emerge. Enjoy.

(cf Favourite words, Michael Laskey's workshop ideas mentioned in the Poetry Trust's excellent publication, 'The Poetry Toolkit' www.thepoetrytrust.org)

Journeys

Jot down three things you passed on your way to the meeting: now use one of these as a starting point to write about your journey here.

Lists

List 4 words and, next to each, place a word or phrase which is close in meaning.

e.g. between – among;
anger – irritation;
awkward - embarrassing;
dash - sprint.

Now use one pair of words as the starting point for a piece of writing: You might find the following construction useful: 'It was not so much anger as a sense of irritation I felt when, for the third time, Martin scraped his pen across the air vents ....'

Make a list of ... (anything) ...

An object for each colour of the rainbow
games our family played
things to take on a walk
holiday destinations
clothes you once had
items in your room
furniture in your grandparents' house
annoying sayings;

The act of listing alone is good, and sharing is even better, but it could be that from that you derive a stimulus for further writing. Olivia McCannon's 'Inventory' - a list poem about her grandparents' house - starts like this: 

Open door, high cistern, wooden loo-seat,
Harvesters hanging, mangle in passage-way
Long key in lock, block of wood dangling,
Wall-clock, drop-leaf table, pressure-cooker, beans,
Cherry-patterned table-cloth, jug of Bisto, crumbs,
Pink-yellow Battenburg, splashes of dark tea ...