Doodling for Writers
My Wednesday Writing Weeklies started on my DeviantArt website account where most users are artists of some kind. Art and drawing have always been a big part of my life and what do artists do for practice or in between serious works? We doodle! It’s easy to think of doodling when it comes to art but what is doodling for writers? Come explore with me the benefits of what I call “scribbling” AKA writing doodles and see how this can help your process.
Today’s topic is a silly one. I’m going to share some exercises and ways you can practice writing for fun as you hone your technique or just enjoy the moment. The examples I provide are silly scribbles of my own and they are quite atrocious.
The Benefits of Practice
I scribble on the rare occasion. Usually, I have many serious pieces of writing to create for myself or my clients, but last weekend I found myself with a little free time and wanted to write for fun. It’s been so long since I’ve had such a moment, but I wasn’t sure what to do. I commonly use journaling and stream-of-consciousness writing for practice, but I wanted to do something simpler. I wanted to scribble with the same wandering energy my art doodles have.
If you are looking for something to exercise your vocabulary, practice getting words on the page, and just improve how you think about writing—I have some exercises for you!
I’ve shared exercises in the past that can help with specific techniques but this week I want to share some simple ones that shouldn’t take too much brain power. Of course, they might if you overthink them like I do! But these are all short and sweet. I promise.
Alliteration ABCs
An alliteration is a repeating pattern where the first letter or syllable in a word repeats. It can be used to stir the senses such as, “a slithering snake sneaked through the woods” which might give your reader a chill. For fun, I wrote out a whole list of sentences with alliterations from A to Z. This is an awesome way to exercise your vocabulary as well. These can be dumb, terrible, or silly, but it is a great practice!
Here are some of my attempts:
All apples allude to awesome accomplishments.
Bumbling bumblebees befriend bashful bears.
Charismatic cats cast clever countenances.
Dancing dragons dig dusty doubloons.
Entwining ethereal elegances eschew each encounter.
Galloping gargoyles giggle gaily.
Idiotic idioms isolate iced instances.
Lonesome larks lisp loveless lies.
Valiant variables validate veering ventures.
For fun, my boyfriend chimed in and wrote these:
Angry actors always abdicate.
Burly buffalo belch bigly.
Cranky cats claw children.
Derelict dogs dig dirt.
Egregious elephants elect elders.
Funky ferrets frolic fretfully.
What alliterations can you come up with? Share them in the comments below! 😊
Haikus!
Haikus are a type of poem with 1 stanza and three lines. The first line has only 5 syllables, 7 in the second, and 5 in the last. These are beautiful examples of writing deriving from Japanese poetry forms. I, on the other hand, write them quite horribly. As a scribbling writing exercise, I recommend sitting down and writing one haiku about each object around you. For example, sitting at my desk I can pick my computer, lamp, candles, bookcase, pencil, or more. There is always something to write about. Maybe write about the object literally or wrap it in some metaphor. Rhyme, don’t rhyme, or tell a story.
For fun, I started writing (terrible) haikus about the 150 original Pokémon. I just went down the list, writing the first thing that came to mind, and cringed every step of the way. Here is one for fun:
Charmeleon #5
Growth spurts and teenage
angst burns in your smoky breath.
Vicious, ruthless, bright.
Flash Fiction
Another silly exercise I like to do is random stories. I ask myself four questions and base them on objects around me.
What is my character’s name? (I take the first letter of the object closest to me.)
What is the setting? (I pick a setting with a name based on the current time of day.)
What does my character want? (I pick an object I see across from me.)
Why can’t my character get it? (I take the literal distance of positioning between myself and the object and dramatize the situation.)
So, my character’s name is Jenny after my journal sitting next to me. Jenny lives in Sunville, Florida (because it is sunny outside right now) and she wants to visit Florence, Italy (I have a picture of Florence on my office’s wall.) Jenny cannot go to Florence because it is too far away, and she has to work today. (Because I am working right now, and the photo is across the office from me.)
I know this seems super simple, but it took me less than a minute to think about this story idea. Now, set a timer for 5 to 15 minutes and just start writing the first thing that comes to mind, and don’t stop writing until the timer stops. See where you can take your character and this simple story idea. What does Jenny do to go to Florence or plan a trip? What gets in her way and how does she attempt to overcome it?
Conclusion
I hope you had fun with today’s examples! There are many ways to practice writing, but I think just letting yourself go and free write these silly ideas are a great way to do it. Write without inhibitions and let yourself be mindlessly creative. There are no mistakes, no takebacks, and only a bunch of fun when you do this. You might surprise yourself and like something you create in one of these exercises!
Best,
Danni Lynn, Evangeline40003