Creative writing is an enjoyable pastime that needs to be practiced in order to be perfected. Remember the first time you wrote a letter? I’ll bet it was a lot more difficult to write that first letter than it was to write the hundredth letter. As with any other activity, the more you practice, the better you become at it.

Most writers don’t succeed in having their very first work published. Most of the time, they aren’t published until they’ve written a lot. Each time they write, small improvements are made. This book is full of creative writing exercises to help you improve your ability. When you are done with this book, you should be able to create more writing exercises of your own.

Many writers shy away from writing dialogue. Perhaps they feel that it is too complicated or too hard to make it sound authentic. Included are exercises that will help you master writing dialogue. Since I tend to like scary stories, Halloween writing prompts are included. Write stories with deserted towns, ghosts, spiders, things that go bump in the night, and more.

Some of the writing exercises involve suspense. When you add suspense to a story, it keeps the reader interested and keeps them reading. Face your worst nightmare, believe that you’re surrounded by safety when you aren’t, and use the wrath of nature to bring fear to your stories.

Many generic writing prompts are included. These prompts would be good to work on any day of the year. Investigate your favorite color and write about the Kallikantzaroi, who according to Greek legend, try to ruin Christmas for all.

Many of the exercises provided are about phobias. Phobias add depth to your characters and make them seem more real. There are more phobias out there than you can imagine. You could give your character a fear of just about anything. A fear of spiders is a more common phobia, but what about a fear of things that taste sour, or a fear of noise? Perhaps your character has a fear of clothing or a fear of bald people.

Each phobia is explained and a writing exercise given with each one. I hope you have as much fun with the exercises as I had learning about the phobias and thinking of the story lines. If you wish to purchase a copy of this book, please click on the Exercises in Creative Writing ebook link under 'Related Links'.