Get Some Practice With This Writing Exercise

This is a terrific exercise to do with a friend but also perfectly fine to do alone. It can really stretch the imagination and warm up your brain to work on that novel or short story.

Here's how it works:

Randomly choose five nouns and five adjectives or verbs. Both are fun though the noun/verb combo is particularly challenging. This is where a friend comes in handy. One of you picks the nouns and one the adjectives/verbs. Then, share your choices and combine the nouns and adjectives/verbs in the order given. You want the combos to be as random as possible.

You should have two columns: five nouns on one side and five adjectives/verbs on the other. Now, write five sentences, one for each combo. The adjectives and verbs must modify the nouns they're paired with.

Here's an example of one I did with a friend:

Noun
farm

Verb
dip

The farm dipped into the horizon as we drove up the hill.

The results can be silly but also rewarding. And it's great for getting down to details and honing your craft.

Get Writing!

Nouns
coffee
truck
mint
boot
mattress

Verbs
slide
lurk
toss
hold
clench

Your goal: Don't worry about being too serious. Focus on writing creative, well-crafted sentences. Have fun!