Write About Color

I believe that writing exercises are beneficial to all writers. They don't need to be done on a daily basis, but now and then, they help us flex our writing abilities and even give us some material to save for later use. There are books and websites which offer exercises for writers. Try any search engine to find them, or go through your writing books to find them.

I found one to be especially enjoyable, and it produced a few paragraphs I liked so well I saved them in a file for later use.The exercise involved selecting a color. Then write a paragraph or more in which the color comes through clearly, but you cannot name the color itself. The object is to let the reader see the color.

The first time I did this exercise, my friend, Molly, and I were doing writing exercises and sending them to one another every day for about a month. The idea was that, if we knew we had to send it to our friend, we were definitely going to do the exercise. If not, it's very easy to set aside until tomorrow or the next day or....
Molly and I both produced some good paragraphs with the color exercise.

Another exercise dealing with color will give your brain a power workout. Choose a color--brown, green, blue--any color you like. Then list ten words that describe that color. Sounds easy, doesn't it? The first three or four may be easy, but then it gets a little more difficult.

Give both these exercises involving color a try. Use a different color each time. The next time you are writing a story, you'll have a whole new string of color thoughts.