Creative Writing Activities That Put the Focus on Diction

Here are some other activities that can help with your writing process:

Word String Good diction can make the difference between an ordinary piece of writing and a spectacular one. This exercise is designed to have individuals notice the language used in a piece of writing and encourages them to expand their own repertoires. Distribute a short story to everyone in the group and have them read it. Ask them to make an A-Z list of appealing words from the story, one word for each letter of the alphabet. When everyone has finished, suggest a starting word, and have someone choose a word from his or her list that begins with the final letter of your original word. Have each person in turn add a word that begins with the final letter of the word that came before it. Alternatively, have them create a piece of flash fiction one word at a time, with each student contributing where possible.

Alphabetical Sentence To spark new and unusual ideas, have students work alone or in small groups to write a sentence where each subsequent word begins with the next letter of the alphabet. For instance:

"Acids, bases, compounds" Dorothy explains, "for group homework." Instantly jaded, knowing long monosyllabic nonsense oozes, pupils quickly revolt.

Have students go on for as long as they are able (X,Y, Z can get a little tricky), and then if you like, have them work in the reverse direction. Or ask them to use the idea, setting, or character that resulted to write a short piece of fiction. Such limited constraints will sometimes yield fresh and surprising concepts or descriptions.

Removing Stale Similes To inspire fresh language and avoid phrases such as "melt like butter," "fresh as a daisy" and "slippery as an eel," make a list of the beginning of similes, similar to the example below, and have students complete these phrases with new comparisons that help lift the prose.

As cold as __________

As unpredictable as ______________

White like a _______________

As an accompanying creative writing exercise, a discussion of what a simile should not be would have value. Students could choose the worst simile they can find from sites such as The Manbottle. They could then explain to the others why the simile does not work.