Everyone has a story to tell. This is an inarguable truth. No civilization ever thrived without stories. Most of us tell stories orally; others write and preserve it for the sake of posterity. You too have a story--it could be an experience, an anecdote, or an original tale. But many people fear the process of writing because they lack the confidence to tackle the task at hand. They feel that passion without knowing the craft produces subpar stories.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Why would you shun the opportunity to share a story that could make a difference in the lives of others, just because you are afraid your writing isn’t good enough? If you need to brush up on grammar and style, you can always find a great number of courses and support groups. “Keep writing” as a piece of advice is not going to help if you do not learn how to organize your ideas and use the right words for specific purposes. Don’t even think that professional writers don’t continue learning. All vocations engage in a continuous state of learning. 

Read. It is a must that you immerse yourself in the work of those who have done it. Read because you want to, not because you have to. Develop a genuine love of reading. I have never met a writer who doesn’t love to read. 

Writing is a perishable skill. Just like learning a new language, if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it. This is why practice writing helps. It is not only fun and exciting, but it will also help you see ideas in ways you do not expect. If you are experiencing a creative slowdown, however, here are some exercises that might prove helpful.

Find any object around you and make a story out of it by formulating questions. For example, if you see a dirty sock lying around, you can ask questions like these:

1) Who does it belong to?

2) Who left it there?

3) How long has it been lying there?

4) Where is the other pair?

Use your imagination to make up fictional answers, and voila! You have a story.

2. Write a letter to your future self. Imagine how you see yourself twenty years from now and think of what your future version would be like as a result of your present choices. You are either proud of your future self or regretful. It’s fun.

3. Writing prompts are all the rage. It kick-starts your creativity and compels you to write. Go online and simply Google “suggested writing prompts.” You’d be amazed at how many suggestions you can find ranging from everyday situations to the most bizarre.

4. Choose a scene or activity and write a sensory detail about it. Watch a video about young kids playing hoops in a wide alley, then write a descriptive scene about it. Watch someone cooking and show how the culinary spectacle tickles your gastronomic senses. Look at a panoramic scene and paint it with your words. Your paper is your canvas and your pen is your brush.

5. Retell a popular fairy or folk tale. Retelling a popular story will allow you to see characters differently and make you plot your story idea without deviating from the essence of the original tale. Imagine retelling the story of Paul Bunyan as a man suffering from excessive growth due to hormonal imbalance. There’s plenty of excitement and conflict in this idea.

You can think of other writing exercises to put you in the writing mood. You may now choose from these suggestions and begin.