15 Writing Ideas for Your 15-Minute Writing Session

So you think you don’t have time to write. That’s very possible, considering all the demands on our time these days. Work (or looking for work), home schooling your kids, household chores, cooking, and all the other responsibilities we have that can get in the way of our writing time.

Don’t get discouraged if you’re not able to accomplish as much writing during your writing sessions. If you can make time for 15 minutes of writing, you can accomplish more than you think. You just have to go into your session with a goal. Know what you want to accomplish or what you want to write about. When you know what you want to accomplish, you can make the best use of your time. Then get down to work.

Here’s what you can do with your 15-minute writing session.

1. Freewrite for 15 minutes straight without stopping. Let the ideas flow from your brain to the page. Aim to write 100 words every session – at a minimum. Do not stop to edit or rethink what you just wrote. Just keep writing. You may be surprised at the ideas that you see on the page afterward. If you do this consistently, over 10 sessions (aiming for those 100 words), you should be able to complete a 1,000-word essay.

2. Draft a dialogue between two characters. Start with one character asking the other person a question. See where that dialogue takes your characters. Avoid writing back story or other narrative. Focus only on the dialogue.

3. Choose an object on your desk or somewhere in your room. Describe it in detail including the color, shape and texture of it. How did you acquire that item? Is there a story behind where that item came from?

4. If you have a pet, give the animal a voice. Write a few paragraphs as if the pet is speaking to you. What would the animal say? Would he lavish you with praise, or whine and complain that you don’t pay enough attention to them?

5. Create a bullet list of stories you’d like to write. Use a prompt like “I remember” or “What if?” to kick off your ideas.

6. Write a brief review of the last book you read or the last movie you watched.

7. Write the final chapter of your current work in progress. Sometimes by writing the ending first, you have a clearer idea of how to start your novel.

8. Browse through old vacation photos. Describe the place as you remember when you visited it. Add as much detail as you can recall.

9. Create a character sketch of your protagonist, antagonist or other major character. Describe their appearance, then write as much detail about what they are striving for in your story. What is the character’s back story?

10. Recall the last dream you had. Rewrite it as you might read it in a book or see on a movie screen.

11. Write a letter to a friend or loved one, especially someone you have not seen in a long time. Or write a letter to a historical figure you admire and wish you could meet. What would you say to them?

12. Play writing games. For example, choose three words at random from the dictionary (close your eyes, open to a random page and let your finger stop on a word) and write a story using those three words. The story can easily be two to three paragraphs.

13. Think of a book or movie in which you did not like the way it ended. Rewrite the ending. Remember you only have 15 minutes, but you can jot down the key ideas.

14. Close your eyes and listen to the sounds around you. What do you hear? Describe the sounds and the images that come to mind when you hear them. Are there birds chirping? Is there a plane flying overhead? Is someone playing their stereo loudly?  You can do this same exercise with other senses as well, such as touch, taste and smell.

15. Listen to a piece of music, preferably instrumental. Close your ideas as you listen to it. What images come to mind? Does it bring back any memories? Then write about your listening experience.

No matter how busy you may be, there is always time for writing, even if it’s only 15 minutes. Your writing practice shouldn’t suffer because you believe you don’t have enough time. There is always time, as long as you have the desire to write.

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