9 Fun Exercises to Improve Your English Writing Skills

1. Vocabulary story
write a story using as many of the words on the list as you can. Aim to include 10-20 words in
your story, depending on how much time you have for this exercise. Have some fun with it and
try to get the finished story to make sense.
What you’ll learn: This exercise will help you understand and remember vocabulary words
better for a number of reasons. Here is an example:
Rahul----- alone--------phone------hesitated------received------- enquired Rahul no response------
rang again------ -----no response-----query about parents----------refused-----doorbell------tall
man------scared-----called father’s friends-----------reached with people and a pet dog------getting
inside----bitten by dog-------police-----parents------praise of Rahul

 Using words in a sentence ensures you understand how to use them.

 It’s easier to remember words in context (with some other words around them). The sillier your
story, the more easily you’ll remember the words you used. (Memory experts use this method to
remember the order of hundreds of playing cards!)
 Writing things down activates a different part of your brain, helping you remember vocabulary
words even better.

 2. Picture story

Grab the closest magazine to you and choose a random picture. Describe it in as much detail as
you can. Don’t just write what you see. Imagine you’re in the picture. Think about what you
would smell, feel or even taste.

What you’ll learn: We use descriptions in our daily life all the time: “I’m tired.” “Her dress is
so stylish.” “This mocha tastes amazing.” Descriptions like these are used often in conversational
English! Through this exercise, you’ll learn more about adjectives, feelings and
perceptions (how we see and experience the world).
3. Structured summary

Think back to the last book you read or movie you watched. Summarize it (say what happened
briefly) using this formula:

“[Somebody] wanted…but…so…”

Confused? Here’s what it looks like in action:

“Bruce Wayne wanted to save Gotham but supervillains were trying to destroy it, so he trained
hard and became Batman.”
Recognize that story? That’s a summary of “Batman Begins.” To use the formula in the same
way, just fill in the blanks:

Here’s another example:

“Little Red Riding Hood wanted to visit her grandmother but when she got there she found a
wolf instead, so she yelled for help and a passerby came to her rescue. Then everybody lived
happily ever after!”
What you’ll learn: This method can help you summarize almost anything. You might find it
difficult to explain an entire story or book in just one sentence. That’s the great thing about it:
You learn to explain a complex idea in a simple sentence. This skill will be useful whenever you
need to explain something concisely (in a simple and short way). For example, if you’re writing
an email about a party, it will be easier for you to pick out the most important parts.
You can also improve your reading comprehension with this summarization method. Every
time you read a book or a story in English, you should summarize it to yourself, to make sure
you understood it. If you can’t write a good summary, you might want to re-read the book or
story more carefully.
4. Devil’s advocate
Is there something you feel strongly about? Let’s say, for example, that you believe every person
should learn a second language. Take this belief, and write about it from the opposite point of
view. In this case, you would write about why everyone should not learn another language.

In English, this is called “playing devil’s advocate.” That’s when you take a side you don’t
actually believe in, just to see an issue from a different point of view.

What you’ll learn: Aside from teaching an English skill, this exercise teaches a life
skill, empathy. Empathy is the ability to understand how someone else feels, even if you don’t
feel the same way. This skill is important to have, and writing can help you develop it.
Aside from that, doing this exercise is a great way to learn how to express opinions in English.
It might also get you using words you would not normally use, since you’re speaking from a
different perspective. You might even learn something new about yourself!
5. Idiom soup
An idiom is a saying that doesn’t actually mean what it says. For example, “it’s raining cats and
dogs” doesn’t mean animals are really falling from the sky (it just means it’s raining very hard).
A cliché is an extremely overused saying or phrase that’s used so often it’s not original anymore.

Clichés are like idioms that have been used so often they’ve stopped being special, like saying
“only time will tell” or “easy as pie.”

Write a story that uses as many clichés and idioms as you can!
What you’ll learn: Sometimes learning English feels like you “bit off more than you can chew”
(took on a task that’s too big). A great way to build confidence is to know phrases and sayings
you can use in many situations. Using clichés and idioms will build your vocabulary and
ensure that when you hear them spoken by a native, you’ll know exactly what they mean.
6. It was a dark and stormy night

Grab the closest book to you and open to the first page. What’s the first sentence? A good first
sentence sets up the story and makes you want to keep reading. Some first sentences are classics,
like the opening line to George Orwell’s “1984”:

“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.”

Some others…don’t do the job as well.

It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents—except at occasional intervals, when it
was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our
scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that
struggled against the darkness.

This first sentence is terrible because it tries to put a lot of unnecessary information into one
sentence. It goes on for way longer than it should, without giving you any important
information. Use this exercise to practice your compound sentences, and try some comparisons
or metaphors (when you compare two different things based on a shared characteristic).
For example, if you start your sentence by talking about bad weather, you can compare it to a
wet dog who has gone swimming in the Gowanus Canal in NYC (known for being disgustingly
dirty and unhealthy) without wearing a biohazard suit (a suit that protects you from harmful
chemicals). See how much you can pack into just one sentence?
What you’ll learn: How much information can you include in just one sentence? This exercise
lets you pack a lot in. Like summarizing, this exercise will help you express yourself clearly and
be understood better. Another benefit of doing this exercise is the chance to use English-
language humor, which requires knowledge of English-speaking culture. Plus, it’s fun!
7. Story of my life
Think of something that you did in the past, like playing the piano or going to school. Write
about your experience with this activity. Your writing should start in the past and end in the
future.

For example, you can write:

“I started playing the piano when I was five, but I stopped only two years later. Right now I can’t
play anything, but I hope to start learning again in the future.”What you’ll learn: We love
talking about ourselves. Everyone does! That’s why a large part of our daily conversations are
about us. In this exercise, you learn how to speak about personal experience and describe
something about yourself. It’s also a good way to practice using correct verb tenses.

8. How to breathe

A “how-to” is a type of writing that describes how to do something step-by-step. Most how-to’s
teach something new, like how to bake a chocolate cake, or how to use a certain feature on your
phone.

For this exercise, write a how-to for something a bit…different. Think of something you do
every day without thinking, and write a how-to about that. Write about something like tying your
shoelaces, checking your email on your phone or even breathing. Your how-to should
look something like this, using clear language and organized by steps. The how-to in that link
teaches how to write a how-to…whew!
What you’ll learn: You would be surprised at how difficult this is! Even something as simple as
walking can be a disaster if you don’t organize the instructions well. (Let’s take a moment to
thank our legs for knowing how to work without us. Otherwise we might all be flopping around
like in this “walking simulator” game.)
Writing a how-to will teach you to organize your thoughts better. It’s also a chance to practice
informative writing, or writing that teaches new information. By using easy-to-understand
language, you’ll also be practicing using many common words.
9. The silly job interview
Imagine walking into a job interview with the boss of a company. You’re very nervous and very
polite, but the company boss is just having fun. You really want this job, but all he wants to do is
make you even more nervous.
Write a similar dialogue for a job interview that’s going terribly wrong. The job applicant is
professional and serious, while the boss is using conversational English and even English slang.
What might that conversation sound like?
What you’ll learn: If you’ve ever had a job interview, you know how scary it can be. Writing a
silly scene like this might make you feel a little better the next time you do an interview. Then
you can think, “Well, at least it wasn’t as bad as in that dialogue I wrote!”
Of course, this exercise also teaches some English skills (and not just life skills). It’s a good way
to practice writing dialogue, and to focus on how people speak. In this dialogue, you get a
chance to use professional English, conversational English and even English slang. Use this as a
chance to experiment!

You’re now a budding (developing) writer, one step closer to English mastery.

By improving your English writing skills, you’re improving your general English skills.
Don’t forget to include writing in your studies from now on!