Writing - Exercises
© 2021 Timothy G. Pollock
THESE EXERCISES ARE BEING MADE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE to individuals for educational purposes only. They may not to be used by profit-making entities for any purpose, or packaged and resold by individuals for any other purpose. They may be used by individuals for personal use, or instructors for classes, as long as this website is identified as the source of the exercise or exercises and no fee is charged for their use.
The following writing exercises build on the content in my book, How to Use Storytelling in Academic Writing.
Map the Storytelling Structure of an Article
Pick an article that you like and narratively map out its storytelling structure.
Assess Your Writing Process
Write a description of your own writing process and assess its strengths and weaknesses.
Diagnose a Decision Letter
Read a decision letter and come up with your recommendations based on its content.
Create a Human Face
Practice the different ways you can give your writing a human face.
Stroke and Glide: Managing Motion and Pacing
Explore managing your article’s motion and pacing at the structural, paragraph and sentence levels.
Show and Tell
There are other ways to show readers what you’re telling them besides examples. Practice these more subtle techniques here.
Title Mad Libs
Practice creating interesting and informative titles for your articles.
Theory and Hypotheses Tetris
The best way to organize your theory and hypotheses section may not be immediately apparent. Use this exercise to explore different options
Build an Introduction
Ace Beorchia developed a handy-dandy checklist you can use to help you build an effective introduction
Write the Methods Section Recipe
A good methods section is a recipe others can follow. Make sure you include all the steps and ingredients
That’s Interesting!
Use Murray Davis’s Index of the Interesting to help you figure out what’s new and interesting about your study
Write Your Research Statement
Document your career, your interests and your experiences in your research statement.
Submit Your Idea for a Writing Exercise
If you have an idea that you think would be a beneficial writing exercise to include here, please contact me. If I like it, I’ll add it to this page and give you credit for it.
Can You Put Your Paper Back Together Again?
Sometimes it’s hard to tell whether you’ve constructed your paper in a way that your story is clear and your transitions help it flow smoothly. This exercise from Howard Aldrich will help you figure it out.