This creative writing exercise calls for writing first sentences of stories, but ones that deal with clear and predefined essences or meanings. So, write a first sentence about happiness, then write one about sadness. Write a first sentence about love, then write one about hate. Write a sentence about pleasure, then turn around and write one about pain. Make up your own pairs, just make sure you know what feeling you want to convey before you sit down to write. Do 10 pairs.
This creative writing exercise will help you learn to write in concrete and clear detail, expressing only what you want to express and nothing more or less. It will help you avoid long-windedness, not getting to the point and boring your reader.
Adapted form:
What If?: Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers by Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter
And as always, stay creative!
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I like this one. It reminds me of the way Charles Dickens started A Tale of Two Cities.
Did he? I never knew that!
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