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.

“In fact, one first sentence was so absolutely terrible, that it started an entire competition. Called The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, it encourages everyone to send in their best worst first lines.

“Try to write your own! Look through a few of the past contest winners, then write your own terrible first line. Let your sentence use humor and maybe even some cultural references. Let the sentence run long, but make sure the grammar is perfect. How bad is your first line? It’s hard to be worse than the original first sentence that inspired the competition:

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.

— Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, Paul Clifford (1830)

‘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 the 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-tos 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. It might look a little like this. (Since the accents and speaking speed in the video can make it difficult to understand, you can read what they say here.)

“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!