15 Copywriting Exercises to Work Your Wit

 

No muscle grows in size without conditioning. Likewise, no writer improves without practice. History's best novelists, journalists and advertising creatives understood that great writing doesn't always come easy.

These 15 creative writing prompts will keep you sharp whether you're battling a bout of writer's block, working on perfecting your latest marketing project or just looking for a way to pass time on Sunday night.

1. Brainstorm 10 uses for a parity product like toothpaste, toilet paper, toothpicks or pencils. Think outside the box.
2. Practice writing product descriptions in character counts of 20, 50 and 140.
3. Pick the closest blue object to you and write about its journey to you.
4. Pause a movie at a random spot and write a :30 commercial around it.
5. Use a word generator to create a fictional product and write its life story.
6. Write to convince yourself to eat your least favorite food.
7. Pick any product and list its benefits compared to a competitor's product.
8. Flip through your favorite magazine with a sharpie and rewrite bad ads.
9. Write to convince a kid to buy an adult product, like a lawnmower, crock pot or washing machine.
10. Play devil's advocate: Pick any product and write about why not to use it.
11. Mix up the mood: Write an ad for a silly product in an ominous voice and vice versa.
12. Write an ad entirely out of questions.
13. Time yourself to replace overused words or phrases with more effective alternatives in under three minutes.
14. Practice writing an ad backwards.
15. Pause TV commercials and analyze how each uses the AIDA model.

 Have you tested these or other copywriting exercises? Comment below to share your story!