Writing exercise from Karen's desk

I quite enjoy the little writing exercises that people come up with sometimes. You get these at a lot of creative writing courses and workshops. They're basically little triggers designed to get you writing. The truth is that when it comes to being a writer, there are six really, REALLY important things that you have to do:

Read, read, read, write, write, write.

All the other skills you learn, getting help with your grammar, getting stories critiqued and all that is very important. But first...