I’ve always been suspicious of writing exercises, particularly in a group setting. I think it harks back to Sunday school were rote exercises fun activities were foisted upon the pupils in an environment where failure was a lack of faith (leading to an eternity in hell).
But I digress.
Writing exercises in a room with fellow writers, with the facilitator calling out five minute intervals as the clock runs down, and a blank sheet of paper in front of you laughing and cackling and spitting in your face.
Not my idea of fun.
But it serves a purpose: it gets you to write, there and then, and sometimes, just the act is all that matters.