Writing Exercises/Practice

I think a lot of us would agree that writing is an emotional practice, that we lay ourselves bare and confront our feelings and thoughts in our writing. But what about the craft and the skill of it? Poetry is a lot like bleeding, but a lot of times I think it’s also like building something. One of my favorite writers/musicians, Tim Minchin, once said “I don’t see how writing a song is particularly different than doing some really nice plumbing.” He treats writing as a craft, a skill to be honed and learned.

Do you “practice” your writing through exercises? Do you set out to hone particular skills or do you “just write?” If you do practices or exercises, what do you do?