Archive for the ‘Writing Exercises’ Category
Short Assignments
Friday, November 18th, 2011
Just one paragraph. That’s all.
In Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott says that one of the best pieces of advice she can give to writers is to do short assignments. I agree with this completely. It is so strange that we human beings seem to think that when we pick up pen and paper to write, or turn on the computer, we are about to create the most profound work of literature ever known to humankind and change the world forever.
No wonder we get writers’ block and find any excuse under the sun to avoid going near that terrifying manuscript. It’s worse than a saber-toothed tiger hiding under the jungle ferns just waiting to rip us to shreds for dinner.
So that’s why I’m telling you now: Just do one paragraph. That’s all. It’s enough. You’ll see.
Countdown to NaNoWriMo – 26 Days Away
Wednesday, October 5th, 2011
Last year was the first year I complete NaNoWriMo, so I was a 2010 Winner. Eleven months ago, I wrote, “I’m doing this thing called NaNoWriMo, which stands for National Novel Writing Month. It’s a contest that started years ago with two writers and has become a world-wide phenomenon. The goal is to write a 50,000- word novel in the month of November. Of course it’s a rough draft, but it’s a good way to pour the story out as fast as you can.
So along with revising my latest novel, doing some free-lance editing, and trying to blog on my website daily, I’m also trying to write a novel in one month.
As you can imagine, I’m feeling a bit loopy about right now — and I’m 1,400 words behind on my daily word goals. Anyway, I just tell myself the upside of being this busy is that it really puts my priorities into perspective.
At the moment, I’m about to have lunch and rest my brain for a bit. I can feel a slight pressure on one side of my head that tells me it needs a rest. Either that or an alien is about to pop out of my skull.”
That’s what NaNoWriMo feels like: you’ve either got a brain tumor or an alien is about to pop out of your skull. But, oh my gawd, is it fun! Check out their website: http://www.nanowrimo.org and sign up now.
Feel free to take a look at my profile and become my writing buddy: http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/467187
Modeling Authors — Mapping the Pattern
Tuesday, July 19th, 2011
Here is an extension to the writing exercise on Modeling Authors:
1) Type an excerpt from a novel or memoir you like
2) Use the writing as a model for your own scenes
3) Map the pattern in the author’s writing. For example, the pattern might look like this:
character description
some action
a line of dialogue
some more action
some description of setting (that might tell us something about the character)
Or like this:
character
action
prop/object
action
setting
description of object
Use the pattern to design your own sentences, paragraphs, and scenes. Write 500 words for this exercise. You will undoubtedly see a huge improvement in your writing.
