Quote

"Live your life from your heart.  Share from your heart.  And your story will touch and heal people's souls."

~ Melody Beattie

The Craft of Revision and a Red Pen Exercise

I've had a few conversations with writers lately where they confessed to me they weren't really sure how to go about revising their work in the best way.  That got me wondering if there are people reading this blog who feel the same way.  I'm one of those writers who believes good writing is about rewriting (and rewriting and rewriting).  And I'm good at revising.  But I didn't start off that way.  Revision is a craft.  It's a skill you get better at with practice.  So in that spirit, I thought today's exercise would focus on revision.

Get out a first draft (or a second, third, or fourth draft you're working on).  Here's the thing about revision - you don't have to focus on everything at once.  So, as you read through your draft concentrate on removing words.  The goal of this new draft is to get the word count down.  It doesn't matter if this a postcard story with only 150 words - you want to tighten up the writing, because good writing is tight.  Look for spots in your story where you are getting wordy.  Where maybe you are going on a bit too long explaining things or describing things.  These spots slow down the pace of your writing. Remove all unnecessary words or rewrite the sentences completely to make them more concise.  Pay close attention to adjectives and adverbs - these are often places you can strengthen your writing by cutting.  Be ruthless.  Can you get the word count down?

Advice for Writers

There is a plethora (isn't that a great word?) of great advice here for writers.  I love Richard Ford's advice the best.

If I were to add something it would be : get yourself a decent chair with good back support to write in.  Not glamorous advice, but practical and you'll thank me one day.  Or you'll give all your royalities to a chiropractor and say, "I wish I'd listened to Lori when she told me..."

Week 71

Darren had rehearsed what he was going to say in the rear view mirror of his car several times, but his fingers still twitched nervously as he dialed the phone.

To Tweet or not to Tweet?

I read the other day that Twitter has become the most essential online networking tool for writers.  Could this possible be true?  If it is, I shouldn't be surprised.  I've never even been on Twitter.  But I'm always so far behind the curve, the curve looks straight from where I'm standing.  I mean, I just signed up for Facebook.  I'm no Faith Popcorn, put it that way.  Thoughts on Twitter, anyone?  Do you think it is useful for fiction writers?  Who should I follow to get the hang of Twitter?

Random Exercise # 20

Use these three words in a short story: cupcake, ninja, polyester.

(Has anyone else noticed that blogger has changed and the spell check button seems to have vanished?  Or am I blind?  Please excuse all spelling mistakes for the time beeing.)

Week 70

As Cal stood on the shoulder of the highway, his thumb thrust lazily out, he hummed "Hotel California" to himself and watched the first car in over half an hour come shimmering towards him. 

Last River Child giveaway

Over on Goodreads there is a giveaway of my novel, "The Last River Child" going on throughout the month of March.  There are 5 copies available to be won (only Canadian and US addresses are eligible).  Get yourself entered here!

Musings from the Desk

Probably the question writers get asked the most is, "How did you get to be so beautiful?" No, actually that one is topped ever so slightly by, "Where do you get your ideas?" But I think fiction writers spend more time thinking about structure than they do plot. Even more than they spend thinking about fashion, hair styles, makeup, makeovers, or which Olsen twin they would like to look like most.

I have plenty of ideas - ideas are everywhere. I can read something or overhear (okay, eavesdrop on) something and a scene, or a character starts to form in my heavily caffeinated brain. Plot is not my problem. (Good plots...well, that's a whole different discussion.)

But structure! Structure is something my brain spins round and round like a Rubik's cube. At the moment I am getting back to work on novel #2 (still nameless the poor thing) and I seem to be spending all my time thinking about structure. I have long discussions with myself about what is the best way to tell this story. Who is telling it? Is it happening now? Or did it happen long ago? Do I tell it in order? Or would it be more suspenseful for the reader to tell it out of order? Finding the right structure is a little like finding the right box to wrap a gift in.

There are so many, many ways to tell any story. It's finding the best way to tell it that separates a good story from a great story.

(By the way, if anyone knows of a good or interesting book for writers on structure, please tell me about it. I am seriously obsessing right now. I get like that. And if you have any beauty tips you'd like to share, hey, leave a comment about that too.)

Random Writing Exercise # 19

Hemingway once wrote a short story in just six words. Here it is:

"For sale: baby shoes, never worn."

Can you tell a story in six words? If your brain freezes up at the thought of that - can you describe your day in six words? Can you write your memoir in six words? Can you describe yourself in just six words (make me proud - only use positive words!).

If this becomes addictive to you, or you want some inspiration check out Smith magazine where they took Hemingway's idea and ran with it. It's a cool website. They also have a couple of amazing anthologies of six word stories.

Week 69

Clarissa leaned closer to the stranger and asked him to repeat what he had said.

Interview

It's a glamorous life I lead! Today I am being interviewed on The Book Chick blog. Check it out here.

Thanks Jonita! I had a great time on The Book Chick blog!

Book Review

There is a review of my novel, The Last River Child over at the The Book Chick blog. Check it out here.

Description Exercise

I love it when a writer can bring a character to vivid, over-the-top, technicolor life in just a few sentences. Check out this example from Canadian writer, Guy Vanderhaeghe's "The Watcher".

"Easily six feet tall, she carried a hundred and eighty pounds on her generous frame without prompting speculation as to what she had against girdles. She could touch the floor effortlessly with the flat of her palms and pack an eighty pound sack of chicken feed on her shoulder. She dyed her hair auburn in defiance of local mores, and never went to town to play bridge, whist or canasta without wearing a hat and getting dressed to the teeth. Grandma loved card games of all varieties and considered anyone who didn't a mental defective."

Brilliant, eh?

Too often description of characters are limited to just physical characteristics, especially when the characters are first introduced. For this exercise I would like to you to think about how you usually describe a character and try something new. Something bolder. Strive to write a description as original and interesting as your character, just as Vanderhaeghe has done. He could have simply told us Grandma was big strong woman with red hair that liked to play cards, but what a loss to literature that would have been.

Try describing:

- a neighbour
- your grade seven teacher
- a cashier from the supermarket
- your favourite uncle

Week 68

Henrietta stood nervously on the railway platform watching the passengers disembark.

The Chance the Say Hi

There is a new exercise - a Valentine's Day themed exercise even, but you have to scroll down a bit for it. See it? It is Random Exercise # 18. For some mysterious and frustrating blogger-logic reason it is down there beneath Wednesday's first line post. I couldn't figure out how to get it up here where it belongs, then finally decided it was just easier to create a new post to tell you about it. Which also gives me the chance to say hi - hope everything is beautiful in your world at the moment. I am working like mad on a grant application. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Week 67

Dolores could not remember ever feeling so tired.

Random Writing Exercise # 18

In honour of Valentine's Day lets write a love letter. But not a usual love letter. I want you to write the love letter you would most like to receive. Who would it be from? What would it say that made your heart catch, your soul soar?

(Happy Valentine's Day everyone. I admit I do not like the commercialization of, well anything, really - but a day devoted to love can't be a bad thing. As long as you stay focused on the love and not the heart-shaped box of crappy chocolates. Now go spread some love.)

Quote

"We can do anything we want to if we stick to it long enough."

~ Helen Keller

Posing as a Famous Writer is Easier Than You Think

I am on vacation. Just a short one - a long weekend in Ottawa, the capital of Canada. This morning, after a coffee at Bridgehead (a truly great coffee shop, by the way) and before skating on the Rideau Canal (the purpose of my visit) I stopped in at Chapters, one of the large chain bookstores here in Canada. I found the fiction section and saw they had three copies of my novel, The Last River Child on the shelf. Since I was feeling confident this morning I approached a salesperson, introduced myself and offered to autograph the copies. I don't do this as often as I probably should. Mostly because I don't usually feel confident enough to. But every time I do manage to work up the nerve the exact same thing happens, and I am always amazed.

Take this morning for instance: the sales woman was thrilled to meet me, she introduced me to a few of her coworkers, found me a nice pen to sign with and put a few of those fancy stickers that say "signed by the author" on the cover of my book. Did you spot it? The thing that always amazes me? No one has asked me yet to prove that I am Lori Ann Bloomfield. They just take my word for it that I am the author.

This amazes me. Truly. It makes me want to pretend to be all sorts of people and do all sorts of things. I mean, how much could a person get away with? If they had the nerve. Which I don't. But I enjoy dreaming about it.

Random Writing Exercise # 17

This is an exercise about love. About passion. I want you to take a walk and observe the people you pass. When you find an old person who looks interesting to you (it can be a man or a woman) study them for a moment. Who was their greatest love? Who touched their heart like no other? Were they loved in return? Or was it unrequited? Did they spend their life with this person? Or was it a brief love affair? Write it down.

Week 66

I had been following the man with the tartan umbrella for nearly an hour when he surprised me by entering a lingerie store.

Have you ever noticed?

Have you ever noticed that some writers have pretty strong opinions about using a thesaurus? Like it is cheating in some way. I thought of it just now because I'm revising a short story and reached for my thesaurus. I needed another word for "dejected". As a writer, I figure I'll use any tool on offer. It seems crazy not to. Writing is hard enough without me sitting here banging my head off the desk wasting an hour trying to think up another word for dejected when I can just quickly flip open a book and find a dozen options. So there's my two cents worth on thesaurus use. What do you think? Is it cheating?

(I went with "broken-hearted", in case you are wondering, but I might change it again. You know how it is with revising.)

Random Writing Exercise # 16

Write a short story that includes these three words: windmill, mongoose, sing.

Week 65

It was the first vacation Stan and Laverne had taken in seventeen years and it had not gotten off to a good start.

Quote

"I have often rewritten - often several times - every word I have ever published. My pencils outlast their erasers."

~ Vladimir Nabokov

(I hear you, Vladimir.)

Help for Haiti

If you would like to send aid to Haiti but are unsure of how to do that, or what agency you would like to contribute to then my friend and fellow writer, Sam of the Beginner's Mind blog, can help. He has been busy compiling a list of worthy and reputable agencies. Click here with an open heart. Thank you, Sam!

Week 64

Ted had been digging for most of the afternoon and as he slowly stood up, carefully straightening his aching spine, he was dismayed to see the hole was only chest deep.

Musings from the Desk

There has been such a wonderful outpouring of help and concern for the people of Haiti. But in such times it is easy to feel that as fiction writers we cannot help. And perhaps we can't directly. But lets widen our scope for a moment, let's not think only of Haiti, but let's think of all beings in the world, of all those suffering, whether through a natural disaster, famine, loss of a job or loneliness. Can we as fiction writers do anything to help alleviate this suffering? I believe we can.

You may have noticed that many of my writing exercises focus on getting in the skin of a character. And that's exactly what I want you to do as fiction writers - invest yourself completely in the heart and soul of the character you are writing about. Become the character. Because an interesting thing happens when you do. Not only does your fiction get better because your characters become more fully developed and therefore real to the reader, but you become a better person because you begin to develop empathy.

Empathy: the power of identifying oneself mentally with (and so fully comprehending) a person or object.

When you are empathetic you care about your fellow humans, you care about this miraculous planet we find ourselves sharing. And when you care, your readers begin to care as well. Through your words they may begin to think about people or a situation from a perspective they never had before. Things they may never have considered previously, they may now begin to care about. And all because of your writing. So as fiction writers we do have the opportunity to have a positive impact on the world, and perhaps, to even change it for the better.

Writing Adventure # 5

It's been awhile since we did a writing adventure exercise her at First Line. Even though it is winter in my part of the world, which means I use any excuse to avoid leaving the house, I think it is good for the creative soul to get away from the desk sometimes. So grab your notebook (or laptop) and lets go!

Go to a place of departures - and no, I don't mean a funeral home. Go to a train station, an airport, a bus station, a subway platform, a taxi stand - you get the idea. A place where you can watch people leaving. Focus on someone who looks interesting. Where are they going? Are they looking forward to the trip? Dreading it? Who is meeting them? What are they expecting to happen when they arrive? Have they travelled to this place before? Write a short story.

Week 63

Edgar tugged the panama hat low over his forehead before stepping out the door.

Book Review - The Creative Habit by: Twyla Tharp

You might not think a writer could learn much from a choreographer, but if the choreographer was Twyla Tharp and it was her book, "The Creative Habit" we were talking about, then the writer could learn plenty. At least this writer did.

"The Creative Habit" is to creativity what a Lonely Planet guide is to a traveller. It is a guidebook, a friend on the road and helpful advice from someone who has trod the way before you. Twyla Tharp believes, as I do, that creativity is a language. That even though the final product may differ widely - it may be a painting, a novel or a dance - the process that guides the project from first spark of inspiration to completion is the same.

With interesting insights, great suggestions and unique exercises Tharp guides the reader through the various stages of creative development. From generating ideas, to what to do when these ideas stall, or go wrong, Tharp has been there herself and is brimming with practical tips and advice.

I admit to a passion for dance - my creative life began at the barre not at the desk - but I think there is something here for every creative person, no matter what their discipline. When I began reading "The Creative Habit" I was working on a short story that had ground itself to a halt. Using some of Tharp's exercises got my pen moving again. And that has to be the highest recommendation for a book about creativity.

Just Discovered

I just discovered this great site and wanted to tell you about it. It is called Inked-In. It is a community for writers, musicians and artists. That's about all I can tell you right now because I've just signed up and am still awaiting approval (fingers are crossed). But it looks like it's got loads of information and plenty of interesting people. If you're interested click here.

Week 62

Randy felt a prick of apprehension when he saw only one set of footprints emerging from the edge of the forest in the freshly fallen snow.

Random Writing Exercise #15

Grab a dictionary. Open it up to a random page and without looking point to a word. Do this two more times. Now use those three words in a short story.

(My three words are: presentation, Great White Way and tank.)

Week 61

Since the invitation came only the day before the party, Holly was, at first, going to refuse it but then changed her mind.

Quote

"The joy is in the surprise. It can be as small as a felicitous coupling of noun and adjective. Or a whole new scene, or the sudden emergence of an unplanned character who simply grows out of a phrase. Literary criticism, which is bound to pursue meaning, can never really encompass the fact that some things are on the page because they gave the writer pleasure. A writer whose morning is going well, whose sentences are forming well, is experiencing a calm and private joy. This joy itself liberates a richness of thought that can prompt new surprises. Writers crave these moments, these sessions. If I may quote the second page of Atonement, this is the projects' highest point of fulfillment. Nothing else - cheerful launch party, packed readings, positive reviews - will come near it for satisfaction."

~ Ian McEwan from The Art of Fiction interview CLXXIII, The Paris Review

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays everyone! May the New Year be filled with health and happiness and the best writing you've done yet!

Week 60

Last year's Christmas gift from Earl was still fresh in Alice's
memory so she warily eyed the large box he was excitedly pushing towards her now.

First Drafts

Writing first drafts never gets any easier. Sorry, to be the one to break it to you. It just doesn't seem to matter how many stories, poems, essays, even novels, you write, that blank white page or flashing cursor never loses its power to intimidate.

But just because it doesn't get any easier to write flowing sentences or perfectly plotted dramas in a first draft doesn't mean the process can't be made more enjoyable. A simple change in the expectations you have of yourself and your writing may make the difference between suffering and celebrating.

Remember a first draft is an exploration, a journey. It is you discovering your story. It doesn't matter that the writing isn't perfect at this stage. When working on a first draft it is important to silence your inner critic. You'll need that critic later on during the rewriting process, but for now ignore that voice. I always give myself permission to be the worst writer in the world when I start a first draft. It helps free my creativity. I tell myself I can fix all problems in later drafts. That first draft is when I give myself permission to play. So the next time you sit down to write a first draft try abandoning your expectations. It might not make putting the actual words down any easier, but the time at your desk will feel more like an adventure. Adventures are exciting. And that excitement will infuse your writing with an energy it wouldn't have had otherwise.

Secret Diary Writing Exercise # 7

Pretend that you are a struggling actor and for the Christmas season you have been hired to play Santa at the local mall. Write an entry in your secret diary describing your new job.

Bonus: After writing your secret diary entry, or before, or even instead of writing it, (who am I to tell you what to do?) you might want to read "SantaLand Diaries", the hilarious essay by David Sedaris describing his experiences working as an elf at Macy's one Christmas. It's in his collection, "Holidays on Ice" and possibly other places as well. An audio version that is absolutely hysterical of Sedaris reading this story also exists - not sure where you can find it, but it is worth the effort. I have it on cassette tape - remember cassettes? I know, I know, that pretty much makes me as old as Christmas.

*Update - I found it on You Tube. It is in four parts. To find it search under David Sedaris Santaland Diaries - it's the one with the blue screen. I can't seem to get a link to work (sorry).

Week 59

Annie Toll was ten years old the first time she saw Jimmy Duddle's penis.

Quote

"First drafts are for learning what your novel or story is about."

~Bernard Malamud

Book Recommendation

As I mentioned before, I am a bit frazzled trying to not only promote my novel, "The Last River Child", but LEARN how to promote my novel. Well, I've discovered this great book that is quickly becoming my manual on all things book-promotion-related. It is called "Get Known before the Book Deal" by Christina Katz and I wish I had read it a year ago. But I've got it now and I'm grateful. If you intend to one day launch a book into the world - read Katz's advice. And if you already have a book published and are feeling confused and overwhelmed about how to get anyone to care in the least about your opus (I hear your pain) read it too! Though the book is aimed mostly at nonfiction writers there is plenty in there for fiction writers to think about.

And speaking of promotion I have finally done the dirty and signed up for facebook. Actually I don't know why I resisted it for so long, it's like one of those parties you were dreading but once you got there you had a great time, you know? So if you're on facebook come and join me!

Week 58

Andy had been a patient of Dr. Gregory's for seventeen years and until this revealing, and rather shocking day, the dentist had never spoke about anything other than Andy's steadily rotting teeth and the never quite satisfactory weather.

Interview

Read an interview with me about my novel "The Last River Child" and other writerly things here.

Week 57

When that great ocean liner, the Empress Henrietta, sailed into the harbour for the very last time, gleaming with the glamour of an almost forgotten era, only one person among the crowd of thousands wept real tears of sorrow.

Confessions from the Desk

Writing a book is hard work. And I thought (naively it turns out) the work would be over when the manuscript went to press and magically emerged as a book. Wrong. Since my first novel "The Last River Child" came out in October I have been in a mad dash trying learn as much about promotion as possible. Forget book tours and signings, forget basking in gushing reviews - when you are an unknown writer trying to get noticed your entire life is about hustle. I am overwhelmed almost to the point of paralysis with all the suggestions - build a website, sign up for facebook, post a video on you tube, send out press releases to every media outlet and bookstore you can think of, contact libraries, alumni organizations, hometown newspapers, forgotten friends, long lost relatives. Like most writers, this whole business of self-promotion makes me cringe. But I am trying. Who knows maybe I'll even get good at it. (I doubt it, but I'm trying to give myself a pep talk here.)

There have been amusing moments though. Like the first time I went into a bookstore with my mother and we saw two copies of my novel on the shelf. Mum scooped them up, carried them straight over to the nearest salesperson and announced, "My daughter wrote this book. And she is right over there!" The salesperson then very sweetly asked me to sign the books, which I blushingly did, trying for all the world to act like I did this sort of thing every day.

And I have found some wonderful champions. My Aunt Marg deserves special mention for carrying my book with her everywhere. She pretends to read it in public then strikes up conversations with strangers just so she can say, "This is a really good book!" Never admitting, of course, that the author is her niece. How cute is that?


As for all this promotion stuff I find it helps to remember I am not promoting me - I am promoting my book. I might find courage and hidden PR talents yet. Wish me luck.

Week 56

Jackson had never felt this cold before.

Dialogue Exercise # 1

Here's how this exercise works: I give you a line a dialogue and you write a scene with it. The line I give you can go anywhere in this scene, at the start, the end, in the middle - just as long as it appears somewhere. Here's the line:

"What was the point of all that?"

(Tip for improving your dialogue - when you have finished writing, read it out loud. Then revise.)

Week 55

It was too dark to see where the noise was coming from.

Random Writing Exercise # 14

Write a short story that includes these three words: wave, giraffe, cosmopolitan.

John Updike

I've not read much by John Updike and felt like I should do something about that so I picked up the four books in the Rabbit series recently. Last night I opened "Rabbit, Run" and was awed by the opening few sentences. Here they are:

"Boys are playing basketball around a telephone pole with a backboard bolted to it. Legs, shouts. The scrape and snap of Keds on loose alley pebbles seems to catapult their voices high into the moist March air blue above the wires."

Updike has built a complete scene with such economy yet still managed to make it feel voluptuous. I especially love that third sentence - so poetic, yet cinematic too. Studying those few sentences is a master class in fiction, folks.

Week 54

Justin hated waiting.

Week 53

For their first date they went to a movie, which Frank hated, then to a restaurant, which Anna hated.

Quote

Creativity comes from trust. Trust your instincts. And never hope more than you work.

~ Rita Mae Brown

Secret Diary Writing Exercise # 6

Halloween has always been my favourite holiday. I love the spookiness, the candy, the dressing up. What writer doesn't love the chance to be somebody else? So, in honour of Halloween let's do a secret diary exercise. Today it is your choice - who have you always secretly wanted to be? Is it an actual person? A character from a book or movie? Maybe it isn't a specific person, instead maybe it is a job you've always hoped for the opportunity to do? Whoever or whatever it is, sit down at your desk, get into costume in your imagination and write an entry in their secret diary.

*Happy Halloween everyone! Any leftover chocolate you don't want can be sent to me, by the way.

Week 52

"I've never heard of the place," Burt insisted.

Random Writing Exercise #13

Around here we usually start at the beginning with a first line. But let's shake things up bit, shall we? How about a last line - it is every bit as hard to write a great last line as it is to write a great first line. So this is the last line - you write the story that ends here.

Even though they knew they would never return, as they turned towards home they had no regrets.

Week 51

Stacey stared at her reflection in the mirror, panic-stricken.

Random Writing Exercise # 12

For this writing exercise you are going to need to view some paintings so I would suggest going to an art gallery (yay, a writing adventure!) or visit a library and look at art books, or look at art online. When you have found a painting that you find interesting study it for a while then ask yourself - if this painter had been a writer instead, what would their writing style be like? Don't think about this too much - just take out your notebook and quickly jot down a few sentences. Then move on to another painting and do the same thing. This is meant to be a very free flowing, creative exercise. There is no right or wrong way to do it, just let the words pour onto the page without much thought. The writing may not even make sense - that's okay! In fact that's great! Think of it a bit like jazz - but you are improvising with words instead of musical notes. And don't try to describe the painting - try to be the painter, writing. For example, if you were looking the painting by Claude Monet above you might write:

"Twilight dream,

let me never wake

from the mystery that is our love."

Have fun with this! If you would like to search for painters online here are a few names to get you started:

-Henri Matisse

-Pablo Picasso

- Jackson Pollack

- Georgia O'Keefe

- Emily Carr

Week 50

It certainly was big.

Week 49

Steven stood in his kitchen wondering what had made him think throwing a dinner party would be a good idea.

Quote

"We do not write in order to be understood, we write in order to understand."

~ Cecil Day-Lewis

Secret Diary Writing Exercise # 5

You are an explorer (it is up to you where you are an explorer - somewhere on Earth? Or maybe in outer space? Another dimension?). After years and years of hard work you have finally made an important discovery. Perhaps you have discovered another species of animal? Of plant? Maybe an entire civilization? You know this discovery will change the world. You will write papers, perhaps books about it. You will be invited to give lectures. But before you tell the world the "official" story of how you made your important discovery, you will first confess the truth to your secret diary. Write that diary entry.

Week 48

When I was a kid I used to fantasize about running away to live in a department store.

Random Writing Exercise # 11

Use these three words in a short story: merry-go-round, somersault, tangerine.

Quote

"It's nervous work. The state you need to write in is the state others are paying large sums to get rid of."

~ Shirley Hazzard

Week 47

Pauline first noticed the toaster was missing on Saturday morning when, after sleeping in late, she padded into the kitchen, still in her pyjamas, intending to fix herself a full breakfast.

Secret Diary Writing Exercise # 4

You work for a fortune cookie company and your job is to write the fortunes! Cool job, huh? Or is it? Is it a dream creative job or just an overworked, underpaid grind? How do you dream up those fortunes? Are you secretly using them to spread your own subversive message to the world? Write a diary entry describing your job.

Bonus exercise: If you're feeling really creative write five fortune cookie fortunes.

(Okay, I'll admit it - I love the fortunes in fortune cookies way better than the actual cookies. I frankly don't understand desserts without chocolate. My all-time favourite fortune is: "Be kind to pigeons. One day there will be a statue of you." I swear I really got that one. I carried it around in my wallet for years.)

Week 46

September always makes me think of Drew.

Quote

"You must write, not just think you're going to...And you must widen your vocabulary, enjoy words. You must read widely, not in order to copy, but to find your own voice. It's a matter of going through life with all one's senses alive, to be responsive to experience, to other people."

~ P. D. James

Random Writing Exercise # 10

Read your horoscope for today. Write a short story using the predictions as inspiration.

Week 45

When I think of my grandparents' house the first thing that comes to mind, before the memory of the dim almost aquatic light, before the constant noise of the television set, before even how it felt to be wrapped in my grandmother's soft embrace, is the smell.

Week 44

This was the worst birthday Simon could remember.

Week 43

Usually I post the first line on a Wednesday, but this week I'm going on vacation so I'm giving it to you early. For the last few months I've been working hard on editing my first novel (in bookstores this fall!) so I thought I deserved a little break. I'll be back in a few days time, hopefully refreshed and with some great ideas for this blog. If you have a favourite exercise or one you hate, or anything to say at all, please leave a comment! Have a great week and keep the words flowing.

Here's the first line for this week:

Every year someone drowned in that river.

Writing Adventure # 4

Go for a walk. Find a place you can sit down and people watch. The first two people to walk by you wearing something the colour red will be the two main characters in the story you are about to write. Who are they? Do they like each other? Love each other? Hate each other? Have they known each other long, or just met? Or maybe they haven't met yet at all? Tell their story. Go.

Week 42

After thinking about it long and hard, Marge decided to get herself a career, and so she signed on to be an Avon lady.

Random Writing Exercise # 9

Use these three words in a short story: fan, turquoise, whistling.

Week 41

It had been worth the wait.

Week 40

This was not what Melinda had ordered.

Week 39

Tracy was standing in front of the dairy case at the grocery store when the song came on the radio.

Imagined Conversation # 1

Imagine this woman sits down beside you. What does she say? What do you say? Write down the conversation that takes place between you.

Week 38

Normally I would not have done such a thing.

Random Writing Exercise # 8

Use these three words in a short story: curly, sex, mountain.

Week 37

The noise was getting louder.

Week 36

This was going to be harder than he had thought.

Week 35

Her hands shook slightly as she opened the envelope.

Writing Adventure # 3

Go to an open house. Wander through the rooms then imagine the people who live there. What do they do for a living? For fun? What are their secrets? Are they happy? Sad? Write a short story about them.

Week 34

They met during the heatwave.

Week 33

Our family was the only one in the neighbourhood who had never been there.

Week 32

It was an unusual last request.

Secret Diary Writing Exercise # 3

Pretend to be your boss and write an entry in their secret diary.

Random Writing Exercise # 7

Write a short story that includes these three words: turtle, sky diving, thong.

Week 31

At the time it had seemed like such a small thing.

Week 30

Jeremy stared down at the plate then cautiously took his first bite.

Week 29

It was inevitable that they would meet.

Random Writing Exercise # 6

See a foreign film. Try to find something set in a place you have never visited before. Pay attention to the scenery, the architecture, food and clothing. Afterwards imagine you are a tourist in this foreign locale and write a letter home describing your trip.

Week 28

The night it happened there was a thunderstorm.

Week 27

Chris had always hated the colour green, everyone knew that.