Wednesday's Writing Workout!

Rebecca Tunney 
(England)

On the weekends, prompts keep my creativity warmed up so I don’t “pull a muscle” on Monday morning. During the week, prompts jump-start my writing routine. Consider using your own characters and settings for these prompts. You might come up with dazzling new ideas for your WiP! All you’ll need for these exercises is your writing materials and an open mind. Remember to drink lots of water and stretch!

Start it up!

Exercise 1

Write about a character born on February 29. How has this once-every-four-years date effected his birthday celebrations? His life? Was she teased as a child for being only “two” when it’s her 8th birthday?

Ramp it up! 

Exercise 2

What if, instead of you, your best friend or sibling was married to your current spouse/lover? Write it.

Burn it up!

Exercise 3: from Writer’s Digest

Needing to get something off your chest, you head to the confessional at church. After laying out your misdeed to the priest, you are given an unusual task to perform as penance–not creepy, just unusual. Write this scene.

Every Wednesday I post prompts and exercises for your “writing workout” so keep checking back! Happy Leap Day and Happy writing!!!

Monday Quote Day!

I suggest you ask yourself if you really want to write the sort of prose that might wind up in a party game.

{Stephen King}

Being a writer is a very peculiar sort of a job: it's always you versus a blank sheet of paper (or a blank screen) and quite often the blank piece of paper wins.

{Neil Gaiman}

If you do not breathe through writing, if you do not cry out in writing, or sing in writing, then don't write, because our culture has no use for it.

{Anaïs Nin}

Find out the reason that commands you to write; see whether it has spread its roots into the very depth of your heart; confess to yourself you would have to die if you were forbidden to write.

{Rainer Maria Rilke}

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.

{Maya Angelou}

The role of a writer is not to say what we can all say, but what we are unable to say.

{Anaïs Nin}

After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.

{Philip Pullman}

Write what should not be forgotten.

{Isabel Allende}

Happy Monday and happy writing, Zigzaggers!!!

3 Things Writers Know

Have you realized when you first meet someone, one of the first questions asked is, “What do you do?” Americans are taught that our true value lies in our jobs. More than anything, it’s important how much money we make so we can buy new cars and own the newest gadgets and have the biggest houses and send our kids to the most prestigious schools. Often I have to remember that writing is worthwhile work no matter the monetary gain…or deficit. Here are only three of the many things I think are valuable about writers and our job:

1.) Writers Know Acceptance. Writers have to research anything from changing a tire to shooting a gun. They might interview anyone from a 1st grade student to a drug addict. Writers pay attention to people, listen closely, and observe. Writers might not know exactly what you’re feeling, but they can imagine it pretty darn close. Writers might not understand why you act how you do, but they’ll always try to understand. Writers accept you for who you are because probably a character modeled after you is living inside their head 24/7.

2.) Writers Know Awareness. Sometimes I write things I know absolutely nothing about. As I imagine my setting and how my characters react, I think about the real people who could be in this situation. Writing has made me much more aware about the world I live in and compassionate about the people who live in it with me. I pay attention to the news, both the major headlines and the barely noticeable three-line paragraphs. The written word is everywhere and someone has to write about it all. That’s what you and me are doing. And yet… 

3.) Writers Know Humility. As I garner ideas reading about events and people, the wonderful and the terrible, I remember how small I am in this big, big world. I remember to write the truth how I see it, but to also consider how others might see it differently. Writers know that they wouldn’t have the byline without the important people and events they write about. 

Writers know many things! What else can you add? If you live outside the U.S., how does your society view job status and work? Is it just as pressure-filled to make heaps of money or is it more relaxed?

Happy Friday, Zigzaggers! Have a wonderful weekend!

Wednesday's Writing Workout!

Raluca Haidu 
(Romania)

On the weekends, prompts keep my creativity warmed up so I don’t “pull a muscle” on Monday morning. During the week, prompts jump-start my writing routine. Consider using your own characters and settings for these prompts. You might come up with dazzling new ideas for your WiP! All you’ll need for these exercises is your writing materials and an open mind. Remember to drink lots of water and stretch!

Start it up!

Exercise 1

You meet two friends for lunch, and one spills the beans about something that causes tension between you and the other friend. What’s going on? Write it.

Ramp it up! 

Exercise 2

Can you remember the first person you disliked? What was so despising about him or her? Write a scene in which you run into this person now.

Burn it up!

Exercise 3

What if you were allowed to get your driver’s license at age 13? Imagine how that would make you feel if you were 13 again. Now imagine how would you feel if your own child had his/her license at 13.

Every Wednesday I post prompts and exercises for your “writing workout” so keep checking back! Happy writing!!!

Monday Quote Day!

Stopping a piece of work just because it’s hard, either emotionally or imaginatively, is a bad idea. Sometimes you have to go on when you don’t feel like it, and sometimes you’re doing good work when it feels like all you’re managing is to shovel shit from a sitting position.

{Stephen King}

Humility and openness lead to exploration. Exploration leads to accomplishment. All of it begins at the beginning, with the first small and scary step.

{Julia Cameron}

Tomorrow may be hell, but today was a good writing day, and on the good writing days nothing else matters. 

{Neil Gaiman}

Read, read, read. Read everything–trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You'll absorb it. Then write. If it's good, you'll find out. If it's not, throw it out of the window.

{William Faulkner}

Write the kind of story you would like to read. People will give you all sorts of advice about writing, but if you are not writing something you like, no one else will like it either.

{Meg Cabot}

Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.

{John Steinbeck}

This is how you do it: you sit down at the keyboard and you put one word after another until it’s done. It's that easy, and that hard. 

{Neil Gaiman}

I write to give myself strength. I write to be the characters that I am not. I write to explore all the things I'm afraid of.  

{Joss Whedon}

Happy Monday and happy writing, Zigzaggers!!!

I Don’t Want To

I exercise five or six days a week because I like to. Ever since I was a kid I’ve liked being active. I was never that girl who was afraid of getting sweaty or smelly or dirty. That’s why showers and soap were invented! 

Even though I enjoy working out most days, there are still some mornings when I. Don’t. Want. To. And you know what? Those are the days I push myself more. The times when I don’t feel like exercising are the most important days to make sure I absolutely do. Why? If I don’t, then I know I’ll regret it later. I never ever regret it when I do work out. But when I skip a morning (without good reason), later in the day I berate myself for being so indolent.

I hate that feeling, knowing you should’ve done something but you didn’t.

That’s why I write every day, too. Most days I enjoy writing and can’t wait to get to my desk. But there are some days when I. Don’t. Want. To. And those are the times when I know I absolutely must write! Sometimes when you skip one day, it’s easier to skip the next day. And the next day. So I definitely don’t want to get into that bad habit!

The thing is, whether it’s exercising the body or the mind, starting is the hardest part when you just don’t feel like it. Once I get started, time flies by, and I know I can certainly do a few more exercises or write another hundred words. Then later in the day, I feel good about myself and what I accomplished. Now that’s a feeling I can get used to!

What do you do during those times you don’t feel like writing? Do you take a break or power through the indolence?

Have a happy weekend, Zigzaggers! May it be restful but happily productive, too!

Wednesday's Writing Workout!

Viktoria Komova (Russia)

On the weekends, prompts keep my creativity warmed up so I don’t “pull a muscle” on Monday morning. During the week, prompts jump-start my writing routine. Consider using your own characters and settings for these prompts. You might come up with dazzling new ideas for your WiP! All you’ll need for these exercises is your writing materials and an open mind. Remember to drink lots of water and stretch!

Start it up!

Exercise 1: from Writer’s Digest

Pick a romantic movie that never had a sequel. Imagine the children or grandchildren of the original characters, and write the first chapter of their continuing story.

Ramp it up! 

Exercise 2

Write a love story inspired by a political or environmental event.

Burn it up!

Exercise 3

In J.K. Rowling’s sixth book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, readers are introduced to Amortentia, which is, as Hermione explains, “the most powerful love potion in the world!” Its fragrance is different to everyone according to what he/she likes. For example, to Harry it smells like a wooden broomstick, treacle tart, and Ginny’s perfume. Hermione smells fresh cut grass and new parchment. If you made Amortentia, what would it smell like to you? What would it smell like to your characters?

Every Wednesday I post prompts and exercises for your “writing workout” so keep checking back! Happy writing!!!

Romancing Your Inner Writer (Monday Quote Day!)

Love the writing, love the writing, love the writing…the rest will follow.

{Jane Yolen}

I can't write without a reader. It's precisely like a kiss–you can't do it alone.

{John Cheever} 

When you make music or write or create, it's really your job to have mind-blowing, irresponsible, condomless sex with whatever idea it is you're writing about at the time.

{Lady Gaga}

Writing is a lonely job. Having someone who believes in you makes a lot of difference. They don’t have to make speeches. Just believing is usually enough.

{Stephen King}

Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.

{William Wordsworth}

We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect. 

{Anaïs Nin}

I love writing. I love the swirl and swing of words as they tangle with human emotions.

{James Michener}

Writing is the only thing that, when I do it, I don't feel I should be doing something else.

{Gloria Steinem}

I wish you a wrestling match with your Creative Muse that will last a lifetime. I wish craziness and foolishness and madness upon you. May you live with hysteria, and out of it make fine stories. Which finally means, may you be in love every day for the next 20,000 days. And out of that love, remake a world.

{Ray Bradbury}

Happy Monday and happy writing, Zigzaggers!!!

Have a lovely Valentine’s Day with your family & friends!

Two Words/Phrases That Bug Me

I’ve known about something superduper awesome for a while but then I completely missed the post last week mentioning it. Whoops! Worst Critique Partner Ever Award goes to me. So anyway, my blog buddy Saumya Dave HAS AN AGENT!!!!!! Woohoo!! *tosses glittering confetti* *passes out cupcakes* I’ve read her novel and it’s AMAZING so I can not wait to see it in bookstores and buy a bunch of copies! Saumya is one of my first blog buddies and her writing is so beautiful and insightful. Go on over to Left and Right Brained to congratulate and wish Saumya well on her agent adventure!

I’m still learning something new every day on this zigzagging writing journey. Some things I learn are what not to do from reading novels by my favorite authors! The following list is of two clunky and redundant words/phrases I see regularly in bestselling award-winning novels by highly acclaimed writers. I’m sure when they go back and see these phrases they say oooopsie. At least I hope they do! 

Bugger #1: wordlessly

After a tense or emotional scene: He wordlessly signed the divorce papers. Ick! This is better: He signed the divorce papers. That’s enough. If wordlessly was included to indicate tension or disapproval, then show the emotion instead: a shaky signature, leaving an imprint on the wood table, hesitation, laser beams bursting from his eyeballs. Readers will get that if there’s no dialogue, the exchange was void of words.

Bugger #2: wanted to know

A character asking a question followed by the dialogue tag, I (or he, she, it) wanted to know. If the character is asking a question then it’s obvious she wants to know. Just write I asked. Some writers suggest writing I said after a question mark is fine, too, because the actual ? indicates–wait for it–wanting to know something!

What common words or phrases do you see in published books that bug you?

Have a sunshiney weekend, Zigzaggers!

Wednesday's Writing Workout!

Yevgeniya Kanayeva (Russia)

On the weekends, prompts keep my creativity warmed up so I don’t “pull a muscle” on Monday morning. During the week, prompts jump-start my writing routine. Consider using your own characters and settings for these prompts. You might come up with dazzling new ideas for your WiP! All you’ll need for these exercises is your writing materials and an open mind. Remember to drink lots of water and stretch!

Start it up!

Exercise 1

Check out the headlines in today’s newspaper or your favorite internet news source and choose one. Without reading the article, write your own story of what happened based only on the clues the headline gives.

Ramp it up! 

Exercise 2

When was the last time a stranger was unexpectedly kind to you? Write a story that opens with this act of kindness.

Burn it up!

Exercise 3

Imagine your character’s car: the make, model, year, color, and cleanliness (inside and out). What does this say about your character? 

Every Wednesday I post prompts and exercises for your “writing workout” so keep checking back! Happy writing!!!

Monday Quote Day!

TV came relatively late to the King household, and I’m glad. I am, when you stop to think of it, a member of a fairly select group: the final handful of American novelists who learned to read and write before they learned to eat a daily helping of video bullshit.

{Stephen King}

The power of imagination makes us infinite.

{John Muir}

Writing is not like painting where you add. It is not what you put on the canvas that the reader sees. Writing is more like a sculpture where you remove, you eliminate in order to make the work visible. Even those pages you remove somehow remain.

{Elie Wiesel}

The first draft reveals the art, revision reveals the artist.

{Michael Lee}

Books aren't written–they're rewritten. Including your own. It is one of the hardest things to accept, especially after the seventh rewrite hasn't quite done it.

{Michael Crichton}

Stories of imagination tend to upset those without one. 

{Terry Pratchett}

Creativity lies not in the done but in doing.

{Julia Cameron}

Let’s get one thing clear right now, shall we? There is no Idea Dump, no Story Central, no Island of the Buried Bestsellers; good story ideas seem to come quite literally from nowhere, sailing at you right out of the empty sky: two previously unrelated ideas come together and make something new under the sun. Your job isn’t to find these ideas but to recognize them when they show up.

{Stephen King}

Happy Monday and happy writing, Zigzaggers!!!

Word Nerd Alert!

Are you a word nerd? I receive daily emails from dictionary.com. Do you? If yes, then you can definitely claim the distinction of word nerd!

Here are several terrific words that are writing-related, and I hope some of them are new to your vocabulary!

bibliophage, noun

1. An ardent reader.

2. A bookworm.

desinence, noun

1. A termination or ending, as the final line of a verse.
2. Grammar: a termination, ending, or suffix of a word.

fascicle, noun

1. A section of a book or set of books published in installments as separate volumes or pamplets. (Example: J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The three novels we know today were actually written as one book, but the publisher insisted on making it a fascicle instead.)

metaphrastic, adjective

1. Having the quality of a literary work that has been translated or changed from one form to another, as prose to verse. (Metaphrastic comes into English from the medieval Greek word metaphratses, meaning “one who translates.”)

omnibus, noun

1. A volume of reprinted works of a single author or of works related to an interest or theme.

opuscule, noun

1. A small or minor work.

2. A literary or musical work of small size.

paregmenon, noun

1. The juxtaposition of words that have a common derivation. (Example: sense and sensibility.)

peroration, noun

1. A long speech characterized by lofty and often pompous language.
2. Rhetoric: The concluding part of a speech or discourse, in which the speaker or writer recapitulates the principal points and urges them with greater earnestness and force.

pleonasm, noun

1. The use of more words than are necessary to express an idea. (Example: I saw it with my own eyes.)

2. A superfluous word or expression.

retroactive continuity, or retcon, noun 

1. The alteration of previously established facts in a fictional work.

solecism, noun

1. A breach of good manners or etiquette.
2. A nonstandard or ungrammatical usage (Example: unflammable and they was.)
3. Any error, impropriety, or inconsistency.

Hope you learned something new today! Have a happy weekend, Zigzaggers!

Wednesday's Writing Workout!

Lauren Mitchell (Australia)

On the weekends, prompts keep my creativity warmed up so I don’t “pull a muscle” on Monday morning. During the week, prompts jump-start my writing routine. Consider using your own characters and settings for these prompts. You might come up with dazzling new ideas for your WiP! All you’ll need for these exercises is your writing materials and an open mind. Remember to drink lots of water and stretch!

Start it up!

Exercise 1

Pretend you’re related to an infamous historical figure. Write a journal entry describing a day in your life with this wicked relative.

Ramp it up! 

Exercise 2

What is your favorite type of snow: wet and heavy, light and powdery, large flakes, small flakes? Write a flash fiction piece from the point of view of snow.

Burn it up!

Exercise 3

Write a scene or story between two characters who desperately need each other but don’t speak the same language. How do they communicate? How do they bond?

Every Wednesday I post prompts and exercises for your “writing workout” so keep checking back! Happy writing!!!