Since I am not so much exercising the body at the moment (more on that in another blog entry coming real soon™) I have decided it is time to exercise that other flabby part of me: my brain.
I am going to start out simple with that old standby, the haiku. I dedicate this one to writing.
I shall write some more
To remove words from my head
And set them amok
Picking up my writing post-NaNoWriMo flame-out will involve a few things. My first step is organization.
Thus I will be doing the following:
That’s enough to keep me busy this month. I also plan to actually write, too! Any progress made will be recorded here.
Writing exercises, that is.
The first is based on this premise: A pair of friends have just finished a lovely meal at a favorite restaurant, but things take a turn when one notices that the waiter has scribbled an unexpected—and startling—message on their bill.
The story I wrote for this comes in two flavors:
The End of the Meal (original)
A Slice of Life (more “sci-fi”)
The next exercise: Write a story or scene based on a song.
Laura (based on the song from Billy Joel’s album, The Nylon Curtain)
Nothing makes for a light read like an impending apocalypse. For Exercise #16 I wrote a story based on the image below. The tale is a companion piece to Superhero Go Home and is called Armageddon, Part 2. Enjoy!
Two more writing exercises to add to ye olde pile:
Three Parts (scenes). I may spin one or two of these scenes into a full-fledged story some day. You get zombies, the search for love and space drama. Variety!
Follow the Tracks. This one is unprecedented for me. I took an unfinished story that was abandoned 17 (!) years ago and finished it.
They can also be found on the Writing exercises page.
UPDATE October 29, 2021: These links no longer work. They may in the future, in which case this post will be updated again. Apologies for any inconvenience.
Two more writing exercises. The first one is a scene told from two different perspectives and frankly, it’s kind of crappy. The second is a complete short story based on three items produced by a plot generator:
Which is not to say these are stories about exercising but rather stories written as exercises. These are the latest I have written, numbers 7-11 (not to be confused with the convenience store of the same name).
7. The Downside — Second draft (this will be cleaned up and eventually relinked without being a “second draft”)
8. The Dogfish (unfinished and sadly will likely remain unfinished)
9. The Invisible Weekend
10. Lily Tries to Go Shopping
11. Hello?