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Category: Writing

Book Writing Exercise

01/31/2019

Writing

Put two characters, each of whom wants something from the other, in a room together. Neither of them is allowed to ask for it straight out. Give them five minutes with only dialogue to get what they want. “Is there something I can do for you?” (Woman A) “No.” (Woman B) “Okay but you’ve glanced…
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A Glimpse of Chapter One and Only Chapter One

01/31/2019

Writing

As you know, well some of you, I’ve reached the deep end of the pool with my rewriting. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve rewritten certain parts of it. Way too many and while I wasn’t going to release any of it until it was ready to be published in a physical form…
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2018 Writing Book Exercise in 2019

01/11/2019

Writing

(Tell a story that begins with a ransom note) When Sally read the note, she couldn’t believe what she was reading. Here was someone asking for money she didn’t have. How was she supposed to get five million dollars when she wasn’t allowed to work? She hadn’t worked a single day in her life. The…
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Flash Fiction: The Secret Within

11/26/2018

Flash Fiction, Writing

(In order to get these done and not have them sit in my queue for another year, I’ve made these short stories even shorter so they are basically flash fiction. I warn you they are written without really any planning in mind. Let’s just say they won’t go down as being one of my strongest…
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Rewriting Can be a Lonely Place

11/25/2018

Random Posts, Writing

I’ve reconnected with my rewriting after a long hiatus. I’ve learned a few things even in the time it went on the back burner. Because I’m a slow writer, it takes longer than probably the average writer to churn out something people want to read. I’ve done an equal amount of rewriting this story idea…
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It’s About the Content on Most Days

11/09/2018

Self Reflection, Writing

I have slowly been getting back into my rewriting. I can’t tell you how much for the last two years, especially, I’ve pondered if I should just scrap my love story. I’ve thought who is even going to read this crap and if a handful of people that do read it, what will they think? …
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Writing Exercise from a Book

09/19/2018

Writing

You are a loser who lives alone with a cat and have for quite some time. One day your cat can’t take it anymore and starts talking. What does it say? Why did you adopt me? This is worse than when I lived in the pound. My last owner never bitched day in and day…
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642 Things to Write About Book

09/02/2018

Book Recommendations, Writing

What Will You Write About? Publisher: Chronicle Books Publication: April 11, 2012 Page Number: 304 pages It seems this book came out a lot earlier than six years ago, but I’ve probably had it sitting on my shelf right after it came out. I’ve done a few entries in there, but most of it is…
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When Should You Hire an Editor? 3 Professional Editors Weigh In – by P. S. Hoffman… — Chris The Story Reading Ape’s Blog

08/19/2018

Writing

on Writers Digest: Want to write the best possible book? You need an editor. Editors are critical for making your writing “tight” and immersive. But before you hire one, you must know the answers to these questions: When should I hire an editor? Why am I hiring them? How do I find the right editor? […]…
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Write Simply or Like You Walked Out of a Thesaurus?!

03/27/2018

Random Posts, Writing

“I tell my students that when you write, you should pretend you’re writing the best letter you ever wrote to the smartest friend you have. That way, you’ll never dumb things down. You won’t have to explain things that don’t need explaining. You’ll assume an intimacy and a natural shorthand, which is good because readers…
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My Life in Journals

02/05/2018

Random Posts, Writing

Missing a Few, but Here’s Most of Them I went home home to take pictures of my other journals. I didn’t get them all because some were M.I.A. I ended up leaving my current journal behind. You win some and then lose some. I actually have a few more, but couldn’t call them actual journals. …
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Simple Advice for All Stuck Writers

07/21/2017

Random Posts, Writing

Write anything. Don’t sit there. Just write. Who cares if it sounds stupid to your ear or doesn’t make sense. No one has to read it if you don’t want. It doesn’t need to be perfect. The thing troubling many of us, I believe, is self doubt and fear. It creeps around us morning, noon,…
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Write Dialogue Better? Sure, Why Not?

05/14/2017

Book Recommendations, Writing

I think one of the hardest aspects of writing is the dialogue. I’m currently reading a book with an enthusiastic ten fingers in the air. It has some good, solid advice in it. It is only 135 pages long so it won’t be a daunting task to read. I would advise reading it twice or…
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