Friday, March 29, 2013

Friday Five Minute Exercise - Bathtub Scene


Friday Five Minute Exercise - Bathtub Scene


1. Set your clocks/timers for Five (5) Minutes.

2. Write about creating a scene where the character is taking a bath. "From "The Pocket Muse" by Monica Wood, she says, "In 'Making Shapely Fiction', the witty and wonderful Jerome Stern cautions against writing the 'bathtub story'. A bathtub story opens with the protagonist taking a bath (or occupying a similar confined space). During this bath, the protagonist things of, ruminates upon, wonders about, and analyzes the past, present, and future but he never gets out of the bathtub.". Try to write a bathtub scene that contradicts all of the above. Make your scene riveting, exciting, and action oriented.

3. Ready?

4. Go.

5. Finished? Review and be amazed.

I hope you had fun. Come back next Friday for a new writing prompt.

Was this exercise helpful?


Did you succeed with this writing exercise? Was it helpful? Were you able to add action and excitement? 

Why or Why Not?


Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Give Me 250 - Dialogue

Let's celebrate our writing. Your Writing Coach has the "Give me 250 on Wednesdays" prompt. Every Wednesday I will give you a prompt and all you have to do is give me 250 words on whatever pops into your head about the prompt. It can be a draft or a final revision. Just give me the 250 words you want to share. Post the 250 words on your blog. Celebrate your writing!

Then, when you are finished, link your permalink post here and discover what others have posted for their 250. Share this link with your Twitter friends and Facebook friends. Share away. Just celebrate and share. Use the hashtag #250Wednesday on Twitter.

Only one rule: Encourage the person who linked before you. It's important that we all have validation for our writing. Encouragement is important. Validate another's writing; be supportive, just like you'd want someone to validate yours.

Invite your friends to join in the fun. What can you write in 250 words with our prompts?

This prompt will stay up for your writing pleasure for one week, Wednesday until Tuesday. Then, the prompt changes.

Let's grow this writing prompt challenge. Grab the button and share with others.

250 Wednesdays Button


3/20/13 Prompt - Dialogue

Today's prompt is all about dialogue. Last week we wrote a silent scene using no dialogue. This week we are going to have two characters delve and explore as much about their character development, senses, description, plot and story all within dialogue.



Have fun with this. Did you enjoy the writing prompt?





Monday, March 25, 2013

Writing Tips - beginning a new series

"The Lease You Should Know" series is over.

Awwww.

Yes, I'm sorry, but it is. I have given you all the information I can about the least you should know about grammar. If you still have questions, please don't hesitate to contact me. I'll be happy to run a post on any question you might have.

For our next series, we are going to run writing tips for you.

Yay!

Okay, the applause was actually in my head, but that's okay. I heard it and it counts.

I'd like this to be an interactive series. If you find writing tips, please include them in your comments or contact me with them and I'll pass them along to my blog readers.

So, without hesitation, our first tip. Of course, it's from Stephen King. My all time favorite person to go to when I need a writing tip.


"If you want to be a writer you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot."


Image credit: Buzzfeed.com

Other authors have said the same thing in different ways.

A Christian novel author, Karen Kingsbury said, "If you want to write a mystery, read mysteries. If you want to write a Christian romance, read Christian romances. You must be well versed in the type of genre you wish to write. Editors and agents will expect this."

Zadie Smith, the freshest and most ambitious voices of her generation said this, "When still a child, make sure you read a lot of books. Spend more time doing this than anything else."

Michael Moorcock said the first rule given to him by T.H. White (author of The Sword in the Stone) was: "Read. Read everything you can lay hands on. I always advise people who want to write a fantasy or science fiction or romance to stop reading everything in those genres and start reading everything else from Bunyan to Byatt."

And, finally, from P.D. James, "Read widely and with discrimination. bad writing is contagious."


So there you have it. Read and Write. A lot.

Come back here next Monday for more writing tips.

Did this tip meet your needs? Do you have other tips similar to this?


Friday, March 22, 2013

Friday Five Minute Exercise - Voice for your Soul


Here at Your Writing Coach is the Friday Five Minute Exercise: I'm going to create a writing exercise for you to stretch your writing muscles. Let's see what you can do with the prompts I provide.

Gabriel Fielding said, "Writing to me is a voyage, an odyssey, a discovery, because I'm never certain of precisely what I will find."

That's how I want you to approach your writing abilities. Never be certain of what you will find, but always be surprised at what you can do.







Friday Five Minute Exercise - Voice for your Soul


1. Set your clocks/timers for Five (5) Minutes.

2. Write about creating a Voice for your Soul. Try to extract your innermost thoughts onto the paper/screen. Sit in a quiet place and be still. Your soul is waiting to be heard; give it a voice through your writing.

3. Ready?

4. Go.

5. Finished? Review and be amazed.

I hope you had fun. Come back next Friday for a new writing prompt.

Was this exercise helpful?


Do you see yourself as a "creating a voice for your soul"? 

Why or Why Not?


Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Give Me 250 - Silent Scene

Let's celebrate our writing. Your Writing Coach has the "Give me 250 on Wednesdays" prompt. Every Wednesday I will give you a prompt and all you have to do is give me 250 words on whatever pops into your head about the prompt. It can be a draft or a final revision. Just give me the 250 words you want to share. Post the 250 words on your blog. Celebrate your writing!

Then, when you are finished, link your permalink post here and discover what others have posted for their 250. Share this link with your Twitter friends and Facebook friends. Share away. Just celebrate and share. Use the hashtag #250Wednesday on Twitter.

Only one rule: Encourage the person who linked before you. It's important that we all have validation for our writing. Encouragement is important. Validate another's writing; be supportive, just like you'd want someone to validate yours.

Invite your friends to join in the fun. What can you write in 250 words with our prompts?

This prompt will stay up for your writing pleasure for one week, Wednesday until Tuesday. Then, the prompt changes.

Let's grow this writing prompt challenge. Grab the button and share with others.

250 Wednesdays Button


3/20/13 Prompt - Silent Scene

Today's prompt is all about silence. Write a "silent scene" in your fiction. Create a powerful scene between two characters without using any dialogue.



Have fun with this. Did you enjoy the writing prompt?





Friday, March 15, 2013

Friday Five Minute Exercise - Strongest Heartfelt Belief


Here at Your Writing Coach is the Friday Five Minute Exercise: I'm going to create a writing exercise for you to stretch your writing muscles. Let's see what you can do with the prompts I provide.

Gabriel Fielding said, "Writing to me is a voyage, an odyssey, a discovery, because I'm never certain of precisely what I will find."

That's how I want you to approach your writing abilities. Never be certain of what you will find, but always be surprised at what you can do.







Friday Five Minute Exercise - Strongest Heartfelt Belief


1. Set your clocks/timers for Five (5) Minutes.

2. Write about your Strongest Heartfelt Belief. Write a convincing yet sincere persuasive piece to others on why they should share your belief.

3. Ready?

4. Go.

5. Finished? Review and be amazed.

I hope you had fun. Come back next Friday for a new writing prompt.

Was this exercise helpful?


Do you see yourself as a persuader of your belief? 

Why or Why Not?


Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Give Me 250 - Palindrome

Let's celebrate our writing. Your Writing Coach has the "Give me 250 on Wednesdays" prompt. Every Wednesday I will give you a prompt and all you have to do is give me 250 words on whatever pops into your head about the prompt. It can be a draft or a final revision. Just give me the 250 words you want to share. Post the 250 words on your blog. Celebrate your writing!

Then, when you are finished, link your permalink post here and discover what others have posted for their 250. Share this link with your Twitter friends and Facebook friends. Share away. Just celebrate and share. Use the hashtag #250Wednesday on Twitter.

Only one rule: Encourage the person who linked before you. It's important that we all have validation for our writing. Encouragement is important. Validate another's writing; be supportive, just like you'd want someone to validate yours.

Invite your friends to join in the fun. What can you write in 250 words with our prompts?

This prompt will stay up for your writing pleasure for one week, Wednesday until Tuesday. Then, the prompt changes.

Let's grow this writing prompt challenge. Grab the button and share with others.

250 Wednesdays Button


3/13/13 Prompt - Palindrome

Today's date is a "palindrome" a word, phrase, or sentence that reads the same backward as forward. For example, "Madam I'm Adam" is a phrase that is a palindrome.

Palindrome List

The above link is a list to the most comprehensive collection of Palindromes on the Internet. Choose a phrase and write 250 words about that expression.

For example you could create a story about:

"A man, a plan, a canal: Panama*

"Cigar? Toss it in a can. It is so tragic."

"Do, O God, no evil deed! Live on! Do good!"

"Enid and Edna dine"

"Golf? No sir! prefer prison-flog!"

'In words, alas, drown I"

"Let Omro open one poor motel"

"Marge lets Norah see Sharon's telegram"

"Nemo's omen"

"On a clover, if alive, erupts a vast, pure evil: a fire volcano"

"Put Eliot’s toilet up."

"Revered now, I live on. O did I do no evil, I wonder, ever?"

"So Ida, adios."

"Tulsa night life: filth, gin, a slut."

"Was it a car or a cat I saw?"

"Yo, banana boy!"


Have fun with these. Did you enjoy the writing prompt?





Friday, March 8, 2013

Friday Five Minute Exercise - Harvest Writing


Here at Your Writing Coach is the Friday Five Minute Exercise: I'm going to create a writing exercise for you to stretch your writing muscles. Let's see what you can do with the prompts I provide.

Gabriel Fielding said, "Writing to me is a voyage, an odyssey, a discovery, because I'm never certain of precisely what I will find."

That's how I want you to approach your writing abilities. Never be certain of what you will find, but always be surprised at what you can do.







Friday Five Minute Exercise - Harvest Writing


1. Set your clocks/timers for Five (5) Minutes.

2. Write about Harvest Writing. Harvest Writing is collecting, mulling, sifting and selecting words to create a thought.

3. Ready?

4. Go.

5. Finished? Review and be amazed.

I hope you had fun. Come back next Friday for a new writing prompt.

Was this exercise helpful?


Do you see yourself as a "harvester of words"? 

Why or Why Not?


Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Give Me 250 - Opening Line

Let's celebrate our writing. Your Writing Coach has the "Give me 250 on Wednesdays" prompt. Every Wednesday I will give you a prompt and all you have to do is give me 250 words on whatever pops into your head about the prompt. It can be a draft or a final revision. Just give me the 250 words you want to share. Post the 250 words on your blog. Celebrate your writing!

Then, when you are finished, link your permalink post here and discover what others have posted for their 250. Share this link with your Twitter friends and Facebook friends. Share away. Just celebrate and share. Use the hashtag #250Wednesday on Twitter.

Only one rule: Encourage the person who linked before you. It's important that we all have validation for our writing. Encouragement is important. Validate another's writing; be supportive, just like you'd want someone to validate yours.

Invite your friends to join in the fun. What can you write in 250 words with our prompts?

This prompt will stay up for your writing pleasure for one week, Wednesday until Tuesday. Then, the prompt changes.

Let's grow this writing prompt challenge. Grab the button and share with others.

250 Wednesdays Button


3/6/13 Prompt - Opening Line

Pick up a novel you enjoy. Read the first line. Now, copy that first line and write your own short story using that line as the opening. Remember, keep it to 250 words, if you can.



Friday, March 1, 2013

Friday Five Minute Exercise - Your Identity


Here at Your Writing Coach is the Friday Five Minute Exercise: I'm going to create a writing exercise for you to stretch your writing muscles. Let's see what you can do with the prompts I provide.

Gabriel Fielding said, "Writing to me is a voyage, an odyssey, a discovery, because I'm never certain of precisely what I will find."

That's how I want you to approach your writing abilities. Never be certain of what you will find, but always be surprised at what you can do.







Friday Five Minute Exercise - Your Identity

1. Set your clocks/timers for Five (5) Minutes.

2. Write about your identity. Who are you outside of your external roles? Today, write about individuality within the spirit. As you write, take a journey into your soul and leave the world behind.

3. Ready?

4. Go.

5. Finished? Review and be amazed.

I hope you had fun. Come back next Friday for a new writing prompt.

Was this exercise helpful?