Exercising Our Creative Writing Muscles – The Next Step

For all you writers out there….stop saying, “I’m a ‘wannabe’ writer.”  If you ever write anything….you’re a writer. Are we all published?  No.  Are we all making a living with our writing?  No.  Is money the point?  Well…..sometimes.  But in this case, write what is true to your heart and to your experience and let it find its own market.

Today’s writing exercise is to take just one of the beginning lines from yesterday’s assignment and write 100 words beginning with that sentence.  Just 100 words.  It’s easy…try it and you’ll see.  If you write more than that today, then GREAT!

By the way….the words before THIS sentence add up to 101 words.

For many writers the hard part is beginning…there is so much to learn and so much that can be done, that we let the possibilities overwhelm us.  So for today, take your favorite beginning line from those you wrote yesterday and begin to write that story.  Ask yourself, “If I were reading this story, where would I want it to go?” …..and take it there.  Allow your characters to be who they are….let them have full personalities…and remember that they may have some flaws.  Fill in the blanks with descriptions so that your readers can “see” what you see in your head.  And don’t worry about perfection.  Remember, editing will come later.  For today just get started.

I am on this journey with you and as I share what I am learning about writing, I would love to hear from you about your personal journey as a writer.  I write children’s books, and your writing may be much more intellectual or sophisticated than mine, but the steps are the same.

So get in position.  Extend your fingers over the keyboard.  Turn off the television…..now WRITE!

Encouragement for Beginning Writers and Writers Who Need to Begin

Today’s exercise for writers is to write down the first line of at least 10 story ideas….just one line. You have all day to do it. They can be for a children’s picture book, a novel, a non-fiction book, or even a biography…the type of book doesn’t matter. You can even write the first line of a variety of different books. That’s it…ten first lines and you’re done. Keep going if you get inspired, but that is your minimum requirement for today. If you need to step away from the computer at any point, take a note card or pad of paper with you so that you can write while you’re doing other things. Just write down ideas and you can perfect them later.

My first one is …….

“She turned the knob with tiny fingers that were smudged with dirt from the garden….”