Excercise 8 - Getting There

Getting There.  Write a 700 word travelogue.

 

There are so many places I want to visit, both real and imagined.  I want to experience Algiers with Camus (minus the shooting, please).  I want to take a drive with Jack Kerouac and see America as he saw it.  I want to take a steam train into Perdido Street Station and tour around New Crobuzon.  For this excercise take yourself and your readers to some other place and make us feel it.  The devil is in the details, so get lost in the nooks and crannies of your destination.

Excercise 7 - Sappy Love Story

Sappy Love Story.  Write a 600 word love story.

 

From Jane Austin to Harlequin Romance to Twilight our literary world has never wanted for Sappy Love Stories.  Real life love is never perfect so we are drawn as readers to this fantasy.  For this excercise (and believe me, for many of us this will feel more like work than play), bring on the saccherine, sugary-sweet syrup that is romance fiction.  However, this is not parody.  Be true to yourself and your fantasy of "true love".

Excercise 6 - 20 Minute Set

20 Minute Set.  Write as many words as possible in 20 minutes. 

 

Make the story coherent, but don't end it.  Put a timer on and then don't look until you are done.  The goal if this excercise is to make your synapses fire as quick as your fingers type.  Get those two in sync and you have this made.  Post number of words to this thread.

Excercise 5 - I Didn't See That Coming!

I Did'nt See That Coming!  Write a 500 word story with a crazy plot twist.

 

I have not read the latest Dan Brown book, nor have I even read a review, but I'm going to spoil the ending for you.  There will be this frenetic chase scene and then all of a sudden some helpful secondary character will step out of character and become the most evil villian ever (until the next book).  Ok, I don't know if that's really the ending of "The Secret", but it has been of his other books.  While that might not be the best literary device you can use, it sure has worked for Mr. Brown.  Give it a shot.

Excercise 4 - Nothing's Shocking

Nothing's Shocking.  Write a 400 word story that you find uncomfortable or disgusting and wouldn't show your mom.

 

Never play it safe!  Chuck Palahniuk has made a whole career of making people squirm.  I had to put down parts of "Haunted" when reading...it was that shocking to me.  If you read it back and think "Oh no, you didn't..." you are on the right track for this excercise.  Posting is optional for this one, but we won't think you are sick (at least not too sick) if you do.

Excercise 3 - Roar!

Roar!  Write a 300 words story from the perspective of an animal.

 

From a tiny mouse to a looming giraffe, animals have a much different view of the world that us.  "The Burrow" by Kafka is a great example of this, a paranoid story told throughout the underground tunnels of an animal.  Bring out your inner beast and write!

Excercise 2 - Bizzaro You

Bizzaro You.  Write a 200 word story with a character who is diametrically opposite to you.

 

If you are a guy, write from the perspective of a girl.  If you are tall, write about a short character.  Many of us write characters that are very similar to ourselves.  Push yourself away from this as much as you can in this short story.  If you are stuck, take a situation you are currently in and put the "bizzaro" you in it.