4.30.2013

Zee End! - writercize #AtoZChallenge 3.26

Congratulations to all of the A to Z Challenge participants this year! It was a real treat to visit your blogs and get to know you. Nice to reconnect with "old" bloggers and meet several newbies!

I have a couple of posts to fill in towards the end of the alphabet, but overall it was a great month of blogging here at writercize. :)

Thank you to Arlee Bird for including me on your team and again, congrats to all of the wonderful bloggers who kept up your posts and shared your voice this month!!

4.22.2013

Save the Earth - writercize #AtoZChallenge 3.19


Please note: writercize (a portmanteau of write and exercise with a z for ... a twist? fun? street cred?) is participating in the A to Z Challenge through the month of April with alphabetical writing prompts. I'm skipping the stories behind the prompts so you can spend more time practicing and less time reading! Please participate, and enjoy!

writercize: It's Earth Day!

Create a public service announcment, children's story with a moral, song or poem about what we can do to help our beautiful planet.

Earth Day is always a favorite inspiration here at writercize. Could be my Pacific Northwest roots, my childhood love of literally hugging every tree on walks around the block or just my feeling of responsibility for my children and the seventh generation.

For previous Earth Day writercizes, visit writercize 32 and writercize 185 185.
I love reading your comments and especially your writercize results, so please, drop me a line to let me know if this worked for you! Better yet, share your attempt with the world in your comment!
And, if you let me know you stopped by, I will be sure to pay you a visit as soon as I am able!

Click "read more" for writercizer sample response - a tale based on a true event from my childhood.

4.20.2013

Round-About - writercize #AtoZChallenge 3.18

Please note: writercize (a portmanteau of write and exercise with a z for ... a twist? fun? street cred?) is participating in the A to Z Challenge through the month of April with alphabetical writing prompts. I'm skipping the stories behind the prompts so you can spend more time practicing and less time reading! Please participate, and enjoy!

writercize: Bring your writing full circle. Begin and end a story or poem with the same word.

Pick one of the following or use your own:

  • reindeer
  • ladybird
  • memory
  • angel
  • queen
  • crowd 
  • crutch
  • mat

(Today's words come from Creativity Games' random word generator.)


I love reading your comments and especially your writercize results, so please, drop me a line to let me know if this worked for you! Better yet, share your attempt with the world in your comment!
 
And, if you let me know you stopped by, I will be sure to pay you a visit as soon as I am able!

Click "read more" for writercizer sample response.

4.19.2013

Quickly, Quickly - writercize #AtoZChallenge 3.17

Please note: writercize (a portmanteau of write and exercise with a z for ... a twist? fun? street cred?) is participating in the A to Z Challenge through the month of April with alphabetical writing prompts. I'm skipping the stories behind the prompts so you can spend more time practicing and less time reading! Please participate, and enjoy!

writercize: Set a timer for two minutes and free write as quickly as you can. No punctuation, grammar, rules, story. 

This is a great way to free the mind and release your brain to prepare for a day of writing or business ... or to wind down after a long day and transition back into home life.

I love reading your comments and especially your writercize results, so please, drop me a line to let me know if this worked for you! Better yet, share your attempt with the world in your comment!
 
And, if you let me know you stopped by, I will be sure to pay you a visit as soon as I am able!

Click "read more" for writercizer sample response.

4.18.2013

Pause & Prayer - writercize #AtoZChallenge 3.16

I planned to write about portmanteaus for the letter P, as I wander from A through Z this month in what I've dubbed the blogger's marathon. 26 letters in 26 days.

I had the title of the post all set, a writercize and sample ready to go.

But, somehow, it just feels more appropriate to take pause and offer a prayer for what happened at the real Boston marathon on Monday. 

I lived in Boston as a young adult after college. I met my husband in Boston, and made some very close friends. I do not personally know anyone who was injured. The incident is distant enough that I have not been directly affected, but close enough that I do have a few friends who are seeking prayers for their immediate friends and family members. Two who lost limbs. Two others in the hospital with shards and burns. The world is small. Out of approximately 200 people who were hurt, I am connected within one person to at least four of them. I live in Los Angeles now, about as far as one can get from Boston and still live within the continental United States, but I am reminded how small and interconnected this web of life is.

Please, join me to pause in a brief moment of prayer and reflection for the lives lost and changed by this event.

Boston skyline - courtesy www.morguefile.com - free photo sharing

If you care to share your thoughts and prayers, please, feel free to do so in the comments below.

In peace.

4.17.2013

Opening - writercize #AtoZChallenge 3.15

Hello writercizers! More than half-way through A to Z now. How's it going? Are you meeting lots of great new bloggers and filling your blog with some good content in the meantime?

Today, I am doing a rerun of a previous guest post by Brianna R. - all about opening sentences. Good luck, and enjoy! ~Alana

Good morning, Writercizers! Are you ready to work out those writing muscles? 
Wait, I can’t hear you…
Alright! That’s the spirit! Let’s get moving!
First let’s stretch a bit – crack your knuckles, wiggle those fingers and take a few deep breaths! Now we’re ready to begin.
As writers we all know how important the first sentence of our story is. It’s the hook that’s either going to capture the attention of editors and readers or bore them to tears. No pressure, right?

Not if we are regularly working out our writing muscles! Here’s an exercise focusing on writing strong first sentences:

writercize: Read the back-cover blurb of a book and then write an opening sentence. 
The beauty of this exercise is that not only does it allow you to practice writing an attention-grabbing opening sentence; it could also be a stepping stone to an original book of your own!

You are free to use whatever back-cover book blurb you like or use the three samples from the genres of science fiction, mystery and romance below. Write a first sentence for all three, or just one, and share it in the comments section.
Science Fiction
On the North Pole of Pluto there stands an enigma: a huge circle of standing blocks of ice, built on the pattern of Earth’s Stonehenge –but ten times the size, standing alone at the farthest reach of the Solar System. What is it? Who came there to build it?
The secret lies, perhaps, in the chaotic decades of the Martian Revolution, in the lost memories of those who have lived for centuries.
~Icehenge by Kim Stanley Robinson, 1984, ISBN 0-312-86609-7~
Mystery
Not much happens in Contrary, West Virginia –a sleepy town with failing coal mines, a few old moonshine stills, and an urgent need for revenue. A federal grant for a nonexistent bus system seemed just the ticket…if only the government auditor, sent to look things over, hadn’t drunk to much white lightening. And ended up dead.
Now his successor, Owen Allison, has come down from D.C. to check out the situation. Disgruntled with his life inside the Beltway, Owen is willing to give Contrary’s officials the benefit of the doubt –and himself some time to romance Mary Beth, the alluring town controller. He soon feels like seventeen different kinds of fool. Because something has long been fermenting in Contrary besides corn mash. Another body has been found. And Owen may be next…unless he uncovers the big secrets hidden in the hearts of a small Appalachian town.
~The Contrary Blues by John Billheimer, 1998, ISBN 0-440-23504-9~
Romance
Innocence was the only word to describe Mary Frances Murphy. Expelled from a convent, her only sin was desire: For intimacy. For experience. For true carnal knowledge. Once forbidden, these things were now within her reach –as she searched for her sister’s killer in a world of staged seduction, virtual passion, and fantasy made flesh. But Mary Frances had never even been touched by a man…let alone a man like Webb Calderon. A man whose erotic finesse was as vast –and dangerous—as his empire. A man who could devour her innocence…and kill her with pleasure.
~ Innocence by Suzanne Forster, 1997 ISBN 0-425-15663-X~
Click "read more" for Brianna's sample response:

4.16.2013

Next Word - writercize #AtoZChallenge 3.14

Please note: writercize (a portmanteau of write and exercise with a z for ... a twist? fun? street cred?) is participating in the A to Z Challenge through the month of April with alphabetical writing prompts. I'm skipping the stories behind the prompts so you can spend more time practicing and less time reading! Please participate, and enjoy!

writercize: Next word is always a favorite around writercize. It is a free-association game where I give you a word, and you write the first thing that comes to mind, then the first thing that new word inspires, and so on and so forth until you are about five words in.

So, if I said nail, you might go with:

nail - polish - shoe - sock - puppet.

It's a very simple game to play to loosen up your brain cells. If you are feeling particularly brave, you may want to use the words to inspire a story, but don't feel bad leaving the words alone. It's like improv class for actors - just the exercise of instant results through free association helps get your mind in writing shape!

Here are five words for you to begin with. When you are done, you should have about 25 words - the five I gave you and four more free associated from each.

  • rain
  • bandage
  • India
  • nun
  • creature
(Today's words come from Creativity Games' random word generator.)

I love reading your comments and especially your writercize results, so please, drop me a line to let me know if this worked for you! Better yet, share your attempt with the world in your comment!
 
And, if you let me know you stopped by, I will be sure to pay you a visit as soon as I am able!

Click "read more" for writercizer sample response. 


4.13.2013

Look. Write. - writercize #AtoZChallenge 3.12

Please note: writercize (a portmanteau of write and exercise with a z for ... a twist? fun? street cred?) is participating in the A to Z Challenge through the month of April with alphabetical writing prompts. I'm skipping the stories behind the prompts so you can spend more time practicing and less time reading! Please participate, and enjoy!

writercize: Use any one or combination of the photos below to inspire a caption, story or poem.









I love reading your comments and especially your writercize results, so please, drop me a line to let me know if this worked for you! Better yet, share your attempt with the world in your comment!

And, if you let me know you stopped by, I will be sure to pay you a visit as soon as I am able!

Skipping the writercizer sample response this round since these are all my photos and I'd rather hear what you have to say about them. :)

4.12.2013

Know Your Stuff - writercize #AtoZChallenge 3.11

Please note: writercize (a portmanteau of write and exercise with a z for ... a twist? fun? street cred?) is participating in the A to Z Challenge through the month of April with alphabetical writing prompts. I'm skipping the stories behind the prompts so you can spend more time practicing and less time reading! Please participate, and enjoy!

writercize: Take the day off writing and do some research instead. Pick a topic that interests you, but you do not know much about, and research it. 

If you are currently working on a novel or non-fiction work, look for a way to re-energize it with additional knowledge on the subject.






(Catch me repeating myself again? Yep, still in Mexico, lazing around on a hammock and scheduling this post to recycle last year's A to Z Challenge K entry - Knowledge. Think of it as being extra kind to the earth this April with an attempt to reduce, reuse and recycle.

For more background on the writercize from last year, follow this link. Tomorrow, I'll still be away, but the writercize is new, and I'll be back home Monday refreshed and ready for some new challenges!)

I love reading your comments and especially your writercize results, so please, drop me a line to let me know if this worked for you! Better yet, share your attempt with the world in your comment!

And, if you let me know you stopped by, I will be sure to pay you a visit as soon as I am able!

No writercizer sample response on a research day!

4.11.2013

Jokester - writercize #AtoZChallenge 3.10

Please note: writercize (a portmanteau of write and exercise with a z for ... a twist? fun? street cred?) is participating in the A to Z Challenge through the month of April with alphabetical writing prompts. I'm skipping the stories behind the prompts so you can spend more time practicing and less time reading! Please participate, and enjoy!

writercize: Tell me a joke (or two or three). Please be original. 

Extra bonus happy dance points if I laugh out loud!

(Followed me for a while? Yes, I admit - I am replaying a 2012 A to Z Challenge entry (Joking Around) - see the original for more jokes and background about my sheer admiration for comic writers.)

I love reading your comments and especially your writercize results, so please, drop me a line to let me know if this worked for you! Better yet, share your attempt with the world in your comment!


And, if you let me know you stopped by, I will be sure to pay you a visit as soon as I am able!

Click "read more" for writercizer sample response.

4.10.2013

Influence - writercize #AtoZChallenge 3.9

Please note: writercize (a portmanteau of write and exercise with a z for ... a twist? fun? street cred?) is participating in the A to Z Challenge through the month of April with alphabetical writing prompts. I'm skipping the stories behind the prompts so you can spend more time practicing and less time reading! Please participate, and enjoy!

writercize: Put on your sales hat or pull out the politician in you and convince me of something. Make an impassioned argument so strong that I at least want to google whatever you are telling me about.

Influence me.


I love reading your comments and especially your writercize results, so please, drop me a line to let me know if this worked for you! Better yet, share your attempt with the world in your comment!


And, if you let me know you stopped by, I will be sure to pay you a visit as soon as I am able!

Click "read more" for writercizer sample response about why you should sign up for the A to Z Challenge

4.09.2013

How in the World? - writercize #AtoZChallenge 3.8

Please note: writercize (a portmanteau of write and exercise with a z for ... a twist? fun? street cred?) is participating in the A to Z Challenge through the month of April with alphabetical writing prompts. I'm skipping the stories behind the prompts so you can spend more time practicing and less time reading! Please participate, and enjoy!

writercize: Write about how something happens, or how something works.

You may pick any topic in the world (or beyond!), but here are a few questions to get you started:

  • How do clouds form?
  • How do birds fly?
  • How do seeds turn to plants?
  • How does the tooth fairy know when to visit?
  • How do animals know how to swim?

Fiction and nonfiction writers alike can benefit from an exercise to uncover how things work. 

Fiction writers may tap into mythology or creative writing to come up with a fictional account of how real things happen, or create a believable answer to a false premise. 

Nonfiction writers can brush up on research as well as writing clarity and organization skills.
 
I love reading your comments and especially your writercize results, so please, drop me a line to let me know if this worked for you! Better yet, share your attempt with the world in your comment! 

Click "read more" for writercizer (fictional) sample response. 

4.08.2013

Goal Matrix - writercize #AtoZChallenge 3.7

Please note: writercize (a portmanteau of write and exercise with a z for ... a twist? fun? street cred?) is participating in the A to Z Challenge through the month of April with alphabetical writing prompts. I'm skipping the stories behind the prompts so you can spend more time practicing and less time reading! Please participate, and enjoy!

writercize: It's list time! Last year, my G post addressed setting some long-term writing goals. This year, I'm going a bit more general with my goal setting. 

Inspired by a friend, I have been working on my 35 x 35 goal matrix - 35 things I would like to accomplish by my 35th birthday. Some are old, some are new ... some are borrowed and none are blue? I have a few to go, and am open to ideas if you want to throw a few my way!

The idea is to look ahead to your next birthday that is divisible by 5 and match the age with the same number of things you'd like to accomplish between now and then. (i.e. 25 x 25, 40 x 40 --- maybe after 50 you get to cut five off each time, so it becomes 60 x 40? Feel free to make the rules fit your!)

This is a mix of tiny accomplishments and really big goals. One friend of mine said that it was the perfect way to set goals because they were like a bucket list that you get to enjoy in the short-term and don't have to ... ummmm ... pass to greener pastures after.
 
I love reading your comments and especially your writercize results, so please, drop me a line to let me know if this worked for you! Better yet, share your attempt with the world in your comment! 

Click "read more" for writercizer's current 28 x 35 list. 

4.06.2013

Five Words - writercize #AtoZChallenge 3.6

Please note: writercize (a portmanteau of write and exercise with a z for ... a twist? fun? street cred?) is participating in the A to Z Challenge through the month of April with alphabetical writing prompts. I'm skipping the stories behind the prompts so you can spend more time practicing and less time reading! Please participate, and enjoy!

writercize: Always a favorite on this site, I give you five words to use however you wish. Poem, flash fiction, sales pitch - let your imagination be your guide. It is always fascinating to see how each person interprets five words differently. Today's words come from Creativity Games' random word generator.

  • profit
  • mat
  • beggar
  • mirror 
  • nose

I love reading your comments and especially your writercize results, so please, drop me a line to let me know if this worked for you! Better yet, share your attempt with the world in your comment! 

Click "read more" for writercizer sample response. 

4.05.2013

Elevator Pitch - writercize #AtoZChallenge 3.5

Please note: writercize (a portmanteau of write and exercise with a z for ... a twist? fun? street cred?) is participating in the A to Z Challenge through the month of April with alphabetical writing prompts. I'm skipping the stories behind the prompts so you can spend more time practicing and less time reading! Please participate, and enjoy!

writercize: Write an "elevator pitch" - a short summary of your story that would take no longer than 30-60 seconds to read or tell. Make a person want to read your story in the time it takes to ride an elevator a few stories.

If you are not writing your own manuscript, try to write the elevator pitch for a favorite fairy tale, book or movie. If you are writing your own manuscript, congratulations - after completing this exercise successfully you are well on your way to a good query letter!

Why try this writing prompt? 

When telling an agent, publisher, potential buyer about your story, brevity and clarity are two of the most important things to keep in mind as you unravel a tale of intrigue and substance. 

If you're not sure what I'm talking about, turn a book over and read the book blurb. Or pick up a DVD and read how a writer has summarized a two hour movie into one paragraph. Does it relate the basic elements of the story? Does it give you a glimpse into the genre? Does it make you want to read the book or watch the movie? The writer has done his/her job.


I love reading your comments and especially your writercize results, so please, drop me a line to let me know if this worked for you! Better yet, share your attempt with the world in your comment! 

Click "read more" for writercizer sample response about Cinderella. Far from perfection, it is proof that summarizing a timeless tale in a paragraph takes a great deal of time, effort and persistence. Practice, practice, practice!

4.04.2013

Dialogue - writercize #AtoZChallenge 3.4

Please note: writercize (a portmanteau of write and exercise with a z for ... a twist? fun? street cred?) is participating in the A to Z Challenge through the month of April with alphabetical writing prompts. I'm skipping the stories behind the prompts so you can spend more time practicing and less time reading! Please participate, and enjoy!

writercize: Pick one of the following pairs (or create your own), and create a dialogue between them.

  • Bride and Maid of Honor - 10 minutes before wedding
  • Homecoming King and Chess Club President - 25th HS class reunion
  • Outgoing and Incoming First Lady - White House moving day
  • Young Child and Grandparent - walking around the block
  • Priest and Rabbi - at a Dalai Lama speech
The locations are mere suggestions. Love a pair, hate the place? Pick your own! Share what works for you!

When writing dialogue, pay close attention to the way people around you speak. Chances are, they are not grammatically proper. Don't force them to be. Use regional dialects, malapropisms, generational verbiage, shortcuts. 

Speak your characters' dialogue aloud to make sure it sounds authentic. Feel free to say "gonna" and "ain't" if that's how your character would speak.

Be aware - authentic dialogue should not match the voice or grammar of the rest of your story. (Unless told in the first person by one of the characters - but even then, the spoken word should be unique compared to the character's inner monologue.)

I love reading your comments and especially your writercize results, so please, drop me a line to let me know if this worked for you! Better yet, share your attempt with the world in your comment! 

Click "read more" for writercizer sample response to a young child and grandmother. 

4.03.2013

Clues - writercize #AtoZChallenge 3.3

Please note: writercize (a portmanteau of write and exercise with a z for ... a twist? fun? street cred?) is participating in the A to Z Challenge through the month of April with alphabetical writing prompts. I'm skipping the stories behind the prompts so you can spend more time practicing and less time reading! Please participate, and enjoy!

writercize: To improve your descriptive skills, practice viewing objects in a room not by their title, but what they are. 
photo credit: www.morguefile.com


Do not look at a roll of tape and call it a roll of tape - call it a sticky ribbon wound in a circle. Don't look at a pen and call it a pen - call it a cylinder of ink. 

For today's writercize, compose a clue about an object in your room, and see if we can guess what it is!

I love reading your comments and especially your writercize results, so please, drop me a line to let me know if this worked for you! Better yet, share your attempt with the world in your comment! 

Click "read more" for writercizer sample response. 

Note - It is a true story about being lost in translation - based on a conversation that occurred during my first week studying abroad in Italy, in a city where very little English is spoken, after only six months of studying Italian. I figured I could challenge myself by not referring to a dictionary, and instead use the word I knew to describe whatever I wanted to say. At time, it could be quite ... interesting. On one occasion, I thought I was asking for the bill, and apparently asked for a pot of sake instead. The question below took place in a drugstore.

4.02.2013

Boomerang: A Mirrored Beginning and Ending - writercize #AtoZChallenge 3.2

Please note: writercize (a portmanteau of write and exercise with a z for ... a twist? fun? street cred?) is participating in the A to Z Challenge through the month of April with alphabetical writing prompts. I'm skipping the stories behind the prompts so you can spend more time practicing and less time reading! Please participate, and enjoy!

writercize: Challenge yourself to a little creative flash fiction or poetry. Throw out the traditional concept of beginning, middle and end and merge beginning with end. How? 

Begin and end a sentence, paragraph, short story or poem with the same word. 

Hence, the boomerang - send out a single word and bring it back to round out the story or poem.

I love reading your comments and especially your writercize results, so please, drop me a line to let me know if this worked for you! Better yet, share it with the world. 

Click "read more" for writercizer sample response - a poem beginning and ending with moon.

4.01.2013

Author Bio - #AtoZChallenge 3.1

Please note: writercize (a portmanteau of write and exercise with a z for ... a twist? fun? street cred?) is participating in the A to Z Challenge through the month of April with alphabetical writing prompts. I'm skipping the stories behind the prompts so you can spend more time practicing and less time reading! Please participate, and enjoy!

writercize: Every writer or author needs a bio. An author may have multiple bios ranging in levels of personalization and professionalism for book covers, author websites, blogger profiles and query letters. Spend some time crafting your Author Bio today.

Need some great tips on what to include and what to edit? Read this how-to guide by Rachelle Gardner.

Personally, I would recommend something light-hearted for a blog, but drop the hobbies and the humor for anything else.

Click "read more" to see my (third person) author bio from my freelance website.

#AtoZChallenge Kicks Off TODAY! AND Happy Birthday .@ArleeBird !!

It's April, and that means ... A to Z Challenge month in the blogosphere! Don't know what the A to Z Challenge is? It is an opportunity to network with fellow bloggers and populate your blog with amazing content during a marathon (26 posts) through the alphabet during the month of April. Check it out here. If you read this before 10 p.m. EST on April 1, 2013, you can even sign up to join me! If you miss 2013,keep tabs on the sign-up sheet for next year!

And ... even if you don't sign up, there is one way for you to participate on my blog. I am recruiting for a G guest post. Topic can be on anything writing prompt related - you don't even need to focus it on G. The post will go live on April 8, so if you are interested, get in touch with me ASAP at alanagwrites(at)gmail(dot)com.

This is the 4th (or was it 5th by now??) year of the challenge, and my 3rd year participating. (Hence 3.1) The first year I slid through the finish line blogging, exhausted but very excited about the connections I made. However, I probably only visited about 150 blogs on the list. The second year I was smarter about posts - I prescheduled several - but I was waylaid midway with my own posts thanks to a few ill-timed vacations. But, I made it through closer to 700 blogs for a visit! This year, I'm hoping to meet that magical place where I make it through the month and do a great job at supporting the other blogs, while still performing well at my "day jobs" of parenting and journalism. 

I am honored to be a part of Arlee Bird's A to Z Challenge Ambassadors, so about 150-200 of you (depending on the final number of sign-ups) can consider me your personal cheerleader, as I visit and comment and cheer you on at least a couple of times this month. The rest of you may receive sporadic visits from me during the month (more if you comment on my posts!!) but I will try to make it through the entire list for at least one hello before 2013 is behind us.

Arlee Bird is the founder of A to Z Challenge, and a blog marketing guru. He handles 4 blogs of his own, and still makes it a point to visit several blogs a day and assemble a massive team of co-hosts and ambassadors for A to Z. He is particularly wonderful when it comes to encouraging new bloggers, so if you're new to the world of blogging, I highly recommend you pay Lee a visit at Tossing It Out. Comment on his page and let him know you are new, and I can almost guarantee he will reciprocate with a thoughtful visit within a couple of days!

Rumor has it, today is Lee's birthday! 

So, before we get on with today's writercize, would you join me in singing Happy Birthday to Lee, loud and clear?

Ahem .....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR ARLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU

Thank you for offering support and inspiration 
to so many bloggers around the world!!

Now, you can check out my A post on the Author Bio separately.