Next Word - writercize #118

Next Word is a game that I bring back to writercize about once a month or so.  It's a really simple word association game - I give you five words and for each you give me the first word that comes to mind.  It's as easy as word play can get, but the fascinating thing about it is seeing how differently all of us process words and thoughts!  

writercize:  Write the first word that comes to mind for each of the following words.

• pen
• glue
• rumble
• stunt
• relief

Leave your response as a comment - if you care to explain the relationship between your words please do!  It's always nice to see the back story.

Click "read more" for writercizer sample response.

Life's A Dance - writercize #117

Although not a fan of reality TV shows in general, there are admittedly a few that I've grown attached to.  Dancing With The Stars and Project Runway keep me adequately (and addictively) entertained by drawing me into the story of the "star" while presenting the contestants with a solid challenge each week. I like it when there is a purpose for the show. 

I don't mind that none of the celebrities are A-list, or even B-list, on Dancing with the Stars - I enjoy how the show exposes their lives and relationships with their dance partners, and I really like that I now have the ability to recognize which dance they will perform nine times out of ten by looking at their costume. Coming from no more than a background of elementary school dabbling in ballet, jazz, modern and highland dancing, followed by a couple of years of cheerleading in high school, this feels like a grand accomplishment to me. Don't ask me to teach the dance or follow a partner yet, but that may come one day in another ten seasons or so.

As it is Monday, and therefore Dancing with the Stars night, I thought I'd bring a little dance to writercize.  Tonight it's all about marrying a dance with the written word.  No doubt you've heard dance as a way to illustrate an idea - "it takes two to tango" - "he waltzed into her life" - so tonight you get to play with any dance you like.

writercize:  Use dance as the inspiration for a short scene, sentence of prose or poem.  You may set your character/poem in a dancing situation, or use dance terminology as a way to impart emotion and tension into your writing.

Click "read more" for a short sample response by writercize.  To participate, leave your writercize as a comment or leave a link to your response on your blog!

Balancing Act - writercize #116

Did you catch the Guest Post yesterday by Beth Grace of Word Nerd Speaks?  It was a good one!  I double-dog challenge you to try out her 55-word writercize.  Leave your attempt as a comment, and then head over to visit Beth's blog for more of her voice!

Now, on to today ... I always love a simple character study, based off of minimal information.  It's fascinating how deeply writers can jump into a person's alleged psyche and personal life by watching small cues.  Often, the life invented is probably far more imaginative, exciting, tragic, romantic (insert appropriate adjective here) than the reality, but that's the fun of it all!

My challenge to you today is to take a simple bit of information and create a character and the situation that has driven them to this moment of time.

writercize:  A man stands on a ledge in the middle of a bridge, balanced just so that he doesn't fall.  There are witnesses positioned nearby.  He has closed his eyes for a moment and raised his head slightly to the sky.

What is his story?  Who is he and why is he there?

Click "read more" for writercizer sample response.

Guest Writercize #1 - Elizabeth Grace

I am very excited to host Beth today at writercize.  Beth is the leader of the Group Blogging Experience, better known by it's acronym and twitter hash #GBE2.  She is also a fabulous writer, energetic reader and the winner of a slogan contest I hosted here several months ago!

Please welcome Beth and try out her very challenging, intriguing writercize.  I have to say I am very excited to see what you come up with. 

Without further ado, I give you - Beth!

First of all, thank you, Alana, for allowing me to take over your blog for a day. I always enjoy your posts and love that you consistently find creative ways for writers to keep limber as we try out your Writercizes!

My blog, Word Nerd Speaks is about a little bit of everything. I’ve been a professional writer for decades, but in all that time, my absolute favorite gig was as a daily columnist for a good-sized family of community newspapers. When the paper closed its doors, I mourned. I loved being able to jabber about whatever was on my mind on a given day and really loved that my work seemed to elicit lots of feedback from readers. These days, I do my jabbering on the blog, and I still welcome and appreciate comments from those who are kind enough to pop by to read what I have to say.

Now for my Writercize offering! When it comes to good storytelling, less is often more, so I’d like to propose an exercise that will require writers to choose their words judiciously, careful to see that each one is there for a reason. The Writercize is called “Ten to One” and the idea is as follows:

Participants are asked to write a complete story in exactly fifty-five words. The first line should have ten words, the second nine, the third eight, and so on until the last sentence, consisting of a single word, completes the story. 

Here’s mine (mine as in Beth's):

Truck Stop

She knew what he’d order: peach pie and coffee, black.

He set his fork down and smiled at her.

You spend too much time alone, he said.

She rolled her eyes and nodded. Yep.

I’m hauling a load to Tulsa.

You could come with me.

She folded her apron.

I’d like that.

Sign flipped.

Closed.

(There are still some guest spots available.  Click here to read the guidelines and sign up.)

Full Circle - writercize #115

I'm told all stories should have a beginning, middle and end.  I've come across a few without all three, but in general most decent writers seem to adhere to this basic principle.  

I've also read that occasionally, it's a good idea to tie the end in with the beginning, by returning full circle to the opener.  I must agree with "occasionally" because I could see that formula getting old if repeated too often.  That said, repeating a sentence in the beginning and end of a story can be a useful practice tool (or perfect way intro into the horror genre) to make sure that your story related from beginning to end.  I also think it's helpful for children learning to read and write, because it's a way for them to answer a question, which is really what writing is all about - fiction or non-fiction.

Imagine a kid asking a question - Why is the sun bright?  A parent or teacher may answer something about the burning gasses and reflection of light and whatever else factors into a bright sunny day and round out the question with an affirmative, "and that is why the sun is bright."

In that way, asking a child to write a full circle story where a single sentence is repeated in the beginning and end can help them along their way to literacy.

writercize:  Begin and end a short story (fiction or non-fiction ok) with the following sentence:  "The clock struck one."

Click "read more" for writercizer sample response, and check back tomorrow for the first guest post of the year by Word Nerd Speaks!

Truth and Lies - writercize #114

Truth and Lies is an ice breaker party game in which a person shares several true statements with a lie, and challenges strangers to figure out where the truth lies.  (Pun sort of intended...)

Beyond a bit of fun reflection on life, the joy of truth and lies for a writer is in the presentation of it all.  It's fun to figure out how to trick the guesser, and it's up to the teller to choose whether to share extraordinarily simple tales or highly intricate outlandish novellas.  The key is to keep the tone consistent and stick within a theme.  (You might pick family or pet names, personal medical history, school stories, work tales, broken relationships - pick one and stay on topic to cause optimal confusion.)

Since this post is scheduled and I'm traveling in Massachusetts, a far cry from my current home of Redondo Beach, California, I decided to go with a travel theme.

writercize:  Pick a topic and write several truths and a lie from your life experience.  Leave your truths and lie as a comment.  I'll guess yours and you can guess mine! 

Click "read more" for writercizer sample response.  (The truth of my lie will be revealed Friday.)

October Brings GUEST POSTS to Writercize

I'm very excited about the new guest posts coming to writercize, starting this Friday!  

There are a few slots open for this year, so I welcome you to view the posting guidelines over at Be My Guest and leave a comment with the date you're interested in or write to me at alanagwrites(at)gmail(dot)com.

Guests are asked to post their favorite writercize and sample response!