I didn’t know the Library of Congress had images available online for viewing.  Some of them, like the following image, have no restricted uses.  In case you want your own copy of it, the Library of Congress number is LC-DIG-nclc-03455.

Once you see the image, begin writing.  Do not stop until you run out of words. (more…)

I’m quite late in posting Monday’s exercise although I had it in my To Do list.  A To Do list doesn’t help much if you ignore it to do other things (like reading) that aren’t on the list.

Going with the theme last week of Story Starter, here’s one for you from The First Line.  If you like what you write, why not send it in to them?  Their deadline is May 1st, 2010.  You can’t change the line in any way.

Paul and Miriam Kaufman met the old-fashioned way.

(This is Amber posting – the Poise and Pen site cross-posts under Rhonda’s ID.)

It’s all about writing crap.

Really.

Or at least, giving yourself permission to write crap.

So with that in mind, I dare you to write at least 100 words inspired by one of the following photographs. Not just any words though, make them terrible. Write the worst beginning of a story you possibly can.

Then if you’re really brave, share it in the comments section

(more…)

Here’s the very late exercise prompt from Monday.  Coincidentally, it will help with NaNoWriMo prep or could be used as an exercise in NaNoWriMo to increase your word count.

One of the unstated premises of shows like The Real World and Survivor is what happens when a person is removed from their element.  As a NaNoWriMo character exercise this can reveal how your character reacts to a stressful situation.  As a word count booster, it can be a dream sequence.

So what happens when a computer geek is put on the court as a professional basketball player?  Or the surfer dude is in Alaska near the water but no waves?  Or the earth bound human winds up on a ring of Saturn?  Or the 6 foot tall man finds himself standing amongst a crowd of women who are at least 8 feet tall?

Run with it and have fun.

Here is your exercise for this week.

Below is a list of words that will inspire your next masterpiece.  You must use all of the words.  It’s up to you if you’d like to make it a timed writing exercise. (more…)

Write your best superhero or supervillian speech.

Then, if you feel up to it, you can use it to enter the Show Us Your Super contest.

I stole this idea from an exercise Conrad Williams used as a contest on Kari Wolfe’s blog

Write a short story (no more than 1,000 words) in which each sentence is no more than six words long.

Get your timer out and set it for 15 or 20 minutes and begin writing about “transformation”.

Transformation can have a lot of good things and bad things that come with it.  It can be physical or a state of mind.  Write and see where it takes you.

After NaNoWriMo the novel sometimes gets shoved into a drawer and stays there.  I have a dare for you.

Take it out and send the first 500 words of your novel (or a short story) to the Muse Marquee for their Hook Contest.  You’re giving them permission to publish it and publicly critique it.  Can you handle it?  (Yes, you can use a pseudonym.)  The contest deadline is August 15th, 2009.