When setting up characters for a story, one of the first things a writer usually decides upon is their name. The choice should not be undertaken too lightly. The name is, after all, their most significant unifying, identifying marker. For me, I always want to make sure it fits the personality type, the image that I want to project. For example: When I think of the name Stacy I think of a popular girl. Blond, wavy hair. Aqua green eyes—large, doleful even. Perhaps not academically intelligent, but gifted with a unique magnetism that draws people in, makes them like her, whether they really want to or not. She’s not terribly kind, but…

It’s commonly whispered that a good writer will show and not tell, and that’s true…sometimes. Telling has its own useful merits in writing. For instance: dialogue. Dialogue is a fast, quick format for telling the reader what’s going on without paragraph after paragraph of hefty, (noisy), and sometimes downright overwhelming showing. Sometimes, writing is about decluttering. The Exercise: Think up a uniquely original short conversation (or borrow from my own example below) which SHOWS an emotion, a piece of description, etc. via TELLING. The Example:             “I asked him what color his shirt was and he said it was green.” Abigail’s accompanying laugh gave credit to her disbelief.             “Yeah?”…

Okay, it’s time for another Writerly Inspiration exercise… Read the paragraph below and, using it as a jumping-off point, build a short story based upon its setup. This is a great way to initiate writing—without fear, without overthinking it. Just write, for fun, for stimulation, for whatever. Note, the paragraph can be placed anywhere within the narrative—use your imagination. Consider: Where is she? Who is she? Why is she scared? Where does she have to go? And why? The snow fell from the sky in heavy, sloppy plops. Her nose pressed up against the chilled windowpane, her balled-up fist swiping in a circular motion, she cleared away the condensation. Hot…

Set your timers for this WRITERLY INSPIRATION exercise! Reminiscent of a cookbook, use this style of writing prompt to come up with a new story idea…. PLACE: You have 3 minutes to decide upon a location. Just for fun, pick a place you haven’t written about before. Utilize all three minutes to learn just a little bit about the locale—food, accent, architecture, etc. You’d be surprised what you can discover in just 180 seconds…. CHARACTERS: You have 5 minutes to create your main characters. For an extra workout, try to flesh out at least two of them. This will really stretch your creativity in that short time constraint—but give it…

Need some inspiration to get those writerly fingers typing away, flying across the keyboard? Need some help getting out of your own head-space, getting the kinks unraveled, preventing (or maybe curing) writer’s block?   Well, try this exercise on for size… Write a piece of fiction that incorporates all of the elements displayed in the accompanying picture: The Rules. The story has to implement one of each of the three articles: cup of coffee, stapler, tube of lipstick.  It can be about anything at ALL—just make sure it ties into the prompts and it works. Have fun, be imaginative. See what kind of storyline you can create from with this!  If you want, submit…

FICTIONAL WRITERLY INSPIRATION TIME! Need a jumping-off point to get your writing off the ground? We’ve all been there. Which is why I’ve compiled (and will continue to compile) fun exercises or games to play for just that purpose…. The ‘Faux Re-remember’ This one is a bit silly. So have fun with it. It’s also about changing perception. A whole new world of possibilities arise when you do. It goes a little like this…. Go through the family photo album and nab up a picture or two from within; ideally, you should be included in the snapshot and, if possible, it should be of a candid nature; however, this can…