Well, I personally think I need to be less serious and have more fun with writing at times. I'm resolved I'm going to do some more flash fiction over the summer, and without structure or rules or an end game.

I know, right? It blew me away one time, but then I realized that's what all those essays in high school were as well, the five-paragraph thesis and supporting argument thing was just an outline. (Albeit an easier one to write and follow...)

Yeah that's my biggest weakness with shorts. Either I write flash fiction or I structure it, because if I don't, it'll turn into a novel. Or a novella, which is damned hard to get published!

I started a short story today. Used an exercise to come up with a basic outline, now I'm going to change the setting and crime and time and make it sci-fi!

writing exercise - write the obituary.jpg

The outline practically writes itself! BTW, I don’t post these exercises to teach; rather to help. And I help myself by doing them as well. If you try this one, you’re more than welcome to share the results here. Let’s all encourage each other! Here’s my attempt at #WritetheObituary:

There are 3 steps to this exercise:
1. Come up with a character. A name is enough to start with.
2. Write a couple paragraphs (or more; I sometimes write a whole eulogy) about how they died. Make that death as interesting as you can!
3. Now work backward to explain the events which led to their end.

Truth is, there are as many ways to write a story as there are stories to write. But I’ve come across some exercises that have really helped me stop staring at the blank screen and start writing. The one I’d like to share with you today is called Write the Obituary, and it’s as simple as it sounds.

I’ve been asked how to structure and write short stories by members of my #CampRevPit #CRPWizardWasps cabin and other #WritersofBluesky recently. The most common piece of advice I’ve seen to that end is, read a bunch of short stories first. That’s great advice, but it doesn’t answer the question.

writing quote

Whenever I think a plot idea might be too risky...
#CRPWizardWasps
#WritersofBluesky

Yeah, I had a short published late last year after using thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com to find magazines to pitch. It's an old-looking site with a lot of functionality I didn't explore, I just clicked the search option in the menu at the top and assembled a list.

Thanks! I'm glad I'm not the only one benefitting from them!

On that note, I’m going to change the name of the feed path. I’ll post again once that’s up and republished. Feel free to follow the new feed, pop in and say hi any time, and hit me up with specific requests. Till then, enjoy the rest of your weekend, and write on!

I wasn’t on bluesky before #CampRevPit, and I hadn’t planned on using it much after this. But I think I’ll come back on Fridays or Saturdays to post a new weekly writing exercise. I do these exercises myself because they help my writing, and I share them in case others find them helpful.

Good evening #CRPWizardWasps! Writing is a journey with as many different paths as there are writers. It’s been such a privilege to be on overlapping paths these last two weeks with all of you. I’ve really enjoyed learning about your stories and getting to know your voices.

Create a cryptid whose behavior or territory forces your protagonist to change a habit. (For example, it hunts only certain types of people, or appears only when someone breaks a vow.)
Describe the cryptid's look and behavior, then write a scene where the character learns this the hard way.

Write two short witness reports of the same cryptid sighting — one from someone who saw it negatively (e.g. as an ill omen, or as a threat/danger), and one from someone who saw it positively (e.g. as a sign, or maybe as a savior). Focus on what details each person emphasizes or omits.

LOL I actually almost made one of the daily writing prompts about cryptids. But then I decided not everyone has cryptids in their stories, so I focused more on character and dialogue and action. That said, here’re a couple you might enjoy, one for existing cryptids, one for creating new ones:

Awesome!!

Whoo! #CRPWizardWasps, welcome to the LAST day of #CampRevPit! Our DAY 14/final INTERACTIVE: What are your writing goals for the next week? And what are your writing goals for the next month?

...to "throw" me. It impressed the crap out of everyone. But in that same workshop, she made an interesting remark: she said that, in a fast fight when you can't be precise, remember that the best/easiest-to-hit pressure point on the human body is the nose. Your Mia character reminds me of that.

What she did was, she gripped my face, pinching a pressure point under my jaw with her ring finger and another under my cheek bone with her thumb. The pain was so intense, I jumped. She got under me, swiveled her hips like a hip throw while shot putting my face. She used the momentum of my jump...

True story: I once attended a jujitsu pressure point workshop taught by a 4'10" 90lbs grandma. I was the biggest in the room (and an old friend), so she used me for demonstrations. On one of those, she picked me up by my face and threw me across the room. Or at least, that's what it looked like.

Eh, I don't know that it's unfortunate. Some do, some don't. The upside is, it's easier to get a short published, and that looks good when pitching a novel. But it isn't for everyone.

Nice!

writing exercise fight like you live

So, this exercise is called Fight Like You Live. There are two steps:
1. Devise a technique based on the character’s backstory or job, then
2. Write a short scene to test it out!
Here’s my attempt:

The trick is to develop a fighting style that mirrors a character’s background, like:
A pickpocket who fights with misdirection
A chemist who combines inert substances into weapons
A ballroom dancer who uses footwork to trip up an opponent
An engineer who uses structural weak points to trap an enemy

Good evening, #CRPWizardWasps! Action scenes can be page turners when they’re unique, or make readers tune out when they aren’t. One way to make them work is to tie the action to the character’s identity in such a way that no two fight scenes could be interchangeable between characters.

Morning, #CRPWizardWasps, welcome to the penultimate day of #CampRevPit! Our DAY 13 INTERACTIVE: How have your projects fared during these two weeks of camp? Have you made significant progress, changes to your MC, etc.? And do you have any requests, questions, needs, or feedback for us?

Well, it might be rude in most milieus, but in a world with names like Mrs. Pinder, it's just decorum.

Aw, I really like this moment. Well done.