Writing Exercise
The Abandoned, part 1
We’ve all heard something about ghost towns and abandoned buildings. You might think it’s a fascinating but rare phenomenon, but you’d be wrong. If you dig deeper, you’d find it’s actually quite common. Disturbingly common, in fact. There’s at least one in every U.S. state, and thousands around the world. When you add in vacant properties, the list probably balloons to millions.
By Gabriel Shames28 days ago in Writers
Bringing Abstractions To Life
Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter — What If? Writing Exercise for Fiction Writers prompts The Exercise — Make several of the following abstractions come to life by rendering them in concrete specific details or images. racism, injustice, ambition, growing old, salvation, poverty, growing up, sexual deceit, wealth, evil The Objective - To learn to think, always, in concrete terms. To realize that the concrete is more persuasive than any high-flown rhetoric full of fancy words and abstractions.
By Denise E Lindquistabout a month ago in Writers
2026: The Year of Writing and More Writing...
Happy New Year!! 2025 is over, which does have me a little down. It was an exciting year, especially for Jane Austen fans as it was Austen's 250th birthday this past December. I had really wished to do more throughout the year to celebrate this but unfortunately found myself with not much time or energy to do that. And maybe that is why I am very excited for this new year.
By The Austen Shelfabout a month ago in Writers
It's Winter . Top Story - January 2026.
Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter — What If? Writing Exercise for Fiction Writers prompts The Exercise —Write a scene involving two characters. Have the point-of-view character presume something entirely different about the situation from what the other character's overt behavior seems to imply. For example, a landlord comes to visit, and the tenant suspects that it isn't a visit but an inspection. Make up several situations in which one character can fantasize or project or suspect or even fear what another character is thinking. The Objective - To show how your characters can use their imaginations to interpret the behavior and dialogue of other characters.
By Denise E Lindquistabout a month ago in Writers
Five Stars for Dying
The day I was killed was the best day of my life. It just did, mostly because it got me out of Wednesday. The universe that morning was calling the roll, and I was not so much as present. My toaster felt the need to turn my bagel into a mini frisbee.
By Diane Fosterabout a month ago in Writers
Making A Short Story Less Long
Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter — What If? Writing Exercise for Fiction Writers prompts The Exercise — Here are the events that might make a long short story. Write a scenario in which you indicate + Where you would place a full scene or incidental scene. + Where you would use summaries, either narrative summaries or summarized scenes and indirect discourse. The Objective - To learn to identify which parts of a story should be presented in a scene and which parts of a story should be summarized. To develop an understanding of pace.
By Denise E Lindquistabout a month ago in Writers
