This exercise requires a quick explanation up front, but I’ll explain where it comes from and what I’m doing with it below. The prompt itself is this: Brainstorm or free write around one or all of the following words: glass, willow, tile, edge, ring. Few of the houses have glass, because the scale is smallContinue reading “A Writer’s Notebook: Word association”
Category Archives: Writer's Notebook
A Writer’s Notebook: Found dialogue
The following conversation is not one I invented. I made up the characters and the situation, but the dialogue already existed. But I’ll explain below. Jacob smiled and leaned across the table. “It’s terribly funny,” he said. He winked. Sebastian shook his head. “You are pulling my leg.” Jacob only grinned. “You exaggerate!” Sebastian said. “SurelyContinue reading “A Writer’s Notebook: Found dialogue”
A Writer’s Notebook: A blank page
I spent part of this week in the hospital for a bleeding ulcer. Nothing life-threatening, but it did threaten to interfere with our travel plans. The good news is that it didn’t, and today, I am traveling. But those two things combined–the ulcer and the travel–have left me with a blank page for this week’sContinue reading “A Writer’s Notebook: A blank page”
A Writer’s Notebook: Character details
This story I’m writing about the character named Ford is ballooning, but in the best way–each week I find new ways to build it, expand it, let it breathe. But more on that below. Right now, five quick questions to help flesh out the character of Ford: a) What are the character’s physical attributes, fromContinue reading “A Writer’s Notebook: Character details”
A Writer’s Notebook: Descriptive outlines
Recently, I had the idea to write a new short story in a particular style, a genre I have practiced before but a long time ago. I’m out of practice. So I dug up some old examples and some new ones, and I started analyzing them for clues as to how to proceed. And thenContinue reading “A Writer’s Notebook: Descriptive outlines”
A Writer’s Notebook: Personal ads
Today’s exercise is in response to a 19th-century personal ad (you can read the ad and the blog entry about it here). For the exercise, see below. Matrimonial. – A young lady of prepossessing appearance, fascinating manners and romantic sentiments desires to open a correspondence with a gentleman with a view to matrimony. He mustContinue reading “A Writer’s Notebook: Personal ads”
A Writer’s Notebook: Likes and Dislikes
Still working on the character of Ford. This week, his likes and dislikes, which I’ll explain below. Ford likes the sound of cicadas in the summertime, the whirring from afternoon till dusk. He likes the heat, and the cicadas’ song always brings it. Ford likes old pick-ups, the big boxy kind from the `50s, theContinue reading “A Writer’s Notebook: Likes and Dislikes”
A Writer’s Notebook: Character interview
For a short set-up, I’ll reveal only that I’m currently thinking about—but not yet working on—a story about a character who is very difficult for me to understand, for reasons which will be apparent in the exercise itself. So this week, I decided to get to know him a little better by interviewing that character,Continue reading “A Writer’s Notebook: Character interview”
A Writer’s Notebook: Music and flash fiction
In the wake of last week’s Writer’s Notebook, my friend Ryan Werner sent me an e-mail with a challenge: Do it again. And this time, make it complete — in other words, write a piece of flash fiction. The actual exercise was more complicated than that (as usual, I’ll explain it below), but it wasContinue reading “A Writer’s Notebook: Music and flash fiction”
A Writer’s Notebook: Music and freewriting
I’ll explain the exercise more fully below, but, as I did with the “1,000 words” exercise, I need to mention this up front: I’m writing while listening to Edvard Grieg’s “Peer Gynt, Suite No. 1, Op. 46: Aase’s Death.” I can’t upload an audio clip of the piece without violating copyright, but you can hearContinue reading “A Writer’s Notebook: Music and freewriting”
Samuel Snoek-Brown 