Category Archives: Writing Challenge
Writing Challenge #15: Exposition
Show don’t tell is an important storytelling rule. But sometimes it’s useful to tell through exposition. Exposition a great way to get a few years to pass, for instance, or to set up a scene in a world that is … Continue reading
Writing Challenge #14: Pick a Song
Florence, of the wonderful blog fOIS in the City, offers this short but sweet prompt for today’s Writing Challenge: “Listen to your favorite song and when it ends, sit down and write what it called out to you.” Thanks, Florence! … Continue reading
Writing Challenge #13: Cut It Out
When a writer is lacking inspiration, looking at pictures can be key to adding color and texture to a fictional world. Many writers use images to help them get to know their characters or their setting. Lisa Rivero recently posted … Continue reading
Writing Challenge #12: Happy Leap Day!
It has been a while since I’ve run a writing challenge, likely because I’ve been so immersed in my sprawling rewrite. I so thoroughly enjoyed the flash fiction exercise I participated in recently that I decided to offer a prompt as today’s challenge. … Continue reading
Writing Challenge #11: Finish Something
I used to joke I had only knit three socks. Not three pairs. Three socks. My first pair came together rather quickly. Excited by the outcome, I began a second pair in a lovely reddish-pink Colinette Jitterbug yarn. I completed one … Continue reading
Writing Challenge #10: Keep an Eye on Your First Chapter
Many writers are in the midst of speeding through a 50,000-word novel for NaNoWriMo. This challenge isn’t for you–at least not this month! It’s for those of us working on manuscripts at a less aggressive pace. In fact, it’s all about … Continue reading
Writing Challenge #9: Coloring Your Fictional World
As writers, we work daily to avoid cliches and find our own way of saying things. Sometimes it’s easier to dash off a color word–like pink, for instance–to describe a character’s shirt or the kind of light entering the room. … Continue reading
Writing Challenge #8: Behind-the-Scenes Engineering
I recently completed Cascade, a baby cardigan, for a friend due this month. What looks like a sweet, simple leaf design is actually a complex feat of engineering. The designer is Raya Budrevich of Blissful Knits & Dyeworks, known for … Continue reading
Writing Challenge #7: Small Changes, Big Rewards
I usually write fiction double-spaced in Word with paragraph indents. When starting my new novel last fall, though, I opted to write single-spaced with no paragraph indents. Sure, it’s a very formal business-letter look. But each page appeared wildly different … Continue reading
Writing Challenge #6: Pick a Prompt and Go for It!
When I interviewed novelist Yuvi Zalkow, I suggested everyone view his presentation, “I’m a failed writer.” If you missed it, today’s challenge is for you. Pop over to his site. Watch all 14 minutes of “I’m a failed writer #1: Revisions.” You’ll … Continue reading
