A Photo to Keep You Going

Photo courtesy of: http://www.falcbooks.com

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When you finally get your book published, it will appear on bookshelves everywhere and be assigned one of these.

But first, you need to have something worth reading. You need to write something worth publishing. You need to craft something worth buying.

Are you ready for the challenge?

Let's Fantasize a Little Bit...

Authors pose for their novel bios. They can be dressed in a period costume, sitting on their favorite lawn chair while gazing into some far away dream, or simply staring at the camera and right at their reader. Your exercise consists in dreaming up your author bio and photo.

First, draw up a 100-200 word bio, which will appear in your novel. What are the things that are most important to you? What part of your identity are you willing to share? What do you want your readers to know? Save this bio and keep it in a place where you can access it easily, say, while working on your novel.

Second, set the timer on your camera and take your own pictures. This will take more than one try, and if you're way too amused with the exercise, you could spend the entire afternoon trying different poses out. Try out different clothes or costumes, and pose in different places with different expressions on your face. Upload your photos to your computer.

Pick out your best photo, find a way to resize it, and add it to your bio file. Now, your bio file is easily accessible, and it may look like a professional biography. Feel free to share it with your friends and ask them for suggestions on making it better.

Keep this file. It might serve as inspiration as you plod through the moors and thickets of the world of novel writing. You have something to aim for! Go for it!

A Colorless Exercise in Writing

http://utopiankitchen.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/snow.jpg

Your first job is to go to the link above to access the picture for this exercise.

Your next job is to write about that picture and describe it WITHOUT using the word "White," and without referring to any kind of color. There are many ways that you can go about this: you can describe what the picture makes you feel, what it reminds you of, or what led to the picture being taken. Whatever you do, you have 500 words or less to describe the picture without any reference to color.

This exercise should help you look for other ways to describe scenes without referring to color, and by utilizing all other senses. Some of the world's best writers can describe such a scene so that you make the colors in your head, simply because the scene is so vivid and real.

When you are done, post your work in the Comments section, or provide a link to it. Happy Writing and Good luck!

Pick Your Own Christmas Photo

It's time to go back to your old Christmas albums and get a Christmas photo out. The younger you are, the better. Make sure you pick a photograph that shows you clearly - you can be with other people, but you need to be seen clearly and not blocked by anybody else in the shot.

Relive that moment. Why was that picture taken? What was going on? What did you feel? Tell your readers about it in less than 500 words. Writers can recreate memories that they never had: this exercise should help you recreate your own memories and prepare you to create scenes later on.

When you are done, share your writing and picture in the comments section, or provide a link to your work.

Good luck, happy reminiscing, and happy writing!

Back to School!

http://www.cambridge2000.com/gallery/images/PC1617872e.jpg

Raphael's School of Athens is painted on one of the walls of the Vatican Museum. Filled with various characters from history, this painting could well be embedded with stories and legends.

What story can YOU pick up?


Look at all the characters and pick at least 3. Set your work in the School of Athens. What was life like? What are your characters like? What are their motivations? Where did they come from? Where are they going?

You can use up to 10,000 words for your story. Be as true as possible to how the characters appear in the painting, and if you can, do some historical research! When you are done, post your work in the Comments section, or provide a link to it.

Good luck and happy writing!

A Disaster in Pictures: Tales of a Flood

Credit: AFP/Xinua Photos

On September 26th, 2009, Typhoon Ketsana (local name: Ondoy) ravaged the Philippines, pouring down rain for hours. At the end of half-a-day's worth of rain, the Philippines had received the equivalent of one month's rainfall, and was submerged in water. Several areas were flooded heavily, and families were forced to flee their homes.

There are many stories that emerged from the disaster. An 18-year old boy swam to rescue 30 people before drowning in the flood waters. Movie stars helped their neighbors move out of their houses. Students sprang to action, joined task forces, and helped clean streets and gather donations. Aid is pouring in, but with more typhoons coming into the country, aid will never be enough.

Donate to the cause. You can visit http://purdueondoy.wordpress.com for details.

You can also post a creative essay on your blog about the photo above. What might have been going through the little girl's mind? What was that day like in the Philippines? Limit your entry to about 500 words and please repost the picture (along with its credits).

People all over the world need to be aware that so much has happened, and so much help is needed. Your story can be part of the global move to give the disaster more coverage online.

Good luck, and happy writing!

It’s Time to Go Colorless!

Can you describe a scene without using a single word that refers to color? It’s time for you to exercise your ability to go without color in this photo exercise. You can use similes that refer to other things; you can talk about scenes in terms of smell and sound; but never, ever use color.

The objective of this activity is to strengthen your ability to use a wider variety of words to describe your surroundings. Remember: show, don’t tell. You should therefore be able to call up images of a scene by showing, not telling your audience what the trees look like. It will take a lot of skill, so take your time and be patient. If you like, you can have a thesaurus next to you to help you pick out your words.

You have only 500 words at your disposal to describe this scene:


When you are done, post your “colorless” description in the Comments section, or provide a link to it. Good luck and happy writing!

Use Your Powers of Description II

For the second time, you are not going to write a story. You will need to describe flowers. With your powers of description, you should have a wider vocabulary and write creatively, so that you describe your tree without turning your audience off. Unlike many writers who neglect to add description to their work, you shall be different.

In this exercise, you need to describe flowers in five hundred words or less. You are provided with a photo to guide you. When you are done, post your work in the Comment section.



Good luck, and happy writing!

A Row of Crosses – a Tale?

A somber morning gives birth to crosses stretched across a field. Where does such a scene belong to? Why is this scene even there? What happened before? What happened after?

Write a short story that takes place within the span of three days, involving the information shown in this photograph. You can make the short story as long or as short as you like, as long as it provides insight into why the crosses are arranged like so in the photo given. You are in charge of your characters and plot, as long as you follow the rules above.

Provide a link to your story through the Comments section, or if your story is short enough, paste it there. Good luck, and happy writing!

Use Your Powers of Description

For the first time, you are not going to write a story. You will need to describe an object. This exercise will allow you to expand your vocabulary and exercise your ability to write creatively without losing the descriptive power of your words. For instance, you could say that a log of wood is brown – but what else can you say that would describe the log of wood uniquely and specifically without turning off your readers.

Many writers have lost the power of describing their surroundings. Be different.

Here's a little task for you. Describe a strawberry in five hundred words or less without using the word “red”. You are provided with a photo to guide you. When you are done, post your work in the Comment section.

Good luck, and happy writing!

Let's Get Cheesy!

You have two hearts, one made of milk chocolate, the other made of white chocolate. They are placed side by side. They are speckled with candy sprinkles. They have to be at the heart of your story.

You have a thousand words (or less) at your disposal, and your choice of plots and characters. You can choose to turn the hearts into the main characters, or they could be a plot tool. In any case, your story has to involve these two hearts. If your story turns out too cheesy, don't fret! It's yet another exercise in using photos to get yourself a plot.

When you are done, post your story in the Comments section, or post a link to it. Good luck and happy writing!

A Tale for a Token

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A stone rests on wood and looks out upon woods and trees. How did the stone get there? Why is it there? Where in the world are we? These are only a few questions that you may want to answer about this picture. However, you may have your own, so feel free to answer them.

Let's say that this photo was given to you for captioning. You need a title, and you need to provide a caption for it. The caption should be no more than 100 words. It can be written in prose or poetry. You can put a story in or write a mini-essay. In any case, you need only a hundred words to describe this photo.

Put in your titles and captions in the comments section of this blog entry. Good luck and happy captioning!

What the...?

And the title does say it all. What the...?

It's your job as a writer to tell us what the heck happened. A frozen fountain, a smattering of snow, and a day in the depths of winter. What's happening? What happened? What's about to take place?

Take as much time and space as you need and like. You only need to let the photo above guide you on your quest to a great story.

Oh, and don't forget to post your story in the comments section, or at least give everyone a link to it! Good luck, and happy writing!

The Photo Prompt: Some Winter Foraging

Here's your photo. Now, get to work! What's this squirrel thinking? Where is he going? Where did he come from? Whether it's a short story or an essay, let your writing set your ideas free. And, when you're done, do post your work in the comments section, or just post a link to your finished product.

Happy New Year!

All Green on the Road, All Words on Your Sheet

This photo should help you write a short story of about 1000 words. Pick your own plot, characters, setting, and everything that you need. All you need is this photo to inspire you.

Post your stories or a link to them in the comments section.

Good luck and happy writing!

The Photo Prompt: A Blurred City

A blurred city at night, and an onslaught of light. It's time for you to write fiction.

Use this photo as your guide, and don't forget to post your story/chapter/novel/epic/masterpiece in the comments section (or a link please, lest the comments box explode due to text density).

Good luck, and happy writing!

A New Class of Tips: Photos!

If a picture speaks a thousand words, can a picture also generate a thousand words? If I presented you with this picture, what would you write about?


This is a fresh category of tips for you to use as you practice writing. What does a picture tell you? How did the objects in the picture get there? Where will they go next? Is there more to this picture than meets the eye? What's really happening? Is there something that you know that no one else does?

All you need to do is look at the picture, maybe follow a few directions - and then WRITE.

Watch this site for more photos and prompts!