A Writing Exercise
Our local writing group meets on Sunday and it'll be my first time pretending to be the new "fearless leader." Not that I'm in any way fearless (I shall hide my hands under the desk so they can't see them shaking). But I know there's going to be some new people there, so I guess we'll have to start by going round the room introducing ourselves.
I thought I'd add a new twist to the introductions this time--sort of a mental writing exercise to get us in the mood. I'm going to ask everyone to give us their name then say three sentences--no more; no less--that tell the story of their writing.
Sentence 1: How did you start out writing? There's probably lots of things you could tell; tons of remembered anecdotes about how you took up the pen (or keyboard perhaps). But you're only allowed to pick one detail and fit it in one short sentence, because brevity is the soul of wit, and details should be used sparingly.
Sentence 2: Where are you now in your writing? Again, one sentence--a simple sentence, not a three-page marathon. So if you have lots of irons in the fire, just pick one. Detail selection again. And...
Sentence 3: Where would you like to be? Out of all those dreams and desires, just tell us one in a simple sentence.
I'll probably have to set the ball rolling, so here's my sentences...
I'm Sheila Deeth. I started telling stories before I knew how to hold a pen. I've just had my first eBook published. And my dream is to be able to tell people I'm a writer and expect them to find my books in stores.
It's probably a hopeless dream, but where's the harm in that? What about you?
Next week, I plan to start posting a longer version of my writing journey on my Refracted blog. Hope to see you there.
I thought I'd add a new twist to the introductions this time--sort of a mental writing exercise to get us in the mood. I'm going to ask everyone to give us their name then say three sentences--no more; no less--that tell the story of their writing.
Sentence 1: How did you start out writing? There's probably lots of things you could tell; tons of remembered anecdotes about how you took up the pen (or keyboard perhaps). But you're only allowed to pick one detail and fit it in one short sentence, because brevity is the soul of wit, and details should be used sparingly.
Sentence 2: Where are you now in your writing? Again, one sentence--a simple sentence, not a three-page marathon. So if you have lots of irons in the fire, just pick one. Detail selection again. And...
Sentence 3: Where would you like to be? Out of all those dreams and desires, just tell us one in a simple sentence.
I'll probably have to set the ball rolling, so here's my sentences...
I'm Sheila Deeth. I started telling stories before I knew how to hold a pen. I've just had my first eBook published. And my dream is to be able to tell people I'm a writer and expect them to find my books in stores.
It's probably a hopeless dream, but where's the harm in that? What about you?
Next week, I plan to start posting a longer version of my writing journey on my Refracted blog. Hope to see you there.
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