Sunday, January 29, 2012

What beginnings mean to me

First blog post ever - here we go!

There are lots of beginnings and endings in life but this blog is about writing.  There are many ways to begin a story.  It's fun thinking about first lines, first chapters, and characters.  I've had so much fun with writing exercises that jumpstart the beginnings of a character, setting, or story that I hope to make them enjoyable for anyone.

So many people say they don't like writing exercises.  For some reason, I love them. 
This is why.
  • If you don't have time to write as much as you'd like (like so many of us), doing a few minutes of free writing can give you a creativity boost where there was none before.
  • It can be the beginning of something bigger, longer, drawing you in to something new. You have the opportunity to open up without censors or judging. (At least, hopefully, not right away!)
  • A writing exercise can be as short as 2 mins, 5 mins or longer if you caught up in the fun.
  • It can be simple and easy and nobody has to see them but you.  Or, if you're in a writing/ critique group, it's a nice way to start a session and you can share or not.  OR you can share them with me here.
  • Also, exercises apply to all genres, children's, adult, poetry, or you can focus an exercise on a specific character or setting or plot point.
There's nothing to lose but a couple of minutes and possibly so much to gain!
I'll post a writing exercise one day a week or so, then add my writing from it after that.
I hope you'll join me and perhaps even post a sentence or two of your own writing from the exercise. It's interesting to see how different each person interprets the same prompts.
And to prove my point about beginnings and starting something new, my friend csperryess has posted a recent appropriate blog by chance!

Endings, to me, could be the manuscript ready to send off, share with other writers, or the finished product with reviews and insight.  My friend Lynn Becker may pop by with a few reviews and her amazing insight and I hope others will stop by on a blog tour or with some other fabulous writing endeavor.

Good luck to us all!  Thanks for stopping by.
Angela