This Week's Practice Exercise

Similes at Work
Prepared by: Ruth Douillette
Posted on: Sunday, September 29, 2013

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Exercise: In 400 words or less, write the beginning of a scene in which you describe a person, place, or thing using one or two similes.

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Similes, when sprinkled sparingly, add interest to a story. Used effectively they can show the reader an element of your story faster and more effectively than straight description. Too many, and they begin to jar the reader; too far off the mark, and they look silly.

Be alert in everyday life for the things that remind you of something else and you'll have similes at your fingertips when you need them to add a visual image to your writing:

Grandma's skin draped her face like the folds of the bedspread she'd slept under since she was thirteen.

Grandma's skin was as smooth as river rocks, and just as firm.

Both similes give an instant picture of grandma, and are more visual than a basic description: Grandma was wrinkled.

These similes were visual, but you may use any of the five senses.

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Exercise: In 400 words or less write the beginning of a scene in which you describe a person, place, or thing using one or two similes.

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Critique by commenting on the effectiveness of the similes to enhance the description. Were the similes fresh and original?

These exercises were written by IWW members and administrators to provide structured practice opportunities for its members. You are welcome to use them for practice as well. Please mention that you found them at the Internet Writing Workshop.

This Week's Practice Exercise

Cowards Among Us
Prepared by: Charles Hightower
Posted on: 22 September 2013

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In 400 words or less, show us an individual who succumbs to an act of cowardice. The act might be a one-time event, or it could reflect on the person's overall character.

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One definition of cowardice might be, "lack of courage in facing danger or difficulty." Examples of that would be when a person tries to avoid death or injury, such as the soldier who disobeys an order to attack, a policeman who pretends to be far away from an active shootout, or the captain of a sinking cruise ship who abandons his passengers to their fate. Sometimes people shrink from failure: an athlete might fake an injury to avoid playing in the big game, or an author might not submit a finished work out of fear of rejection. And some people simply turn away from confrontation: witnessing a crime or observing a classmate cheating, but doing nothing.

Make sure you demonstrate, without telling, how the character feels about the act of cowardice. If appropriate, give clues as to whether those around the individual are aware of / suspect the cowardice.

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In 400 words or less, show us an individual who succumbs to an act of cowardice. The act might be a one-time event, or it could reflect on the person's overall character.

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In your critique, tell the author whether the central character's behavior and/or emotions seem genuine. Do we understand why this character made this choice? Could we forgive him or her? From what the author has told you, do you think that the character would act the same way again?

These exercises were written by IWW members and administrators to provide structured practice opportunities for its members. You are welcome to use them for practice as well. Please mention that you found them at the Internet Writing Workshop.

This Week's Practice Exericse

The Shadow Knows

Prepared by: Alice Folkart
Posted on: June 23, 2013

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Exercise: Write a piece of no more than 400 words in which a shadow or shadowing plays an important role. This could be a character sketch, a flash piece, memoir, poem, or a start on something longer.

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You may write anything that concerns 'a shadow,' but you could start with one of the following:
* Is someone being "shadowed?" (i.e., followed)
* Does a character discover his "shadow" side, i.e., the dark side of his personality?
* Does someone live "in the shadows?" (e.g., is depressed, in hiding, or under some constraint)
* Does someone live in the shadow of another person, e.g., son overshadowed by a father?
* Does a character have a strong impact on others or situations, e.g., "cast a long shadow?"
* Does a 'shadowy character' figure importantly?
* Perhaps a shadow on an X-ray or a window curtain plays an important part.

Be creative and imaginative. Enjoy the exercise.

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Exercise: Write a piece of no more than 400 words in which a shadow or shadowing plays an important role. This could be a character sketch, a flash piece, memoir, poem, or a start on something longer.

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In your critique consider the writer's creative approach to the idea of the shadow. Is it fresh, unique, interesting? What do you like about it? What works or doesn't? Could the idea be explored further? Could the author improve the piece? How?




These exercises were written by IWW members and administrators to provide structured practice opportunities for its members. You are welcome to use them for practice as well. Please mention that you found them at the Internet Writing Workshop.

This Week's Practice Exercise

Dialog Tells The Story (v.2)

Prepared by: Alex Quisenberry
Reposted on: June 16, 2013

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Exercise: In a two-person dialog of no more than 400 words show us as much as you can about the characters' personalities and their situation. Stick to their own words.  Use as little exposition/description as possible.

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Listen to people talking. How are their words strung together? Are the speakers aiming for meaning or for effect?  Do they speak formally, in complete sentences and well-thought-out paragraphs, or do they use verbal shortcuts? From their conversation, what can you tell about their moods, their ages, backgrounds, emotional states, their relationships, their personalities, their "stories"?

Well-written dialog puts us with the characters and tells us a lot about them and their situation.

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Exercise: In a two-person dialog of no more than 400 words show us as much as you can about the characters' personalities and their situation.  Stick to their own words.  Use as little exposition/description as possible.

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In your critique you should aim to tell the author whether you get a clear picture of the two characters through the dialog and explain why. Are the two voices distinct?  What do these characters tell us about themselves and their relationship through their conversation?  Are they believable? Are they interesting?  Can we tell where they are and why they are there?  If it is important to the piece, can we tell the sex and age of these people?  What did you like best about the author's use of dialog?  Do you see room for improvement?




These exercises were written by IWW members and administrators to provide structured practice opportunities for its members. You are welcome to use them for practice as well. Please mention that you found them at the Internet Writing Workshop.

This Week's Practice Exercise

What You Don't Know (Version 2)

Prepared by Ruth Douillette
Posted: Sunday, 10 February 2013

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Exercise: In 400 words or less, write a scene in which a character's secret is discovered, and show how that revelation causes others to behave in ways that reveal their true nature.

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People are not always what they seem. They keep secrets, hide skeletons in closets, or don't speak of an illness they have. On a less somber note, they may downplay their wealth or status, or keep an achievement quiet. When such a secret is revealed, other people react in various ways. Writers can use such a situation to add conflict to a plot and to show their readers more about the characters involved.

An example of such a revelation might be when a husband survives a plane crash, and the stunned wife discovers that he had been traveling with another woman with whom he had had a child years before. Such a revelation might change not only the marriage, but also the husband and wife. What would the actions of these people tell us about their character and their feelings?

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Exercise: In 400 words or less, write a scene in which a character's secret is discovered, and show how that revelation causes others to behave in ways that reveal their true nature.

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Critique by discussing how the revelation changes the perspectives of the characters involved. What is learned about the characters from their response to what has been uncovered? Does the piece work or not? And, if so, why? How could it be improved?

These exercises were written by IWW members and administrators to provide structured practice opportunities for its members. You are welcome to use them for practice as well. Please mention that you found them at the Internet Writing Workshop.

This Week's Practice Exercise

Detective Work

Prepared by: Charles Hightower
Posted on: 6 January 2013

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Exercise: In 400 words, provide a scene where you introduce us to a detective of your own invention. You might show the detective at a crime scene, interrogating a suspect, or interviewing a witness. Your goal is to build a character we'll want to follow into intrigue or danger. Be sure to show, rather than tell us about the character.

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Many of us have read our share of detective novels. You'll often find a few among the bestsellers for any given year. In a great many book series, television shows, and movies, a detective with ordinary human frailties struggles to bring a culprit to justice.

Lieutenant Colombo is a quirky, likable fellow that criminals often underestimate. Special Agent Pendergast seems a throwback to the 19th century. Alex Cross is a psychologist, always trying to outthink his quarry. Lucas Davenport is a bare-knuckled brawler, sometimes willing to overstep the law. Brenda Leigh Johnson is skilled in trapping murderers in a web of their own lies. Each has a different style and manner of conducting business.

Your detective might be a law officer, a private investigator, or even a citizen who is swept into the role. You might demonstrate how he or she interacts with peers, clients, suspects, or witnesses. Their behavior in return may provide insight into how the character is perceived, and therefore guides us in our initial perception.

What might we glean from dress, manner, grooming, and dialogue? What clues might indicate his or her motivations? Does the character appear to be lawful, sleazy, or somewhere in-between?

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Exercise: In 400 words, provide a scene where you introduce us to a detective of your own invention. You might show the detective at a crime scene, interrogating a suspect, or interviewing a witness. Your goal is to build a character we'll want to follow into intrigue or danger. Be sure to show, rather than tell us about the character.

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In your critique, tell the author whether a believable character of interest has been crafted, and explain why you feel that way. Would you want to continue reading about the character and the investigation? What could be done to strengthen the writing or to improve the reading experience?



These exercises were written by IWW members and administrators to provide structured practice opportunities for its members. You are welcome to use them for practice as well. Please mention that you found them at the Internet Writing Workshop.

This Week's Practice Exercise

What's Going On Here?

Prepared by: Bob Sanchez
Posted on: April 20, 2008
Reposted on: May 9, 2010
Reposted on: December 30, 2012

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Exercise: In 400 words or less, write a scene building on the basic information provided here. Be sure to make each character's motivations clear, and let us know something of each one's personality.

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A woman runs on a quiet stretch of road. She isn't wearing running clothes,  but she moves quickly. Not far behind, a man in street clothes also runs. A canal parallels the road on one side; on the other side are scattered houses. A half mile down the road, a brick building.

So what's going on here?  Let us in on the story through the point of view of either character. Add any sensory and descriptive details at your discretion, but be sure we understand the motivations of the characters. What do they want? What do they have to do with each other? Do their goals coincide, or do they conflict? Can we see a quality or personality trait that drives each person? The reader does not necessarily have to learn the outcome, as long as the situation is clear.

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Exercise: In 400 words or less, write a scene building on the basic information provided here. Be sure to make each character's motivations clear, and let us know something of each one's personality.

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In your critique, tell whether the writer has clearly established the situation. Are the individual goals clear? Do we have a sense of their respective personalities?

These exercises were written by IWW members and administrators to provide structured practice opportunities for its members. You are welcome to use them for practice as well. Please mention that you found them at the Internet Writing Workshop.

This Week's Practice Exercise

Caught in the Act

Prepared by: Alice Folkart
Posted on: December 2, 2012

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In 400 words or less write a scene in which someone is 'caught in the act.' Focus on the emotions of the person who discovers what is going on and of the person who is caught. Your scene could rely heavily on description and inner dialogue, or it could give you an opportunity to use dialogue to provide back story. You could open your scene with the 'catching,' or build up to it.

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The 'act' can be something good or something not so good: a child swiping a cookie from the cookie jar, someone doing an anonymous good turn, or a jewel thief helping herself to diamonds, the church secretary taking a cut of the tithes. The scene could show a wife catching her husband in an act that is not what she expected to find—she might be suspecting that her husband is fooling around with her best friend, but when she confronts them, she finds that they're planning a surprise party for her.

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In 400 words or less write a scene in which someone is 'caught in the act.' Focus on the emotions of the person who discovers what is going on and of the person who is caught. Your scene could rely heavily on description and inner dialogue, or it could give you an opportunity to use dialogue to provide back story. You could open your scene with the 'catching,' or build up to it.

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In your critique, consider whether the writer elicits your sympathy for any of the characters, and whether the surprise of catching someone at something is well set up. From the details of this short scene are you able to imagine what went before and might come after. Would you read more?

These exercises were written by IWW members and administrators to provide structured practice opportunities for its members. You are welcome to use them for practice as well. Please mention that you found them at the Internet Writing Workshop.

This Week's Practice Exercise

Opening Up (Version 2)


Prepared by: Pam Hauck
Posted by Norman Cooper
Posted on Sunday, October 21, 2012

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Exercise: In 400 words or less, write an opening for a story or novel that will make your readers want to know more, to turn the page and keep going.

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Read the opening paragraphs of a novel or story you like. Does it start with a bang or more subtly, planting a question or a seed? What in the opening makes you want to continue reading?

The best stories grab a reader's attention immediately. Whether you are writing a short story, novel or memoir, your first few paragraphs must persuade a reader to turn the page and see what happens next.
Thus an effective opening is essential.

Three ways to rivet your reader are often cited: promise a fascinating plot, portray a character who demands to be known better, or write prose that enchants the reader from the start. There may be others.

For this exercise, you are asked to write something that will make us all want you to go on for pages more. Don't attempt to write a complete story--write only the opening that will keep your readers glued to your page.

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Exercise: In 400 words or less, write an opening for a story or novel that will make your readers want to know more, to turn the page and keep going.

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In your critiques, explain what makes you want to read more, or why you think the writer has failed in the effort. As always, discuss the writing as a whole.

These exercises were written by IWW members and administrators to provide structured practice opportunities for its members. You are welcome to use them for practice as well. Please mention that you found them at the Internet Writing Workshop.

This Week's Practice Exercise

Turn The Page

Prepared by: Norman Cooper

Posted on: October 14, 2012

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Exercise: In 400 words or less write a scene that puts your character right in the middle of some exciting action.

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Action scenes on film involve our eyes and ears (and if the sound in the theater is loud enough, our whole body). However, in print, our principal tool is detailed description. Details help the reader imagine what the action feels like based on sensory experience.

Action can be anything from a bomb squad technician working against the clock, to a man fleeing from would-be attackers on a crowded city sidewalk, to a boxer in the fight of his life. If the reader is involved in the story, he/she will feel the sweat on the technician’s brow, the panic of the pursuit, or the exhaustion of the fighter.

Action scenes are challenging ways to provide conflict in your story. In mystery and suspense novels, action scenes usually heighten the tension and move the plot along. "Show” don't “tell” when describing action.

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Exercise: In 400 words or less write a scene that puts your character right in the middle of some exciting action.

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In your critique, tell the writer whether the action made you squirm. Did it raise the tension to an uncomfortable level? Give examples of detail that worked or didn't work. Could the writing have been tighter? Was the piece balanced? Did the action scene fit realistically into a plot or was it just one big car chase or explosion? Would you read on?



These exercises were written by IWW members and administrators to provide structured practice opportunities for its members. You are welcome to use them for practice as well. Please mention that you found them at the Internet Writing Workshop.

This Week's Practice Exercise

Music to my ears.


Prepared by: Alice Folkart
Posted on: Sunday, October 7, 2012

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Exercise:  In 400 words or less, write a scene in which a musical instrument is important.

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Your scene could be written from the point of view of someone hearing an instrument being played, wanting to be able to play an instrument, listening to someone practice (happily or unhappily), or even, if you dare, from the point of view of the instrument itself.

You could write about an unusual instrument, something from another culture; or about a musical instrument associated with an historical person or event, e.g., the little drummer boy, or bagpipers rousing men for battle, or a bugle playing Taps.

You could write about a concert experience, or about someone whose "life" is his instrument, the virtuoso, the wannabe, or the has-been.   How do you feel about accordions?  Did your mother make you practice piano/violin/kettle drums every day when you were a kid?

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Exercise:  In 400 words or less, write a scene in which a musical instrument is important.

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In your critique tell the author whether or not the work fits the exercise and why.  Let the author know what you think worked or didn't work, and why.

And, in this particular exercise, you might also want to consider the author's handling of the sense of sound, not only the physical sound, but its emotional effect.  Does he write about the sound of an instrument in such a way that the reader will share the experience?  Is the piece wildly creative, or reassuringly factual?  What did you learn from it that will affect your own writing?


These exercises were written by IWW members and administrators to provide structured practice opportunities for its members. You are welcome to use them for practice as well. Please mention that you found them at the Internet Writing Workshop.

This Week's Practice Exercise

Transitions (Version 3)

Prepared by: Florence Cardinal
Revised by: Bob Sanchez
Posted on: Sun, 23 Sep 2012

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Exercise: In 400 words or less, move a character from point A to point B or from one time frame to another smoothly and quickly. Make us aware of the scene change without bogging us down in excess prose.
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Transitions, moving someone from one place to another, or from one time frame to another, are difficult for many writers. If you move your character too quickly, your audience may feel disoriented and it may take them a few moments to realize what has happened.

On the other hand, you can't show every step your character takes, or every second that passes as he moves from spring to winter.

Write a scene where you transport your character to a different time or place without jolting the reader or including too many unnecessary details. For example, if your character is sitting in the boss's office being reprimanded before being let go, you need to get him out of the office and into the bar with a clear transition the reader can follow and a minimum of fuss.

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Exercise: In 400 words or less, move a character from point A to point B or from one time frame to another smoothly and quickly. Make us aware of the scene change without bogging us down in excess prose.

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Critique by telling how well the writer takes us from one location or time to another. Does the transition knit the scenes together seamlessly, or do we feel as if we've hit a speed bump or a pothole?

These exercises were written by IWW members and administrators to provide structured practice opportunities for its members. You are welcome to use them for practice as well. Please mention that you found them at the Internet Writing Workshop.

This Week's Practice Exercise

Suddenly, things change.

Prepared by: Carter Jefferson
Posted on: Sunday, 2 September 2012

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Exercise: In 400 words or less, show us a character at the moment this person's life is suddenly changed by an event outside his or her control. Some examples: a death, a lottery win, a physical accident, an award, a failure. Let us learn from the character's immediate actions what sort of person he or she is.

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Different people react differently in similar situations. While one man might cry and call his wife when he hears that his father has died, another might breathe a sigh of relief, head for a bar, or make plans on how to spend his inheritance. What he does depends on circumstances both past and present, what he has learned about life, whether he is rich or poor, and any number of other things.

What you are to do is show the event that causes the change, and then use whatever happens next to show us something of what the character is like. This doesn't have to be the start of a story, but it  could be.

If you need an example, read Roald Dahl's "Lamb to the Slaughter." In that case, the sudden change comes in the middle of the story, and the ending is classic Dahl.

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Exercise: In 400 words or less, show us a character at the moment this person's life is suddenly changed by an event outside his or her control. Some examples: a death, a lottery win, a physical accident, an award, a failure. Let us learn from the character's immediate actions what sort of person he or she is.

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In your critiques, let the writer know that you see the event and understand the character's reaction. What does that reaction tell you about the character? As always, critique the writing--comment on the setting and the way the events are presented.


These exercises were written by IWW members and administrators to provide structured practice opportunities for its members. You are welcome to use them for practice as well. Please mention that you found them at the Internet Writing Workshop.

This Week's Practice Exercise

Good Samaritan

Prepared by: Alice Folkart
Posted on Sun, August 12, 2012

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In 400 words or less describe a good deed and its consequences.

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Show what happens when someone helps someone else. Does the story end there, or go on? Is the help useful and in time? Is it embarrassing?

Some people are afraid to do a good deed, afraid that it will involve them in someone else’s life. Some people are afraid to help an injured person because they could be sued by that person or her family, injuries blamed on their efforts?

What would happen if we helped a little old man who has fallen down on the sidewalk, or calmed a toddler who has become separated from her mother, or instituted a neighborhood-wide effort to help a family in trouble? When we’ve got money, would any of us think to anonymously pay for the groceries of a poor mother with a grocery cart only half full of the most basic foods and several hungry-looking children trailing her?

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In 400 words or less describe a good deed and its consequences.

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In your critique consider whether the writer has described both the situation and the emotions. Do we ‘see’ the people and place? What do we think of the character’s efforts to help someone? Would we have done the same? Does the piece make you want to read on and find out what happens?

These exercises were written by IWW members and administrators to provide structured practice opportunities for its members. You are welcome to use them for practice as well. Please mention that you found them at the Internet Writing Workshop.

So You Want to Write a Novel?

Thoughts on Getting Started
by Rick Bylina

Short of a long class, spending lots of money, and time (months, not the three day or week long classes that will blow a gasket in your cranium with too much material too fast), my ultimate suggestion for someone starting with a blank slate and trying to organize and frame a story is as follows:

1. Bring a large notepad and buy a cup of coffee in your favorite bookstore and read THE MARSHALL PLAN FOR NOVEL WRITING by Evan Marshall. Okay, everyone stop snickering. I mean it! Right now! No snickering! Yeah, it's how to do genre fiction, but if your goal is to get a grasp over the entirety of writing a novel in a nutshell, this is a good place to start with many practical pieces of information and many of the "writing rules."

2. Buy, read, and digest STORY by Robert McGee. It is the kick you in the groin version of "this is what you need to know and damn it you better listen to me." Because, well, he's right about most of it.

3. Buy and mark-up SCENE AND STRUCTURE by Jack Bickham. This gives you some of the nuts and bolts necessary to nail down how scenes and chapters are pulled together at a more detailed level.

4. Watch very carefully the following movies:

• The Fugitive
• Casablanca
• Adaptation
• Memento
• Double Indemnity
• The Sixth Sense

5. Write, write, write. Read, read, read.

6. Many very good books can help you edit your story, but I would recommend using MANUSCRIPT MAKEOVER by Elizabeth Lyon to fix what you broke along the way and tighten what you've learned in steps 1, 2, and 3.

7. Now that you have all the rules together -- Break them! Bend them! Stomp on them! -- like some Friday night wrestler pouncing on the dancing baby from Ally McBeal.

8. Supplement your learning with a good workshop...one that focuses on your material (not one that makes you write a lot of useless writing exercises about the last time you wet your pants while in the first grade). I recommend Writers Retreat Workshop in Erlanger, Kentucky. Ten days of hands-on with incredible exposure during the workshop to the staff, agents, and editors, and ongoing support after leaving the workshop.

9. Remember:

• Character is plot.
• All the main characters need a motivation and goals for their actions; otherwise, you get meaningless action and stereotypes.
• Less is more.
• "To be" verbs are not evil, but need to be sprinkled lightly.
• If you are bored with what you are writing, so are your readers.
• Adjectives and adverbs are not the enemy; they just aren't your friends.
• Whenever possible, drop "said" and use some action to indicate who the speaker is.
• Eat more chocolate.
• Remember the four firsts: sentence, paragraph, page, and chapter. They must grab the reader to keep them interested in reading on.
• There are an infinite number of stories to be written.
• Literary fiction is a title conferred on your work, not something you write. Write what you want, but "understand" the marketing and story-telling reality behind the genres.

10. Don't be afraid to write crap (see BIRD BY BIRD by Anne Lamott or ON WRITING by Stephen King). All writer's do it, but then they move on. And that is the entire key to writing, because in the world of writing, there is only one rule.

Writers write! Everything else is a guideline.

Hints, Tips, and Resources

IWW members are able to manipulate their list server settings (going "nomail," changing over to the digest version, signing off a list) with a series of commands which can be found at this link.

Members are always sharing writing resources. Three offered lately include "Pain in the English," "Grammar Resources from the University of Chicago," and thoughts on "Passive Voice."

And chief administrator Greg Gunther often reminds members that the IWW list server computer wants to see Plain Text and only Plain Text. Here's his online resource about how you can make the list server happy.

For those whose posts to the workshop appear "with garbage characters," here is a way to clean them up. You go to this website. There you'll see two data-entry boxes, one above the other. In the top one, you paste your text as copied directly from Word. Click the "Clean" button below the lower box. This causes the corrected plain text to appear in the lower box. Select it all (Ctrl-A), copy it, and paste it into our submission to the workshop. If you have problems, please contact me.

Watch Your Language!

Watch your language
A technical observation by Edith Parzefall

Of course, as writers you should always pay close attention to the words you use, but maybe so far you didn't pay attention to all the important things...

A tale from Cyberspace ...

I tried to submit a chapter of my current work in progress to Novels-L. It didn't come through, so I tried again two days later. It still didn't work. The crits I sent during those two days appeared on the list just fine. So I contacted our admins, who were slightly baffled by the phenomenon.

I also told a friend on the list and she offered to submit the chapter for me. It didn't work from her account either. Very puzzling. By now I had three of our admins working on the problem with me -- all of them highly fascinated.

Bob carried out some tests and was able to determine the problem had to be somewhere in the e-mail body.

Greg suggested to chop up the chapter and narrow down the problem. I did.

After hours of testing various fragments of the chapter with a different server, I found the culprits and slapped my forehead:


My heroine says to a guy with a huge revolver: "Nice penis enlargement." And a few paragraphs before I used another word frequently used by spammers who offer to enhance your love life. The combination triggered the spam filter.

Spam, spam, spam ...

No wonder spammers have no chance on the IWW mailing lists!

Lesson learned the hard way, but at least the mystery is solved.

A big thank you to our admins!