=Exercises=

The Tarot Card Exercise 

A favorite.


Nine Exercises to Help You Draft a New Story (or give you a fresh take on an old one)

These are some of my favorite exercises. (#4: A Plot has been published in The Craft: Essays on Writing from the Yale Writers' Conference Faculty.)

Three Revision Exercises 

What to do after you've written a draft.


An Exercise in Character

Your character from three different points of view.


An Exercise in Suspense

Learn something about suspense from Lee Child, John Gardner, Joss Whedon and Charlie Chaplin.


An Exercise Inspired by Dylan Thomas

This one is especially nice for the Christmas season.


Two Exercises in Stakes and Goals. 

Including a discussion of John Cheever's "The Country Husband."


Exercises in Getting Uncomfortable 

Think about how you might push yourself, and your characters, beyond the boundaries of the comfortable and familiar.


Lynda Barry's Four-Minute Diary Exercise

A great one for all kinds of writers. More of her exercises can be found in her book Syllabus.


Seven Short Exercises in Microfiction

Microfiction is a story told in 300 words or fewer. Practice writing, revision, and polishing, in miniature.


Tools

Writers' Tarot Cards

Characters

Problems

Single Words