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In honor of Thanksgiving, write about an uprising staged by a group of resentful turkeys in protest of their featured place at the Thanksgiving table.
Write for fifteen minutes. When you’re finished, post your practice in the comments section. And if you post, please be sure to comment on a few practices by other writers.
Have fun and happy Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving is probably one of the bigger love-it-or-hate-it holidays of the year. If family is involved, it can be either a relaxing time to stuff your face full of tryptophan, or (and this seems more common), it’s an all-hell-breaks-loose affair, with aunts fussing in the kitchen and stressing out over the meal, uncles arguing in the TV room during the football games, little cousins running around screaming their heads off because they’ve had too much pie, and the one sane man/woman sitting in the middle of the chaos trying desperately to harness some sort of chi to keep sanity alive.
Thanksgiving is a not a dull day.
That last sentence seems like a gross understatement, right? That’s what’s known as a litote. A litote is an understatement used to underscore a greater point; in this case, the point is that in most cases, Thanksgiving is absolute insanity.
It takes 21-28 days to create a new habit—though some research has found it takes as many as 66 days. It takes 10,000 hours to become a “master” at something complex—hence the reason we have a resource like The Write Practice.
But when starting an exercise program, they say it’s important to schedule “rest days” so your body has time to rebuild and grow stronger. Skipping those rest days only leads to injury and burn-out.
So what does that mean for writing?
In my creative writing class when students are required to write a short-story, they often write about themselves. It’s a good idea to write what you know, and I’ve encouraged some to turn their story into a memoir.
I’m happy to announce that as I write this, the Show Off Anthology is being printed.
After a year’s worth of work, we are finally seeing the fruit: real paper, ink, that swish-swish-swish of flipping pages, a print book. This is a first for me, and I’m thrilled about it.
What do you do when you get stuck with your writing? There isn’t one answer of course, but I hope your first thought settles on reading. Assuming you’re an avid reader, a bibliophile, or a writer, at some point you’ve probably thought with regret about the limited scope of reading you can do in a lifetime. The latest boom in publishing (online, self-publishing, indie publishing), brings countless piles of books to to the reader. How to choose the right ones?
I have to credit Joe with suggesting the idea, just in time for writers plowing through NaNoWriMo. Seriously, it’s November 9, already. Have you hit a creativity wall yet?
Yes? Here’s a crazy idea: Adoption.
Did you see them? Or did they go unnoticed? The person in the car behind you. The people at the table beside you.
I was going to try to tie the election into today’s post, but after twelve out of fourteen ads during Jeopardy were campaign ads, I realized that I have no desire to give either of the candidates that satisfaction. Just make sure you go vote today.
And now, on to more important things, like bathos.
The best part about Daylight Saving Time in the fall is that extra hour we receive. Twenty-five hours in one day. A dream come true, right?
And while you may not realize it, that extra hour offers a prime time to tap into your imagination—without any effort on your part. That’s right—it’s possible to generate ideas in your sleep.
Whether they’re realistic or completely fantastical, dreams are a wonderful source for unique story ideas. You simply have to realize their creative potential. Here are a few ways to mine your dreams for your next big idea: