Writing Exercise
I Was Robbed
Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter — What if? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers prompts — The Exercise — Here is the situation: You have just come out of the movie theater around seven in the evening, and you are mugged — a person asks for your money, then knocks you to the ground before running away. Or make up your own situation. Next, pretend you are telling the account of this event to five different people: Your mother, your best friend, your girlfriend or boyfriend (or wife or husband), a therapist, a police officer, The Objective — To become conscious of how we shape and shade the stories that we tell to each other according to the listener. Your characters also tell stories to each other and make selections about content according to who they are telling the story to, the effect they want the story to have, and the response they want to elicit from the listener. A lot of dialogue in fiction, in real life, is storytelling — and there is always the story listener who is as important in the tale as the tale itself.
By Denise E Lindquist4 months ago in Writers
Ink Made of Memory
One rainy evening, I opened an old notebook and found pieces of myself I thought had disappeared. The pages, worn from years of neglect, were filled with scribbled lines and trembling handwriting—fragments of thoughts I once thought too fragile to hold onto. At first, I felt the rush of nostalgia, the same familiar twinge of vulnerability I’d felt when I first wrote them. But as I sat there, reading the half-finished thoughts, I realized something unexpected: they had become bridges back to the person I once was.
By john dawar4 months ago in Writers
The Pages That Saved Me
I began writing only because I had nowhere else to place the weight I was carrying. Grief, fear, shame—each emotion felt like a stone tucked deep inside my chest, heavy enough to slow my breathing but invisible enough that no one around me noticed. I didn’t set out to create anything beautiful or profound. All I wanted was relief. A place to put the things I didn’t know how to say out loud.
By john dawar4 months ago in Writers
Why Security Tool Diversity Matters: Exploring the Best Snyk Alternatives for Modern DevSecOps Teams
In the world of application security, brand recognition can create a powerful sense of safety. Tools like Snyk have become household names, synonymous with developer-first security. Their success has rightfully highlighted the importance of shifting security left and empowering developers to own their code's integrity. For many organizations, Snyk is the default choice, a one-stop shop for securing the software development lifecycle.
By Shahid Publisher4 months ago in Writers
Sunday
Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter — What if? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers prompts — The Exercise — Title it “Sunday.” Write 550 words. The Objective — Certain words and ideas, such as retirement, in-laws, boss, and fraud, serve as triggers for stories or scenes in fiction. Sunday is one of these. Try to think of others.
By Denise E Lindquist4 months ago in Writers
When Silence Learns to Speak
Silence was the first language I ever learned. Not the silence of peace, but the silence that grows inside a person when their truth feels too fragile to release. I carried it like a second skin—thin, invisible, and impossible to peel away. People saw me as quiet, composed, gentle. They didn’t see the storms that raged beneath my ribs. They didn’t hear the words I swallowed day after day because I didn’t know where to put them.
By john dawar4 months ago in Writers
A Special Rock from Karelia—This Is Shungite?
Shungite is not just an ordinary black rock. It comes from the Karelia region of Russia and is believed to be around two billion years old—older than the first complex life on Earth. Because of this incredible age, unusual carbon structure, and unique abilities, shungite has continued to amaze scientists, teachers, and students for many years. Whether you’ve heard about it for its scientific value, its use in cleaning water, or its popularity in wellness trends, shungite remains one of the most fascinating natural materials ever discovered.
By Shahid Publisher4 months ago in Writers
OctoPrep Reasoning
Autumn. The leaves change colors. People return to school. Vacations slow down. And every year from 1999 to 2024, writers locked themselves in their rooms and chained themselves to their computers to write the next great novel of at least fifty thousand words.
By Reb Kreyling4 months ago in Writers
Walk with Medo. AI-Generated.
The morning was quiet, and the air smelled fresh after the night’s rain. My dog, Medo, was already waiting by the door, his tail wagging excitedly from side to side. As soon as I picked up the leash, he jumped with joy — he knew our favorite walk was about to begin.
By Tanja Dacovic4 months ago in Writers
Getting To School On Time
Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter — What if? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers prompts — The Exercise - Write five mini-stories (limit: 200 words each) to account for a single event or set of circumstances, such as a man and woman standing on a city sidewalk, hailing a cab. Each story should be different - in characters, plot, and theme - from the others. The Objective - To loosen the bonds that shackle you to a single, immutable version; to underscore the fact that plot is not preordained but something you can control and manipulate at will, like the strings of a marionette; and to demonstrate once more that there are many ways to skin a cat.
By Denise E Lindquist4 months ago in Writers
