What If? is the first handbook for writers based on the idea that specific exercises are one of the most useful and provocative methods for mastering the art of writing fiction. With more than twenty-five years of experience teaching creative writing between them, Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter offer more than seventy-five exercises for both beginners and more experienced writers. These exercises are designed to develop and refine two basic skills: writing like a writer and, just as important, thinking like a writer. They deal with such topics as discovering where to start and end a story; learning when to use dialogue and when to use indirect discourse; transforming real events into fiction; and finding language that both sings and communicates precisely. What If? will be an essential addition to every writer's library, a welcome and much-used companion, a book that gracefully borrows a whisper from the muse.
Look below for new exercises
TITLES CAN BE THE STORY
Write five quite long titles for five different stories. Each title must have a minimum of twelve words. Don’t think about characters or situation or conflict. Let language be the enginethat drives the train and if you pick up a passenger or two, or happen upon a dramatic event, so be it. In fact, you might be surprised at how the selected words will often have a story tagging along. This exercise can be a good icebreaker at a conference or writers’ retreat, a warm-up exercise of sorts. I’ve done it with an audience of 50 or more. I allow ten minutes for the writing of two or three long titles, and then ask for a few volunteers to read theirs. Afterward, everyone writes one of their long titles on tables covered with brown paper, or a white board, and people read them and vote with a check for those they like. Winners receive something…
STRANGE ENCOUNTERS
Actually, the important word is “encounter” it needn’t be strange. So, write an encounter story in which two people meet, engage, reunite, run into, or cross paths, etc. The heart of this story is of course their dialogue, and most of it should be in summarized dialogue. I happen to think that knowing how to write summarized dialogue and knowing when to use it constitute two of the most important techniques in the art and craft of fiction. Summarized dialogue allows one to shape a scene, move along the “action,” which is the encounter, and highlight the most important dialogue that your characters say to each other. Include setting, time, choreography, and details that tell us something about each character. Maximum: 1500 words.