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Writing Exercises: Editor's Notes #160
February 28, 2014
Hello,

Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.
--John Wooden


In this issue:

1. Writing exercises
2. Tickled my funnybone
3. Interesting Web site
4. Letters to the editor

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1. Writing exercises
What exactly are writing exercises, anyway, and why should you do them?

Writing exercises are prompts to get you writing. The pieces they inspire are usually short and not necessarily connected to any writing project you are working on.

Regularly using writing exercises is a fun way to get yourself putting words on paper. Since there is no right or wrong, and since no one ever needs to see what you've written, writing exercises allow you to write with freedom.

Sometimes, when you are stuck on a writing project, turning to writing exercises can help to open the flow of words.

Some writers use writing exercises regularly. Some writers use them only when they suffer from writer's block. How often you use them isn't an issue.

Knowing what writing exercises can do for you, knowing where you can get them, and then using them just might be what you need to keep yourself writing productively. You can find many free writing exercises online. You can find whole books of writing exercises for sale.

Here are three to get you started:
1. Choose a newspaper headline or magazine article title at random. Without reading the contents, write as if you were submitting the article for publication.
2. Choose an everyday object in the room in which you are writing. Use your powers of observation to describe the object. Include as many senses as you can.
3. Recall an incident in your past. Write about it from the point of view of someone else who was involved.

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2.Tickled my funnybone
When an actress saw her first strands of gray hair, she thought she'd dye.

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3. Interesting Web site
Click the link below for a long list of writing exercises. Try a few. Let me know how they work for you.
http://www.meredithsuewillis.com/writingexercises.html

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4. Letters to the editor
Two friends of a subscriber who posted the "in Seine" joke on Facebook came back with their own related jokes and have given me permission to share them here:

1. From Gary Honig: "Those who jump into that river in Africa are in deNile!"

2. And an original from Rick Junior (Warning: If you aren't from Canada, you may need a map to fully understand this one.): "And those who jump from the High Level bridge in Edmonton, Alberta are in Sasktachewan."

I also had two messages from subscribers who were puzzled by my piece on Narrative Distance in the last issue. Since I don't mean to write puzzles, I will be trying to clarify the topic in the next issue. So if you were also puzzled, please hang in there with me. I want to take the time to be sure I have it right.

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Join Writer's Helper Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/WritersHelperEditor
Follow me on Twitter @AudreytheEditor

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