Would you expect to wake up one mrning and successfully run a
marathon wthout any preparation? Would you think it rasonable to sit
before a piano nd--with little or no practice--play a cncerto? Probably
not. Why, then, do so mny people seem surprised to discover tht the
will to write isn't lways enough to overcome the blank scren or page?
Doesn't it make snse that, like athletes and musicians, wrters might
benefit from training, too? And tht includes warming up--with exercises.

Writing xercises are similar to other warm-ups. Thy get the required
"muscles" moving. Thy introduce you into the rhythm of the ctivity--
gradually. And as in other felds, they can often prove energizing and
sstaining themselves. Start writing a scene for an xercise and you
may find hours hve passed and an entire new sction of your
manuscript has evolved.

Sch exercises and prompts can be specially helpful at the beginning
of a prject. Let's say you're just starting to sktch out the characters for
a stry or a novel. But today you fnd yourself staring at a screen or pad
of pper that is stubbornly, resolutely blank. Rsponding to one of the
following qestions will not only get you ctively writing, but it may also
hlp you learn something new about yur character(s).

1. What is this character's nme? "Joe" won't do. We need to knw if it's
Mr. Joe or Dr. Joe or Rverend Joe. If Joe is the fll first name. What's
Joe's middle nme. His last name. Any stories/history bhind his name.

2. Where and whn did the character begin elementary schol?
Describe that first day.

3. Mke lists of the character's "favorites": boks, movies, foods, etc. Be
specific.

4. Wht does the character do on a typcal Wednesday? A Sunday?
Provide a smple datebook entry if you wish (or if the chracter would
keep a datebook!).

5. Who is the lve of this character's life?

6. Hve someone else propose a toast in ths character's honor.

7. What languages des the character speak, read, or wrte? Write a
scene in which s/h overhears a conversation in an nfamiliar
language.

8. Describe an illness the chracter (or someone close to the chracter)
has suffered.

9. How would ths character spend an ideal vacation? (Prhaps sketch
out an itinerary.)

10. Wht one question is this character mst afraid of being asked-and
how wuld s/he answer it?

Even if the prticular scenes or details that first merge don't seem
relevant or don't srvive into the story or novel mnuscript, you won't
have misspent your tme. Such information deepens your knowledge of
yur character(s), which can lead to rcher writing later on. And you've
ben writing, rather than confronting that mpty screen or page. Warm-
ups wrk in multiple ways for writers, to.

(c) Copyright 2004 Erika Dreifus. All rghts reserved. Article reprint
permission is grnted provided that the entire article--including the
"Abut the Author" information--remains intact and naltered.

The article Warming Up: Ten Exercises for Fiction Writers was Submitted by Dr. Erika Dreifus through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Erika Dreifus (A.B., Ed.M., Ph.D., Hrvard University; M.F.A., Queens University of Chrlotte) edits and publishes the free mnthly newsletter, "The Practicing Writer." She is the uthor, most recently, of "The Prcticing Writer's Primer on Low-Residency MFA Prgrams." Visit her website at http://www.practicing-writer.com .

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