The 2022 Writing Series is a series of daily writing exercises for both prose writers and poets to spark their creative mind and to spur production of new pieces. The writing prompts take the impetus—that initial crystal of creation—out of your hands (for the most part) and changes your writing creation into creative problem solving. Instead of being preoccupied with the question "What do I write about" you are instead pondering "How do I make this work?" And in the process you are producing new writing.
This is not a standard writing session. This is pure production—to keep your brain thinking about using language to solve simple or complex problems. The worst thing you can do is sit there inactive—the point is to push, to produce something, however imperfect. If you don't overthink it, you will be able to complete all of the series' exercises in under 30 minutes.
The Timer Method
If you're going with the timer method (which is certainly not required) I recommend setting four timers (these markers are if you're doing a 30 minute session): The First Timer for 5 minutes for a pre-writing reminder, if you do any planning or thinking on how those things can fit together or how to structure what you're doing, or to revisit your writer's notebook to remind yourself of anything you might have noted to write about 'in the future'. But mostly, to remind you not to overthink, not to delay the actual writing process. You should think at least a little about what the point of the piece will be (more in the third timer section) The Second Timer for 15 minutes which is the main writing time. Remember, don't overthink during this section. You're knocking out the piece. When this timer goes off it's not the end, but a signal that you'll be trying to wrap it up soon. The Third Timer for 5 minutes which is time to wrap up what you're writing. This is where you're making sure that you're tucking in any 'loose narrative threads' and getting to your conclusions. Remember, pieces should have some takeaway or 'point'. Some 'why'—a thing that the reader can point to if they're asking themselves "why did I read this?". The Fourth Timer for 5 minutes which is time for editing, for going back over the piece and giving it a 'once over' for typos. I highly suggest reading it aloud once at the beginning of the five minutes (or prior to starting the last timer). Then you'll use the time to fix things early on that you later changed, and to sprinkle in 'crumbs' which foreshadow or work well with later metaphors so that the piece feels more united.
For today's writing exercise you will write a few micro-poems or micro-fictions. These will be either poems under 20 lines or stories under 250 words.
For inspiration go read some micro or hint fiction in this Buzzfeed article, at Microfiction Monday, Alba, Molecule, 50 Word Stories and Nanoism. Or also this Barnstorm blog post "How Microfiction Could Transform Social Media".
Check out all of the prompts and pick a couple to write. Once you've done that, focusing on one at a time, read the full prompt twice before you start writing because you're looking to keep it minimal, so have ideas. If your first draft is longer don't fret. Hone it down. And the piece will be what it is. I've started out with a goal of 100 words but hit on something and had to cull the end result from 1350 to 1200 for a contest because I loved the result. So each story will be its own beast, but we're ideally aiming for 20 lines or 100-250 words with these. And if they grow into something much larger, hey, you've got something longer!
Micro Exercise 1: Dolls 1. Write a short piece in which a boy is playing with dolls and is mocked for it by other boys. Show the character's turmoil dealing with the situation as he had been enjoying himself and doesn't understand why it would be wrong to play with dolls but right to play with action figures or other games.
Micro Exercise 2: Dolls 2. Tell that same story but from the perspective of the boy as an adult remembering it. The adult will have more perspective and also think of different details.
Micro Exercise 3: Target Practice 1. Write a micro piece in which your character is shooting at cans or bottles with a slingshot, and at the same time thinking about trouble that is happening at home or at school. Use the target practice as a foil for the recollection/rumination on the upsetting events.
Micro Exercise 4: Target Practice 2. Write a micro piece in which a soldier in a warzone is remembering before they were a soldier shooting target practice with a father or uncle figure. Present the dangerous current situation alongside that (ostensibly) pleasant, and related memory.
Micro Exercise 5: Dolls 3. Write a very short piece where a an adult is cleaning out an attic or garage when they come across a box of dolls that belonged to their child who has died. Either tell us right at the top or only tell us obliquely and never explicitly—just don't make it a 'twist' or 'punchline'. Make sure the dead child isn't used as a gimmick, it is a serious thing so please treat it seriously.
Micro Exercise 6: Thin Ice. Write a piece which is under 100 words that uses "thin ice" as both a metaphor and a literal object in your piece. Don't have anything fall through it, but use it as a warning.
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If you'd like some ambient background writing music, try this: Al Gromer Khan - Hymns Of Secret Glory [1986] from background music friends of the blog, Sounds of the Dawn.
