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Narrative exercise: Birthday
Writing Exercises
Writer's Toolbox
Write down an anecdote about your birthday (any birthday). An anecdote is a very short account, a wee story: it has a beginning, a middle and an end, and something happens for the narrator, or someone else in the story, or both.
—MS
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Sentence fragments
Name your agent
Sentences: Simple, fragment, run-on
"And" or "but" at the start of a sentence
Beware of getting involved
Warm-up exercise: Eyes shut
Acronyms and otherwise
Function shift
Convince/persuade and other fake synonyms
Warm-up exercise: Television weeping
Sentences: Long is beautiful
Trump and trumpery
Phrases and clauses
Verbs: Avoid the quiet and the copulative
The order of things
Living vs. being based
The sense of sight
Trim those articles and prepositions
Interview with Mary Schendlinger
Find yourself, but don’t say so
Issues—the word
Warm-up exercise: Lunch
Morale exercise: Real writers
Narrative: Six principles and some examples
Dialogue: Keep it simple
The handy dandy 5-W sentence
Warm-up exercise: Scar
Narrative exercise: Birthday
Gerunds and participles: Avoid ING words
Sentences: A sentence is a thought, not a warehouse