Most writers play games. They might use other words for them — challenges, mental tricks, techniques — but the purpose is always the same. The point is to find ways to put the butt in the chair and get the words flowing; to trick the mind so that the critical voice, the one that tells you that you’re no good, that you can’t possibly write even a decent sentence much less a whole story or novel, gets out of the way.
I’m a game player myself. Like a lot of writers, I’ve got more than a few personal demons that would like nothing better than for my keyboard to fall silent. Over the years, I’ve collected a number of these games, some from other writers, some from books, and many simply from my own experience, and I finally decided that other writers might benefit from them too . . . [Read the rest of the introduction.]
The Games:
- The 30/500 Rule
- 25 Words a Day
- Track Your Word Counts
- Just Finish It
- Title Mash-Up
- Pages Before Play
- Write As Much As You Can In An Hour
- Literate an Illustration
- The Race
- Clear the Decks and Write for a Day – Or a Week
- Read Great Writing
- Read Bad (Published) Writing
- Grid and Dice
- Five Minute Free Write
- Heinlein’s Rules
- Dictionary Diving
- One Page a Day = One Book a Year
- Write for a Published Anthology
- Type Other Writers’ Words
- Give Up TV
- Ripped From the Headlines
- Crazy Hollywood Pitches
- Forking From the First Line
- Write a Novel in a Month
- Stop When You’re On a Roll
-+-