A few years back we had a writers’ workshop at the local writers guild. The presenter was a published memoirist. I thought the exercises were fun.

In fact, I thought they were so fun, I re-did the first two as I was writing this post.

1. Brainstorm titles.

Doing this again today, I came up with

Little Tomatoes

I Can’t Eat That

Murderous Nightshades

I have a theme going on there and I didn’t intend that.

What Should I Do?

How Many Toes?

No Phone for Me

2. Think of someone you haven’t seen in ages, maybe you knew them in high school and have lost touch. Write a three sentence biography saying what has happened in their life since you knew them.

Joanne became a world-famous illustrator and has actually been featured in the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature. I didn’t know the work was hers, though, because she decided her first name was too plebeian and ditched her stepfather’s Mafioso last name.

3. Take an activity that you are doing, particularly one where there is a lot of time involved, and write a character into that scenario.