One of the most valuable things you can do as a writer is set aside time every day to write. You don’t always have to be witty. It doesn’t always have to be great prose. The act of writing in and of itself will make you a better writer.

But sometimes it’s hard to know what to write. That’s where writing prompts and exercises come in handy. You don’t have to come up with something to write about; the writing prompt tells you exactly what your subject is for the day.

This book is set up calendar style, beginning with January 1 and ending with December 31, but it’s perfectly fine to start any time of the year. At the beginning of each week (a week being a seven-day period, not necessarily starting on a Sunday), you will be asked to write about your writing goals for the upcoming week. At the end of those seven days, you’ll be asked to reflect back on the week and whether you accomplished your goals. In between, you’ll find exercises on setting, dialogue, grammar, poetry, and just about any other topic you can think of.

Some exercises may seem like they have little to do with writing. In fact, in a few of the exercises, you don’t write at all. This is because exercising your creative muscles in artistic arenas other than writing helps you become a better writer. Carrots are a healthy food, but if you ate only carrots, you wouldn’t stay healthy for long, would you? No … you need a variety of foods to stay healthy. By participating in activities other than writing, you nurture your creative nature and ensure it stays healthy and strong.

Some of the exercises in this book are easy and can be completed in a matter of minutes. Some are more difficult and may take longer. You’ll find some of these prompts deal with serious subjects, encouraging you to explore your feelings about different topics. Others are downright playful, even silly. You’ll find a lot of references to fairy tale and cartoon characters. Just because we call these exercises doesn’t mean they can’t be fun! And when something is fun, it somehow seems less threatening and easier to accomplish.

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