I originally posted this writing prompt as a reply on ISBW. However, this is truly a great idea for writers. I’ve been so enamored with the process and the results it’s produced in my creativity, that I’ve switched from using 750words.com as my journaling tool to using OneNote, and I’m thinking about purchasing EverNote because of its great photo tools.

Well, here you go, enjoy. And give it a try for a month! I think you’ll find it as much a boon to the craft as I have:

For the length of a semester, keep an “image notebook.” Every day, record at least one image. (date the entries.) Use all your senses. Ask yourself: What’s the most striking thing I heard, saw, smelled, touched, tasted today? Images begin with precise sensual detail. One day you may overhear a strange bit of conversation, another you may smell something that triggers a memory.

Another day you find a photograph or take one or do a drawing. You might make a collage of words and pictures from magazines. This exercise is very open. Length is variable. Some days you may write a page and others a line. Don’t get behind.

Interesting juxtapositions emerge when you’re not conscious of how many images are colliding. If you do your week’s work all at once, you’ll lose the mystery.

–What If? p. 267

It’s inevitable that one day people will look back on books and think of them as a primitive, ancient way of conveying knowledge and stories. It might seem far-fetched, but I’m sure the ancient bards thought stories would always be passed on word-of-mouth.

Of course, it won’t be tomorrow or even an upcoming generation that sees books fall to the wayside. However, upcoming generations will see some drastic changes with the digitization of books.

Here are a few guesses at what that future might look like–built in Cliffnotes, cross references, book clubs and favorites, and getting a text from a character in the story! Fun to ponder.

Thanks to fastcodesign for sharing this vid.

“Imagine your friend is about to get hit by a train. He’s standing there confused, staring at it like it’s some alien thing he doesn’t understand, but all you can do is whisper…”

 This is an article about being a QA tester for video games, but when I read it, I was struck by how well it captures the essence of conflict in writing.

These sort of impossible situations are the very fabric of good writing. Plausibly dropping characters into these kind of hopeless scenarios is the task of every effective scene.

The title is what we in the biz like to call “working” at this point. Nothing inspiring has struck me in the brain so far.

This is almost an abstract–a short/flash I wrote in two evenings this week. I’m sure it has minor need of revision, but today’s the deadline! Read more… »

I don’t want to be a good writer. I want to be an awesome writer. I want to write some ideas that change people for the better; convince them to get up in the morning and do something with their life besides observe passively as it departs.

But good writing doesn’t come without a price. So Paul Barkley and I have decided to conduct an insane-a-thon; 12 shorts in 12 weeks, each focused on the craft and techniques of great writing. Building up our toolbox of awesome.

If you’re a writer, you should come join us! Here is the plan:

• post every Friday on your blog, Google +, wherever
• any length
• focus on one aspect each week (dialog, tension, setting, etc)
• first post is Friday, 9/9
• last post is Friday, 11/25