December is HERE!

It is officially December and that means the big countdown begins. Project Writeway is in the works and we think it will be the perfect way to welcome in the new year. For now, here is a writing exercise advent calendar  to keep your holidays merry and bright! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

1. Guess what? Writing is hard. Make a realistic goal, one you can control, for the month of December. December tends to be pretty busy. Keep that in mind. But remember, you get nowhere if you don’t just do it. WRITE IT DOWN and post the goal in your shower (laminating might be a good idea).

2. Your MC starts to itch. And itch. And itch. Write the scene.

3. Describe your favorite meal in detail.

4. Once upon a time there was a witch with eleven fingers and a dog named ear wax . . . finish the fairy tale in less than 200 words.

5. Put your MC in the holiday spirit and then let him/her find out Santa (you know what I mean) doesn’t exist.

6. Something new has cropped up in your MC’s life. What is it? How does it change her?

 7. Writing is a balance game. Do you have enough sense of place, emotion, dialog, forward story movement and etc. try to look at your story objectively–try to see it with new eyes. And maybe you know someone who can read your book for you and give HONEST feedback?

8.  Find a newspaper article about a teen. Start a story about this kid and write for fifteen minutes.

9. Take three pages from your novel and switch point of view. If it’s first person, rewrite it in third and vice versa.

10. A boy is standing on the top of taco bell . . . Finish the scene.

11. Lots of times we start our thinking our novels are about one thing and then we find out we were totally wrong. What new things are you finding out about your book? List them.

12. Use the first line of a Christmas song to start a story.

13. Write a letter from one character in your book to another.

14. Go for a hot chocolate somewhere. Sit by a table of people and write down their conversation. Don’t get caught. Listen to the way they interact–the things that interest them, the way they listen.

15. Your MC gets fifty texts while he/she’s in class. What’s wrong?

16. Write about a time you lied.

17. List everything that is in your MC’s backpack.

18. Use these words in your fifth chapter: significant, pain, crummy, slapstick and atrocious.

19. Write a bad family Christmas letter. The opposite of the ones you usually get in the mail.

20. What description is the exact opposite of your MC? Of the secondary characters? Of the bad guy? Know your characters, inside and and out. Now looking at these lists you’ve created about your characters–do you think anyone is too good or too bad? Write this down.

21. You’re throwing a holiday party. There’s a knock at the door. You open it and your heart drops. Who is it?

22. Write a 200 word holiday romance. Include the words truck, frosty the snowman, and Moscow.

23. Draw a picture of your childhood bedroom. Label everything and then write for fifteen minutes.

24. Your MC is invited to a white elephant party. What does he/she bring?

25. CELEBRATE! Write one Christmas wish for each of the characters in your book.