There are a lot of birthdays. There is Carol’s birthday and today is my husband’s birthday. I made him look for a lego ninjago that the boys took from a neighbor’s house and then lost in our house which is a big black hole where nothing exists for more than five minutes.

It was a really fun birthday! 

So fun, in fact, that now he’s a Walgreens getting pictures for my son’s VIP poster which I forgot to make because I didn’t look in his backpack the whole weekend until five minutes before class and then I just sat on the floor and almost cried. 

Happy Birthday! Yay!

Here are some Birthday writing exercises:

1. Write about your worst birthday ever. Write every detail. Describe your house, your mom, the presents (or lack of), the food, the feelings, the weather, the hair.

2. Write about your best birthday ever. See instructions above.

3. Write about the birthday party you wish you were invited to. Mine was to a certain shallnotbenamed girl’s sleepover birthday party which she had every year and everyone got to go but me because she could only invite so many people and I would sit on my porch and close my eyes and imagine I was there and were they playing Nintendo? Eating Ding Dongs? Calling boys? I was so sad. And my mom sat with me and she said it wouldn’t matter in twenty years. It is now twenty years. Does it matter? Write about that.

4. Write about your character’s birthday. Does he/she care about it? What do they want? What don’t they want? How would they react to a surprise party? What about a water park party? Or Chuckee Cheese? 

I think Chuckee cheese is sort of gross. 

5. Write about the birthday of your MC’s enemy. Who goes? Does the MC? why or Why not? And who cares?

 

Take time every day to free write. Even in the constrains of your novel. It will make everything looser and fresher. 

The end. And happy birthday.