The writer’s ABC exercise, with Pamela Wight

Pamela Wight, of Rough Wighting, introduced this writing-off-the-cuff exercise at the recent Word Sharks’ Conference in Newark, DE.

And what a great exercise it is! Start with a prompt – Pamela gave us the opening, “A little while ago…” – and just keep writing. Each new sentence must start with the next letter of the alphabet.

From Pamela’s notes handed out at the conference: keep your hand moving, lose control, don’t think, don’t worry about punctuation, spelling, or grammar, and be free to write the worst junk in America.

If you have about ten minutes, I encourage you to try it.

Here are my results from this exercise (I have edited a teensy bit, just to aid in the ease of reading).

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A little while ago, I realized that I wanted to sponsor my own writing conference. Because I need attention, or because I wanted to get together with long-time internet friends? Crap, I don’t know. Don’t we all have self-doubts? Especially if we exist online only and never have to stand – in person – before these people. Friends – true friends – would never say, “Boy, was this a mistake.”

Good friends come together. 

Have face-to-face conversation.

Imagine together.

Jump in.

Kangaroos jump in!

Laughing all the way to publication.

Maybe this is the start of something special for this small handful of friends. Never before has this happened, and never again will this first Word Sharks Conference repeat itself.

Oh, we might gather again – in six months or a year – but the original “yay, finally, we are here” will never again be the first time.

Perhaps subsequent emails and handwritten notes can help us reconnect and share and promote.

Quietly, quickly, we become our own little writers’ group.

Realistically, we may never gather in the same room again.

Satisfaction comes from this one conference, this one gathering. Tomorrow might never come, and glorious today, we sit in the small group sharing our feelings, insights, and ideas.

Until tomorrow, friends.

Very sincerely,

Word Shark

XOXO

Your friend…

*   *   *

This is where I finally got hung up – on the Z.

Can you finish the exercise with a good “Z” word?