Exercises--Focus on Fiction

This folder contains a folder for each of the weekly Exercises provided with each weeks' readings.


Participants have the whole week to complete these exercises. Apply yourself to the activities that appeal to your sense of writing. Other responses may be quite short.

You probably should create a new static item for each of the exercises. Keep all of your "Focus on Fiction Workshop" assignments, notes, and personal witing lists, in a new folder which you could logically entitle Focus on Fiction Workshop.

Keeping all the information and items you create over the rest of the summer together will help you, and me too, to find what we're looking for. I suspect we'll be creating lots of items that could logically be organized into lots of items in lots of folders. This can help you get a system for organizing your portfolio, if you haven't yet. I reorganize my port about once a year just to keep in touch with my writing creations.

I would ask that after you finish the exercises, by Sunday if possible (later is okay), that you read them over at least well enough to catch the typos, and edit any last bit that strikes you as needed. Then, I'd ask that you send me an e-mail that includes the "bitem" listing of the items you've created for the exercises.This will give me a direct link to finding and reading what you've written.

I ask that you submit your exercises by Sunday, so that I'll have a couple of days to read through all the writings of all of the participants. If you're not finished Sunday, send them on Monday, or Tuesday, but know you'll be joining the tail of the feedback fish. I'll do my best to swim through everybody's writings before the next Wednesday lesson. My goal is for all of us to do what we can when we can, and learn to suit your individual fiction writing needs. I realize from typing this lesson--it's a long one. Do as much as you can, but don't lose any sleep over the workshop exercises, okay? This is supposed to be low pressure.

If you want to send me an e-mail with the items/bitems for the exercises one at a time as you finish them, that's fine. If you'd rather do all three of the exercises, and then send them all at once, that's equally good. My e-mail is Patrice@Writing.com .

My request for receiving your work is based on me having enough time to read and respond to what each person has written, and quite honestly, I'm a procrastinator. I always wait till the last minute to do anything, and find myself in a time crunch. Do you do that as a writer too?

Writing.com has lots of wonderful writing tools on the site to use. I've only tried the "pop-up" feature a time or two, but it seems it would be very useful in reviewing participants writing.

I was never a "bleed red ink all over the assignment" kind of teacher. I believe that the pop-up feature} will allow me to leave notes along the way, which "pop-up" when your mouse hovers over a section of text. That should prove less distracting during future readings, and sharings. I'm not fully experienced in this feature, so I was building in a little learning time for myself. However, whenever you have completed one exercise, two exercises, or more, I'd like to read them.

Please know, my comments on your writing are only suggestions. What you create is your baby, and I wouldn't dare to assume to overmake what comes from your heart and soul.

However, I can't hold myself back when I see spelling (use your spell check tool please) and grammar usage errors. I admit to being a Grammar Grouch--I was going to buy the web page, but somebody beat me to the .com. Most likely, I'll send you a note with your grammatical or spelling or usage error, and the rule that corrects it. Or, I make just keep a running list for group reference. We can all learn from others' mistakes. Then again, maybe that won't be an issue. Our main focus is writing fiction, and creating a story that holds the readers interest. Everything else is secondary, but it does count when seeking publication.

Hope you will find each weeks' exercises useful. If you have questions about anything, or when you're ready for me to look over what you've written, send and e-mail, with your "bitems" to



Thanks for your participation, Patrice