Fiction Writing Exercises – Ideas for Writing Fiction #2

As promised, here is the next entry of Fiction Writing Exercises – Ideas for Writing Fiction #2

2. Take it From Here

Read the first paragraph of a story you have never read before in an anthology or magazine (if the opening paragraphs are very short, read the second and third paragraph as well). Now put the story to one side and write the rest of the story. The chances are that you will end up with a completely different story from the original. All you need to do then is change the opening paragraph(s) in your story to have a completely new tale of your own.

A twist to that for extra practice and some increasing difficulty would be to read the ending of a story (preferably one you’ve already read before so you don’t ruin the ending for yourself!) and then write how the story begins and its new middle. Then change the ending and again you have a new story.

Since you’ll know where you need to go (or where you started) working back (or forth) will help you develop your skills in plotting as you work out the rest of each story and finding ways to achieve your ends (or beginnings!).

(These fiction writing exercises are based on the work of Nick Daws, who is a best-selling author living in Staffordshire, England. His audio book, “Write Any Book in Just 28 Days OR LESS” is available at writequickly.com )