(REPOST. Blogger ate the 5/12 entry. Apologies to those who had commented.


UPDATE. Blogger brought the comments back. Hooray.)

Hello friends. This is a writing exercise. And I want to take this opportunity to invite you all to take part in it.

In my head, I'm calling this exercise "Wake up, writing monster!" You can call it whatever you want. But first things first, right off the bat, this is not a contest with fantastic getaways to southern Spain or giftcards to internet bookstores. The only prize is participation; the only reward, community; a shadow beside ours as we walk the writing road. Loren Eaton has hosted several similar storytelling events (see Advent 2010 and Six Birds). Feel free to sample the old cheeses.

But what is the story supposed to be about? Well, I want everyone who participates in this exercise to write to his or her own purpose. I have been travelling through a dry patch and need to to revive, tease, wake up the writing monster. So my story will be about that. Now, my story may star two old ladies having coffee and flirting outrageously with a barrista OR a young boy passing through manhood trials OR I may write about myself writing about library patrons. All of these options are on the table and more beside. I am writing to exercise and inviting you to work out with me. In a free-for-all, internet word gymnasium kind of way. Just keep it PG-13, please. My mom does read the blog.

After you post, make sure and check out the other participants' stories. And glory in the company of other blogging writers. Make sure to comment. Be polite and supportive. Like at CoN. Without the craziness of 500 entries.

The goal of this exercise is a 1,000 word story.
Post date is Wednesday, June 15, five weeks from yesterday. Email me the direct link at bnagelblog [at] gmail [dot] com when you've posted. I'll create a master list of participants and linked stories.
If you don't have access to a blog or aren't interested in posting your piece yourself, I would love to host your story for you.

ALSO
Peter Dudley, the infamous pjd, has graciously grafted my exercise onto a really neat tradition called . . . Voice Thingy. Best name ever? Possibly. This is a link to his post.

In brief, everybody who puts in a story is invited to post video or audio of themselves reading their work. You don't even have to put in a story for this exercise, just make a video. How cool is that?!