First off my apologies for missing the Monday Mental Muscles Challenge…I blame the madness and creative chaos that is NaNoWriMo falling on a Monday! Not to be concerned…the muscles will get a workout this week. So here is my plan for all you Fitness Fanatics of the creative variety:
This month I will be holding NaNoWriMo Boot Camp on Mondays, except for today of course that happens to be a Tuesday. In Blogging Boot Camp, I will be giving you weekly exercises to do all with NaNoWriMo in mind. However I realise that not all my followers are taking part in this global madness so for you, you can still do the exercises but slant it towards your own WIPs and writing projects that you may have on the go.
So in honour of “Boot Camp” Tradition, here is your first exercise for the week:
(You guessed it right if you thought it might be Push Ups. What is Boot Camp without Push Ups.)
Exercise no.1:
Pull out a pen/pencil and paper. (You heard me. We are doing this the old-fashioned way. No laptop/pc allowed.)
Have you got it. Right. I want you to do exactly 10 minutes of free word association. This warm up exercise will be your stretching for the day.
Your prompt word for the free word play is:
Boot-Camp
Exercise no. 2:
Trying to use all the above words you used in the free word play association, write a 1 page short, tying back to your NaNoWriMo novel or your current WIP. It does not matter at this point if it ends up being a chaotic nonsense piece…that’s the fun of it.
Exercise no.3:
You guessed it, I am going to make you do a sprint, a word sprint. Again, a traditional Boot Camp exercise…
You have exactly 30 minutes to write (long hand with writing implement and paper) a dramatic scene in your NaNoWriMo novel, or your current WIP. Throw something dramatic and life changing at your Main Character and see how they will handle it. Use your imagination and don’t be afraid to be mean to your character. Test their mettle and find out if they have what it takes to deal with a really hairy situation.
© All rights reserved Kim Koning.
Related Articles
- Frustrated? Stuck? Put Yourself in Creativity Boot Camp. (happiness-project.com)
- Happiness Boot Camp (psychologytoday.com)
- NaNoWriMo and other Stuff (distractible.org)
- Calling All Writers to NaNoWriMo (psychologytoday.com)
- Tis The Season For NaNoWriMo (chicagoist.com)
- Bio Break salutes NaNoWriMo writers! (biobreak.wordpress.com)
Kim Koning 