"Wake Up, Writing Monster"

Just in time for the sultry days of summer, B. Nagel is hosting a round of shared storytelling at his blog. Excerpts:

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. ...

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.

Read the whole thing for all the pertinent details, including word count and posting date. Monsters? Writing? I am so in, and you should be, too. To sweeten the pot, B. has tag-teamed with Peter Dudley of Corner Kick to encourage participants to add audio or video to their entries. By gum, it’s going to be a veritable multimedia extravaganza!

(Picture: CC 2008 by Stephanie Massaro)