If you want to write creative fiction, then these finger exercises are not ideal. It's better to plan your version of "War and Peace" then plow right into it. (Or just plow right into it without planning, depending on your style.)

However, if you're jammed, stuck, can't get started, have writer's block, then these finger exercises may help. Or, if you're at the editing stage, just reading them through may be suggestive.

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As a lead-in exercise, go through a day in the life of the character / characters, from waking up to going to sleep: how they wake, eat, excrete, wash, clean, evaluate, shop, communicate. Then splice this daily routine through the book, so the book contains a complete picture of the daily life of the character / characters.

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In the course of the day, what is the character going to see, smell, heft (the weight of), feel (hot, cold, dry, wet, pleasant, unpleasant, smooth, prickly), hear (loud, soft, clear, unclear), hope for, fear, anticipate, expect, be surprised by, recognise as routine, remember in consequence of? Who is the character going to meet, recognise, be surprised by, learn from, teach, accept orders from, give orders to, make requests of, receive requests from? What motivations are going to be driving the character? What things are going to be done out of habit, out of intertia?

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Locate the character at various times of the day. What is overhead? Underfoot? To the sides? In view? In earshot? How many people are visible? Doing what? What is in the pockets of character? How do character's feet feel? Hands? Ears? Neck? Face? Bladder? Back? Joints? Legs? Arms? Gut? What does character do when not immediately involved in action - think? fiddle? remember? speculate? fear? try to switch off? try to sleep? How does character assess priorities for action?

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The chacter interacts:-


# interacts with superior
# interacts with lover
# interacts with equal
# interacts with inferior
# interacts with child
# interacts with old person
# interacts with person who is source of benefits
# interacts with dependent
# interacts with teacher (learns something)
# interacts with student (teaches something)
# interacts with own reflection
# interacts with dream
# interacts with object of value
# interacts with insect
# interacts with animal of substantial size
# interacts with plant

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If none of this helps, you could try reading the story On the Wings of a Cockroach  Jozanna Yu, poet, wakes up and finds she's been turned into a cockroach. Again. And she thinks she knows who's responsible. In fact, there's only one suspect - boyfriend Gregor Samsa. A story about being a poet and writing poetry - a story about creative writing.

This story includes a chunk of Professor Taft's lecture about writing (juxtapositions and so forth). Check it out!

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