The Writer's Lab: A Place to Experiment with Fiction
"Don't be fooled by the mad scientist-styled cover art...this is a seriously amazing vault of excellent writing exercises. The author devotes only a single preface page to explaining how to use the book before diving into the challenges, which range all over the place, from creating an autobiographical haiku to writing James Bond as if the character was a woman. You also get to practice writing things like killing off a character from your favorite book, finding love-worthy qualities about the person who most makes you miserable, and imagining what the pilots and passengers of a plan about to crash would do in the last fifty seconds before impact."I liked everything about this book: the black-and-white minimalist design of the pages, the imaginative quality of the exercises, and the many ways in which the author pushes you to practice not only the art but the more difficult aspects of it. This one is going with me on my road trip, and I expect I'll be filling up the pages in no time. Definitely recommended for any writer who enjoys challenges, wants to improve their craft and have fun in the process." --Lynn Viehl,New York Timesbestselling author"Sometimes you have an idea that just forms and the inner writer just can't help but sit down and get on with this epic project that your muse is forcing you to create with her point blank shotgun. Other times you want to sit down and relax to write something but cannot for the life of you think what you want to do."At times like this, you need to reach for this book. It has a lot of questions and exercises that get your inner writer moving which not only helps you ask the right (or write) questions but gives you a whole host of new ideas to explore as well as helping you improve the skills that you're developing. It's a great little tool and to be honest when dressed up in the fun way that they've done with this feels more like taking a break than doing any real work. All round a cracking title and one I'll use each time I get stuck. Great stuff." --The Falcata Times