And Now We Write

2025 New Year's writing resolution: spend 10 minutes a day getting words on the page.

Today's 10-minute writing exercise is focused on comedy! We're turning facts into punchlines, and as usual your anonymish host is writing along. She should have warmed up and stretched before taking this one on!

This is a no-homework podcast! Every episode, we build in ten minutes of time for ourselves to do the assignment, and the assignment is always to write write write.

You can write to our daily writing prompt, but you could also:

• journal
• brainstorm
• write for your work in progress

All that matters is that you do write and you don't cheat and you don't stop writing until the music comes in.

Gene Perret is a master of classic humor, and in Comedy Writing Step by Step he coaches the reader from a blank sheet of paper all the way to developing a standup routine. We're going to adapt a few exercises from the book this month, and today's exercise is one of them.

For today's ten-minute writing exercise:

• Select a topic that you would like to write a humor piece about, or just any topic you know well. E.g. the post office.
• Write 20 factual statements about that topic. The price of stamps has gone up to 73 cents.
• Now, treat each factual statement as the setup to a punchline. Write at least one punchline for each setup sentence. The postmaster had to raise the price of postage so he could afford to send out the new stamps.
• Repeat until time is up.

Our themes this month are:

• Love in all its forms
• Dialogue
• Comedy Writing Step by Step by Gene Perret

We will also write a complete work of flash fiction together in a week from Feb 17 - Feb 23. No pre-work needed, and as always, zero homework outside of our ten minutes a day. This month we'll use Dan Harmon's story circles method to plan out our stories.

Our themes this month are:

• Love in all its forms
• Dialogue
• Comedy Writing Step by Step by Gene Perret

We will also write a complete work of flash fiction together in a week from Feb 17 - Feb 23. No pre-work needed, and as always, zero homework outside of our ten minutes a day. This month we'll use Dan Harmon's story circles method to plan out our stories.

2025 New Year's writing resolution: spend 10 minutes a day getting words on the page.

Today's 10-minute writing exercise is focused on dialogue! We're using alternative verbs, and as usual your anonymish host is writing along. She's having flashbacks to seventh grade, when she learned the exact opposite of the current conventional wisdom. Styles change! Tools are forever.

This is a no-homework podcast! Every episode, we build in ten minutes of time for ourselves to do the assignment, and the assignment is always to write write write.

Our dialogue exercises this month, with a couple of exceptions, will focus on the mechanics of dialogue writing. The subject of the conversation is less important than the effect of specific mechanistic choices or constraints that we'll be playing with.

For today's ten-minute writing exercise:

It is the current conventional wisdom (and style) to use only said or asked as the verbs in dialogue tags, with very rare exceptions.

Write a conversation in which every dialogue tag uses a new and different verb.

Our themes this month are:

• Love in all its forms
• Dialogue
• Comedy Writing Step by Step by Gene Perret

We will also write a complete work of flash fiction together in a week from Feb 17 - Feb 23. No pre-work needed, and as always, zero homework outside of our ten minutes a day. This month we'll use Dan Harmon's story circles method to plan out our stories

You can write to our daily writing prompt, but you could also:

• journal
• brainstorm
• write for your work in progress

All that matters is that you do write and you don't cheat and you don't stop writing until the music comes in.

2025 New Year's writing resolution: spend 10 minutes a day getting words on the page.

Today's 10-minute writing exercise is a love story! We're writing caring notes to a struggling loved one, and as usual your anonymish host is writing along. She got pretty into her idea -- she might actually build it out into a full story (or maybe save it & work it up for February's Flash Week).

This is a no-homework podcast! Every episode, we build in ten minutes of time for ourselves to do the assignment, and the assignment is always to write write write.

You can write to our daily writing prompt, but you could also:

• journal
• brainstorm
• write for your work in progress

All that matters is that you do write and you don't cheat and you don't stop writing until the music comes in.

In the US, we celebrate Valentine's Day in February. This day is usually seen as a celebration of romantic love, but love is a many-splendored thing. We love our parents, we love our pets, we love writing, we love New York. This month we'll be writing about love in all its forms.

For today's ten-minute writing exercise:

Write a series of loving notes sent daily to a loved one who is going through a hard time. It can be a lover, but it could also be a parent, a child, a sibling, a dear friend. Over the course of the story, hint at the cause of the hard time but do not state it explicitly.

Our themes this month are:

• Love in all its forms
• Dialogue
• Comedy Writing Step by Step by Gene Perret

We will also write a complete work of flash fiction together in a week from Feb 17 - Feb 23. No pre-work needed, and as always, zero homework outside of our ten minutes a day. This month we'll use Dan Harmon's story circles method to plan out our stories.

2025 New Year's writing resolution: spend 10 minutes a day getting words on the page.

Today's 10-minute writing exercise is focused on dialogue! We're punching up some dull adjectives, and as usual your anonymish host is writing along. She wishes she had used this technique last week to get around using "gray" four times in two pages.

This is a no-homework podcast! Every episode, we build in ten minutes of time for ourselves to do the assignment, and the assignment is always to write write write.

You can write to our daily writing prompt, but you could also:

• journal
• brainstorm
• write for your work in progress

All that matters is that you do write and you don't cheat and you don't stop writing until the music comes in.

Gene Perret is a master of classic humor, and in Comedy Writing Step by Step he coaches the reader from a blank sheet of paper all the way to developing a standup routine. We're going to adapt a few exercises from the book, and today's exercise is one of them.

For today's ten-minute writing exercise:

• Write down a sentence that includes a bland adjective, or an adjective you know that you tend to overuse. He wore a white suit.
• Brainstorm at least fifteen associated entities or concepts that could be used as a substitute for that word. Perret gives examples like white -> wedding dress, snowman, blank pages, bedsheets, ghost.
• Now, rewrite your sentence incorporating one of the substitutes you generated. His suit was ghostly white.
• Now rewrite it again, and this time come around to the adjective by an indirect path through the substitute. With the suit he was wearing, this guy could flit around a haunted house and fit right in.
• Repeat until time is up.

Our themes this month are:

• Love in all its forms
• Dialogue
• Comedy Writing Step by Step by Gene Perret

We will also write a complete work of flash fiction together in a week from Feb 17 - Feb 23. No pre-work needed, and as always, zero homework outside of our ten minutes a day. This month we'll use Dan Harmon's story circles method to plan out our stories.

Our themes this month are:

• Love in all its forms
• Dialogue
• Comedy Writing Step by Step by Gene Perret

We will also write a complete work of flash fiction together in a week from Feb 17 - Feb 23. No pre-work needed, and as always, zero homework outside of our ten minutes a day. This month we'll use Dan Harmon's story circles method to plan out our stories.

2025 New Year's writing resolution: spend 10 minutes a day getting words on the page.

Today's 10-minute writing exercise is focused on dialogue! One speaker is fully present and the other just speaks, and as usual your anonymish host is writing along. Washing the dishes is no fun, and one of her speakers is wishing for a little help if the other wouldn't mind.

This is a no-homework podcast! Every episode, we build in ten minutes of time for ourselves to do the assignment, and the assignment is always to write write write.

Our dialogue exercises this month, with a couple of exceptions, will focus on the mechanics of dialogue writing. The subject of the conversation is less important than the effect of specific mechanistic choices or constraints that we'll be playing with.

For today's ten-minute writing exercise:

Write a conversation between two people about washing the dishes, or another mundane subject you prefer.

For one participant's lines, write only the words they speak and dialog tags as needed ("he said," "she asked").

For the other, you may write both the words they speak and sentences describing their expressions, actions, and thoughts.

Our themes this month are:

• Love in all its forms
• Dialogue
• Comedy Writing Step by Step by Gene Perret

We will also write a complete work of flash fiction together in a week from Feb 17 - Feb 23. No pre-work needed, and as always, zero homework outside of our ten minutes a day. This month we'll use Dan Harmon's story circles method to plan out our stories

You can write to our daily writing prompt, but you could also:

• journal
• brainstorm
• write for your work in progress

All that matters is that you do write and you don't cheat and you don't stop writing until the music comes in.

2025 New Year's writing resolution: spend 10 minutes a day getting words on the page.

Today's 10-minute writing exercise is focused on looooove! We're writing a meet cute in a flower store, and as usual your anonymish host is writing along. She's been listening to too many episodes of It's Christmastown and got a little self-conscious about the Hallmark-i-ness of her scene.

This is a no-homework podcast! Every episode, we build in ten minutes of time for ourselves to do the assignment, and the assignment is always to write write write.

You can write to our daily writing prompt, but you could also:

• journal
• brainstorm
• write for your work in progress

All that matters is that you do write and you don't cheat and you don't stop writing until the music comes in.

In the US, we celebrate Valentine's Day in February. This day is usually seen as a celebration of romantic love, but love is a many-splendored thing. We love our parents, we love our pets, we love writing, we love New York. This month we'll be writing about love in all its forms.

For today's ten-minute writing exercise:

Write a meet cute scene in which a customer meets a florist. At first the florist assumes the flowers being purchased are for a lover, but they are actually for someone else.

Our themes this month are:

• Love in all its forms
• Dialogue
• Comedy Writing Step by Step by Gene Perret

We will also write a complete work of flash fiction together in a week from Feb 17 - Feb 23. No pre-work needed, and as always, zero homework outside of our ten minutes a day. This month we'll use Dan Harmon's story circles method to plan out our stories.

2025 New Year's writing resolution: spend 10 minutes a day getting words on the page.

Today's 10-minute writing exercise is focused on dialogue! We're writing Dad jokes swiftly, and as usual your anonymish host is writing along. It got substantially easier once she decided to work a little blue.

This is a no-homework podcast! Every episode, we build in ten minutes of time for ourselves to do the assignment, and the assignment is always to write write write.

You can write to our daily writing prompt, but you could also:

• journal
• brainstorm
• write for your work in progress

All that matters is that you do write and you don't cheat and you don't stop writing until the music comes in.

Gene Perret is a master of classic humor, and in Comedy Writing Step by Step he coaches the reader from a blank sheet of paper all the way to developing a standup routine. We're going to adapt a few exercises from the book, and today's exercise is one of them.

For today's ten-minute writing exercise:

A "Tom Swiftie" is a classic joke form that exploits a second meaning for an adverb to make a punchline. A few examples are:

• "I dove into the pool and cracked my head," he said shallowly.
• "I can't march anymore," the soldier said haltingly.
• "I have a bigger piano than this," she said grandly.

For ten minutes, write as many Tom Swifties as you can. Starting with the adverb can help.

Our themes this month are:

• Love in all its forms
• Dialogue
• Comedy Writing Step by Step by Gene Perret

We will also write a complete work of flash fiction together in a week from Feb 17 - Feb 23. No pre-work needed, and as always, zero homework outside of our ten minutes a day. This month we'll use Dan Harmon's story circles method to plan out our stories.

2025 New Year's writing resolution: spend 10 minutes a day getting words on the page.

Today's 10-minute writing exercise is focused on dialogue! We're asking questions and asking some more, and as usual your anonymish host is writing along. One of her characters got realllly annoyed and the other was oblivious, hm.

This is a no-homework podcast! Every episode, we build in ten minutes of time for ourselves to do the assignment, and the assignment is always to write write write.

You can write to our daily writing prompt, but you could also:

• journal
• brainstorm
• write for your work in progress

All that matters is that you do write and you don't cheat and you don't stop writing until the music comes in.

2025 New Year's writing resolution: spend 10 minutes a day getting words on the page.

Today's 10-minute writing exercise is to practice with a borrowed form: the mobile app user agreement. We're threatening dire consequences, and as usual your anonymish host is writing along. It escalated quickly!

This is a no-homework podcast! Every episode, we build in ten minutes of time for ourselves to do the assignment, and the assignment is always to write write write.

You can write to our daily writing prompt, but you could also:

• journal
• brainstorm
• write for your work in progress

All that matters is that you do write and you don't cheat and you don't stop writing until the music comes in.

2025 New Year's writing resolution: spend 10 minutes a day getting words on the page.

Today's 10-minute writing exercise is inspired by The Tale of Genji. We're not using names, and as usual your anonymish host is writing along. She writes out a bit of her work in progress with new constraints, and this is probably the most directly constructive exercise so far this year.

This is a no-homework podcast! Every episode, we build in ten minutes of time for ourselves to do the assignment, and the assignment is always to write write write.

You can write to our daily writing prompt, but you could also:

• journal
• brainstorm
• write for your work in progress

All that matters is that you do write and you don't cheat and you don't stop writing until the music comes in.