In January, we’ll be working on first lines and beginnings in honor of the new year. Happy 2025!

Today’s ten-minute writing exercise is:

Take the first line of a work in progress and play a game of telephone. On a new line, rewrite it, but you must change at least one word. On a new line, reword that rewritten line. And so on. Attempt to preserve the meaning of the sentence in each rewording step, but do not cheat and navigate back toward earlier lines.

If you don’t have a first line handy, try this with:

“Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself.”

Our themes this month are:

• First lines and beginnings
• The 3am Epiphany by Brian Kitely
• Sparks from Japanese literature
• Borrowed forms

We’ll also be writing a complete work of flash fiction together the week of Monday, January 20 – Sunday, January 26. We’ll spend just ten minutes a day writing, and exit the week with a complete work of flash fiction of ~900-1200 words. No pre-work needed, and as always, zero homework.

See you tomorrow for a new day of writing!