Using a well-established form of writing that is not straight narrative prose can catch the eye of a casual reader and force the writer to improvise to adopt the conventions of the borrowed form.

For today’s ten-minute writing exercise:

Write a negative Yelp review and the response to it. The responder has looked up the reviewer, and discovered something that they hint at but do not explicitly disclose in the response.

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 next week, starting Monday, January 20 and finishing the story on 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!