Take 10 For Writers

Browsing the aisles of my local bookstore I found a book that I just couldn't leave without, "Take Ten for Writers", by Bonnie Neubauer.  Per the book cover the exercises in this book are supposed to "generate ideas and stimulate your writing in only 10 minutes a day".    How could I not try this?  Every writer needs honing, practice and help generating new ideas. 

There are a few pages of directions and rules to get you started - yuck hate reading directions.  I did read the directions and rules which are simple: keep writing, don't edit, use your senses, etc.

How do these 10 minute exercises work?  Simple!  First - read your prompt.  The prompt may be an entire paragraph or a simple phrase.  Second - pick a number between 1 and 10. Third - turn the page and locate the number you have chosen.   The number you have chosen may be as simple as a word you have to include, an idiom or a starting phrase.

Each exercise is designed for the writer to spend 10 minutes just writing -  no editing, no staring frozen at the computer screen, no thinking - just write.  At the end of the lesson is a short take-away which is designed to encourage you to think about your writing process.  These I will leave up to you to check out on your own.

I have already completed my first exercise, and was disappointed when my 10 minutes was up.  I suppose that I could continue on as Bonnie Neubauer encourages, but, I want to try the 10 minutes and see how my skills change.

Have you used this book?   Do you have a book you would recommend or writing exercise you enjoy?    Please share!