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I hope you took the opportunity to read last week’s Word Shot submissions. One featured a well-crafted surprise that was nothing less than startling. Well done!

Here’s this week’s Word Shot:

This appears to be be a photo of a grandfather showing some sort of family album or scrapbook to his two granddaughters.

Boring.

But it doesn’t have to be. A good writer should be able to look at this photo and imagine all sorts of weird and unusual angles to change the boredom to suspense, fascination, horror, laughter or insight. Maybe he’s not a typical grandfather. Maybe he’s not their grandfather at all. And perhaps it’s not a family album he’s showing them.

So, my challenge to you is to use your imagination to make this photo interesting and then write about it and submit what you write in a comment below. Just as your muscles need exercise, so does your imagination. This will give it a good workout, and will sharpen your writing skills in the process. Go on – give it a shot!

Yes, I’m still offering a bribe to persuade you to participate: Participate in 10 Word Shots and I’ll e-mail you all three of my writing skills e-books.

Let’s see what you can do with this one! Don’t be shy.

The submissions for last week’s Word Shot – the one with the police in riot gear – were wonderful. One made me laugh out loud. A few others were chilling. All were interesting. I hope you’ll read them. Just click here. As always, my thanks to those of you who participated.

Here’ the photo for this week’s writing exercise:

An image like this should trigger all sorts of imaginative thoughts and ideas. Write them down and submit them as a comment below. Grow your imagination as you hone your writing skills. That’s what these exercises are all about.

And please remember that I’m offering a bribe: Once you have participated in 10 Word Shots, e-mail me to let me know and I’ll e-mail you all three of my writing skills e-manuals.

Let’s hear from you. Happy writing!

It’s a brand new year – time to make a resolution to work on your writing skills. One great way to do that is to participate in the weekly Word Shot exercises. A few days ago, Robyn Ciuro e-mailed me, saying:

“Good writing is not easy and I’m sure I’ve got a long way to go but I love seeing what the new picture is and waiting for the words to bubble out from my brain and down to my fingers. It’s like yoga for my brain.”

I like Robyn’s “yoga for my brain” remark. It’s true. The writing brain needs exercise, so pump a few mental weights with this week’s Word Shot. Here it is:

If you’re new to this, simply look at the photo (really look at it), think about it, let words come to your mind, write them down, and then submit them as a comment to this post. It’s as simple as that. You can submit anything from a single word to a full story. And if you participate in 10 Word Shots, I’ll e-mail you my three e-manuals on writing.

Thanks to you who took part in last week’s Word Shot. Keep up the good work!