Tantalizing Warm-Ups

There's a great collection of warm-up writing exercises in the January issue of The Writer magazine.  

The sets come from Naming the World by Bret Anthony Johnston (2008).  These warm-ups have me intrigued enough to run out and purchase this book!

I'd like to share a set with you that I'll be working through in my writing journal over the holidays.

Spend 20 minutes writing a scene that involves:

• Two old friends unexpectedly meeting in a store.  Have them each shopping for an item that reveals something about their present situations.
• An adult child trying to convince his or her 50-something mother not to adopt a baby.
• Two lovers arguing about whether or not to terminate a pregnancy.
• A computer disk.
• An odd neighbor.
• A man in a tuxedo walking barefoot on the side of the road.
• An email sent to the wrong person.
• A FedEx package.
• An abandoned warehouse.
• An annoying relative.
• A discussion between a young couple standing beside a U-Haul in front of an old-age home.
• A motel key.

I'll be posting these scenes on my blog as I write them.  If you feel inclined to try one of these exercises, please email it to me, and I'll happily post it on the blog, along with a generous plug for your own blog!

Happy scribbling!