DeAnna Knippling is an eclectic bookworm who writes mystery, horror, science fiction, fantasy, romance, and classic-style pulp adventure stories with plot twists to die for! Her hobbies are cooking, taking long walks on Florida beaches, fangirling, digging into AI, open-source intelligence, history, biology, and psychology—and reading lots of fiction, graphic novels, and web comics while her tea goes cold. Author of The Witch House and The Clockwork Alice, you can find her at WonderlandPress.com.

Enrichment Activities by DeAnna Knippling

Feeling burned out, blocked, or just plain weird about writing lately?

Enrichment Activities is here to help.

Written during the chaos of the 2020 lockdowns, this bite-sized creative recovery guide was born from one writer's mission to help fellow fictioneers get unstuck, stay sane, and maybe even have fun doing it. Whether you're a seasoned author flailing through burnout or a beginner staring down the blank page like it's about to bite you, this 30-day collection of creative prompts, mindset shifts, and quick exercises is designed to meet you wherever you're at—and nudge you gently forward.

Inside, you'll find:

•30 quirky writing prompts that dig deeper than "what if vampires ruled the world?"

•30 journaling exercises to mine your brain for gold

•30 short (and free!) study projects to broaden your understanding of fiction techniques

•30 practical beginner business of fiction techniques you can try in under 10 minutes

•Encouragement that doesn't sugar-coat—but does entertain

You'll also find humor, irreverence, and the kind of hard-won advice only a long-time ghostwriter and publishing pro can offer. DeAnna Knippling doesn't just teach you how to write more. She shows you how to think differently about your work—less like a perfectionist, more like a mad scientist in your own private story lab.

This isn't your typical "just push through it" motivational book. It's a love letter to the creatively exhausted. A grab bag of literary mischief. A reset button for your brain.

Ready to write again? Let's make it weird.

CURATOR'S NOTE

Writing is a lonely business, and sometimes it's hard to maintain focus as well as keep your mood elevated so you can get through the day to day. DeAnna Knippling, a 20-year veteran of the writing wars, knows how to bring writers back from the brink, and to keep us motivated for the days ahead. – Kristine Kathryn Rusch

 

REVIEWS

  • "Knippling provides the nuts and bolts necessary for every serious writer. They do not deal with grammar or with churning out a quick success. Instead, the book is about mindset and the willingness to work (and how best to do the work)."

    – Amazon Review

  • "This really is a manual for life if you are a writer. It could serve as a manual for life for many people! Not only does Knippling give good advice for overall mental and physical wellness (how to not go crazy from writing too much), but navigating the world of negotiating with publishers and editors and such. She shows how to improve your skills by analyzing the work of others. She has good to-do lists and summaries at the end of each chapter. Get the e-book. Print those lists off, and stick em on the wall next to your computer. Follow them. You can't go wrong."

    – Amazon Review

  • "I wish I had had this book a few years ago as a beginning writer. It's basic but useful advice about deciding if you are where you want to be when you hit publish."

    – Goodreads Review
 

BOOK PREVIEW

Excerpt

Introduction

Fiction writer?

Feeling like you should be getting some writing done but somehow not getting anywhere?

What to write something but don't have the brain to decide what?

Want to try something new?

First, let me recommend that you take it easy on yourself. Everyone has rough patches.

Second, have I got some ideas for you!

If you're spinning your wheels and want someone to give you the equivalent of a small craft project for fiction writing, you've found the right place.

Here are 30 different story starts that delve deeper than the standard story prompt ideas, 30 different journal entry prompts to mine for content, 30 different fiction techniques to study and add to your toolbox, and lots, lots more.

As a ten-year ghostwriting freelancer, I have been disciplining myself to stay on track and focused for quite some time. I've learned some tricks on the business side, and I'm a positive fiend for studying new techniques.

Get yourself writing again and expand your horizons with 30 days of bite-sized ten-minute projects designed to help you change your mindset from perfectionist to productive!

The Setup

What you're about to read is a series of tips and tricks that were written during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. I was trying to help keep a group of writer friends amused and sane (as sane as they ever were) during lockdown.

I had been on a conference call with several other writers who were suddenly trying to work from home, or who were on furlough, or who had been laid off, and most of them complained of having extra time on their hands and no motivation to write.

The motivation to write isn't something you can find. You have to make it.

What I've found, over ten-plus years of ghostwriting, is that motivation comes from a constantly-shifting combination of deadlines, bills, threats, guilt trips, bribery, meditation, and rewards.

And, of course, dreams.

Finding a pure sense ofa pure sense of motivation is like a quest for the Holy Grail. It's noble, but you're probably not gonna find it. Face it, most writers just aren't that pure of heart.

But if we can't find motivation, we can still lower the barriers to getting started writing.

Here's what I've found that works:

•Work on changing from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset (see Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, by Carol Dweck).

•Make a goal to fail rapidly…but never the same way twice.

•Make a goal to stop pre-rejecting your work before anyone can see it.

•Work in small chunks. Tell yourself you're only going to work on something for ten minutes. Longer if you feel like it…but no more than ten minutes if you don't.

•Break tasks down into teeny tiny chunks. I actually explain how to do this later, because there's a tendency for teeny tiny chunks to grow into massive projects filled with doom and failure.

•Have a plan for when you get stuck or depressed.

I'll cover these things throughout the days as we go.

What's Included

What you will see in this book is a set of small tasks, one for each day, in several different categories:

•Business Tips. Small, ten-minute tasks to help you edge toward becoming a published, professional writer on the business side.

•Short Study Project. Small, ten-minute projects to help you study different writing techniques, focused on the openings of published stories.

•Journal Topic. A one-page journal topic to help you sort out your thoughts in an area that you can use for fiction.

•Short Writing Prompt. Write three sentences of a story opening.

•Staying Human. Small tasks to help you survive a work-from-home environment.

•Fun with Research. Weird things to research for possible fiction ideas.

I highly recommend doing them in order; not every item is tied to something else down the line, but a lot of them are!

Day 1

Business Tip

Back up your data! And please name every new version of a file with a different version number or date. Hint: a file named "final" never ends up final!

Short Study Project

Type in the first page of The Princess Bride by William S. Goldman (which starts with, "It's still my favorite book in all the world"). Highlight every element that describes the narrator, either directly or indirectly. (Use a free sample!)

Journal Topic

Write one page or less about something you were irrationally embarrassed about when you were ten or so. No one needs to see your journals but you!

Short Writing Topic

Write three sentences about how a character named Billy/Billie, aged ten, was embarrassed about that same thing. (You can write more if you're inspired!)

Staying Human

Please make sure you're getting enough water! Before you sit down at your computer, please bring something to drink with you.

Fun with Research

Look up Salvator Fabris, one of the early fencing masters, and see his technique being used in modern times.