4 A.M. Breakthrough

Book excerpt: Realize All That Is Possible in Your Fiction Writers have long turned to exercises for help with beginning—be it a new piece of fiction, a daily routine, or a serious writing life. Behind the theory of exercises is an attitude of curiosity and expectancy, a desire to ask questions of yourself and of the world, to boldly—or not so boldly—stick a toe into the waters of something fresh, provocative, and exhilarating. To create fiction on the verge. In The 4 A.M. Breakthrough, companion to The 3 A.M. Epiphany, award-winning author and professor Brian Kiteley presents you with another 200 stimulating exercises, designed to help you expand your understanding of the problems and processes of more complex, satisfying fiction and to challenge you to produce works of which you never thought yourself capable. You'll learn how to: • Train your writing instincts, so creation becomes a more organic, automatic process • Tackle challenging concepts and themes, such as Language Games, The Mind, Money & Class, and History, laying a foundation for larger, more significant writing projects • Make your writing process more fun and experimental, so you'll approach your fiction in the spirit of discovery, rather than with anxiety Open the book. Choose an exercise. Surprise yourself. Anything can happen—even at 4 a.m.