A List of the Exercises in The 3 A.M. Epiphany

Published by Writers Digest Books

copyright Brian Kiteley

These are the titles of the 201 exercises for fiction writers (and writers of non-fiction, for that matter) in The 3 A.M. Epiphany.  The numbers that precede the titles are simply the numbers of the exercises in the book (they do not correspond with the sampling of these exercises elsewhere on these pages.  If you have any questions, please feel free to send me an email (bkiteley@du.edu).  In the book, each section has a brief introduction, and each exercise's instructions are about a page long.  This list is only a tease, but teasing is one of my favorite activities.  Take a look at the introduction to The 3 A.M. Epiphany if you're completely confused.  If you are a teacher, and you want to order an examination copy of the book, click here.

 

Point of View: 1 The Reluctant I, 2 Imperative, 3 Unreliable Third, 4 The Unstable Self, 5 Journalism, 6 The Royal We, 7 Family Consciousness, 8 Third to First, 9 Historical Omniscience, 10 The Ironist, 11 The Cheerful Spectator, 12 An Execution, 13 God

 

Images: 14 No Ideas, But in Things, 15 Two Images Separated at Birth, 16 Two Paintings, 17 Synesthesia, 18 TV, 19 Canned Film, 20 Colors, 21 Clothes, 22 Alarm Clock Dream, 23 The Closet

 

Characters and Ways of Seeing: 24 Ways of Seeing, 25 Names, 26 Ex's, 27 Loveless, 28 Loving, 29 Evil, 30 Absent, 31 Intelligence, 32 Friendship, 33 Goodness, 34 Chaos Follows, 35 Wilderness, 36 Beyond Words, 37 Face Recognition, 38 Sentenced to Death, 39 Letters from Inside the Story, 40 Doubling Up, 41 You Oxymoron

 

Women and Men: 42 Invisible Woman, 43 Control, 44 The Argument, 45 Food, Fight, 46 Intimacy, 47 Smart Pets, 48 Cooking, 49 Binary Oppositions

 

Children and Childhood: 50 Early Language, 51 Associative Logic, 52 What Maisie Knew, 53 Cruelty, 54 Child's Play, 55 Shy, 56 Looking Backwards, 57 Wrong Hall, 58 Bedtime Story

 

Conversation: 59 Silent Partner, 60 Body English, 61 Character Building, 62, The First Lie, 63 Phone Tag, 64 Finishing Each Other's Sentences, 65 Indirect Discourse, 66 Reconstituted Talk, 67 Travesty, 68 Interrogation

 

Thought and Emotion: 69 Consciousness Slowed, 70 Universal Freedom, 71 Needs, 72 Wants, 73 Improvisation, 74 True Feeling, 75 Teacher, 76 Witness Protection, 77 Deathbed Conversions, 78 Style, 79 Mistaken, Identity, 80 Sleight of Hand, 81 The Bunny Planet, 82 Ignoble Subjects

 

Biography and Autobiography: 83 Public vs. Private, 84 Fact and Fancy, 85 Talismans, 86 Interview, 87 Research, 88 Life of the Party, 89 Biography, 90 Funhouse Mirror, 91 Leaving Out, 92 Father and Son, 93 Mother and Daughter

 

Time: 94 Life Story, 95 Summary, 96 One Moment, 97 Deja Vu, 98 The Gap, 99 Rashomon, 100 Landscape and Time, 101 Ghosts, 102 A Happy Marriage

 

History: 103 The Day After, 104 What If, 105 Revisionist History, 106 Found History, 107 Shoeshine, 108 Censorship

 

Description (Paragraphs): 109 Nudes, 110 Sweet and Sour, 111 Home, 112 The City, 113 In the Belly of the Beast, 114 Aromatherapy, 115 Maps, 116 Public Space vs. Private Space, 117 Walking, 118 Verisimilitude, 119 Jeremiad

 

Sentences (Butting Up Against Each Other): 120 Chapters, 121, Underground History, 122 E-less, 123 The Music of Prose, 124 Listful, 125 Russian Doll in Reverse, 126 Backwards, 127 Pantoum, 128 Villanelle, 129 Concrete Abstractions, 130 Monotony, 131 Repetition, 132 Economy, 133 Phone Book

 

Other People's Sentences: 134 Logical Structure, 135 Poetry, 136 Collage, 137 Beginnings, 138 Ends, 139 Middles, 140 Jointly Held Story, 141 The Bridge, 142 Between the Lines, 143 French, 144 DeLillo, 145 Top Ten Words of 2003, 146 100 Most Common Words, 147 Living Flesh, 148 Embedded Stories

 

Play and Games: 149 Rules of the Game, 150 Vertigo, 151 Different Strokes, 152 Mimicry, 153 Dice, 154 Fantasy, 155 War

 

Sports: 156 The Team, 157 Life or Death, 158 Individual, 159 The Seduction of Analogies

 

Work: 160 The Language of Work, 161 Teamwork, 162 Gravediggers, 163 Loafing, 164 Fight Choreographer

 

Humor: 165 Standup, 166 The Wit and the Pendulum, 167 The Joke, 168 Incongruity, 169 Serious Slapstick, 170 Unintended Humor, 171 Misdirection

 

Travel: 172 Arrivals, 173 Departures, 174 Digressions, 175 Notebooks, 176 Barbarians, 177 Life as a Text, 178 Imaginary Travel, 179 Imaginary Cities, 180 Inside Jokes, 181 Perpetual Return, 182 Landscapes, 183 The Double, 184 Goodnight, Colorado

 

Internal Structure: 185 A Maze, 186 An Iceberg, 187 Two Parallel Lines, 188 A Circle, 189 The Infinity Symbol

 

Exercises for Stories in Progress: 190 Outrunning the Critic, 191 Sensory Details, 192 Rehearsal, 193 Surprise, 194 Postcards to France, 195 Caught on Tape, 196 Email, 197 Embracing the Mystery, 198 Character Develops with Revision, 199 Beyond Your Preconceptions, 200 Q and A, 201 Fill in the Blank

 

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