"So, write some more," I say to Myself.
"Good idea," Myself says to I.
And a day goes by. Two days. Three. Then it's a week later. Plus a day or two.
Sigh.
The time allotted to creating daily poetry prompts has passed and there was no more time to create and post. I've been struggling to keep up with my weekly prompts, Razor's Edge, on Fridays at The Writing Vein. But it was such a good idea and I loved having them ready.
I will build some time into my schedule to post prompts ahead, like I did for NaPoWriMo. But, for now, I have another solution.
In my blog reader today was another installment from The Internet Writing Workshop. I've seen them before, read most of them. One of their features is a weekly writing practice. The title of today's is "Wake Up".
And I thought, "ah ha! This is my temporary answer."
Myself replied, "Yes, why re-invent the wheel when you're still driving the old one? Let those who've been doing this for many years help out a bit."
I said, "Deal!"
So here is the first of their weekly prompts here. Well - not THEIR first, but my first posting of their prompt! With a space to add your stories in the comments below. One prompt a week. And make sure to click on over to their website to check out previous posts. Good stuff there, including some interesting historical information.
Thank you productive members of The Internet Writing Workshop.
Without further ado, here is this week's prompt:
Wake up
Prepared by: Charles Hightower
Posted on: May 16, 2010
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Exercise: In 400 words or less, your character awakes in an unexpected location and you must show how the character reacts.
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Your character comes to consciousness and is surprised by the surroundings. Show your readers what the character experiences, how he/she behaves.
The tale should begin the moment the character wakes up. Remember, this is not to be a story about a dream, but about a real event in your character's life.
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Return here to post your story in the comments!
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1 comment:
Wake Up
exercise response
by Dot.
Only my right eye is open and I know I'm not where I should be. The color is familiar, the smell - not quite. The light is wrong. Today is - something. Today is Tuesday and I should be at home in bed and I know I'm not and it has to be later than it should be because of the light. I'll push off the blanket and carefully roll over because I don't know where... No, it's Wednesday. Right. Wednesday and. No. I open my left eye and look down because there's a chill near my feet. No covers. I look down and it is not a blanket and sheet. It's a fleece jacket; olive green. Not mine. And this is not a bed, I see. Not a sofa. It's the back seat of a car, which explains the smell. But whose car? I listen for other breathing; hear none. I clear my throat and wait for a response. None. I push the fleece down to cover my cold feet and lift up on my elbows. Slowly.
"Hello?" I use a stage whisper. I listen. Still nothing.
My eyes are at the level of the bottom of the window and I look out, ready to duck if needed. There are a lot of trees, an unpainted picket fence with moss. I can see the front of a white house behind some giant flower bushes.
I don't recognize them. I don't know where I am. I pull out my left arm to look at my watch and it's gone. And I know it's past eight, but I suppose it doesn't matter since I don't know where I am and don't know if it's even possible to get to work on time from this unknown location.
"Think," I say out loud. "Where were you last night?"
I remember going to the bar for the monthly Hot Flash dance. A mojito, or two. Maybe three. There was a woman, tall, long arms, not too lean but buff. That was it; Debbie called her "buff." We nicknamed her Buffy and dared each other to go say hi to her. Neither of us was brave enough.
"But maybe with enough drinks you will," Debbie challenged.
I remembered saying I only wanted to look. Then Buffy walked our way and Debbie slinked off to the bathroom.
A dance. Another mojito. What did I do last night and where am I now?
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