Fiction Friday :: "Bit by the Bug"

So Day 6 of the 12-Day Plan of Simple Writing Exercises is as follows ::

Select a book on your shelf and pick two chapters at random. Take the first line of one chapter and the last line of the other chapter and write a short story (no more than 1000 words) using those as bookends to your story.

So the book I chose was The Spark: Igniting the Creative Fire That Lives Within Us All, created b Lyn Heward & written by John U. Bacon.  I took the first sentence of chapter 2 and the last sentence of chapter 4.  Then I decided to be crazy and, since the rules of the exercise didn't specify that I couldn't do it, swapped those two lines in my story.  It seemed to work out better.  And I decided to continue exploring Casey Darris and her background with this one.

This story was written 29-31 January 2014.  I'm not sure it'll be expanded upon or not.  And once again, it was based very loosely on situations in my own past.

Poem :: "It was a strange day"

So Day 5 of the 12-Day Plan of Simple Writing Exercises is as follows ::

Write a 20-line poem about a memorable moment in your life.

I actually chose to do this poem to help flesh out a new original character, based on something similar that happened in my own life.


"It was a strange day"

It was a strange day.
The day I lost all hope left.
No one understood,
Nor have they even tried since.
My whole world came crashing down.

Sometimes, it feels right,
This "out of touch with life" thing.
Like I am at peace.
Who in the hell feels like that
When their entire world dies?

She was the best part
Of being alive and all.
She made me feel loved.
Now she's gone and I'm alone,
Left with nothing but regrets.

Sometimes I feel her.
Usually it's a scent,
A touch, a soft laugh.
Fleeting and ephemeral,
Never to be real again.

A quick FYI...

I am several days behind on posting the 12-Day Plan of Simple Writing Exercises things that I've been doing.  I've been working on them in my paper journals, then working on transcribing them here.  I even got behind on doing the actual exercises on their assigned days.

So what I've decided to do is work on the various exercises and get myself caught up, then I'll work on getting them posted here.  I'd initially thought to backdate everything, but I've decided against that.  I'll just space them out, if I feel they're appropriate to post publically.  If I don't feel they're postable for public consumption yet, I'll at least do a post giving a basic description of what I attempted with the exercise in question.

I made a pact when I started this project that I would finish it by Imbolc, aka 2 February 2014.  I am behind, but planning on getting caught up over the next couple of days.  By spacing them out, no one feels like they're being flooded by my posts.

To Whom It May Concern -- An Open Letter to an Agent

So Day 4 of the 12-Day Plan of Simple Writing Exercises is as follows ::

Write a letter to an agent telling her how wonderful you are.

This was another one that actually gave me some issues in writing.  And not in the false modesty "Oh I can't do that!" kind of way either.  For me, and what I've always known about pitching oneself to an agent, you talk about your project as well as yourself, which can alter what you would say.  But I gave this a sporting chance...


 To Whom It May Concern --

You would be remiss to reject me as an author in your publishing stables.

I have been writing since I was seven years old, if not younger, and always had elaborate story worlds for my various characters.  I honed my craft with fanfiction, using the opportunity to work on introducing new characters into the established worlds, as well as taking established characters and plunking them down into new worlds.

This led to creating whole worlds of my own, like in my childhood, and populating them with new characters.

In addition to these fictional realms, I've delved extensively into poetry, oftentimes working with commonplace ideas in complex structures and vice versa.

I am working to expand my experience with creative nonfiction, as well, in an effort to be well-rounded and versatile.

Thank you.

Sadie

World Building Exercise

So Day 3 of the 12-Day Plan of Simple Writing Exercises is as follows ::

Write a setting based on the most beautiful place you’ve ever seen.

 A coastal beach that stretches unbroken for several miles to the south and approximately two miles to the north, where it terminates in a large outcropping of seismically and volcanically created rock, surrounded by a dense fog that obscures the summit and what lies to its direct north.  Anyone brave enough to climb the narrow, crumbling, water-slicked footholds and natural trails to the top is treated to a view like none other.  Once on the summit, the fog lifts to reveal a sun-dappled oasis of lush green grass overlooking a sparkling blue-green ocean to the west and north.  To the north, over the edge, one cans ee another seemingly endless stretch of pristine beach, dotted irregularly with pieces of driftwood.  Along the northeast of the point is a henge of obsidian and sunstone.  Fantastical creatures live here, including a gryphon that keeps a leviathan fed with seaweed and the bodies of those unworthy to step foot in this sacred space.

Character Study :: Casey Darris

So Day 2 of the 12-Day Plan of Simple Writing Exercises is as follows ::

Create a character with personality traits of someone you love, but the physical characteristics of someone you don’t care for.

At first, I wasn't sure I'd be able to do this.  In fact, I'll be honest and say that this particular exercise was a big part of the reason that I've been putting off doing these exercises in the first place.  So I kind of put it off most of the day.  Which turned out to be a good thing anyway, as I was fighting the auras associated with a potentially nasty migraine most of the day.  And then I realized how stupid I was being about my issues with this challenge and just sat down to start working out the basics of this character.

Possible Book Titles

So Day 1 of the 12-Day Plan of Simple Writing Exercises is as follows ::

Write 10 potential book titles of books you’d like to write.

 So the first ten titles that came to mind for me are below.

• Laikhostra
• Stranded in Seaweed
• Intricate Strands
• Surviving Sierra
• Set in Quicksand
• Somewhere Underrated
• Severed Lives
• Wisdom of the Heart
• Come Undone
• Where Have You Been Hiding?

Some of these titles have ideas percolating already, which is awesome.  Some may never have anything come of them.  And that's okay.  We'll see what happens.  For all I know, some of them may be used for fannish projects.  But I definitely feel better having a few ideas to kick around now.

And yes, the first title option is for something already set.  Perhaps I shouldn't have kept that one in the list, but it is for a book I'd like to finish writing.  The second is something that points toward my lesbian selkie romance idea.  The rest of them?  No idea.  And that's okay.  The idea was to write the titles now.  If stories come from these titles, that's fantastic.  If not, that's okay, too.

What's Up Wednesday :: 22 January 2014 Edition

So first things first.  It's been quite a while since I last posted anything here.  Which is just pathetic.  I could give a million and one excuses, but they don't really matter in the end.  All that matters is that I wasn't writing and should have been.  So let's just focus on moving forward from this point on, shall we?

It's What's Up Wednesday again!

What I'm Reading

People of the Owl -- This is actually a re-read, as I'm still slowly making my way through the entire series of books.

What I'm Writing

Mostly I'm doing a lot of RP over on Twitter again.

I've signed up for a few fannish challenges, which is nice to keep those muses happy.  But that won't get the money coming in for my writing, so I'm working on focusing a little more on the pro side of writing this year hopefully.

I started the 12-Day Plan of Simple Writing Exercises today, which should end on 2nd February, which just happens to be Imbolc.  In other words, the creativity sabbat that I celebrate.  Hopefully these exercises will niggle something loose for me to work on in the original fiction arena.

What Else I've Been Up To

This past weekend, I went clamming up by the Hood Canal Bridge.  We saw a pair of bald eagles there, as well as a couple of harbor seals while crossing the bridge.  And I ate a raw oyster right there on the beach after Otter shucked it for me.  [I'm still a wimp when it comes to shucking them.]  If all goes well, we'll be going back up this coming weekend for another round of clamming.  Freshly steamed clams are even tastier when you've dug them up yourself.

What Inspires Me Right Now

Hope and renewal are really big for me right now.

Abbey of the Arts did their Give Me a Word 2014: Fifth Annual Abbey Giveaway this past December. I happened across this concept when perusing one of the newsletters I get from the site, so thought I'd give this a shot for 2014.  I did the work and wasn't sure what my word would be.  And then it hit me.  This is what I wrote on their blog for the giveaway [which I didn't win].

"My word, apparently, is REVITALIZE.  I'd been down to renew, revitalize, and forgive, though creativity was bandied about for a bit, too.  But then I realized that renew, forgive, and even creativity all linked back to revitalize in ways that fit me.  I've fallen into several ruts over recent years -- emotionally, physically, creatively, and spiritually -- so it's time to revitalize everything."

And that whole idea of revitalizing is something I'm working on.  I'm in the process of making some changes now, but the big "push" toward this idea will be starting on Imbolc, when I begin a few other major projects, but more on those in a later post as we get closer to the date.

What’s up with you today?