Does fear lurk in your kitchen of enthusiasm?

Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, it's important to write with clarity, not with vagueness. By communicating yourself in concrete, specific images, you help your readers understand you (and your poem/story).

Today's activity has two parts. You may or may not do the second part, if you'd rather concentrate on the first part. Don't skip the first part, though, because the second activity relies on what you'll be able to concoct in the first.

So crack your knuckles, pull out your keyboard (or sharpen your pencils) and let's begin.

First, pick a number from 1 to 5:

1. cave
2. garden
3. backyard
4. kitchen
5. teacup

Next, you guessed it, pick another number from 1 to 5:

1. joy
2. enthusiasm
3. relief
4. love
5. gratitude

Combine your two choices and you're off! What's your location? In a cave of love? Have you ever found yourself in the kitchen of gratitude? How about finding relief in a teacup?

Brainstorm and list specific/concrete images for your place. Concrete images can be anything -- fictional, nonfictional, whimsical, philosophical, you name it. You can come up with a list by asking yourself:

  ~ What happens in the garden of joy?
  ~ What's cooking in the kitchen of gratitude?
  ~ What happens after you drink in a teacup of relief?
  ~ How is it to be inside the cave of enthusiasm?
  ~ What things would be happening in the backyard of love?

Brainstorm for at least 5 minutes. Don't worry if the first few images you brainstorm are bland. As your list grows longer, the more interesting your images will become.

The first part is metaphorical and you'll likely find yourself writing a poem. However, you take your piece where you want to. If at any point in your brainstorming, you get a story idea, then by all means, pursue it.

Now for the second part. Are you ready? Again, choose any number from 1 to 5:

1. hate
2. guilt
3. pride
4. anxiety
5. fear

Now put the emotion you chose in your location/place. Plop it down, drop it like a bomb, sneak it in, etc. Make this emotion "disrupt" the generally feel-good ambiance of your place. It's the conflict.

What's pride doing in your backyard of love? Why is fear hanging about in the cave of enthusiasm? What's guilt doing in a teacup of relief? Again, brainstorm for reasons or for the things this disruptive emotion could cause.

So knock yourself out with this writing activity. If you'll excuse me, I need to make sure there aren't icky wiggling worms of anxiety and fear trying to make a home in my garden of enthusiasm.


Copyright (c) 2004 Shery Ma Belle Arrieta-Russ
Shery created WriteSparks! - a software that generates over 10
*million* Story Sparkers for Writers. Download WriteSparks! Lite
for fr*e - http://writesparks.com

What if your brain was up for auction?

This writing activity was inspired by Dido's song, Life for Rent. The song's chorus goes:

    If my life is for rent and I don't learn to buy
    Well I deserve nothing more than I get
    'Cause nothing that I have is truly mine

[ Complete lyrics at http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/dido/lifeforrent.html ]

*If the link above doesn't work, try going to Google and searching for "life for rent dido lyrics" (without the quotes). You'll find plenty of sites that have the lyrics.

Read the chorus a few more times before continuing with this article. It'll get you in the mood :o)

One...
Two...
Three...

Done? Let's forge on.

It's pretty straightforward imagery -- Life is likened to a commodity, one that's for rent, and that premise (or metaphor) is supported by the last line: thus, saying that if one's life is for rent (and one doesn't learn how to buy things), then nothing he (she) has is really his (hers).

When we break it down, it's cause and effect, or an if...then relationship. One thing causes something to happen. Or this is the reason that thing happened. If you do this, then that is the result. You get the drift :o)

Now, here's what you're going to do. You'll play the "if-then" game. The resulting "if-then" fragments will be the basis of your creative pieces today. You can take them anywhere you want them to go. Consider this simple writing activity the sparkplug that inspired the lift-off, the conductor's baton that got the orchestra playing, the little grenade pin that slipped... Ok, I'm sure you get the drift ;o)


First, pick a number between 1 and 10:

1. eyes
2. vocal chord
3. brain
4. thumbs
5. skin
6. toenails
7. heart
8. lungs
9. legs
10. ears

Got a number picked? Good! Now, apply any or all of these to the body part that you picked:

- lease, auction, bargain/sale, barter, evaluation, adoption

You'll come up with something like these:

- If my brain was up for adoption...
- If my brain was up for auction...
- If I were to barter my brain...
- If I were to lease my brain...
- If anyone could get my brain at bargain price...

Next, add the second part -- the "then". What happens? To you? To the body part? To Donald Trump? To life on earth? Come up with not just one reason; come up with many! Preposterous reasons, serious reasons, wacky reasons, out-of-this-world reasons.

If your brain was up for auction,

- What would happen to you?
- What would happen to the person who'll own it?
- What would happen to the people who may or may not value
    the things (memories) in your brain?
- What would happen to your memories?
- What would happen if none of the bidders met your
    minimum price or reserve?

Too weird for you? OK, then give this one a go. Pick a number from 1 to 10:

1. loyalty
2. honesty
3. summer
4. weekends
5. name
6. ambition
7. career
8. love
9. job
10. bachelorhood

Again, apply any or all of these to whatever you picked:

- lease, auction, bargain/sale, barter, evaluation, adoption

And you'll come up with:

- If my loyalty was up for sale...
- If I were to barter my loyalty...
- If my loyalty is up for evaluation...
- If I were to have my loyalty adopted...
- If I could lease my loyalty...
- If my loyalty was up for auction...

You know what to do next ;o)

That's it. Have fun auctioning off those body parts! :o)


Copyright (c) 2004 Shery Ma Belle Arrieta-Russ
Shery created WriteSparks! - a software that generates over 10
*million* Story Sparkers for Writers. Download WriteSparks! Lite
for fr*e - http://writesparks.com

WOI Guest Post: The Joy of Writing While Blind by Traci McDonald

One of the most common questions I am asked when people find out I am a completely blind author, “Isn’t that so hard to do when you can’t see what you’re writing?”

The truth is; its not that hard. I have a computer that talks to me, voice recorders, digital players and even a voice activated cell phone. Being a blind author is not difficult if all I have to deal with is being blind. The more difficult parts of being an author are not even sight related.

Like most authors, I love to write and it fills my life with joy and meaning. I write for and with my kids. I write for family and friends, and I write because I love to build beautiful things with words. When I write, my computer announces the stroke of each key and the content of each document. It is such a thrill for me to write something and feel the immediate gratification of hearing it read back to me. When the sound of the prose and the picture in my head match, I know I am on the right track. Every author needs beta readers or readers outside of themselves. As a direct result of writing blind I get to hear my computer fill this role for me, instantly.

I also enjoy the experience of having visual memories, while being able to use my other senses to create images that are more vibrant. Can you imagine which color feels like a warm loaf of bread, a waterfall that roars like a dragon’s snore or the smell of pine, alfalfa, and moss that means green? Colors and pictures fill my world when I can use words to paint them.

Writing is not the easiest task to accomplish when you can’t read your own work. However, it is a joy for me to figure out how to do it. The sense of accomplishment and purpose is a great source of joy and contentment in my life.

I have a blog called Writing Blind that tells the story of not only my writing but my journey through life as a blind person. It has been a lot of fun for me to talk about writing and sharing funny stories with readers. You can also find information about my novel Killing Casanova on my blog as well. Come visit me and leave a comment. 

About the Author: 

Debut author Traci McDonald has been a writer since she figured out how to make words on a page. Traci wrote for English classes like most people, but she wrote everything else in between. Traci won minor competitions with short stories, poetry and lyrics before becoming visually impaired. That is just a political correct way of saying Traci McDonald is blind. Traci lost her eyesight 17 years ago, but it never stopped her from living life and following her dreams. She has struggled with her health and raising kids, prior to the publication of her first novel. Traci is very excited to see her dream in life coming true. She lives in a small cozy town in the Mojave Desert, less than 150 miles from Las Vegas, Nevada.

The World of Ink Network will be touring author Traci McDonald’s debut romantic suspense, Killing Casanova throughout October and November 2012.

Sometimes not only your heart is blind, which happens to be situation with Cassie Taylor, the heroine in this non-stop suspenseful romantic thriller.

 

Get a sneak peek of the book at http://youtu.be/SuE_kpSHock

You can find out more about Traci McDonald and her debut romance novel during her World of Ink Author/Book Tour at http://tinyurl.com/8nejedq

To learn more about the World of Ink Tours visit http://worldofinknetwork.com