The Mighty Pen #43

The Mighty Pen flash fiction contest is a just for fun writing contest (inspired by my wonderful husband). I post the beginning of a story – and you post an end! I will choose a winner and several honorable mentions. The contest is open until Sunday night and the winner is announce on Monday where I feature them on my blog. Check out past winners on the tab above.

Note: This is a family friendly blog – so please keep it PG rated. Thanks!

The Beginning

With trembling hands she opened the book...

Three Words #43

One of my favorite writing games is something I call three words. I post three words and encourage you to write a flash fiction piece containing those three words. If you would like to challenge me – post three words for me and next week I will post a piece of flash fiction using your words. Enjoy!

Three Words

• Red
• Rug
• Vast

Flash Fiction

Using the three words: Black, Bowl, and Blame (from last week.)

The blame would fall to her. No matter what the truth was, the blame would fall to her.

Ashti looked down at the broken shards of the glass bowl. A priceless treasure of the masters, destroyed. Then she turned to the cowering servant murmuring in the corner.

Sighing, she lifted the remnants of the bowl and wrapped them in a black cloth. Then marched off to fulfill her duty.

Prompt Tuesday #44

Every Tuesday I post a writing prompt and my response. It gives me a chance to exercise my writing muscles outside of my WIP, and hopefully inspire you to write. So enjoy my flash fiction piece and post your own in the comments!

Prompt

Finding prompts is hard. I try to find a verity from different sources and it takes time for me to locate good ones. Today I stumbled on a prompt generator which was really fun. Here are a few of the prompts I found there:
Source: Prompt Generator

"A noise outside awakens you one night. You look out the window and see a spaceship. Write what happens next."

Response

My window rattles, waking me from a light sleep. Sighing in frustration I extract myself from the tangled blankets and trip across the floor to the window. Leaning on the seal I look out the window into the dark back yard.

A ring of swirling colored lights lights up the area right in front of my window. I watch the lights for a second, amused. "Josh," I whisper to myself, shaking my head.

I climb the stairs very slowly. Once across the hall I place my hand on the doorknob to my brothers room. Taking a deep breath I throw open the door and scream, "ALIENS!", it the best terrified voice I can.

Josh jumps and screams like a girl. After the shock wears off, his friends begin laughing hysterically.

My eyes meet Josh's. I know I will pay for this but I don't care. I turn away and return to my bed.

My Publishing Dream - Like a Pheonix

I had an interesting conversation with my Aunt over the weekend. It started with her asking me how easy it would be to learn HTML - then shifted to talking about self publishing eBooks. It was like a catalysis around which several disjointed thoughts combined into one: I think I want to be self published.

Whoa! Yes it blew me away too. After my soul searching and deciding to go the traditional route I finally find me changing my mind.

Why? Well, let me tell you about two experiences that helped me realize what my dream really is.

First - I attended a meeting of my local chapter meeting in which the question was posed to me what I want to get out of writing. I did not mention money - not at all. For two reasons - it is not all that important to me and I realize that the chances of being a millionaire off my writing is very slim. I was surprised when this attidude was scoffed at. It made me want to never be published if I have to deal with that kind of attitude.

Second - I got my first rejection letter. At first it made me all excited and ready to submit to the next publisher. But somehow that never happened, my fire kind of fizzled out.

This all made me realize that maybe I don't need to be traditionally published to realized my dream.

So I am on the brink of deciding if I should let one dream die so that another can rise from its ashes. Or to hold on to my original dream.

Have you ever had to give up on one dream in order to realize another - that might be better?

Wisdom from my Writers Group

I am a member of the local chapter of the League of Utah Writers. Due to circumstances outside my control I was not able to attend the February or March meetings. So this month I finally got to go again. Yea!

We got some really great advice from our chapter president from his college level writing class. Note: I am jealous of the knowledge he is gaining - but not of having to go to school.

Here are some of my favorite points from our discussion:

- You learn more when you fail
- Use your words more effectively
- Adjectives don't make your writing good - active verbs do
- Learn to write to appeal to all five sense (a note on this below)
- If you don't know grammar - learn it!
- Have a consistent writing schedule - that involves writing multiple times a week
- Find people who hate your writing - and listen (a note on this below)
- Make time to read the good stuff - it will make your writing better
- Don't get tied up in all the rules during your first draft

A note on learning to write to appeal to all five senses: I used to think that you had to describe with all three sense. Sight, and so on. I was reading the work of a fellow writer and one of his characters sniffed the air. I was like - what the?! It seemed weird to me. Then again - I don't have the best sense of smell.

But in our discussions our chapter president suggested a different way of doing this - choose words that invoke more than one sense. For example: the word rattle - you can see it, here it, even feel it. This is something I am going to experiment with in my own writing.

A note on finding people who hate your writing - Okay - so I took a little poetic license with this one. And I don't really mean literally. But the point is that if all the people who are critiquing for you are giving you positive feedback - you are learning or growing. Also, it was mentioned that having critique-rs that don't usually read your genre can point out things that others will miss and make your story stronger.

Do you have any other writing nuggets of gold? Did any of these make you stop and think?

The Mighty Pen #42

The Mighty Pen flash fiction contest is a just for fun writing contest (inspired by my wonderful husband). I post the beginning of a story – and you post an end! I will choose a winner and several honorable mentions. The contest is open until Sunday night and the winner is announce on Monday where I feature them on my blog. Check out past winners on the tab above.

Note: This is a family friendly blog – so please keep it PG rated. Thanks!

The Beginning

It started to rain...

Three Words #42

One of my favorite writing games is something I call three words. I post three words and encourage you to write a flash fiction piece containing those three words. If you would like to challenge me – post three words for me and next week I will post a piece of flash fiction using your words. Enjoy!

Three Words

• Black
• Bowl
• Blame

Flash Fiction

Using the three words: Harsh, Branch, and Wind (from last week.)

A harsh wind tore through the valley. The tall grass bent over so far they almost touched the ground. Maya moved as quickly as the the approaching storm would allow. She held her cloak tightly around her in a vain attempt to keep out the cold.

Finally she found refuge in the trees of the forest. Here the wind's angry howl lessened a little, though the branches of the trees creaked and moaned under its influence.

Maya chanced a quick look over her shoulder and instantly regretted it. The shadows were coming for her.

Prompt Tuesday #43

Every Tuesday I post a writing prompt and my response. It gives me a chance to exercise my writing muscles outside of my WIP, and hopefully inspire you to write. So enjoy my flash fiction piece and post your own in the comments!

Prompt

Finding prompts is hard. I try to find a verity from different sources and it takes time for me to locate good ones. Today I stumbled on a prompt generator which was really fun. Here are a few of the prompts I found there:
Source: Prompt Generator

Whenever I study for a test I try to...

Response

Whenever I study for a test I try to envision the end goal. What is the purpose of the test. What I am I to learn, what are my teachers to gauge about my knowledge and skill. Then I prepare. You have to be ready to encounter all sorts of obstacles, the human mind is a mine field of traps and diversions. You could easily get lost, lose yourself if you are not careful. The tests are designed to push you to the very limit, beyond what you would find in the average scan. As Professor Denar would say - "If you are prepared for the most dangerous, the safe is that much safer."

The Mighty Pen #41

The Mighty Pen flash fiction contest is a just for fun writing contest (inspired by my wonderful husband). I post the beginning of a story – and you post an end! I will choose a winner and several honorable mentions. The contest is open until Sunday night and the winner is announce on Monday where I feature them on my blog. Check out past winners on the tab above.

Note: This is a family friendly blog – so please keep it PG rated. Thanks!

The Beginning

One more step, just one more step...

Three Words #41

One of my favorite writing games is something I call three words. I post three words and encourage you to write a flash fiction piece containing those three words. If you would like to challenge me – post three words for me and next week I will post a piece of flash fiction using your words. Enjoy!

Three Words

• Harsh
• Branch
• Wind

Flash Fiction

Using the three words: Quintet, Cursive, and Adjustment (from last week.)

Marribell made and adjustment to the image on the screen. The blue lines traced on an orange background resembled the jumbled combined forms of cursive letters. She studied the screen again and then pulled the image over to sit with a set of three other images forming a complete quintet.

"Play," Marribell told the computer.

A swell of exotic music flooded the room. Marribell closed her eyes, listening intently to each note, each cord of her composition.

Prompt Tuesday #42

Every Tuesday I post a writing prompt and my response. It gives me a chance to exercise my writing muscles outside of my WIP, and hopefully inspire you to write. So enjoy my flash fiction piece and post your own in the comments!

Prompt

Finding prompts is hard. I try to find a verity from different sources and it takes time for me to locate good ones. Today I stumbled on a prompt generator which was really fun. Here are a few of the prompts I found there:
Source: Prompt Generator

Choose your favorite season. Name the season and explain why it is your favorite.

Response

Fall is my favorite season. I love the smells, the colors, the cooler weather. I have never really like hot weather. Probably because I spent most of my life in the north where it is cold, very cold.

My favorite part of fall is the changing of the leaves on the trees. Go figure I have never really cared for evergreen trees. Something about the hill side covered with red, yellow and orange leaves - like it is on fire - makes me happy.

Fall is when nature is preparing to sleep, to rest for the winter until everything begins again. It is an end to one season and the start of another. Maybe that is why I like it so much. Because it is an ending the promises a new beginning if we are just patient and wait for the spring.

The Mighty Pen #40

The Mighty Pen flash fiction contest is a just for fun writing contest (inspired by my wonderful husband). I post the beginning of a story – and you post an end! I will choose a winner and several honorable mentions. The contest is open until Sunday night and the winner is announce on Monday where I feature them on my blog. Check out past winners on the tab above.

Note: This is a family friendly blog – so please keep it PG rated. Thanks!

The Beginning

I step through the door. The room is filled with a bright white light. I cannot see anything. A clicking sound, footsteps, approaches. The sound draws nearer and I can see a shadow moving closer. The shadow emerges from the light into my field of vision and....

Prompt Tuesday #41

Every Tuesday I post a writing prompt and my response. It gives me a chance to exercise my writing muscles outside of my WIP, and hopefully inspire you to write. So enjoy my flash fiction piece and post your own in the comments!

Prompt

Finding prompts is hard. I try to find a verity from different sources and it takes time for me to locate good ones. Today I stumbled on a prompt generator which was really fun. Here are a few of the prompts I found there:
Source: Prompt Generator

"I found the strangest thing in my pocket."

Response

"I found the strangest thing in my pocket," she looked up at me and smiled. "I think it reminded me of something." She paused and twisted one of her fingers in a clump of her dark hair. "I don't remember what it was now."

"It's okay," I soothed when I noticed her becoming agitated. "Everyone forgets."

"I think it was important," she pressed. "If only I could remember where I put it." She glanced around the room, her eyes darting from one place to the other.

I placed my hand on her knee. "Maybe it is in your pocket."

She nodded and dipped her slender hand into the pocket of her dress. When she withdrew her hand it held a small silver chain with six letters strung on it.

"Here it is!" she declared, holding up the necklace.

"Well that explains it." I smiled. "See, the necklace says 'Sarah' - it probably reminded you of your name."


P.S. Just noticed this did not post yesterday.

Three Words #40

One of my favorite writing games is something I call three words. I post three words and encourage you to write a flash fiction piece containing those three words. If you would like to challenge me – post three words for me and next week I will post a piece of flash fiction using your words. Enjoy!

Three Words

• Quintet
• Cursive
• Adjustment

Flash Fiction

Using the three words: Ellipse, Intergalactic, and Render (from two weeks ago.)

Sayni watched the small dot circle the screen in an ellipse. Round and round, slower and slower. "Info," Sayni said, in a bored tone.

A mechanical voice sounded from the console. "The Medella is a Horan ship carrying a delegation of intergalactic politicians locked in a debate over the formation of treaty. These negotiations take place in a specially designed auditorium that takes up a third of the total size of the ship."

"Show me," Sayni said. She yawned and watched as the computer rendered a subsection of the ship. Her eyes glossed over the image. Folding her arms she rested her head against them and drifted off to sleep.