The Mighty Pen #47

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

She slammed the door in my face...

Three Words #47

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

• Gray
• Box
• Table

Flash Fiction

Using the three words: Yellow, Ledge, and Tree (from last week.)

I slowly stepped back from the edge and leaned my back against the rough bark of the tree.

"It is not that far down," Corin insisted. "Just a few leaps and we will be at the bottom."

I cracked my eyes open and looked at him, his blue eyes flashing below his yellow hair.

"Then you go. I will wait here."

Prompt Tuesday #48

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

Source: Writing.com

"What if fairytales began 'Twice Below a Place' instead of 'once upon a time'?"

Response

Twice below a place filled with fairy dust, a princess was born. The first was a real princess, the daughter of a king and queen and heir to their thrones and fortunes. The second was the daughter of a farmer and his wife.

The first was named Glacia, she was born on the first day of the corn harvest just as the evening fell. The queen had been travelling from her summer home near the sea to her winter home when her pains began. The party stopped under the branches of a fairy tree and the little princes was born.

Seven days later, at dusk on the last day of the corn harvest, Cornilia was born. Her mother was walking from the fields to her home and stop to rest under the tree. There Cornilia was born.

These two girls grew up much as one would expect. Glacia learned how to be graceful and rule a kingdom. Cornilia learned to sew and care for a home and family.

For her sixteenth year, Glacia went on a journey to visit every village in the land. This was a tradition in the royal family to allow a chance for each of their subjects to view the future ruler of the land. When Glacia arrived in Cornilia's village they discovered something amazing. They looked as if they could be sisters. Both had golden hair, though no other in their family had ever had the same. And their eyes sparkled in the sunlight.

The two girls decided that they must find out why it was that they were so much the same. So they set out on a quest to find the answers. Together the girls grilled both their parents and were led to the fairy tree in the fields. One night, some time later they both stood before the tree. Together the bushed its bark with their hands. In the fading light of day the fairy tree split in two revealing a door.

From the door emerged the fairy queen. "My daughters who are mine," she said, "you have returned at last. Sixteen years ago I blessed both of you at birth in hopes that you some day would return. I have no heir to take my place and seek a princess to rule in fairy land. Will either of you take this responsibility and come with me to fairy land?"

The girls looked at each other and then both spoke at once. "Yes." Then together they walked through the door and were never heard of more.

Wisdom from a Writer's Conference: POV

The next class I attending at the LDStoryMakers conferences was:

Mechanics of POV by Clint Johnson

What I learned:

Point of view - including person, tense, character, and narrator - is a tool to be used in telling your story. It is more than just a preference or style. It is part of the mechanics of how the story works. Changing even one aspect of POV changes the whole story.

We as writers need to use the powerful tool of POV and pay closer attention to its selection.

How I Plan to Apply it:

I always use 3rd person, past tense (something that Clint Johnson also prefers). I probably will not change that. But I will be more aware of the strengths of these two tools when I use them. I will also more closely examine the selection of my view point character. And I will explore the use of other persons and tenses if the story warrants it. I was specifically intrigued about the complexity that selecting a narrator separate from the POV character can add to a story and plan to explore that option.

Side Note: I took this class because of all the hype lately about first person and present tense. I wondered if the vibe I was getting about having to use one of these two tools in order to be successful was true. I was relieved that I did not have to change my ways to fit into the current writing world. On further pondering I realized that we should never do something because it is (queue Esme Squallor voice) "in."