Friday, August 12th, 2011  I’m spending a lot of time on line for my day job lately (whether I like it or not!) – and I realized that Google search provides some interesting ideas for writing prompts.
Today’s top 20 USA searches (at this moment) are:
1. so you think you can dance winner
2. warrant
3. gop debate
4. republican debate
5. ron paul
6. short selling
7. raiders
8. mitt romney
9. meteor shower
10. rick santorum
11. sc
12. chargers
13. cowboys
14. jeff bridges
15. final destination 5
16. alpha
17. mall of america
18. blackberry bold 9900
19. pizza hut
20. haaretz
These topics aren’t really interesting, IMHO, but no worries: Google updates the trends frequently. If you don’t like these searches for prompt suggestions, wait an hour!
Google saves this data on a daily basis, so, you also see what trended on specific days (like national holidays, big news days, or your birthday.) (More information about Google Trends here.)
Twitter also keeps a running list of trending tweet topics on their site. If you have an account, the information is available to you on line. I’m not sure which, if any, third-party twitter clients provide this data, but fear not: the data is available elsewhere.
(But the beauty of getting the Twitter data from the online interface is that the trends default to your location…. but you can change it to show another city if you want, or you can choose national or world-wide trends as well.)
The current trends for Las Angeles are:
#shestooyoungforyoubro
#ReplaceMovieTitlesWithHoe
Jani Lane
#night
Warrant
American Dad
Bert and Ernie
Minutes or Less
That 70
Pauly D
If you don’t tweet, you can still get twitter trending data from a number of sources such as Tendsmap and Tendistic.
Here’s Your Prompt:
Head on over to Google Trends and see what’s popular.
Pretend that a character in your story is making these searches on the internet. Why is he searching these items? What’s happening in your story to support these searches? Is your character surprised by what she found? Is what he found important to the story? Figure out the motivation for your character making these searches. Decide how he’ll use the information, and write it.
If you don’t have a character…
…use the trending topics as a jumping off point for a timed writing exercise. Use the topics as an idea generator, or use them as the beginning (or ending line) of a story. They might even be used as the opening sentence in a story.
Thursday, August 11th, 2011
One colorful — beautiful — hot air balloon!
This very same balloon passed by our house a few weeks ago on a Saturday. I’d heard it coming: the intermittent sound of the driver letting loose a stream of fire to keep the balloon aloft. (Almost like a dragon coughing out a bitter exhortation of flame…)
But the noise was strange — I’d never heard it before — and I couldn’t place it. I finally got up to look and saw it drifting past the house.
By the time I’d gotten outside, the balloon had sunk so low, we could hear the people talking in the gondola. I’d rushed to get my camera, but I was too slow. It had dipped behind our neighbor’s trees, and I only caught about two-thirds of it.
Tonight, the balloon passed directly over our house! I’m kicking myself for not zooming in more on the bottom of it. It came in closer than the picture actually shows. At the time, I felt I could almost — almost — jump up and touch the bottom.
Again, we could hear the people chattering away in the basket. So close!
Next time, I’ll be ready! I’ve got to figure out who’s giving these balloon rides. What a thrill it would be to glide over my own house and set down in the neighboring field! A quick walk through the woods and I’d be home!
Wednesday, August 10th, 2011  Is there anyone out there well-versed in Smashwords who can give me a hand?
I’ve just posted my short story, The Dragon’s Clause, so that lots of folks can read it natively on their hardware, but I’m not happy with the way the formatting has turned out.
The title, front matter and end notes sometimes slip into a san-serif font in some versions of the book.
I’ve combed through the Smashwords Style Guide for hints, even going as far as trying the “nuclear” method for formatting, and no matter what, the fonts keep changing.
But after 15 uploads, I’m tired of trying. I need a little help. 🙂
If you can help me figure out how to make it right, I’ll send you a t-shirt bearing the cover of The Dragon’s Clause. If that doesn’t interest you, I’ll be happy to send you a copy of my story, On the Path. It was published in the Parsec Inc. Anthology, Triangulation: Dark Glass, a few years ago, and will be my next experiment on Smashwords.
Drop me a line via email if you can help. Thanks!
Friday, August 5th, 2011  Hot summer days always make me think of cooling off in the ocean. I love racing through the shifting sand, and the sound of my slapping feet on the hard-packed grains by the water. That first dive over a rolling breaker into the ocean is the best.
I prefer the ocean over a swimming pool because it feels alive. The texture of the water is different, the smell, the sound. I especially love it on a windy day, when you can hear the blown grains of sand hissing as they slide over each other, propelled by the gusts.
I love writing by the ocean. It’s inspiring, even if what I’m writing has nothing to do with water or the beach. There’s just something about the atmosphere that sends my muse into overdrive.
It’s hot today, and I’m thinking about the ocean…but I know a lot of folks don’t get supercharged like I do about it. So, today’s prompt is about water. I’ve listed several ideas to get your started…
Here’s Your Prompt:
- Write about the ocean. Write about high tide, or low tide, or neap tide. Tell us about when the water reached your thighs, or your waist, or your neck. Write about something that washed up onto the shore.(Well, I had to at least list it, right?)
- Write about a river, a pool, a stream, a swamp. Write about river rocks, uneven footing, slipping into a deep hole, diving into the deep end, learning to swim, the smell of the bog, or swamp people.
- Write about being in a safe harbor, in hot water, a mile above sea level, or something that won’t hold water.
- Write about singing in the rain, taking a bath, or rubber-de-duckies.
- What if you found you could suddenly hold your breath for long periods of time underwater? What if you found you could breath water?
- Perhaps you’re more inspired by quotations…
- “Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink.” (From Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge)
- “As water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again.” (From The Old Testament: 2 Samuel Chapter xiv. Verse 14.)
- “For water continually dropping will wear hard rocks hollow…” (From Of the Training of Children, Plutarch)
- “Love in a hut, with water and a crust, Is—Love, forgive us!—cinders, ashes, dust.” (From Lamia. Part ii., John Keats)
Friday, July 29th, 2011  I was driving into town this afternoon, Husband of Awesome™ at the wheel of the vehicle, when a huge bird swooped down low and fast across the front of the pickup and landed on a fence post.
“Pullover!” I yelled, reaching for the camera, thinking I would have a prime shot at a hawk.
I was even more elated to see it was Barred Owl (Strix varia). Who cares if it’s the most common owl in the US? How often do you see a crepuscular* animal in broad daylight? And sitting so calmly it appeared to want to have it’s picture taken?
To my utter disappointment, I’d forgotten the camera.
Missed opportunity.
Still, the bird sat waiting. We watched until another car drove by, scaring it from its perch.
I’ve been kicking myself all afternoon. What a great shot that would have been!
Here’s Your Prompt:
Write about a missed opportunity. If you’re writing memoir, this could be a personal experience. If you’re writing fiction, it could be about someone else’s personal experience, or completely made up.
What kind of opportunity was it? A new job? Travel? Love? A big fish? How meaningful to you is this lost thing? Something you’ve wanted all your life? Something that’s only recently made it onto your bucket list? Or was it simply a momentary deal?
How was the opportunity presented? Were you schmoozing at a party? In a meeting at work? Walking down the street? Set the scene to enhance the tension.
What were the stakes? Maybe the opportunity was missed because an alternative seemed better at the time…was their anxiety associated with this choice? Calmness? Logic? Maybe, the opportunity was complete serendipity.
Has a missed opportunity turned out to be for the better? Maybe you turned down your dream job to stay close to home, and the company folded six months later. Perhaps you declined a free week at the beach and Hurricane Agnes blew in for 10 days. Maybe turning down the offer of a lifetime saved your life.
How so?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* Crepuscular animals hunt only at dawn and dusk.
(I’ve been dying to use that word since I learned it. I did not miss this opportunity!)
I did, however, miss the opportunity with the bird. The photo above was taken by Frank Kovalchek from Anchorage, Alaska. See Mr. Kovalchek’s flicker stream for more great photos.
Friday, July 22nd, 2011  I’ve been in training for the last three days – two in Virginia, and one in Washington, DC, for my day job. It’s geek stuff – and I’m about geeked out.
Between the travel and the all-day tech classes, I am wiped out. (And I’ve got one more day of training tomorrow in DC…)
I can’t wait to slip between the sheets tonight.
Sleep is very much on my mind right now.
And yet, so much goes on when we sleep: we dream, we kick, we toss and turn. We speak. We sleep walk. There”s so much activity! It’s a wonder we get any rest at all.
Here’s Your Prompt: Today, write about sleeping. Write about your sleep habits, or your character’s sleep habits. Write about when you can’t sleep: what triggers your insomnia? How do solve the problem? Write about the dream realm: what kind of place is it? Can you get there even if you’re not asleep?
Wednesday, July 20th, 2011  I’m in Washington, DC today, and temperatures are approaching triple digits. (It’s always great to come back from vacation a research trip to sweltering city heat.
I’m melting.
It was really mugly this morning, and I had to drag a suitcase and a laptop from the metro.
I’m taking some nerdy, geek training for my day job, so I’ll be in the city for the next four days.
Training has been fun so far, and I’m learning a lot (makes me want to abandon WordPress and build my own drupal site…) but the facilities have been a little worse for wear.
I don’t know if it’s the heatwave or something else, but it feels like there’s no AC here in this room full of computers. They’ve brought in two fans, but it’s not doing much to help.
Did I tell you I’m melting? I hope someone gets the AC on the ball before class tomorrow. I believe temps are supposed to be even higher.
How is it where you are?
Monday, July 18th, 2011  I got absolutely no writing done last week.
I was away, having a moderately fun time in a well-known location doing some research for a contemporary novel I’m contemplating writing.
Ha. I thought I’d have time to relax from the research and put in a few hours each day editing or writing anew.
One day I made the effort.
ONE. DAY.
The rest? A bust…even though I meticulously prepared.
Lesson: Just take a vacation.
Or, maybe: Build more days into the “off” schedule (so that the stats don’t look so bad at the end of the year). 🙂
This week isn’t shaping up much better as I’ve got some (unexpected) travel and training to attend for the day job. Since I’m prepared from last week, it won’t be a problem to carry along the current projects…but I’m doubting I’ll find time.
Still, I’m going to try and make the effort.
What do you do when things go awry? Do you settle for less than you want to do, or bag it all together?
Friday, July 15th, 2011  I once punched a horse right on the nose.
I don’t remember this incident at all. But my Mom tells me it happened, and she wouldn’t lie.
The story goes that we were out…somewhere… (I can’t even remember what she’s told me several times), probably a petting zoo or something like that. It was hot, and I was wearing a straw hat in deference to the sun. Out of nowhere, a horse walked up to me and started eating my hat.
So, I punched it. Hard. And got my hat back.
There were some repercussions. I don’t remember these either.
But this hole in my memory is a pretty interesting thing. What I don’t know, I can imagine. And this non-knowledge is free for me to take and build upon. It’s wonderful fodder for a story or poem or a single scene in a larger work.
Thinking about what we don’t know exercises the brain in a way completely different than what we’re often admonished to do. (Write what you know, eh?)
Consider this: how about not remembering something that’s absent in your life? I don’t remember ever having a family reunion. I don’t remember being in the “in” crowd in high school. I don’t remember ever being chased by zombies…
This is just another way to exercise your brain and consider something from an unfamiliar angle.
Here’s Your Prompt:
Write or type, “I Don’t Remember…” at the top of a sheet of paper and start writing. You must fill the page. It doesn’t matter how long it takes you to do it: 20 minutes or all day. The point is to not just come up with a single item, but to think hard about the situation and include all the details.
If you get stuck, write the phrase, “I don’t remember” and continue to do so until your brain catches up. It’s important to write this phrase, rather than think it over and over.
It doesn’t matter if what you write about is a real memory or a non-memory. It could even be the memory of one of your characters.
Do you see a pattern emerging from your thoughts? Do you recognize old themes that permeate your writing? Have you found something new?
Sunday, July 10th, 2011
…or maybe I should say, on the tracks?
I’ve got wifi in the station, but not on the train. So once the train pulls out of the station, I’ve no access until tomorrow morning.
Alas…
On the other hand, maybe I’ll get some writing done without the distraction. But then, I’m hoping for scenery types of distraction en route.
I’ll be traveling over night. The last time I did this was in coach, with the marching band during college. Having abhorred that situation with a royal purple passion, I sprang for a sleeper car. This is going to be an adventure!
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