Friday, August 6th, 2010  One evening, eating dinner outside on the deck, my family and I were buzzed by a hummingbird. Apparently, we were invading his territory: all the flowers he likes to frequent on the deck.
I enjoyed his visit so much, I hung up a feeder.
Within days, I had more than one bird calling. And I’ve seen as many as four at a time vying for space.
I’m certain they must have all been in the neighborhood, just not visiting me at the same time. The feeder is acting a bit like a water cooler: a place where all the hummingbirds can hang out together.
Or so I thought.
The birds are fighting.
I know this because I hung the feeder in a location where I can see it from nearly any window on the back of the house. And while I’m home, I’ve been watching.
 One bird in particular, has been very territorial.
He chases off all the other birds when he’s around.
This morning, I watched them fight in the air, appearing to dance, or mate: swirling and turning, zooming high into the sky and then spiraling down, one bird always chasing the other.
Lately, the territorial bird has taken to sitting on the nail above the feeder, keeping watch for other birds. I’ve watched him watching.
His little head moves back and forth, almost as if he’s viewing a tennis match, but always alert for another hummer. He won’t allow them within even a few feet of the feeder. He attacks as soon as another hummingbird shows interest in drinking.
(Seems like craziness, if you ask me. There’s no way he’ll be able to consume everything in the feeder!)
Being able to watch these little guys has killed a lot of my preconceived notions about hummingbirds. I’m filled with awe. (And I know these creatures will soon play a role in one of my stories.)
Here’s your prompt: Step outside your door and admire nature. (Even if you live in the city, there’s got to be something you can observe: ants in the crack of the sidewalk, bees attracted to a flower box, squirrels in the park, etc.) Look for something that you’ve not paid attention to in the past. Observe until you notice something you didn’t know before. Now write about it. Write a vignette about what you’ve seen, including your observations. Use your new knowledge to flesh out the setting of a story you’re currently working on. Or, simply journal about it. If you journal, write how you feel about what you’ve learned.
Friday, July 30th, 2010
I took a lot of photos while I was away…more than 500, actually. That’s the beauty (and the horror!) of owning a digital camera. Over the next few days I’ll be reviewing those for only the best and discarding the others. With a little luck, I’ll reduce them to a hundred or less.
One of my favorite vacation pics is of these pelicans.
On the seashore, the wind never quit. There were days we couldn’t open the umbrellas for fear of seeing them launched. On those days, the pelicans (and other seabirds) had trouble flying.
Because of the wind, they couldn’t spend time doing what it is they normally do: soaring over the ocean looking for food and diving in after it. Instead, they flew over the beach houses, quite low, in fact, looking for a means to get back to sea.
On more than one occasion, the birds barely missed flying under the covered porch I sat on, hence the up close and personal pelican pics.
Poor birds! They went days without getting a meal.
Here’s your prompt: Write a story about someone unable to accomplish a goal due to something as innocuous as the wind. Make sure the stakes are high: these pelicans couldn’t eat for days because the wind kept them ashore. Choose something equally important to your main character. What actions does your protagonist take to try to circumvent the problem? How does he feel about being thwarted by something inanimate? Is he angry? Frustrated? Both? How is the problem finally resolved? In order to have a satisfying ending, make certain it’s your protagonist who finds a solution to his dilemma (and not that the problem goes away on its own).
Friday, July 23rd, 2010 I chose the Dean Koontz novel, Intensity, for my beach reading today. I’m a big fan of Koontz, having been introduced to him by my mom when I was eleven or twelve. She’d picked up Whispers and we both fought over it one summer…one of us grabbing it to read a chapter if the other layed it down for even a minute.
Intensity was published in 1995, but for whatever reason, I never got around to reading it. It’s more violent than I would have given Koontz credit for, but still written in his same brilliant voice.
I’m nearly a hundred pages in, and the villian Edgler Foreman Vess is thinking about all the “powerful” words he can make out of the letters of his name. He comes up with God, fear, demon, save, rage, anger, dragon and a slew of others. According to Vess, these, along with some mystical words (dream, vessel, lore, forever) seem to embody the type of man he is.
Of course, the character, Vess, and his name are a creation of Koontz. I’d guess Koontz chose the mystical, powerful words first and then re-arranged them to find Vess’s name.
But what about your name? What kind of mystical, powerful — or other — words are in your name?
In just a few moments, I came up with several in mine:
| harm |
hear |
more |
melon |
| hark |
lore |
roam |
harmony |
| key |
re |
loam |
rely |
| lye |
rye |
lemon |
mar |
| money |
yell |
kaon |
alarm |
| lay |
helm |
realm |
Rome |
| moan |
moral |
lone |
mare |
(There’s nothing more powerful than a lone melon, eh?).
Here’s your prompt: Find a clean sheet of paper and write your name across the top. Use your middle initial, or your complete middle name for this exercise. Your choice. Set a timer for ten minutes and see what kind of words are hidden in your own name. Don’t worry if you come up with proper nouns…this isn’t one of those games that disqualifies them. All real words count…even two-letter ones, though I doubt you could come up with any powerful two letter words. (Go ahead, I dare you to prove me wrong.)
If you want, classify the words when you’re done. Do you “own” some power words, or some mystical ones? Maybe yours are funny or soulful. Choose five words from your list and write about yourself using those words.
Friday, July 16th, 2010 My alarm went off at 5:00 a.m. Static, rather than rock-n-roll greeted my morning. Moments later, the bed began vibrating. The entire house shook, making a noise like heavy rain on the roof – only amplified a dozen times.
According to the US Geological Survey, an earthquake measuring 3.6 had struck the Potomac-Shenandoah Region.
The vibrations ceased about eight seconds later, and the morning silenced. I found it an exhilarating way to start the day!
Nifty, eh? Here’s a handy map:
I probably wouldn’t think so highly of this morning’s occurrence if it had rocked the house so much that all the glassware broke. It’s only the second earthquake I’ve experienced. Scoff all you want, westerners… earthquakes are rare on the East Coast.
According to USGS:
Earthquakes in Maryland and Northern Virginia are uncommon but not unprecedented. The earthquake on July 16th, 2010 occurred in a part of the Eastern Seaboard that is less seismically active than central Virginia, New England, and the area surrounding New York City… Earthquakes east of the Rocky Mountains, although less frequent than in the West, are typically felt over a much broader region. East of the Rockies, an earthquake can be felt over an area as much as ten times larger than a similar magnitude earthquake on the west coast.
We were lucky. The quake was mild. Nothing broke. Just a bit of fun to liven the morning. But what if it hadn’t been?
Here’s your prompt:
Write about a single person or a few tight friends caught up in a natural disaster. It could be a landslide, a flood, an earthquake…anything. But stretch: pick a disaster uncommon to the area you live in. How did it start? Was your character the instigator? (That is, did someone throw a pebble that caused a landslide? Or toss a lit cigarette that caused a wildfire?) How do they feel about causing the situation? Do they even know they caused it? Are lives at stake? Or homes, schools and businesses? How does your character escape? What has he lost during the situation? What has he gained?
Make the stakes high in order to ramp up the tension, but don’t kill off your character. (That’s too easy.)
Friday, July 9th, 2010  I received a lottery scratch-off card as a gift a while back. Several, actually…and I won!
Two bucks.
Not a big deal, but two bucks is enough for an icy Diet Coke and a York Peppermint Patty…my favorite snack combo in the world.
Winning got me thinking about actually winning the lottery. A big prize, say, $10 million. What would I do?
First things first: I’d pay off the mortgage and then invest some funds in a nice safe place for my retirement. I’d probably fix a few things on the house: roof, front walk, etc. After that, I’d share.
I’d offer to fund some college educations for the kiddos in the family, and split the rest with my siblings, parents and in-laws. Why not? I can’t spend it all, really…
Here’s Your Prompt: Write about someone who wins the lottery. Is it you? Is it a family member? How much did he, she or you, win? Did the amount affect how that person acts? Did he quit his job? Money does funny things to people…how do friends or family members of the lottery winner act? Do they beg for money? Ask for a loan? What kind of suggestions do they make for spending the cash? Are there arguments over the cash? Maybe the winner bought the ticket with borrowed funds…in that case, who do the winnings actually belong to? Maybe there’s joy over the winning…does the cash come at an opportune time?
Friday, July 2nd, 2010 Hurray! July 4th is nearly upon us.
I love Independence Day: the parades, the flags, picnics and cook-outs and barbecues. I love that its the birthday of my country. I love Old Glory and the Star Spangled Banner and everything that means to me for my freedoms. As far as I’m concerned, it’s one of the BEST holidays I celebrate.
But that’s too easy a topic…
Here’s Your Prompt: Choose your least favorite holiday and talk about what it means to experience it. Don’t cop out: don’t say, “I hate Christmas, so I stay home and avoid everyone.”
Write about a holiday you are forced to endure either through familial, religious, or some other pressure. Tell about a particularly horrible experience. What were your feelings? Describe through the senses everything that is WRONG about this holiday.
Do you hate Arbor Day because you were forced, as a boy scout, to plant 100 trees with your bare hands? Explain how much your hands were hurt and cramped at the end of the day. Describe the odor of the turned soil and the leaves and how it makes your stomach turn. Don’t leave out that to this day you can’t stand the sight of elms…
And, do as I say, not as I do: choose a really gut-wrenching holiday. Brownie points if you share in the comments below.
Friday, June 25th, 2010  I got angry this week.
That’s not unusual….but this week I got really, stinking, spitting, crying angry when I heard the freaking, rotten news about…
…well, I can’t get into it here. (For my co-workers who read this blog: nope, it wasn’t about Thursday.)
How did I release the stress?
I did something I haven’t done in a long time. I put my “angry song” on the car stereo and played it over and over and over again about a million times on my way to work…at about a million decibels loud.
I’d forgotten how cathartic it is to literally SCREAM away the hurtful feelings while belting out the lyrics.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m still spitting angry about the situation…but that initial hot-faced, head-pounding feeling is gone. I’m on a low simmer. Worse, there’s nothing I can do about the situation because I’m not in control. Well…I could air my feelings to the offending party, but that’s only going to cause hurt feelings all the way around and still not change anything… I’m stuck.
(Those of you who know me very well know that I can’t let this lie for too long. Otherwise, it’s just going to fester. I need to get it out before I explode. Timing, of course, is everything…)
Here’s Your Prompt: Write a scene where the main character hears something that made him the angriest he’s ever been. (This character could be you, btw.) What brought on the anger…betrayal? A lie? An accident? How about a revealing, devastating truth?
Show your character’s anger, don’t tell it. Relate how your character initially felt upon getting angry. Did the anger strike all at once? Or, did it bloom from something less? What physical symptoms did you character feel? Pounding head? Hot face? Burning eyes? Chest pain?
Write it so your reader can feel it, too.
Friday, June 18th, 2010  When the Husband of Awesome™ and I were in Italy on our honeymoon, we walked across the Bridge of Sighs in Venice. Each of us, without knowing what the other planned, took a deep breath and sighed loudly as we crossed. We broke into laughter then, and I’m tickled every time I think about it.
Built in 1602, the bridge connects the city dungeons with the interrogation rooms in the Doge’s (The Duke’s) Palace. It’s made of white limestone, is fully enclosed, and the windows are barred with stone so that prisoners could not escape by jumping into the river below.
This last fact is suspect, as the bridge was popularized by Lord Byron only in the 19th century (he named it). And, he quite probably spread the rumor that it’s name evolved from the fact that as condemned prisoners crossed the bridge to their fate, they sighed at the beauty of Venice–the last thing they saw before they were executed.
In reality, according to Wikipedia, “the days of inquisitions and summary executions were over by the time the bridge was built and the cells under the palace roof were occupied mostly by small-time criminals.”
Still, I find it a beautiful piece of architecture. I’m glad I had the opportunity to cross it.
Rumor has it that lovers will be granted everlasting love if they kiss on a gondola at sunset under the bridge. (I’ve no idea what it means if two young lovers cross the bridge, sigh simultaneously, then guffaw in shared comedic bliss. But I’m certain those floating lovers have got nothing on us.)
Here’s your prompt: think of your favorite landmark or monument and discover if there are any local legends or false-histories about it. If you enjoy world building, create your own monument or landmark. Write its history, and its legends.
Consider: Why was it built? Does it honor one person, or many? Or, does it honor an event? What is the significance to the local population? Or, what if the local population has been conquered and nearly eradicated or absorbed…what kind of meaning is endowed to it by the conquerors? Did they try to tear it down? How long has it existed?
Once you have your landmark and legend, write a story or a scene or a vignette based on the rumor and the history.
Friday, June 11th, 2010  Last week on the way home from work I saw the most interesting thing. It was an old-fashioned leg brace–perhaps the kind people are fitted with when suffering from polio–standing upright near a guardrail.
It struck me as a very strange object to see on the roadside.
I’ve seen plenty of missing shoes, singles and pairs, usually looking as if they’d been tossed or accidentally pushed out the car door while stopping for something else. I’m sure you’ve seen tennis shoes, laces tied, hanging over telephone wires. Never have I seen something appearing to stand at attention, drawing my eye, as this forlorn shoe did.
The brace was standing upright, turned toward the woods as if the owner simply stepped out of it and into the trees, never more to be seen. Perhaps this was the residue of a miracle?
I began to think about this brace: who could have worn it? How old was it? How did it get left behind? Why was it standing? (And lucky for me, if it hadn’t been, I may never have seen it.)
The day I remembered to drag my camera with me, the brace was gone, probably knocked over by mowers. So, sadly, you’re stuck with these imaginative photos rather than the real thing. But I think you get the idea.
Here’s your prompt:
Imagine the brace and the situation. As above, who owned it? How did it get there? Why was it standing? Don’t answer these questions literally. Tell the story. Show what happened. Bonus points if you leave the story in the comments.
|
Writers - Maryland Writer's Assn.
|
