You’ve sat down, know your characters, have a plan for writing, the plot is nailed down, and you’re itching to get started.
The first sentence comes out and…. sounds like a preschooler wrote it.
You try again, delete your second attempt, and then switch to paper and pen. That will help! Several crumpled papers later, your waste bin is starting to fill but not the pages. How do you get that perfect intro sentence? How do you set the mood, capture beauty, or develop your style?
If you ask kids what they’re most afraid of, I’d bet a lot of them would say, “the dark.” This isn’t an uncommon theme—the dark is a constant we must face on a daily basis, and it can be quite scary when we aren’t prepared for it.
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When the boat lands at the shore, a dozen villagers rush over shaking their heads and hands. I pull on my sticky shirt, loosening it from my chest before I jump out. I shouldn’t be here, but I play the whole dumb tourist thing again, and hope they buy it like the last village did…
The bench looked deceivingly inconspicuous, like if you sat on it, you could enjoy your brown paper bag lunch, watching pigeons in the park, without any life altering events…
But it can be these simple things that can be deceiving; where no one would expect to find their worst nightmare.
Pen Friends ~ Thanks to everyone who submitted their prompts! Our selected prompt this week is written by Lily Cushman. Please enjoy her creativity! Please also enjoy Allison Voltaire’s prompt in the comments on the original post.
Prompt 1# Lily Cushman, Alaska, 17,
“Before the lights went out, I saw him,” Elisabeth whispered to Lyda in the dim light of the bomb shelter. “I swear that was Jack. But they pulled the soldiers out to get in the lorries. I saw him!”
“I believe you!” whispered Lyda. “But how are we going to find him again?”
“It’s always a matter of questions. We just have to ask the right person.”
“And not get shot,” Lyda supplied.
“Right. And not get shot.” Elisabeth didn’t know what to do.
Pen Friends ~ Thanks to everyone who submitted their pirates! They were all were fantastic! Unfortunately, we were not able to post all of them. Our selected prompts were written by, Rebecca Henry, Tyler Hanson and Isaac Schmid this week. Please enjoy their creativity and tell us which pirate you prefer and why!
Prompt 1# Tyler Hansen, Washington. http://www.hanson-arts.com
The sky drifted and fell into the blasted, nasty sea doing nothing to help my splitting head. The liar, whoever he was, hadn’t gained my favor. I swore, once I untied the vile ropes of seasickness, I’d have his throat. Not knowing which way was right side up I rocked back and forth, clenching my poor temples. When my vision cleared, I sat up, and for the first time I laid my uneasy eyes on him.
Playing with the frayed ends of a bow line, he looked at me with a twisted smile. The taunt of his ugly face plucked the ends of my braided nerves, unravelling my unstable mind. I fell to the side and wretched. I looked back up and clenched my fist, the sinewy strands running through my forearms ached (tapped from a night and a day hanging in the open sea) as the spasms in my back and shoulders twisted my spine into a stabbing crescent.
Pen Friends ~ Thanks to Vanessa Weight (our selected prompt winner) and Noah Dingman, our SP teen contributor for replying to the prompt. Due to changes on our blog, we were a bit late in posting. Sorry! Please enjoy their creativity!
Prompt #1 Vanessa Weight, age 16, Washington
A thirsty cry startled me from a sweaty sleep. The sound– high-pitched and screechy– rang in my ears. I licked my dry lips and cracked a smile. I knew that sound. Among the tents of my father I heard it all the time –camels. Today it was much more. It was the sound of salvation. I was close. It had been three days since I entered the desert… , but yet I felt as though my journey had just begun.
As the comforting sound of the camels slowly drifted away, I came to realize that I wasn’t safe to rest, not here in the open. I couldn’t afford to make myself more vulnerable than I already was. I quickly started packing my supplies–including my dagger and my revolver–into my bag as I prepared to keep moving. I figured there’d be enough food and water for at least another week, as long as it was used sparingly. I had to find shelter, and fast. As the break of dawn began to rise, I would be spotted far too easily. If I had any chance of finding the artifact, I had to get there soon.
It’s the first Monday of June, and for many of us in the Northern Hemisphere, things are starting to feel like summer. Hopefully, that also means vacation is on the horizon. And what’s a vacation without a good book (or twelve)?
Since I happen to be a fan of speculative fiction (Science Fiction, Fantasy, and everything in between), that’s where I tend to default when making reading recommendations. But, say you don’t care for “spec fic,” or you haven’t found the right place to dip your toe into the pool with the rest of us quirky folks. If that’s you, you’ve come to the right place, friend!
I’d like to present to you A Tourist’s Guide to Speculative Fiction.
There are about a thousand different genres and subgenres under the speculative umbrella, but four of the most popular (and in my opinion, accessible to general audiences) are fantasy, fairy tales, science fiction, and dystopian. I’ll highlight some recommendations for each.
Are the words you stash deep in your journal highly personal, not meant for the light of day? Or are you a natural born story teller seeking an audience?
What compels your pen to form words, that form people, that form stories? Answering this question can help you determine your path or career in writing and which steps to take to reach your goal. Continue reading
Pen Friends~Thanks to Sarah Snyder, Noah Dingman, Sabrina Carvalho, Ruby Ma, and Hilary Bowen for replying to the Prompt! Five talented writers and five different perspectives…Enjoy!
Prompt #1 by: Noah Dingman, 16 years old, Washington State
I wake in the middle of the night camped in more ruins. The sky is sprinkled with a host of stars. A fire burns next to me. I’m not scared. I should be, but on the contrary, I wish I could stay. But after last night…
The only thing to fear is fear itself, a voice says in my head. I can’t remember who said that but it’s not important. What’s important is how to survive another night. I can’t fail again.
The fire sputters out, I sit upright and look around. The stars slowly blink out, one by one. It’s happening again.
When someone says “science fiction,” what comes to mind? Space exploration? Futuristic technology? Aliens life forms? We tend to think of science fiction in those terms, but the best sci-fi stories don’t just spark our imaginations. They find a way to bring the story back home to the beautifully flawed humans who inhabit planet Earth. The brilliance of science fiction is that—no matter where or when it takes place—it creates a backdrop against which we can examine human nature and ask the question “What does it mean to be human?”
The Spinning Pen 