Jump Write In

Timing is everything when writing a story with suspense and intrigue. For your writing warm up today, write a memoir or poem about a childhood experience in which you felt scared and excited both at the same time. Maybe it was the first time you used a ouija board, or took your first roller coaster ride,  or walked home at night through a graveyard.  Describe in detail what the fear and awe felt like. Did you have a lump in your throat, a dry throat, lose your voice, or scream loudly? Did your body shake, or did you run as fast as you could? Embelish the suspense, keep the reader on the edge of their seat as long as you can before concluding your story. Have fun!

Until next time,

Walk in beauty, write life with passion!

The names for our English days of the week are derived from Germanic, Norse, and Old English languages.  Some are named after Gods, and some from heavely bodies. Most cultures have their own names for the days of the week, created out of their own stories and myths, and some are numbered days such as day one, day two, or named for it’s meaning such as the day after work day.

For your writing warm up today, write a description of  an imaginary culture. You are an ancient story teller, passing down the wisdom of your culture to the next generation. You and your tribe are huddled around a fire on a chilly night. To pass the time, you are asked to tell the young ones the origin stories of your culture.  Here are some ideas to get you started:

What are the days of the week and how were they named in your imaginary culture?

What does your imaginary culture believe about how time began?

What are the spiritual beliefs and practices of your imaginary culture?

Are there holidays and how did they come into being?

Does your planet have seasons what are they called?

How were the seasons named?

After writing your story, gather some friends or a writing group and read it out loud. To challenge yourself further, memorize it and perform it for the group.

Have fun.

Until next time,

Walk in beauty, write life with passion!

Halloween is coming.  It is the night when ancient cultures believed the veil between worlds becomes thinner.  Witches and ghouls, goblins and faeries, pixies and trolls run amok in our earthly realm, performing acts of mischief and leave chaos in their wake.  Halloween is a time for you, as writers, to pass through the veil of writing deadlines and proper grammar, release your imagination, put your pen to paper and let the magic flow.  Go ahead, release your inner critic, give it a day off and then allow yourself to free-write a halloween story just for fun.  Let it be full of magic and mischief,  mayhem and madness.

For today’s writing warm up, write a Halloween short story. For those of you who may need a little help getting started, I have provided some  lead in ideas below.

1. On a restless night when the moon was full they saw____________

2. Trixie the pixie knew she needed glasses when __________________

3.  The witch threw her______________

4. The gaggle of gueese heard the faerie shouting____________

5. The reluctant troll didn’t know_____