Writing 101 #7: Give and Take

Note: Write a post based on the contrast between two things — whether people, objects, emotions, places, or something else.

Twist: Write your post in the form of a dialogue. You can create a strong opposition between the two speakers — a lovers’ quarrel or a fierce political debate, for example. Or you could aim to highlight the difference in tone and style between the two different speakers — your call!

(Comparing two extreme personalities, might not show but going off of last writing 101 assignment)

”You know, I rather thought she was lovely Percy.”

“Zane, you say that about everyone you meet.” Percival frowned. “Well of the female nature.”

Zane smiled bitterly

“Yes, yes I know but this is just too much. “

”Well…it’s not like I knew her. She lived next door after all.”

“Really, Percy? Can’t you show some sort of remorse for her?”

Percival’s lips thinned in annoyance.  “I didn’t know her so how am I supposed to feel? She was murdered, yes but I really didn’t know her at all.”

“Well, I volunteered us, specifically you to help clean her house out.”

“WHAT?! Why?”

Zane sighed as if he’s already said this numerous  times, which he has. “You look like a ghost, in fact people question if you’re real or not. So, I volunteered you.”

“I think this town’s going to have another murder soon.”

“What do you mean Percy?”

“Percy?….”

Writing 101 #6: A Character-Building Experience

Note: Who’s the most interesting person (or people) you’ve met this year?

Twist: Turn your post into a character study.

Percival Hart, a residence of  Ravenscroft Village, a strange little town where he lives alone with only a cat for a companion named Cosmos. He is a ghastly pale young man that most people think is a ghost, someone who came from the grave to bore into their souls. However, Percival’s not exactly the most frightening man in the village, there are definitely others, but he is more lonesome than frightening. Whether it is because he’s never one to leave his home except to refill the fridge, or he’s not  interested in the outside world, probably that one at best.

He’s easily nervous around other people the only exception is his friend, well, if one would call him that. Zane Winters is the only one who can push Percival out of his house, well more like ransom him out of his house to get him to see the outside world. However, when Zane isn’t around Percival is content with being at home, reading in his chair by the fireplace. It’s one of the most comfortable things he can do.

Outside of his realm of comfort he has a lack of social skills since he doesn’t interact with people much. Including being able to talk to women in which he often stammers out his words. However, he has a big heart despite his lack of social skills and finds himself constantly solving mysteries in a town that supposedly is full of good-natured people. When one of his neighbors ends up dead, it shatters the whole village’s disguise.

After all, even Percy here has darkness in his heart, he just learned to fight it early. That doesn’t mean the secrets he’s buried deep within won’t come back out and swallow him whole.

Disillusioned Magick

Enchanted, or disillusioned world
Where magic is the weakness
And all logic becomes illogical.
No one is the hero, but you
And all the world remains
Because only you can find
The good within it.
No one can tell you how to slay
The dragon’s fierceness
By living each day
In it’s terrorizing horror.
No, the world’s magic is
Not the magic in fairytales
Which, if anyone noticed,
Are nothing more than horror tales.
The world is no fantasy but
A reality that has warped itself
Into an illogical kind of magic
That only you can face.
The question then that all
Must take turns to accept is
Whether you’ll face it with goodness
Or face it with a villainy.

Writing 101 #5: Be Brief

Note: You stumble upon a random letter on the path. You read it. It affects you deeply, and you wish it could be returned to the person to which it’s addressed.

Note 2:  I decided to make this a short story, I hope that was okay!

Twist:  Approach this post in as few words as possible.

His eyes froze at the letter that he held in his hands. The letter was something he thought he would never come across in his lifetime. A letter stating that there was only 6 months to live, half a  year. But the thing was, the letter he found on the bathroom floor of the bar was not addressed to him. It was addressed to someone else entirely. Someone he knew and…hated. So…the question was does he tell the person he knows or does he pretend nothing happened? 

Writing 101 #4: Serially Lost

Note 1: Write about a loss: something (or someone) that was part of your life, and isn’t any more.

Twist: Make today’s post the first in a three-post series. 

Note 2: originally going to write something sad but someone made my day so ah…I’ll figure something out.

Sometimes our mind waves within the daze of days
The hurt, the pain comes and goes when it pleases
Leaving behind a forsaken being to gather the pieces.
The lost pieces of hope that seem to fade
When the world is more cruel than smiling.
I am not sure where I go sometimes
I feel like I am on the side of the dead.
Invisible in a land beyond the light
Where no one can reach me and I
Cannot reach them.
No, the light seems faint but it must be there,
There must be a small bit of hope somewhere.
But where is this hope if it’s hidden around
Or where can I find the precious days
That seem gone from my life?
It looks bleak, but maybe….
Just maybe….

Writing 101 #3: Commit to a Writing Practice

Note:  Write about the three most important songs in your life — what do they mean to you?

Twist: You’ll commit to a writing practice. The frequency and the amount of time you choose to spend today — and moving forward — are up to you, but we recommend a minimum of fifteen uninterrupted minutes per day.

She prays to the Wind: A song written and constructed by the jazz musician Keiko Matsui. It’s a beautiful song sung by another artist about a woman he loves who prays to the wind. The woman in the song is an oddity, but I think that’s why I love it so much. It may be an odd choice for a song, but I find myself intrigued by it even to this day. I’ve always loved Keiko Matsui, ever since I branched off from new age in middle school to jazz as will. I’ve always loved jazz don’t get me wrong but Keiko Matsui is hailed in both the world of new age and jazz.

It’s why I love this song. It combines the talents of two of my favorite genres of music. Jazz and new age with a story that unfolds with an eccentric character behind it. I really enjoy this song when I need to find some inspiration. After all, this song is quirky enough to bring but some of the best ideas in me when I feel I have nothing left to offer. Otherwise, I got to other favorites, because it’s quite hard to have just one or even three songs. But I chose this one because it does inspire me. It brings out my written side that often gets neglected due to real life.

I Love You More Today Than Yesterday: This is an important song. I’ve loved this song as a child and I plan to use it as my wedding song if I ever get married. I have doubts about this but this song is one I cherish and love. It’s very simple but it’s sweet to. I love the idea behind it that each day brings more love for the other person. “I love you more today than yesterday, but not as much as tomorrow” really strikes me in the heart and I hope to someday have a love like that with another being.

I am not confident in love and haven’t been on a date. Not if you count the time I kissed a boy at a daycare lock-in. I am 24 years old and only have had kisses during my childhood, that one and another one in kindergarten. After that it’s been dry for me. I think there have been people who liked me a lot more than the friendship way but we never tried anything. I’m not sad about it because if it was meant to be it would have been. I am not sad about having no one to love through this song, but I do look forward to it if it happens.

This song really brings out the lovely feelings of love in me. I just listen to it sometimes and find myself smiling. It’s just a happy little diddy about loving someone more than the day before and looking forward to each day loving them. Who wouldn’t want a love like that? Then again I’m just a simple romantic. I find Romeo and Juliet’s love to be too much for me. It was a satire after all but people tend to forget that because who would just die like that for love? If you have t die for love I don’t think it’s worth it. I would want my lover to live happily and to find love again if I die and I would hope they want the same for me.

Stardust: Ah, Nat King Cole’s version of Stardust really ets me. It’s almost a melancholy tune within good reason, but I find it inspiring. I love Nat King Cole, always have ever since mom would play him while I was a baby during naptime. Even today I still listen to Nat King Cole’s Stardust with a quiet melancholy.

The song is a sad one, but it’s also a pretty one. The way he describes the sadness of his own heart with the stardust is moving. My favorite line has to be the beginning: “And now the purple dusk of twilight time, steals across the meadows of my heart”. Ah! That is such wondrous imagery. Since I’m more of a descriptive writer and I feel that is why poetry is my forte, I fall for that line every time and that’s just the beginning of the song. The rest of it is a melancholy description of forlorn love. I find it very satisfying though when I need a melody that is simple but pretty when I’m in no mood for overly cheerful beats. But Stardust really makes my heart thump as I listen to it. Nat’s got a great voice to begin with so I’m sure it has something to do with that.

These three songs are songs that are personal to me. I cherish them for different reasons. I also cherish other songs, but I chose these three because they popped into my head. I find them inspirational for different reasons to However, one things for sure, every time I listen to them I still love listening to them.

Writing 101 #2: A Room With a View

Note: If you could zoom through space in the speed of light, what place would you go to right now?

The roar of the ocean as it crashed onto the gray beach
With shells so different from my home.
The magic of the town’s colored homes
Popped up like colorful flowers in a row.
Sligo, a place that felt like nostalgia
As if I had already been there.
When we left it to return home I knew
Then that someday I would have to return.
For the home was were my poet’s soul
Remind, sitting next to Yeats’ grave.
The wildlife that bloomed in the summer
That ended so quickly the day we left.
It was cold, but it was nice
And it allowed us to explore the world.
The world of Sligo was a passionate one
Where if you stopped for a second you’d have fun!
Ah, what I wouldn’t give to return to that place
I would enjoy it a lot longer than I did back then.
Relish in the beauty and the fun that we had
When we were in Sligo, Ireland.

Writing 101: Unlock the Mind

Note: To get started, let’s loosen up. Let’s unlock the mind. Today, take twenty minutes to free write. And don’t think about what you’ll write. Just write.

Keep typing (or scribbling, if you prefer to handwrite for this exercise) until your twenty minutes are up. It doesn’t matter if what you write is incomplete, or nonsense, or not worthy of the “Publish” button.

And for your first twist? Publish this stream-of-consciousness post on your blog.

Response:

Haiku Set 1 9/10

Clouds gently stroll by
Circling the earth’s atmosphere
Like puffy pillows.

In the yard, grass grows
Shooting up in their green hue
A decoration.

Sweetly sings the bird
A prestigious cardinal
Nobly it stands.

When all the leaves fall 9/10

In the breeze of the Summer’s end
Autumn wind bursts forth in bitterness
Causing the world to wither in a state
Of perpetual dismay.
Or so the season would like to think
As it tries to turn into the cold of Winter
But with a warm blanket
And a cup of tea by my side
I can feel the warmth run
Thorough me as I read by the window
Watching the world change.
The reds, the oranges, the browns
Are all signs of Autumn’s coming
They are not dismal colors or hues
But a shade of knowing that
Soon a frosty snow coated world
Will come when all the leaves have fallen.