Archive for May, 2008
Writing Prompt
According to Dictionary.com’s “Word of the Day” sentient\SEN-shee-uhnt; -tee-; -shuhnt\, is an adjective:
1. Capable of perceiving by the senses; conscious.
2. Experiencing sensation or feeling.
- I can remember very vividly the first time I became aware of my
existence; how for the first time I realised that I was a
sentient human being in a perceptible world.
– Lord Berners, First Childhood- Answers to such profound questions as whether we are the only
sentient beings in the universe, whether life is the product of
random accident or deeply rooted law, and whether there may be
some sort of ultimate meaning to our existence, hinge on what
science can reveal about the formation of life.
– Paul Davies, The Fifth Miracle
As writers, we are very well aware of, or at least strive to be, our characters’ ability to sense things. We wish to find a way to write this in a way that evokes the feeling from our audience.
Exercise: Pick an object from your past that evokes a memory. Spend five minutes examining the object focusing on the emotions that are evoked through your senses.
Write three paragraphs, each paragraph using a different sense, describing the object. Your goal is to detail the object without telling what it is, but in a way that your audience shares the emotions or even your memories.
Write on!
Air Travel: Unlikely Seatmates
Posted by Basic User in Prompts on May 4, 2008
From the book: Everyday Creative Writing by Michael C. Smith and Suzanne Greenberg
Instead of people occupying seats, imagine unlikely things. For example, “on my flight to Honolulu I sat next to a gall bladder.” Or, “In each seat, a different flower. I shared a chair arm with a begonia.” To come up with your own unlikely items, try creating a word string using the word airplane as your starting point. Describe scenes in which these things make demands of flight attendants and express their own unique air travel fears—for example, “Every seat was occupied by a megaphone, and each megaphone was demanding comfort.” Invent dialogues you might have with these unlikely seatmates (what do you say to a fruit basket wearing glasses and reading Fruits magazine?), or write about the fears and demands these things might have.
Modern Romance
Posted by Basic User in Prompts on May 1, 2008
From the book: Everyday Creative Writing by Michael C. Smith and Suzanne Greenberg
1. Write a personal ad in which you describe all of your most unattractive qualities. Be as specific as possible and brutally honest. Celebrate your unique flaws and dislikes, (This ad may also be written in the form of a poem.) Some codes to help you get started: S= single, M =married, G = gay, W = white, B = black, J =Jewish, D = divorced, Bi = bisexual, ISO = in search of.
2. Who would respond to your ad? Create a character who would be attracted to the “flawed” you, and have him or her write a letter back explaining why the two of you should meet for a date. Similar to the ad itself, this response may also be written in the form of a poem.
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