Sir Milos Who?
The orchestra played “The Waltz of the Dancing Bears” as the couples alternately swirled and pounded their feet to the deep bass music, heavily accented by drums. Candles burned in silver candelabras placed on the window sills of the ball room. All wore white, shining in the dim light. Sir Milos Westerman spoke.
Zeus Has a Blog
And….
Details Abound
Details can seem annoying when you’re reading (too much scenery or a paragraph endlessly describing how a room looks), and I’m often told by students that they skip those parts. Even so, when details are connected to events and dialogue, they add a lot of depth. Your challenge, should you choose to accept, is to add interesting details to these boring sentences, without writing a whole paragraph. One sentence limit for each! Heck, Hemingway wrote a one sentence story: “For sale: Baby shoes, never worn.” Here you go: We had fish for supper. Ivan sniffed, then sneezed. One man yelled, “Bravo!”
The Scarecrow
What is it that he wants?
He Wasn’t Sure What to Do Next
Bart knew he had to get away. He’d made a big mistake marrying Edith two years ago. She’d turned out to be not only endlessly crabby but a major slug. As far as he could tell she lived on bologna and American cheese sandwiches—his dinner three times a week. He took off on his ten speed, hoping to burn up some of his frustration and anger while also clearing his head. The bike trial led through the woods and down a hill toward a field dotted with cows. He’d never been this far, and the trail was beginning to fade into a grassy meadow full of spring dandelions. Suddenly his front tire hit a rock the size of a softball, throwing Bart over the handlebars onto his back. He lay there staring up at the sky, trying to catch his breath.
Initials
I-O-M-K-S-L-R-R-T-N. Y-T-G-I-B.
She has Red Hair
Veronica took the old brass coin and flipped it at Rudolfo. It bounced off his purple vest and landed on Lane 10 of the Bowl-Away bowling alley with a loud plonk.
Index Poetry
It’s been some years since we’ve done index poetry, and I have to confess that it’s actually Table of Contents poetry. Last time we used Annie Dillard’s Table of Contents to The Writing Life, and the results you all shared were quite invigorating. I will take the first word of each chapter listed in the Table of Contents of Brenda Ueland’s wonderful book, If you Want to Write. Your task is to rearrange these words into a poem that makes sense to you. You can add up to five of your own words, but not more. With punctuation, anything goes. Here you go! Everybody Imagination Why Works Sooner Know Careless People Women Microscopic Art Infection Dimension Third Keep Know Using Tigers Face
Poems of the Day
You may remember the concept of “Poems of the Day” from earlier challenges on this blog. These poems are not necessarily your best work, but rather something that you sit down and let blarb onto the page, right now, without a whole lot of thought. You’re seeing what’s on your mind, but still pushing yourself to make it a poem, not a piece of free writing. Add line breaks, even stanzas. Trust yourself. To quote Old Lodgeskins from the movie, Little Big Man, “Sometimes the magic works, and sometimes it doesn’t.” Even so, I’m a great believer in magic. Surprise yourself. Share your Poem of the Day.
Time to Shake Up your Brain
I have an affection for made-up words. One of the best examples I’ve read is from a James Thurber story called, “The Black Magic of Barney Haller.” Just to give you a taste, here is a quote. “Did you know that even when it isn’t brilig I can produce slithy troves? Did you happen to know that the mome rath never lived that could outgrabe me? ” Your challenge, should you choose to grangrept, is to write a short paragraph or zemp where you include words no one has ever blarbed before. Rezcoriate us. Crundle our peefalls. Set the bar at furksmits. Yamdunk away. Your turn.