thematically fickle

(Ten minutes or less, 250 words or less. This week, the inspiration comes from a poem, “The Disillusionment of Ten O’Clock” by Wallace Stevens.)
The last thing I saw was rain. Or drops of it, anyway. I mostly remember one sparkling bead shivering on the green tip of the yellow-veined magnolia leaf. Since then, it’s only [...]

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(Ten minutes or less, 250 words or less. This week, the story begins with a picture. It made me think of these three things: Wood Drake, Freedom, Wool. It had to be written in memoir form to include the words.)
It had only been three days since I left James and everything that we were and [...]

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(Ten minutes or less, 250 words or less. This week, the story begins with “Dear Diary,” is set in a limousine and must include the words “missile” and “hearth.”)
Dear Diary,
I’m still trying to take off some of this weight, slogging along on the treadmill every other day. It’s miserable. My knees hurt. My hips ache. It’s boooooring. [...]

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Ten minutes, no more than 250 words. Write in the voice of someone else. This much I got right. The rest…well, failed again. This is what I got.
I exhaled and a cloud of white smoke blew from my mouth into her face. A few curls wound backwards and I inhaled them through my nostrils, tasting [...]

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Ten minutes or less, 250 words or less. Today’s assignment: Write something spooky. (I read this aloud to Le Husband and he said it’s not spooky. I missed the mark on this one but am posting anyway since it’s what came from the exercise.)
Just two hours earlier, she’d been on the side of the busy [...]

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(Ten-minutes. Word count: 250 or less. Topic: First love. Use the phrase: “Beauty in the shadows.” Okay…GO!)
She pressed the gas pedal, speeding faster than she should have up the winding driveway, nearly rear-ending her rival’s blue and white 1960-something Mustang. It was a hardtop. She knew it would be parked there. What a lame car, [...]

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(This is my 150-word, written-in-10-minutes-or-less exercise about what’s behind that door.)
She sets her right hand on the door, palm flat against the warm wood. She gives it a push. She finds the door to be much heavier than she’d anticipated. She leans one tanned shoulder against it and puts all of her weight against that [...]

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(This is my 150-word inspirational speech, written in under 10 minutes.)
(Oh, and it’s for my friend, Katie.)
You’re always saying, I’m not a photographer or How can I be a good photographer or Really, you’re a better photographer than I am. And to this I say: Grrrrrrl! Have you seen the photos you’ve taken lately?
Look, I [...]

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My friend Deb over at San Diego Momma just launched the first writing exercise in what she is calling PROMPTuesday. Each week—on Tuesday, hence the name—Deb will be offering an idea to get the poetry flowin’. Now, I don’t usually like prompts and I never write poetry. But something got into me last night. [...]

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