February 10, 2020
There were two prompts given at today’s meeting:
-
- A Place To Hide
- Describe a sound someone is going to hear (without telling them what it is) in a way that they will be able to guess what it is from the description.
February 10, 2020
There were two prompts given at today’s meeting:
May 3, 2019.
Today’s prompt is to think of a setting, a character, and a sound. Make that sound be an integral part of the story. You could even consider making the sound a character in the story.
The following was inspired by the prompt, Quiet, and is by Writers in the Grove member, Anne Stackpole-Cuellar.
From Quiet
Whisper of dividing cells
The branching of capillaries
Rush of vein highways
Ringing of nerve circuitry
A duet of quick and slow
by central drumming hearts
The voices outside the womb
Near and far
Coming into clarity
The cries of change
And calming waves caress
A small but penetrating call
What makes this sound?
It feels like me.
The prompt was to set a scene as a writer for a particular purpose and use at least four of the bodily senses to contribute towards that purpose.
The prompt came from “Fire Ice” by Clive Cussler, with Paul Kemprecos:
After several minutes, during which the city lights faded to a glow, the car whipped down a darkened, garbage-strewn street into an alley not much wider that the vehicle. Austin’s companions hustled him from the taxi and stood him against a brick wall while they bound his hands behind his back with duct tape. Then they pushed him through a doorway along a dim hall and into the lobby of an old office building. Grime covered the marble floor. On one wall was a brass floor directory black with the patina of age. The smell of onions and the muffled cry of a baby indicated that the office building was being used for human habitation. Probably squatters, Austin surmised.
His escorts nudged Austin into an elevator and stood behind him. They were hulking men, as big or brawnier than Austin, who had never considered himself to be a pigmy. The space was cramped and Austin stood with his face pressed against the cold wrought iron of the ornate gate. He guessed that the elevator must date back to the time of the sultans. He tried not to think of frayed and neglected cables as the elevator slowly jerked and rattled up to the third and last floor. The elevator was more nerve-wracking than the speeding car. The elevator cracked to a stop, and one his escorts growled in his ear.
“Out!”
He stepped into a dark hallway. One man grabbed the back of Austin’s shirt in a bunch, used it to steer him forward and brake him to an abrupt stop. A door opened, and he was maneuvered inside. There was the odor of old paper and oil from long-ago business machines. He felt pressure upon his shoulders, then the edge of a chair bumped against the back of his knees. He sat down and squinted into the darkness. A spotlight flashed on, and Austin saw sunspots as the glare hit him in the face. He blinked like a suspect being given the third degree in on old gangster movie.
Set a scene for a particular purpose and use at least four of the bodily senses to contribute to your purpose.
The prompt for the week of April 10 was about using your senses when writing. Incorporation of these into writing to enhance the experience for both the writer and the reader. Striving to create a description rather than ‘telling’ what it is.
The prompt involves writing with verbs only to describe a scene.