#4 No Adverbs

Early in the spring morning, with the light casting blue shadows along the dew-dropped grass, small creatures awaken. They drink from the water left behind by the cool of night and wash their tiny faces. Their green skin with veins of yellow help them to blend in with the plants around them. At first, when the spring is new, it can be hard for the creatures to hide from the large humans. Then again, the humans never notice their presence after all of these years.

One small creature pulls back its wispy hair and steps into the sunshine. The light is warm and sweet. The creature sighs before picking up a small flute and running down a long leaf of grass, until its feet touch the damp ground. It walks and plays a little melody. At first, all is quiet except for the sweet song. Then the ground erupts with new grass, dandelions explode through the dirt, and the spikes of tulips prod towards the sky. The creature looks at them and smiles before continuing on as the plants wake up and stretch.

Some may believe that the animals and plants sense spring coming, but in fact they would be wrong. These small creatures-- you may call them fairies if you wish-- are the true messengers of spring as they sing their tune to call out the life that had been hidden for so long. Winter is over, let spring begin!

****

I wanted to write a little bit of fiction today, so there you have it. I was going to write about something else, but I'll save that for my "safe place." I'm also glad I was still able to use adjectives. If anyone reads this and finds an adverb, please let me know. Turns out, this was a very good exercise for me because my understanding of adverbs is a little bit muddled. That's actually why I have this exercise. It's important to understand the terminology of grammar and syntax on top of being able to determine what words are which in a sentence. When learning German, we would spend plenty of time marking the subject, verb, direct object, and the like, but I always wish we did that in English for good measure (to be fair, German makes it complicated by changing the case conjugation depending on what it is in the sentence, but I'm not going to go into that). This was fun to write though, and I'm quite enjoying these little spats every day.

#3 No Passive Verbs

The small black dog hopped onto the couch. He spread his paws before him and looked around the living room. The light faded as the sun set, making the shadows grow. He just felt comfortable in his position when a warm, familiar voice called his name.

"Dougan! Come here. Mary, you should see this." He scrambled to her and watched eagerly as she squished the gel onto a strange contraption. The white handle attached to a soft-bristled brush that now glimmered with the gel. His tail wagged so frantically, his butt shook.

The woman reached down, holding out the gelled bristles to him. He eagerly hopped forward with his tongue already sticking out of his tiny mouth. The smell of gravy filled his sensitive nostrils as the gel covered his tongue. The teeth of the contraption felt odd on his tongue, but the gel tasted so delicious, he stopped caring. Little did he know with every lick, he cleaned his teeth a tad bit more.

****

I didn't really have an idea for a topic today, so my boyfriend's mom helped a little. Dougan is their dog and he's a terrier. Cute thing, if not a little daft. Other than that, knowing about passive verbs and avoiding them is a fantastical idea. Turns out, most people don't know how much they use them, and don't even know all of them. In my mind, I immediately think "sein" because of learning German (it means "to be"), but here are the words to extrapolate: am, are, is, have, had. They make your writing boring and makes you miss out on efficiently using every sentence. Granted, there are times when such words are necessary, but try to keep them to a minimum so your writing can become colorful and exciting! (The exclamation point is mainly for emphasis).

#2 Long Sentences

During my junior year in high school, I felt ambitious and decided to try out track for the first time in my life. I had already been a soccer player for many years and from that experience knew I could run fast, even if I could not run very far. I loved the idea of hurtles and since I knew how to jump from Irish dance, I figured, how hard could it be?

The practices are now all a blur, but I remember racing around the halls of my high school, practicing the starting position, and then of course hopping over the hurtles time and time again. I was soon told I jumped too high and should try to stay closer to the hurtle, but it was hard to break my lessons in Irish dance that had taught me to jump high and make it pretty. Starting was a challenge too because I was never fast enough out of the gate. It felt so awkward with my butt up in the air and my feet spread apart. I would wait for the whistle anxiously as the pellets of turf dug into my palms. When I finally heard the blow, I would push up with all of my strength, but not forward enough to help my time.

Finally, I got my first chance in a track meet to compete. My hands were sweaty and I had to keep wiping them on my thin gold shorts. I took my place and crouched into the awkward stance. My competitors warmed up and got into position beside me, making me feel slightly trapped in the second row. I took a deep breath as my heart pounded and my muscles tensed. Finally, the gun shot off and we sprang from our posts. I dashed forward as well as I could, staring down the first hurtle. My right leg flew up to try and clear the metal bar, but something went wrong. Before I knew what tangled where, I slammed against the rough track. The shock took a few seconds to wear off, but I wasn't done yet. I gritted my teeth and pushed myself up (as good soccer players know how to do) while rushing towards the next hurtle. My face was warm with exertion and embarrassment, but I grudgingly jumped over each hurtle until I finally ran to the end of the hundred meters,

Needless to say I finished last, but at least I finished, and that's all that matters to me.

****

There's a little nonfiction for you, since I did struggle a bit for a topic. I think that might end up being one of the hardest part of this month. As I mentioned yesterday, I'm quite a fan of long sentences, but actually being aware of sentence length can make me self-conscious. I actually kept telling myself "No no no, that sentence would be too short. Make it longer!" The fact that I wrote about a fast race with long sentences is a little silly. It feels like how I would relate this story to a friend in my fast-talking-almost-incomprehensible manner. Ah well, it's a somewhat cherished memory and I always liked that about nonfiction.

Until tomorrow, my friends!

#1 Short Sentences

Her hands rub against her face. The soap bursts into bubbles. Water splashes against the sink. She turns off the facet. The towel is soft and warm against her face. She looks into the mirror. Her skin now dry and fresh.

But wait, not all is clean. One stray eyelash sits on her cheek. The black line curls like a smile. She brushes it onto her forefinger. She closes her eyes...

Her mind wanders. She thinks of the beach. The waves crash and then slide away. Birds call from far away. The wind whips around her. The taste of salt fills her mouth. She sways on a rope hammock. Her favorite book lies open on her lap. The sun warms her face and legs. A smile slowly grows.

She takes a deep breath, and blows.

She checks her finger once more. The lash is gone. She sighs heavily and continues with her day.

****

I'm really not a huge fan of short sentences, personally. I like to use them when I'm trying to speed up the story to create suspense. I also find it's fun for emphasis. Other than that though, I don't usually lean towards the short sentences that much, thus actually making this exercise a bit of a challenge for me. Go figure.

Anyhoo, I decided to do this one first because I think most people like to write in short sentences. It is clean and simple. In a way, it's brushing up on what people already know about writing.

Tomorrow is another day and another exercise!

My List

My actual list. I really do love my handwriting.

Tomorrow begins my daily ritual of writing. I've already created the list of exercises I will do and the order in which I will do them. They are as follows:

1. Write a short excerpt that should be a few paragraphs long using only short sentences.

2. Write a short excerpt of a few paragraphs using longer sentences. Try to really elaborate.

3. Write an excerpt without any passive verbs (as in any form of the verb "to be").

4. Write an excerpt without any adverbs.

5. Practice using adjectives to enhance the nouns within your excerpt.

6. Practice using similes.

7. Use an extended metaphor.

8. Change how you use punctuation. Make up your own rules, in a sense.

9. Write only dialogue.

10. Describe the process of doing something. (example would be making tea).

11. Find a news article and write a short-short based off of it.

12. Find a piece of art you like and write a short-short about it.

13. Create a character.

14. Brainstorm a world.

BONUS!! Write a story where you place your new character into the world you created!

15. Write some six word stories.

16. Write about a place that makes you feel safe.

17. Write about a place that makes you feel unsafe.

18. Describe a scene with all five senses.

19. Describe something as if seeing it for the first time; as if you've never seen it before.

20. Write the same scene three times, changing perspective (as in 1st person, 2nd person, and 3rd).

21. Use typography to add to the excerpt.

22. Write about a mythical creature. Do not just give facts, but bring life to the creature in some way.

23. Focus on a specific time period and write a historical fiction short-short.

24. Write about a place you've never been as if you've lived there. Research about a foreign place.

25. Create a tone by describing a setting.

26. Write the same setting twice, but change the tone.

27. Take a normal situation (like going to work) and make it extraordinary.

28. Write something based on an object, but the object cannot be the main subject/topic.

29. Write a scary short-short.

30. Practice writing body language. Make two people interact without any dialogue.

31. Suggest something in your excerpt, but do not actually spell out what it is. Let the reader figure it out.

There you have it. I had first brainstormed some exercises and then numbered them according to what I determined as first based on the basics of writing, and then up to more complex exercises. The first fifteen are mainly based on basics like grammar and syntax, giving me (and others who might want to do these as well) the chance to play and practice with the English language. The following eight are a little more advanced and involve some more style. The final eight are complex and involve the writer focusing on suggestion and "show" rather than "tell."

I am very excited to start this journey of writing, and I hope others may also join in on this practice. Wish me luck and get ready for a lot of posts!

A Plot for the Next Month

All right folks, I've got a plan.

May is an interesting month to me. First, there's the obvious reason: my birthday is May 9th. I'm the type of person who wishes that her birthday was special or something, but really I like spending the day enjoying my own company. Ah, but I digress. Other people have birthdays in May too, like my sister and my best friend. It's a month for Mother's Day, when I get to thank my wonderful mom for everything she does. Finally, it's when spring finally starts showing up in Cleveland. April kind of teases us with warm days interspersed between freezing, but May at least promises to never snow. I appreciate that.

Anyhoo, since I like May, I've decided this is the month when I will begin my creative writing exercises! Yay! It helps that I'm almost done with my second semester of grad school, so I will have a tad bit more free time. It'll be epic.

Here's the plan: every day in the month of May (ha, that rhymes), I will post an exercise to help with writing. Some days, it may just be me brushing up on grammar. Other days, it may be practicing detail or character development. Some of them will be ones I've done for workshops and the like, others I will make up... probably on the spot.

You're probably now asking yourself: why in the world should you do this? Well, for starters, I would love to write one of those self-help books for writing skills. Haven't thought of a title or anything, but I like the idea of forcing the readers to write, since that is the best way to learn. It's also great practice for me, and it has been awhile since I did exercises.

PREVIEW!! This means in June, I may begin my series of stories. This means every week, I will add another chapter to my story. I'm bouncing around two ideas at the moment, so by June I'll hopefully have it figured out. Until then, bear with my incessant posts...

The Underground

It has been two years since I studied abroad in London. That seems like forever and a half ago and it's weird to think that it even happened at all. One of the objects I have in my possession to help remind me that yes, I did indeed live across the pond, is a journal I used for class. The module was a creative writing course that used London itself as the main focus. I loved the class and loved the opportunity to write about such an amazing place. What follows is a small excerpt from that journal that I like so much I thought I'd share...

Taken by Mary Crotty

The Underground
(Originally written on 28. January 2011)

Within the grungy bowels of London, monsters rumbled and groan. Nothing can stop them as they crash through their long tunnels of concrete. Beware their many mouths as they slide open wide and engulf any waiting mesmerized passenger too close to the yellow line.

True heroes may stand on the gray concrete platforms beside the trenches of the beasts. The thick air wraps around them, smelling of leather and a slight hint of human sweat. Only those brave enough may step up to the painted line marked "Mind the Gap." Passed that, the platform falls away to deceitful metal tracks; the footprints of the behemoths.

All goes quiet and the wind gushes from the dark unknown, fluttering loose hair and newspapers about the concrete catacomb. A quiet hiss and squeak of metal-on-metal comes from the darkness. Two orbs of light, like glowing yellow eyes, appear first. Then the head of the beast made of a square metal frame and sheets of glass as it slides closer. Ever closer to the platform.

Quench the urge to pet the monster as it swoops by.  Everything begins as a blur as one can only see the white body and the red doors mixing together, creating the illusion of pink. The train slows, making the windows and doors become separate. Even the dirt can now be seen marking the worn-out beast as a veteran of the deep.

Finally, the train comes to a stop. With a hiss, the doors open, beckoning those stationed on the platform to step inside. Are you a hero here to force the modern Grendel to slumber? Or will you only be another snack for the eternally starving Tube?

****

Taken by Mary Crotty

It's short, and I think I like it mainly because it's fun to fantasize about everyday things. I guess this just gives you an idea where my mind goes when I had to wait for my train home. Truly, it was nothing short of an adventure.