[Day 10 of 365]:

It seems my Muse and I have a bit more to write about along yesterday’s Elemental storyline.  When I started to read through yesterday’s post, as a warmup to today’s writing session, I felt there was so much more left to discuss between [...]]]>

[Day 10 of 365]:

It seems my Muse and I have a bit more to write about along yesterday’s Elemental storyline.  When I started to read through yesterday’s post, as a warmup to today’s writing session, I felt there was so much more left to discuss between these two characters.  I really wanted to see how a Boy Meets Girl scenario played out when one person was already hopelessly in love with the other.

I’m very intrigued by the idea of magic based on the 5 Chinese Medicine Elements (Earth, Metal, Water, Wood, Fire) and I feel my Muse get excited with the chance to explore this alternate mystical theory.

I expect to do plenty of research on the subject, but, I hope there’s even more writing . 

Just in case you missed it, read the first half here.

Writing Prompt:  Describe Love at First Sight or simply Boy Meets Girl

My dead Renee was talking to James.
“And here’s the man himself” he said. Shit and double shit.

“Marcus, Sera. Sera, Marcus” I stared at the hand she stuck out at me.  Her palm was warmer than I remembered and I wondered if perhaps I was mistaken.  Maybe the upcoming conclusion of 50 years of gathering power and suffering the presence of the evil alchemists spirit was finally getting to me.  Soon he’d be dead, Renee’s death would be balanced, and it would all be over.  But I didn’t want to be mistaken.  I wanted it to be Renee’s hand in mine again.  Renee’s mouth smiling at me again.  Renee’s honey brown eyes looking up at my face with just the hint of hidden joy only she could know.

“Sera” I rolled her name off my tongue. It felt familiar in my mouth. “Nice to meet you.”

“James has been trying to sell your  beautiful art to me. Of course, he has no idea that I’m just a bartender and couldn’t afford the tailored shirt he’s wearing.” she laughed

“That’s too bad” I said “Perhaps you’d like to trade stories instead?”
Again, her laugh filled my chest with hope and sadness.  This was not Renee, but I knew her… from her strong calves to a neck that loved the soft caress of lips right where it met her shoulder.   Her dark red lips smiled.

“Marcus, there you are.” Marie said as if she’d lost a wayword child. “We haven’t finished our conversation”  Triple Shit.

“Will you help me.” I whisphered to Sera/Renne “She’s a journalist and I’m tired of dodging her. I’ll do anything to get out of here.  Please help me.” I put on the charm, literally.  Letting my body heat rise slightly and sending a mixture of  Elemental scent of water and fire at her.  Any normal Brute female would think she’d just fallen in love.. Temporarily.

“Absolutely! I’m trying to duck out of my own blind date. The guy’s a total asshole.”

“Great, um, well not great. Anyway, what do we do?” Now we were conspirators playing a game.

“Look Marcus, I think we started that conversation on the wrong foot.” Marie said and smiled like a used car salesman.  “Can we go somewhere more private to talk?”

And then my head started to ring. Slap! Sera hit my face again.
“So is this the woman you’ve been seeing behind my back” Sera shouted and grabbed my hand. “How dare you parade her in front of me.”

My stinging cheek brought my mind back into focus. Sera pretended to seethe in a jealous rage.  I wish she didn’t look so much like Renee during our last fight. Her brows pulled down.  Her lips drawn together in a thin line.  Her eyes wild with a spark of mischief.  I felt real tears start to form in my eyes, a mixture of physical pain and remembered pain.  I shook my head to clear away the dark memories and assumed the warming of my amulet was from my own emotional turmoil.

“Of course not.” I pretended to soothe her by caressing her proferred hand. “I told you, I’m not seeing anyone else but you.”

She tossed my hands aside “Forget it. I don’t believe you.  How can I believe you?” Sera ran through the crowd, that parted like the red sea before Moses.

I followed after her, directly out the door.  Not my usual quiet exit, but it would just have to do.  I looked back in time to see Marie struct silent, for once.  Her mouth help open and eyes glazed over with a mixture of surprise and jealousy.  I’m so glad I dodged that bullet.  But the amulet was still warm against my chest meaning I was still emotional or very near a dangerous power source.  And with someone who looked like my dead Fiance’s twin mysteriously back in my life, it seemed I had dodged a bullet and stepped into the path of a mac truck instead. Quadruple Shit.

Sera was standing next to the elevator doubled over laughing.  Her purple dress shimmered in the hallway lights and her eyes sparkled.  “Now that was seriously fucking fun.”

I needed more time with her.  I needed to understand what she was doing here a day before the Banishing Ritual.  A day before it would all be over.

“Well at least they’ll have something more interesting to talk about than the cocktail napkins for the next few hours.” We stepped into the elevator and I punched the button for the ground floor.  I straightened my peasant shirt and placed my cold palm against my hot cheek. “So how can I repay you for slapping me in the face? Miss Sera…?”

“Oh. It’s Taylor.” She blushed and smoothed the tight fitting dress across her hips. “I’m sorry if that hurt.  Sometimes I leap before I look.  If it’s any consolation, my palm hurts too.”  Sera showed me her hand and we shared a silent moment approving of each others injuries.

“Okay, you’re forgiven. I just hope I don’t wake up with your handprint on my face tomorrow morning. Let’s go ice our wounds with some well earned bourbon. You do drink bourbon don’t you?” I needed answers quickly and comrades sharing a drink was the best I could do in such short notice.  Luckily, she seemed to hold the spirit of adventure from our public display.

“Of course. I’m a bartender for a living.  I drink everything as long as it comes in a shot glass.  Maybe you’ll even tell me your last name too”

We stepped out of the loft apartment building and I saw the usual Seattle clouds.  “Perfect.” I said, “ I’ll call us a cab before it starts to rain.”

When she sat down in the cab, I was certain Renee was somehow trying to tell me something from across the abyss. Nobody but Renee was crazy enough to take off their shoes in a cab.  Nobody except Miss Sera Taylor.

“You never told me name” She smiled.

I pulled her close to keep us both from shivering, just as Renee and I would have been. “My name’s Marcus Domino”  Sera leaned into me, but unlike Renee, she wasn’t cold at all.

What does love at first sight feel like to you? How is it different than writing about lust?

Comments, links to your writing prompt results, and lurkers are always welcome.

[Day 9 of 365]:

Today’s writing is a little more refined, simply because my Daemon editor was in full swing the last few days. This is part of story that I’ve been working on for some time.  Okay, not exactly working on…. more like letting it fester in my mind until [...]]]>

[Day 9 of 365]:

Today’s writing is a little more refined, simply because my Daemon editor was in full swing the last few days. This is part of story that I’ve been working on for some time.  Okay, not exactly working on…. more like letting it fester in my mind until I finally forced myself to sit down (thank goodness for 365 days of writing).

There’s more coming from this storyline, although I’m not sure how far I can take it.  I hit a serious block when I was trying to map out the plot, so we’ll see if I can follow it through the end.  Or if I’ve got one more beginning with no where to go.  I’ve got 355 days left to find out.

Writing prompt:   Where am I?  Who am I?  Why am I here?

The night sky seemed vast and dark, inviting me to leave the art show and begin a search for the north star instead.  I could see the hundred bourgeoisie elitists that buy my glass passing behind me.  Their ghosts reflected in the window, as transparent as their souls.  They flitting from art form to art form, wishing the painting would speak to them as it spoke to their highly paid art coordinator.  At least the lofted studio was warm, filled with the heat from art collectors and women named Jasmine that smelled like too much rose perfume.

I could see the exit across the room, only 12 or 15 strides away for my 6 foot 1” frame.  Unfortunately, my agent James stood between me and that door.  According to him, the best way to sell art is for me to stand around aimlessly, speaking in monosyllables, pretending to be the late 20s, muscular, but moody glass blower who likes to wear the white peasant shirts he picks out for me.  Fortunately, the shirt covered the bespelled amulet hanging from my neck, and the criss-cross scars along my left side.  I’d added a small packet of dragon’s blood and vervain to mask the amulet’s heat from others, forcing its fire element to flow into the earth element of the herbal charm.  I didn’t need the Brutes (unknowing humans) to know I was an 80 year old alchemist carrying my power source around the city.

“Isn’t that right Marcus?”  James was speaking to me, across a lovely woman whose name escaped me, but whose diamond encrusted choker didn’t.  “Each piece represents a different emotional state, love, hate, or bliss is his inspiration.”

“Yes” I said, and shook my head to clear the cobwebs, “But each piece isn’t finished until I finally hate loving it.  The moment I’m ready to destroy it and start again, I ship it to James, who saves it from certain destruction.”

“I’ll have to save one myself” the woman said.  James took that as his cue to close the deal, so I turned back to the beckoning night sky and the party’s ghostly reflections.  But one ghost should have been dead.

I blinked, hoping her small, lithe frame would disappear from the window, and return to the nightmare of my past.  But there Renee stood.  Her long black hair drawn up, showing the soft white skin of her neck and shoulders.  I let my eyes follow the curve of her body, a deep purple cocktail dress hugging the same small waist and luscious hips I had last kissed over 50 years ago.  She was facing toward her companion, but letting her eyes wander from painting to painting.

I blinked again, turned–too quickly.  And looked across the space into Renee’s gold speckled brown eyes.  It was her.  She looked at me without any recognition, smiled and turned back to her companion.

“Excuse me” said the slim, tall woman I had stepped into, a clear liquid dripping from her half empty chaser.

“Sorry” I said.  I didn’t take my eyes off of Renee as she moved away with the rotating crowd.   But I couldn’t ignore the cold liquid seeping through my sleeve.

“Dammit.” I looked up to find Marie scowling at me.  She always did have to be the center of attention.  Its why I stopped dating her 6 months ago.

“Shit Marie, I’m sorry.  What are you doing here?  I’ll tell the bartender to serve you another one, on me.”

“The drinks are free,” She gingerly gave the drink to one of the roaming servers and wiped her manicured hands with an offered napkin.  Unfortunately, the drink hadn’t spilled on her sleeveless top or matching black pants, so I couldn’t just show her to the bathroom and duck my way out.

“Actually, I came to see you.”  She crossed her arms over her stomach, lifting her ample chest for my benefit.  And since, Marie never flirted unless she wanted something, I began to wonder if I was carrying enough protection.  She wasn’t an Elemental, but she was an Alchemist, one of the few woman that had learned to control the Yang energies without letting those energies rip her apart.  She wasn’t someone to mess with, but then again, after 50 years of ageless living, neither was I.

“Hmm” I frowned.  Marie was a strong caster and I didn’t want a confrontation here.   I needed to find out what my dead Renee was doing, alive and walking.

“Look, if you need another interview or something, go talk to James. You know I’m not supposed to talk to Journalists without my agent.”

“Don’t give me that crap.” she said “I’m not here about your art. The Elements are going to collide tomorrow night and I wanted to invite you to the Combine. You don’t have an opposite to balance you out anymore, do you?”

“That’s not any of your business Marie. I’m pretty sure I can deal with the magics on my own.  What do you really want?  Can’t find a dick big enough to shut you up during the ecstasy?”  I knew she wouldn’t react well to my rude behavior but I was hoping she’d leave me the fuck alone.

“How dare you?” she said. Her body going rigid and her eyes turning blue from the power of anger.  I quickly checked my own shields and the amulets binding spells.  My mind sensed power but it wasn’t coming from Marie and it wasn’t malicious. It felt more like the moment before a match hits dry kindling.  Someone dropped their glass of wine.  It was definitely time to leave.

“You’re losing Elemental control, here? Find somebody else to keep your leash.” I turned and walked away knowing she’d need at least a few minutes to calm herself or risk opening her shields in front of all these Brutes.

I headed straight for the door.  I could lie to James later. I needed to get some air.  And then I heard Renee’s laugh.  That soft sweet lilting voice of my long dead lover, laughing at someone else’s jokes.  I told myself I was following the raw Elemental power I felt emanating from her direction but truthfully, I was drawn to the sound. I felt the evil alchemist’s soul stir with my excitement and whispered a short chant to calm him.  “Annuato, annuat, annua, an, a”

How do you write about being the opposite sex? Do you feel that the inner critic can sometimes help make your writing better?

Comments, links to your writing prompt results, and lurkers are always welcome.

find a forum about your writing topic, join, and participate in the discussion.  If [...]]]>

1.  Walk a Labyrinth

Find a labyrinth near you (check out this site http://labyrinthlocator.com/), define a question or pick a single focus such as Gratitude, Peace, Joy, Understanding, Love, Truth, etc, and follow the path to the center and back.

2.  Join a Forum

find a forum about your writing topic, join, and participate in the discussion.  If you are brand new to the topic, ask the forum members to help you get started.

3.  Take a Nap

4.  Write a Letter to a loved one thanking them for being in your life

First write the letter, then decide if you want to send it, or better yet, visit them and read it to them directly.  This one was inspired by A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future.

5.  Have a Paper Airplane Contest

Pick three topics, three ways to slant a project, or three different scenes.  Take three pieces of paper and write one at the top of each piece.  Fold each piece of paper into an airplane (using a slightly different method for each plan).  Throw all three planes.  Whichever goes the farthest is the topic you will choose.  Unfold the winning plane, and write about that topic until the paper is filled on both sides.

6.  Start a Story Circle

Using a writers forum (or a series of forwarded emails between a writer’s group) begin a story.  Write one scene and then pass it on to another person, either by randomly choosing their name from the list, or simply letting anyone add a scene whenever they like.  As the story “owner” make sure that at least one scene is added every week.  At then end of two or three months, have a Story Circle reading, where someone reads the story and people talk about the parts that they really liked.

7.  Postcard Surprise

Ask your friends and family to pick out two postcards wherever they are today and send you a note.   Once you get the postcards, use one word, or one picture as the inspiration for your writing project.   Don’t forget to call each person and thank them!

8.  Meditation

set aside 15 minutes every day to sit comfortably, breath easily, and relax your mind.   If you’ve never meditated before, simply breath in to a count of 8 and breath out to a count of 8, keeping your body still.  If your mind wanders, focus it back onto your breath and keep counting.  Don’t forget to set a timer so you won’t have to worry about watching the clock.

9.  Retail Therapy

Don’t always buy all your writing tools and books immediately, use a trip to the bookstore as a great way to distract your conscious mind and let your subconscious mind work on the writing problem.   Plus, you’ll have something new to play with when you get back to your writer’s desk.

10.  Use a Timer

Get an egg timer or an online timer (like this one).  Set it for 15 minutes and make yourself write about your topic continuously until the time goes off.  After your time is up, you can take a break, change topics, or if you’ve got more to write, reset the timer and start again.  You can use this technique with just about any  writer’s block buster.

12.  Create a Writers Group

Get your fellow writers or even your friends together at least once a week for a creative sessions.

13.  Designate a Writing Buddy

Find one writing buddy that you can contact day or night to bounce ideas off of.  The goal is to get immediate feedback about a topic you are working on, network with other writers, provide inspiration to others, and share success together.

14.  Take a Clarity Day

Designate one day a week to spend some time away from work (whether writing is your day job or your hobby).  Set aside 2 or more hours (I prefer 4 or more) and go to a public place where you can wander.  Take your writer’s journal and a pen.  Walk around and use your senses to experience the location you’ve chosen.  If you feel inspired, sit and write about what you see, feel, hear, taste, and touch (and any other senses that are tingling).  List any writing ideas that pop into your mind, either from your surroundings, your internal thoughts and emotions, or from the people talking around you.

15.  Change of Scenery

Pack up the essential parts of your work and move to a different location; preferrably out of the house.  Take your laptop, writing journal, and pens to a coffee shop, a restaurant, a bookstore, a library, a friends house, a park, a shopping mall, a museum, an aquarium, a marina, or a boat.  Find a place to sit and see how a different environment effects your writing.  This method is great to write fictional scenes or describe someones place of business (office, lab, manufacturing floor, etc).

16.  Backup your files

17.  Review your Life Purpose, Goals, and ToDo List

18.  Read a Book Within your Genre or Expertise

19.  Read a Book Outside of your Genre or Expertise

20.  Subscribe to and Read an inspirational Blog (LiraVaughan.com)

21.  Bake a cake

Or brownies, or cookies, or even bread pudding.  Finish working while it is baking, but don’t eat any until you’re done writing.

22.  Find 5 new markets for your writing

Pick up a copy of 2009 Writer’s Market (if you’re in the US) and find 5 new publishers, magazines, blogs, or ezines to submit your writing.

23.  Rewrite a Query Letter

Take one of your article ideas that hasn’t sold yet and rewrite the query letter with a slightly different angle using any feedback you’ve received.

24.  Reread the books that inspired you to become a writer

Mine are Dune, 40th Anniversary Edition (Dune Chronicles, Book 1) , Story: Substance, Structure, Style and The Principles of Screenwriting , and The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles

25.  Take a pottery class

26.  Take a photography class

27.  Learn to Draw on the Right Side of the Brain

28.  Get Inspired by Creative People talking about what they love

Check out Ted Talks

29.  Volunteer Your Time

30.  Interview a Stranger

Introduce yourself to a stranger and ask what they think about your current writing topic.

31.  Go to a Movie, Musical, or a Play

Consider the universal theme and how it relates to your topic

32.  Read about why Nobel Prize Winning Writers Write

33.  Update Your Resume

Describe all your recent accomplishments, training, and experience and remember how much time and effort you’ve put into your writing abilities.  Consider using a professional resume writer to get the best result. (www.LiraVaughan.com/resume-writing-services/)

34.  List 25 New Topics that you’ve never written about before

35.  List 25 Topics you’ve written about but using a Different Slant, Genre, or Point of View

36.  Rewrite a previously published article, short story, or scene from the opposite Point of View(POV)

Protagonist vs antagonist, positive vs negative, male vs female, etc

37.  Search 3 off-topic magazines for ideas

Pick 3 magazines you don’t usually read, and find at least 3 ideas that can be used in your current writing project.

38.  Read a history book

Pick at time in history, find a book that summarizes that time, place, lifestyle, environment, politics, health, etc.  Describe the universal themes that were important to both that historical time and your project.

39.  Visit a Sanctuary

Go to a Church, Mosque, Monastery, or Retreat and soak in the contemplative environment with gratitude and acceptance.

40.  Listen but do not speak

Designate a day to only listen.  Go about your day but do not speak to anyone verbally.  Instead use nonverbal cues such as smiling, nodding, hand gestures, etc.  You may also use written communication if absolutely necessary, but try to avoid it.

41.  Pay attention to nonverbal communication

Go to a public place such as a coffee shop, a mall, or a restaurant where you can sit quietly and observe the conversations going on around you.  Try to figure out which smiles are real, and which are forced.  Who is happy to be there, and who would prefer to be somewhere else.  Use this knowledge in your next scene, in your next presentation, or in your next training/process development project.  Check out this book for more details The Definitive Book of Body Language

42.  Start a Garden

Get dirty and watch the growth process of plants to learn more about Universal themes.

43.  Get introspective in your Journal

Use your writing journal or a separate personal development journal and answer this question…”I love to write because…”  Pick out your top ten reasons and post them by your writing desk (or use them as your screensaver).

44.  Use a writing prompt from your favorite book

My favorite book for this is Room to Write.

45.  Use an inspirational quote as a writing prompt

Here’s my favorite Quotable Quotes, and online random quote generator.

46.  Stream of consciousness

Start with a basic thought such as “Today I want to write about…”  or “The most important aspect of my topic is….” and simply write down everything as it comes to your mind.  The initial goal here is quantity, not necessarily quality.  Let your random thoughts release your subconscious onto the paper.

47.   Physical Exercise of any kind

Get the endorphins racing through your body, creating energy, excitement, and enjoyment.  Then come back to your writing.

48.  Bubbling

A great brainstorming method where you take your topic of interest, write it on the middle of a big piece of paper and circle it.  Then you draw 7 to 10 lines off of your center bubble and brainstorm anything that comes to mind (by free association or by sub-topic focus).  Circle each of your new bubbles, and repeat the process, either letting your mind find connections between bubbles, building off of new bubbles, or off the original bubble.  Its important not to censure your subconscious so use colored pens instead of pencils so you can’t erase anything.  You can also try a program called Cayra if you want a software interface instead of paper & pen.

49.  Call Your Creative Muse

Develop a ritual to get you into the writing mood and get your subconscious (or your Muse) working.  My ritual includes making a cup of tea, opening the window shades to let in the sunlight, sitting down at my desk, clearing a space to begin brainstorming, taking a few easy breaths with gratitude in my heart, asking my Muse to visit me today, picking the highest priority writing task on my ToDo list and using one brainstorming or writer’s block busting technique to get my creative flow started.

50.  Research Your Topic

Open up your web browser or go to the library and find three (3) to five (5) new facts about your topic that you didn’t know before.  Don’t allow yourself more than 1 hour of search time or you’ll just be procrastinating!   Then take your new information, reform your topic idea, and start writing.

51.  Find a Writing Mentor

Search online or in your writing classes for seasoned writers that inspires you to write.  Contact them, explaining how much their work encourages you, and ask them to mentor you through a project or particular problem.  Remember to respect their time and experience and be grateful for any advice they provide.

Happy writing!