Timewaster's Guide Archive
Departments => Books => Topic started by: The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers on November 11, 2003, 11:30:51 AM
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ok, automatic writing time.
Every day I'm going to post a "squib"
If you have trouble writing your own story, you can start with these. I will post a sentence, word, or phrase, and you just write bwetween 2 paragraphs and a page based on the posted "Squib." (no sense going longer than that unless the automatic writing is shaping up to be a scene in your story).
Feel free to post your automatic writing, but wait until after you've written on your novel so you stay "in the mode."
This is just to jump start you into writing mode. It might not work for everyone, but it's worth a try.
Incidentally, these squibs are from a database I made of them with my friend Will Black. (c) (tm) and whatever else applies.
Today's Squib is:
There's more where that came from
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So I take the boldened line and continue from where it is?
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exactly.
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Cool! That works into the scene I'm working on! I even started writting this morning. Going to sleep thinking about my current story problem seems to help. :)
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"There's more where that came from," said the tube of icing to the cake. And so it began to squeeze harder and harder, until it was out.
"Now what? You're all out, you've got nothing left. You're just like all the other tubes! You can't fill me! No one can!" The cake shouted, praising itself on being so grand and large that no one tube could cover it entirely in icing.
But then, out of no where, a great woman came up. She took a long look at the cake, then finally the cake realized it was at its demise. For it saw that this woman was none other than Martha Stewart.
"No! It can't be! Don't! No!" The cake struggled, but it could go no where. It was doomed. Martha filled that cake with everything she had. The cake was finished, and now it was to be eaten. People flocked in from every direction and tore the cake apart, piece by piece, the cake became less and less of what it was. Until finally Martha picked up the last piece and looked at it.
"I think I'll save you for a rainy day."
The cake muttered something as it was put into the refridgerator. "There's more where that came from."
Something like that SE?
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...
You like your food, don't you gemm? :P
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It was somewhere upon my mind. Like most things. I also enjoy the torment of food. So I thought it would be appropiate.
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Something very like that. Now, did you go start working on your novel right away? because it's supposed to start you into doing that.
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Here are a couple more for you:
Shut your eyes. Is the breeze moving? Is it cold or warm outside? Write everything your senses detect.
Your main character's plane has been sabotaged over the Bering Sea. Radar proves the plane went down in waters so cold, nobody could survive more than four hours. But she must because your story is only half told. Brainstorm ways she could survive.
Grab a dictionary and randomly select five words. Use them in an opening paragraph to a short story.
If you could revoke one celebrity's stardom, who would it be, and why?
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Also, it can be very helpful to get the juices flowing to use intriguing first lines from published books. Change them slightly, then use them for a primer for your pump. (If you do use the result in your book, though, be sure to change the first sentence enough so that it's not plagiarized.)
Try these:
While I was waiting in line at the local grocery store, a young man approached me and asked me for the time.
I like to run at night.
I woke to the sound of a mosquito whining in my left ear and my mother screeching in the right.
The weather in Ireland has always been fickle, but the weather during the summer of 1845 was worse than the oldest people could remember.
On that first weekend in December there must have been twenty or twenty-five boats getting ready to leave.
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And from the Writer's Book of Days, November 12th is:
This is what can happen when _________.
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I hate to sound offensive or rude, but these "squibs," they just don't seem to be helping me so far. Thanks anyways.
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wow, stacer did a lot. I like to keep it down to a couple a day to focus your direction, but I've a request to post 3 today so...
Work with me here
It's growling
I had one of those when I was younger
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Sorry, I realized after I posted that it was probably a bit much. But when I write I like to have a few to choose from so I can pick up the one that works the best for me.
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All I'm getting are flashbacks from middle school. Ohio had this contest called "Power of the Pen" and our school team met twice a week to do just this- write off of squibs.
Scary, the flashbacks that come, involving blueberries, sporks and Star Trek crossovers.
Scarier, thinking of being in 7th grade.
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Ugh, middle school.
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i forgot to post some this morning, and I've left my list at home. so here's a couple I made up:
Don't touch it
It's a little known fact
Nobody understood why
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Here's my contribution for today:
The window had other views.
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Okay, raise your hand if you're writing a fiction piece that isn't Sci-Fi or fantasy. Because I'm not finding a lot of these squibs very useful.
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all of mine and most of stacer's have been genre neutral, so it hardly is our fault if you can't relate them to fantasy. Stacer's last one, in fact, is the most overtly SFF one to date.
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You're right. Sorry.
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Is anyone wanting writing prompts anymore? If so, here's a couple:
The reasons to stay...
Returning takes too long.