Word Grrls

Word Grrls has Moved

2008-10-28T13:59:00.001-04:00

Follow along for the next adventure, using Movable Type on my new domain.

We will see how long it takes before I am missing Blogger. Easier to stick wtih the software you know but not as interesting as taking that step into the mysterious unknown.

Your Experiences of Love Thus Far

2008-10-27T23:50:00.002-04:00

"Love begins with a smile, grows with a kiss, and ends with a teardrop." – Anonymous

Have you heard that one before?

Write your own, a quick analysis of love. Think of what you would tell your daughter. Think of what you would tell your son. Why is it different and how can you put that together into a new thought about love and yourself?

Assume you have children if you do not. I don't either but I can think of what I would say based on my own experiences thus far.

Caught Inside a Wreck

2008-10-26T00:44:00.002-04:00

Kind of gruesome perhaps, but I found an interesting writing prompt on Once Written:

Build Character -- Write a scene about what happens when a character you're working gets trapped inside a car for two hours after a terrible car accident.

Write a Letter about Yourself

2008-10-25T23:40:00.002-04:00

Look back on your year, from the end of last October to the nearing of the end of this October. In some spiritual beliefs this time of the year is about looking back, reflecting on the past and finding fresh inspiration for the future.

Write yourself a short letter. You could even try writing it in long hand if your penmanship hasn't become too rusty from using the computer keyboard. Write about the past year and what you can look forward to. Put your letter somewhere you will find it next year, for October 2009. Tell yourself about yourself.

Best wishes for the year ahead. :)

The Order of Events

2008-10-24T23:35:00.003-04:00

Write down at least 10 things that you did today (or 10 things that happened to you today). Make them a short list in the order they happened, chronological order.

Now jumble the order, randomly. How would your day have been different if things had happened in the new random order?

If you change the order of events in fiction could that give your story a whole new plot or at least a plot twist?

Long, Dark, Rusty Secrets

2008-10-23T23:30:00.003-04:00

Two friends have a secret. Each has a different secret. Both secrets are unique and something they have kept from each other for years. Neither would ever dream of telling the other her secret.

What are the secrets each friend is keeping? Why do they keep these things secret from each other? How would the world, or their part of it, change if the secrets were not kept?

The Adventure of the Lost and Found Glove

2008-10-22T23:24:00.002-04:00

You've lost one of the gloves Great Aunt Hettie gave to your for Christmas. She's going to be pretty upset if you don't show up wearing both of them. Today is her birthday and you really do want to be there for the party, you're the one who organized it all.

At the subway station you find the lost and found. Seemed no one you asked actually knew where it was. But, there, is a door off the platform which says "Lost and Found". It's a wonder that none of the staff were able to direct you there, such a simple and straight forward place.

Inside the room are bins loaded with hats, gloves, coats, scarves and all sorts of unrelated things which you never would have thought to see in a lost and found. How did the blow up whale get there, how could anyone forget that?!!

While digging into the bottom of the fourth bin, trying to find your glove, you fall in. But, the good news is you can see your glove, right at the bottom, just a bit out of reach. It's really odd that no matter how far you dig and how deep you seem to be going into the bin, that glove stays just out of your reach. Like a carrot on a string, leading you into adventures unknown.

So, where do you end up? Where does the adventure of the lost and found glove take you?

Movable Type is Discouraging

2008-10-21T22:27:00.003-04:00

Moving to Movable Type is getting very discouraging. I set it up quite easily, only a little bump or two along the way. But that was last week. Since then I have had zero success at moving the content from Blogger to Movable Type. Everything I have found about doing this is out of date, by a lot! I am frustrated but not yet giving up. I really would like to use Movable Type again. I do not want to use WordPress, no matter what I will not go back to that.

It is a shame I bought the domain and hosting before I found out what hurdles I'd have to manage. Now I am going to be away most of this week and won't be able to do anything. Bugging me.

Doodle, by Catherine Sharp

2008-10-21T22:21:00.001-04:00

From Catherine at Sharp Words:

Doodle

This is not a poem.
It’s just scribble,
a doodle in which
my wandering pencil
forms random lines
resembling letters
arranged into words
to make this.
Which is definitely not a poem.

© 2008 C Sharp

Clear Your Slate

2008-10-20T12:51:00.002-04:00

If you are really stuck and can't get a word onto the page at all. Stop trying. Instead think of what is really bugging you. It could be family with too many demands and needs. It could be a job where you feel too much stress all day to even begin to unwind when you are finally home. It could be an event going on in your life, a marriage, a divorce, a death in the family or a friend, all kinds of little events too.

So write out your feelings. Don't even start with a plan. Just start. Put a word on the page, you might even start longhand instead of using the keyboard. Pull the plug on the damn holding in all your feelings and let them bleed out for awhile. The words don't have to make sense, spelling does not have to count. Vent for awhile, give in to being self centred long enough to spill out all the everyday clutter and poison that seems to litter our minds.

You will know when you are done, there just won't be anything else left to write. Take a break then. Get outside, go for a drive, get coffee, whatever gets you away from the place you were as you wrote. Later, when you are back, decide if you want to read anything of what you wrote. You may just keep it for later or destroy it and get rid of all that pent up emotion. Sometimes you can get a lot of clarity from letting yourself vent thoughts and feelings.

Try writing now that you have cleared your slate.

Room to Write

2008-10-19T12:43:00.003-04:00

Think of one kind of annoying day to day kind of task which irritates you about writing. For me it is just making myself stop all the other hundred little things I could be doing and settle down to start the writing project. Or, I could say the most aggravating thing is having a ton of material/ articles/ drawings I have as inspiration and information but I seldom take the time to organize it so that any of it is actually being used. It is a good idea to have information and inspiration around but at this point I should just dump it all and get rid of the clutter which does really bug me.

What writing related task are you putting off? Is there a way you could accomplish this and get it out of your way? Maybe pay someone to do it, or just give up and recycle it (as with all my paper stashes), or actually focus and buckle down to get it done?

Take the little things that keep you from writing out of your way. Give yourself more room to write?

Reach Outside of Your Box

2008-10-18T12:40:00.002-04:00

Consider of a form of writing you rebel against trying, or even reading. Now use that yourself. Stretch your limits and open your mind to something you thought you could not, or would not do. Maybe you have never tried writing a poem, or maybe you never thought you could write horror or romance is just too mushy. Try something new, reach outside of your box.

Language Without Barriers

2008-10-17T22:10:00.000-04:00

From Stuart and What If Wednesday...

“What if everyone spoke the same language?”

Your Fairytale Life

2008-10-16T09:56:00.000-04:00

This question comes from Unexpected Art: A Positive Blog.

Your life has been selected to be featured in an upcoming fairy tale style movie. What is the title and premise?

Alien Pesticide Needed

2008-10-15T00:03:00.002-04:00

There are weird aliens from some planet or other, maybe more than just one, they're everywhere. They claim they want to take over the Earth. Jerks!

Somehow they expect every human to just leave the planet and they don't care that we don't have mass transit between planets yet.

So, what great plan do you come up with to save the day?

Write a New Anthem

2008-10-14T11:51:00.000-04:00

There is a huge prize (cash money) for whoever writes the best new anthem for their province or state. Write the lyrics and add music if you like.

When the Crate is Opened...

2008-10-13T13:25:00.000-04:00

You've become an internationally famous belly dancer. One day you get an invitation to dance in a small Middle East country you hadn't even heard of before. Deciding to go, the pay offered was really great and you wouldn't mind a visit to a new place knowing you will be staying first class all the way.

On the last night of your tour, just as the curtain falls and you begin picking up the veils you dropped in dancing, a man comes backstage and grabs you. He bundles you into a crate, ignoring your struggles.

Where are you when the crate is opened and what happens next?

Moving to WordGrrls.com

2008-10-13T11:19:00.002-04:00

Next week this blog will be at WordGrrls.com running on Movable Type. Trying Movable Type again as I used to like it quite well. Spent yesterday on the install on the new domain. Still need to transfer this blog over (if that will work) and then get a template I like.

Questioning the Application

2008-10-12T23:21:00.003-04:00

Write an application for a career, pick something. But, create the application, not as the person filling it in but as the person in human resources who has to come up with the right questions for the applicants to fill out. What unique questions can you come up with? Which questions would really help you pick the right person?

Foreground and Background

2008-10-11T23:17:00.002-04:00

Describe a landscape from a painting or photo. Do you start with the scenery near or from farther away? What kind of description is more interesting, the foreground or the background? Which information tells you more about where you are and how you would need to dress for the climate?

Genie Lottery

2008-10-10T23:13:00.002-04:00

The genie pops out of his bottle and it turns out this one is a bored trickster type. Instead of giving you three wishes he offers to let you put bits of paper into a hat, all things you would like to change about your life. He will randomly pick three things out of the hat and you will get your wishes. But, you have to write at least 10 things you would change about your life. What are your ten?

First Word Heard

2008-10-09T22:39:00.002-04:00

A baby has been kept in a sound-proof bubble for six months cause surgery was needed to correct a hearing problem. So, until now, the baby has never heard a sound outside it's Mother's womb. Today is the day the baby will be able to hear for the first time. What should be the very first word the baby hears?

Being Run Off Your Feet

2008-10-08T21:37:00.002-04:00

A relative visits, they are endlessly demanding you serve them food, fetch them stuff and make you feel you are something like an indentured servant. As soon as you do one thing they are giving a list of there more things they need, right now. For the first time you understand the saying about being run off your feet.

How do you get rid of them and dispose of the body?

Invisible Imaginary Horse

2008-10-07T21:29:00.002-04:00

Weird Aunt Milly gives you an imaginary horse for your birthday. You humour her. But in the morning there is a horse eating your front lawn. Only you are able to see the horse. Everyone you ask just gives you looks, like you're crazy or playing a trick on them.

Now you know how Aunt Milly picked up the name Weird Aunt Milly.

What does your horse look like? What do you do with it now that you have an invisible horse of your very own?

Designer Camouflage

2008-10-06T01:34:00.003-04:00

Lucky you... you're in the Army now. But you've been hired as the new fashion designer. Suddenly they want all the uniforms revamped and given some style. You can pick any colours, no restrictions but they do ask that you remember there has to be at least one uniform they can wear into battle which gives them camouflage. Of course, they don't mention what or where they need the camouflage? It occurs to you that camouflage would be different things in different places.

Come up with a design for camouflage uniforms which can be worn in the train or subway station, another in the middle of a busy shopping centre and yet another at a bridal or baby shower.