We all have grandiose ideas for the next best seller. However big those ideas are sometimes they just need a kick start. Sometimes there’s no great thing lurking in the shadows screaming “Write me!” but instead just a short simple scene that plays in the mind. The idea behind flash fiction is to write something out using only so many words. I’m a frequenter of 55fiction and even though I haven’t posted there, I enjoy reading the work. If you visit their site you can see that some of the pieces there are nothing but a 55 word stories while others may elaborate on each short piece.

Well… I have a tough time keeping things down to 55 words. So I want to introduce a challenge of 70 word fiction in a flash. True, that’s only 15 more words than what you see at 55fiction so make those 15 words profound and eye opening. You never know what you might scratch out of your head.
I’ll even start the challenge with my own piece of work. Anyone interested in adding their own work can do so in the comment section. Edge and I look forward to seeing what each and every creative mind can come up with. The requirements are simple, all we ask for is a plot in only 70 words, no more no less. And believe me, that’s not as easy as it sounds.

Tags:Challenges, creative challenge, Creative Writing, Fiction in a Flash Quick Steps

Holy cow, someone other then Edge is posting! LOL Not really, just entering a response we received from the Inspiration Tag on the 7th of June from a reader. Edge and I were both happy to see such an enthusiastic response and are looking forward to more of the Cilla’s work. So… on with the show….

“They could have been stars, those tiny pinpricks of light in the darkness. But they weren’t, they were somethin’ much less peaceful. They were vent holes for hundreds of underground tunnels.”

“Vent holes?” came the question she always asked. She loved the story of Blood Mountain almost as much as she loved to hear the old man beside her spin it. He had a knack for storytelling, and a mind full of adventure.

“Vent holes really. They needed air flow, so they drilled six-inch holes along the passages. Seen just right, the light escapin’ resembled a starlight sky…helped ‘em hide their presence for decades. Helped ‘em feed in secret.”
(more…)

Tags:Creative Writing, creativity, Getting Inspired, Inspiration Tag Quick Steps

For those few readers that we currently have, we apologize for not posting over the last 2 weeks. While we’ve had ideas for posts and even planned to post - real life, in the form of buying a house and getting ready to move, as well as work, have gotten in the way.

Gemini, the MoonLight Novelist and myself have all separately purchased houses over the last month. I’m officially moving in two days - and I’m way behind in my packing! I don’t know if there will be another post before Sunday or not. I’ll be without internet access for all of Friday and Saturday will most likely be spent unpacking.

Expect another week of limited posts and then we should be able to get back to a regular posting schedule.

Here’s to a creative week!

Tags:creative, moving News and Announcements

For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been getting ready to move from a shared apartment to my own house. I hadn’t realized just how much there was to do or how much stuff I didn’t have. The result is an effort to find ways to keep the costs and time spent working on the house and move down.

For me, this means thinking creatively and using resources that I haven’t used before. You see, work is about 45 minutes northwest of the apartment. The house is about 15 minutes north of that. So I can’t really make quick trips up to the house and I have to be careful about the number of roundtrips I make, because its takes a little over a quarter tank of gas for each one - with gas prices what they are, I can’t afford to make a lot of trips. I’ve spent several weekday mornings, before work, loading the trunk of the car with boxes and clothes and all those little odd shaped and/or fragile things that need to go. That way, I can make a quick trip up to the house and drop them off.

I have movers that are going to move most of the stuff - including the furniture - from my storage unit. That’s probably one of the most expensive parts of the move. In an attempt to try to manage the costs, I’ve tried to take a good portion of my books and craft supplies up to the house during the various trips I’ve made to clean and do minor repairs.

I’ve discovered that most insects don’t like vinegar - even diluted. There were a few places where ants were coming into the house - a couple of spritzes with a half-and-half solution of vinegar and water has taken care of that. Add a little ammonia to the mix and you have a cleaner that works as well as most of the stuff you buy in the cleaning aisle. Its cheap, effective and better for you and the environment.? Be careful about using vinegar around plants though.? Its too acidic for most.

I’ve learned how to change out doorknobs (both locking and non-locking), put in doorstops so that the doorknobs don’t put holes in the walls, take the acoustic texture off the ceiling? (What a mess that made!), remove and replace towel racks, clean ceiling fans and lots of other things.

Since I’m doing this by myself for the most part, I’ve had to learn by doing.? Each time I complete one of the projects, I feel more confident in my ability to do the next.? I have to admit that there are some that I’ll probably hire someone to do the next time around - but at least I now know how to tell if they’re doing a good job of it!

Thinking about the move and the projects involved in it in a creative manner has given me many more options for accomplishing it while keeping my costs down.? A life-long curiosity and interest in learning how to do new things has stood me in good stead during this transition.? I’m sure that as I start thinking about renovating and remodeling, it will open up even more possibilities.

Why strive to be creative? Because in the long run, creative thinking and living gives you access to more options and possibilities. ? It helps you do more with less and opens up the range of things that you can choose from.? And perhaps the most satisfactory result is that you put your own personal stamp on everything you do.

Tags:Why Be Creative? why be creative? moving learning

This Quick Step takes about 5 minutes and requires that you have something to write or record with. That’s it. No fancy equipment, no money to spend - just a few minutes and a way to record your thoughts.

Every day you look at the same things, but do you really see them? What’s on your desk? What’s on your car’s dashboard? What’s on your kitchen counter or table?

Pick one common item, something you look at every day. Describe it.

Sounds simple, doesn’t it? What assumptions are you making when you describe it? Try describing it to a blind or deaf person. Try describing the item as if you were the item - a written or verbal self-portrait of your selected item. How many adjectives did you use? Can you avoid using “it is. . . ” and “it’s like. . . ?” Can someone else tell what you’ve described without seeing it?

Tags:assumptions, creativity, description, Getting Inspired Quick Steps

Update: June 8, 2006

Although things have been a little hectic, I have made some progress on my writing project. The current progress meter is at the end of this update.

In addition, I’m reviving two other old projects - only one of which I have the original notes for! Both are short stories. Well, one is a single short story. The other has the possibility of multiple short stories - but I’m going to resist the urge to turn it into a novel, which is what happens to most of my project ideas! I still have 3 or 4 of those sitting on the back burner until I finish this one!

Dawn - WIP, 1st Draft

6,201 / 75,000 (8.3%)

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Writing posts for this blog and participating in the challenge we posted made me start thinking about some of the various stories I have started over the years. Procrastination and follow-through have always been my problems, so while I’ve started several different projects, I’ve never finished any of them. Several of them have outlines and detailed character descriptions, but none have a decent amount of writing done.I’m hoping to change that. If you would like to follow my progress, or lack there of, come over and visit my blog, Shadows Edge. Feel free to comment here or over there, and I’ll try to post about the process as I make progress.
I have a progress meter posted on my sidebar that I will update every few days. Here is what it looks like at the moment - as you can see I have I lot of work to do!

2,280 / 75,000 (3.0%)

Tags:Creative Writing Getting Inspired

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