Category Archives: Projects

January Project: Fresh!

07 Wednesday Jan 2009

Posted by in 2009, Projects

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Happy 2009!
Café Writing has been declared a resolution-free zone. Well, sort of. There have been enough memes asking about your resolutions for 2009 over the past week, and frankly, I’ve always felt that the resolutions we keep best are the ones we don’t announce – rather like birthday wishes not coming true if you reveal them.

Instead the theme for this Project is “Fresh,” whether that means “audacious” or “new” – and perhaps a bit of both!

Remember to tag your posts with Café Writing, or link to us in some fashion.

This Project will be live through the end of January. When a new Project opens, the previous one is closed.

* ~ * ~ *

Option One: Pick Three

Don’t be discouraged by a failure. It can be a positive experience. Failure is, in a sense, the highway to success, inasmuch as every discovery of what is false leads us to seek earnestly after what is true, and every fresh experience points out some.
~John Keats

Pick at least three of the following words, and build a piece of writing around them. The form is up to you: poem, scene, flash-fic, essay, or general blog entry.
discovery, experience, failure, false, highway, positive, seek, sense, true

* ~ * ~ *

Option Two Can You Picture That?
Use the following photo to inspire a piece of writing in any form (poetry, prose, whatever).
(Please remember to copy the image to your own server, and include photo credit when it is known.)

January Project

Photo Credit: Rana K. Williamson

* ~ * ~ *

Option Three Poetry


I have the opportunity
Once more to right some wrongs,
To pray for peace, to plant a tree,
And sing more joyful songs.
~William Arthur Ward

Using the quotation above as your inspiration, write a poem (any form is fine) about praying for peace, planting trees, or singing joyful songs.

* ~ * ~ *

Option Four:Fiction

Who will tell whether one happy moment of love or the joy of breathing or walking on a bright morning and smelling the fresh air, is not worth all the suffering and effort which life implies.
~Erich Fromm

Using the above quotation as your inspiration, write a flash-fic, scene, or short story involving a bright morning.

* ~ * ~ *

Option Five: Timed Writing

Admiration is a very short-lived passion that immediately decays upon growing familiar with its object, unless it be still fed with fresh discoveries, and kept alive by a perpetual succession of miracles rising into view.
~Joseph Addison

Take nine minutes (use all nine, but don’t go over), and write on the subject of short-lived passions.
This is a timed exercise and it’s expected that it won’t be perfect. Any format – fiction, essay, verse – is welcome.

* ~ * ~ *

Option Six: Seven Things

In a mood of faith and hope my work goes on. A ream of fresh paper lies on my desk waiting for the next book. I am a writer and I take up my pen to write..
~Pearl S. Buck

In improvisation, one of our exercises is a game called “Seven Things,” in which we go around in a circle giving each other the challenge, “Give me seven things that [whatever].” We are not going to go around in a circle here, but if you’re drawn to lists, this prompt is for you.

Give me seven things that inhabit or occupy your writing space. Interpret “writing space” any way you please. You’re not required to explain the items in your list, but it’s more fun for readers if you do.

* ~ * ~ *

Don’t forget to comment here with your name, the title of your piece, the selected option number, and the direct link to it.

Happy Writing, and Best Wishes for 2009

2008 Holiday Project

13 Saturday Dec 2008

Posted by in 2008, Projects, Special Editions

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Welcome to the 2008 Holiday Project at Cafe Writing!
In the month of December we have so many celebrations – the Solstice, Chanukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and New Year’s Eve – that it seems wrong to ignore them – but one thing all share is an element of the mystical or magical.

There’s so much bad news in the world today, that rather than focusing on individual holidays, the theme for this month is HOLIDAY MAGIC. It will run through the first weekend of the New Year, I think.
(As an aside, if the quotes seem Christmas-heavy, that isn’t meant to push a personal agenda, and certainly I don’t expect your writings to be Christmas-centric.)

* ~ * ~ *

Option One: Seven Things

That’s the thing with magic. You’ve got to know it’s still here, all around us, or it just stays invisible for you.
~Charles DeLint

In improvisation, one of our exercises is a game called “Seven Things,” in which we go around in a circle giving each other the challenge, “Give me seven things that [whatever].” We are not going to go around in a circle here, but if you’re drawn to lists, this prompt is for you.

Give me seven magical things in your world. Interpret “magical” any way you please. You’re not required to explain the items in your list, but it’s more fun for readers if you do.

* ~ * ~ *

Option Two: Pick Three

Kindle the taper like the steadfast star
Ablaze on evening’s forehead o’er the earth,
And add each night a lustre till afar
An eightfold splendor shine above thy hearth.
~Emma Lazarus, “The Feast of Lights”

Pick at least three of the following words, and build a piece of writing around them. The form is up to you: poem, scene, flash-fic, essay, or general blog entry.

ablaze, earth, forehead, kindle, night, steadfast, star, taper

* ~ * ~ *

Option Three: Can You Picture That?
Use the following photo to inspire a piece of writing in any form (poetry, prose, whatever).
(Please remember to copy the image to your own server, and include photo credit when it is known.)

Holiday Project Image

Holiday Project Image

Photo Credit: Konstantin Yuganov

* ~ * ~ *

Option Four: Poetry

If we opened our minds to enjoyment, we might find tranquil pleasures spread about us on every side. We might live with the angels that visit us on every sunbeam, and sit with the fairies who wait on every flower.
~Samuel Smiles

Using the quotation above as your inspiration, write a poem (any form is fine) about living with angels or sitting with faeries.

* ~ * ~ *

Option Five:Fiction

Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time.
~Laura Ingalls Wilder

Using the above quotation as your inspiration, write a flash-fic, scene, or short story involving childhood memories.

* ~ * ~ *

Option Six: Timed Writing

The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.
~Francis P. Church, “Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus”

Take twelve minutes (use all twelve, but don’t go over), and write on the subject of unseen and unseeable wonders.

This is a timed exercise and it’s expected that it won’t be perfect. Any format – fiction, essay, verse – is welcome.

* ~ * ~ *

Don’t forget to comment here with your name, the title of your piece, the selected option number, and the direct link to it.

HAPPY WRITING & Happy Holidays

November/December Project: Jewels

09 Sunday Nov 2008

Posted by in 2008, Projects

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Welcome to the November/December Project at Cafe Writing!

On Friday, November 7th, I accidentally blew away the entire database, and then a server glitch at my host rendered it impossible to recover it. Thanks to Google’s cached pages, I’ve reconstructed most of the Project and Participants pages, but in the interest of time and sanity, have not gone back and re-linked all the old submissions – anything earlier than July/August won’t have links, just a list of titles and participants. I apologize for this.

As a result of the db debacle, we have a new design, and a few new features. One of them is the “Quotable Cafe” widget in the right side of the menu. I’ll be inputting the quotations used in each project, and they’ll show up there on a random basis. It’s both an interesting piece of history (to see what’s been used) and may help find inspiration later.

Also new: Beginning with this month, I’m inviting all of you to participate in a new way, by submitting your own photos to be used in the “Can You Picture That” option. Our own Janet is this month’s contributor.

The Holiday Project will begin on the 7th of December, and run just past the beginning of the New Year. Last year our holiday theme was “Tradition and Ritual,” this year, I’m thinking it will be “Family & Community.” The January Project theme is “Fresh!”

This Project will run through December 6th, and the theme is Jewels. It’s inspired by a gift I received from my mother before I went to my writing workshop in San Francisco: my grandmother’s pearls. You are free to interpret the theme more metaphorically, but I like the notion of hand-me-down jewelry and art and antique pieces that have history and meaning.

* ~ * ~ *

Option One: Pick Three

Fewer and fewer Americans possess objects that have a patina, old furniture, grandparents’ pots and pans, the used things, warm with generations of human touch, essential to a human landscape. Instead, we have our paper phantoms, transistorized landscapes. A featherweight portable museum.
~Susan Sontag

Pick at least three of the following words, and build a piece of writing around them. The form is up to us: poem, scene, flash-fic, essay, or general blog entry.

essential, furniture, landscape, museum, paper, patina, possess, touch, warm

* ~ * ~ *

Option Two: Can You Picture That?

Use the following photo to inspire a piece of writing in any form (poetry, prose, whatever).
(Please remember to copy the image to your own server, and include photo credit when it is known.)

Photo Credit: Janet Spering

* ~ * ~ *

Option Three: Poetry

Let us not be too particular. It is better to have old second-hand diamonds than none at all.
~Mark Twain

Using the quotation above as your inspiration, write a poem (any form is fine) about second-hand diamonds.

* ~ * ~ *

Option Four: Fiction

All art is autobiographical; the pearl is the oyster’s autobiography.
~Federico Fellini

Using the above quotation as your inspiration, write a flash-fic, scene, or short story involving pearls.

* ~ * ~ *

Option Five: Timed Writing

I don’t want to own anything until I know I’ve found the place where me and things belong together. I’m not quite sure where that is just yet. But I know what it’s like…. It’s like Tiffany’s…. Not that I give a hoot about jewelry. Diamonds, yes. But it’s tacky to wear diamonds before you’re forty…
~Truman Capote, Breakfast at Tiffany’s
(spoken by the character Holly Golightly)

Take eleven minutes (use all eleven, but don’t go over), and write on the subject of the place where me [you] and things belong together.

This is a timed exercise and it’s expected that it won’t be perfect. Any format – fiction, essay, verse – is welcome.

* ~ * ~ *

Option Six: Seven Things

Some men’s memory is like a box where a man should mingle his jewels with his old shoes.
~George Savile

In improvisation, one of our exercises is a game called “Seven Things,” in which we go around in a circle giving each other the challenge, “Give me seven things that [whatever].” We are not going to go around in a circle here, but if you’re drawn to lists, this prompt is for you.

Give me seven things that would be (or are) in your memory box. In this case, the box can be literal, and hold jewelry, or other special trinkets and treasures, or metaphoric. You’re not required to explain the items in your list, but it’s more fun for readers if you do.

* ~ * ~ *

Don’t forget to comment here with your name, the title of your piece, the selected option number, and the direct link to it. Also, please note: since the database was destroyed and I’ve had to reconstruct, you’ve ALL become first-time posters again, so your comments will be queued for approval.

HAPPY WRITING

Anniversary Project (September/October 2008)

21 Sunday Sep 2008

Posted by in 2008, Projects

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Equal dark, equal light
Flow in Circle, deep insight
Blessed Be, Blessed Be
The transformation of energy!
So it flows, out it goes
Three-fold back it shall be
Blessed Be, Blessed Be
The transformation of energy!
– Night An’Fey, Transformation of Energy

Welcome to the Autumnal Equinox Project at Café Writing. Our theme this month has an emphasis on fall, because that’s the season we’re entering where I live, but any change of seasons / nature themed work will do.

For many of us, whatever our faith, the changing of the year affects our moods, our energy levels, and even the connection with our creative selves, even if we don’t recognize the subtle pulls until someone mentions “oh, well, the equinox is tomorrow,” or “there was a full moon last night.”

While I’d like to claim that I held this edition of the Project til this weekend on purpose, the reality was that I was feeling my own creativity and energy ebb. I’m feeling better now, which is good, because October 10th marks the first birthday of CafeWriting. Happy birthday to all of us, especially those who contribute here.

For guidelines, please see The Rules. Remember that you should leave a comment with your link, including the title of the piece that you wrote, and the appropriate option number. Also, I would encourage everyone to visit the blogs of CW participants – most of our Regulars have amazing writing on their sites throughout the month.
If this is your first time here, please be aware that comments from first-time posters are held in queue until they’re approved by a live person, and that participant pages go up roughly two weeks after the beginning of each Project, and will be updated until the next Project goes live.

The planned launch date of the next project is October 19th.

* * * * *

Option One: Pick Three

Spring scarce had greener fields to show than these
Of mid September; through the still warm noon
The rivulets ripple forth a gladder tune
Than ever in the summer; from the trees
Dusk-green, and murmuring inward melodies,
No leaf drops yet; only our evenings swoon
In pallid skies more suddenly, and the moon
Finds motionless white mists out on the leas.
– Edward Dowden, In September

Pick at least three of the following nine words, and write a paragraph, scene, flash-fic, essay, blog entry or poem using them. It’s fine to change tenses, or pluralize if you want to, but please bold the words you choose.

drop, evenings, glad, mist, motionless, murmur, pallid, rivulets, swoon

* * * * *

Option Two: Can You Picture That?

Use the following photo to inspire an entry in any form – fiction, essay, poetry.. Bonus – somehow connect the two photos in a single piece.


Photo Credit: Goldmund at iStockPhoto

* * * * *

Option Three: Poetry

silence
seeks the center
of every tree and rock,
that thing we hold closest-
the end of songs
– Michael McClintock, Letters in Time

Using the quotation above as your inspiration, write a poem (any form is fine) about silence.
* * * * *

Option Four: Fiction

She had only to stand in the orchard, to put her hand on a little crab tree and look up at the apples, to make you feel the goodness of planting and tending and harvesting at last.
– Willa Cather

Write a flash-fic, scene, or short story involving either standing in an orchard.

* * * * *

Option Five: Timed Writing

He is outside of everything, and alien everywhere. He is an aesthetic solitary. His beautiful, light imagination is the wing that on the autumn evening just brushes the dusky window.
– Henry James

Take nine minutes (use all nine, but don’t go over), and write on the subject of being outside of everything.
This is a timed exercise and it’s expected that it won’t be perfect. Any format – fiction, essay, verse – is acceptable.

* * * * *

Option Six: Seven Things

No man can taste the fruits of autumn while he is delighting his scent with the flowers of spring.
– Samuel Johnson

In improvisation, one of our exercises is a game called “Seven Things,” in which we go around in a circle giving each other the challenge, “Give me seven things that [whatever].” We are not going to go around in a circle here, but if you’re drawn to lists, this prompt is for you.

So, give me seven tastes or scents that define autumn for you.

You are not required to provide any explanations, but it’s more interesting for readers if you do.

Don’t forget to comment on this post with the direct link, title, and selected option for each piece you create. Happy Writing!

July/August Project

20 Sunday Jul 2008

Posted by in 2008, Projects

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Mamma mia, here I go again
My my, how can I resist you?
Mamma mia, does it show again
My My, just how much I’ve missed you?
Yes, I’ve been broken-hearted
Blue since the day we parted
Why, why did I ever let you go?
Mamma mia, now I really know
My my, I should not have let you go
– “Mamma Mia,” ABBA

Welcome to the July/August Project at Café Writing, and many apologies for being late. Again. This month’s prompts are light and fluffy, and, in honor of the opening of the movie Mamma Mia, based on the songs of ABBA, so put on your favorite retro clothing and find a beat you can write to.

For guidelines, please see The Rules. Remember that you should leave a comment with your link, including the title of the piece that you wrote, and the appropriate option number. Also, I would encourage everyone to visit the blogs of CW participants – most of our Regulars have amazing writing on their sites throughout the month.

If this is your first time here, please be aware that comments from first-time posters are held in queue until they’re approved by a live person.
* * * * *

Option One: Seven Things

Half past twelve
And I’m watching the late show in my flat all alone
How I hate to spend the evening on my own
Autumn winds
Blowing outside my window as I look around the room
And it makes me so depressed to see the gloom
There’s not a soul out there
No one to hear my prayer

Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight
Won’t somebody help me chase the shadows away
Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight
Take me through the darkness to the break of the day
–”Gimme Gimme Gimme,” ABBA

In improvisation, one of our exercises is a game called “Seven Things,” in which we go around in a circle giving each other the challenge, “Give me seven things that [whatever].” We are not going to go around in a circle here, but if you’re drawn to lists, this prompt is for you.

So, gimme (give me) seven things that cause shadows in your life
OR
Gimme seven things that you do to chase the shadows away.

You are not required to provide any explanations, but it’s more interesting for readers if you do.

* * * * *

Option Two: Pick Three

I don’t wanna talk
About things we’ve gone through
Though it’s hurting me
Now it’s history
I’ve played all my cards
And that’s what you’ve done too
Nothing more to say
No more ace to play

The winner takes it all
The loser standing small
Beside the victory
That’s her destiny
I was in your arms
Thinking I belonged there
I figured it made sense
Building me a fence
Building me a home
Thinking I’d be strong there
But I was a fool
Playing by the rules

The gods may throw a dice
Their minds as cold as ice
And someone way down here
Loses someone dear

The winner takes it all
The loser has to fall
It’s simple and it’s plain
Why should I complain?
– “Winner Takes it All,” ABBA

Pick at least three of the following eight words, and write a paragraph, scene, flash-fic, essay, blog entry or poem using them. It’s fine to change tenses, or pluralize if you want to, but please bold the words you choose.

talk, belong, victory, destiny, plain, strong, rules, dear

* * * * *

Option Three: Can You Picture That?

Use either or both of the following photos to inspire an entry in any form – fiction, essay, poetry.. Bonus – somehow connect the two photos in a single piece.

Photos courtesy of iStockPhoto. Please copy them to your own server, if you wish to include them in your post.


Photo Credit: iStockPhoto


Photo Credit: iStockPhoto

* * * * *

Option Four: Poetry

Sleep in our eyes
Her and me at the breakfast table
Barely awake
I let precious time go by
Then when she’s gone
There’s that odd melancholy feeling
And a sense of guilt
I can’t deny
What happened to the wonderful adventures
The places I had planned for us to go
Well some of that we did
But most we didn’t
And why I just don’t know
– “Slipping Through My Fingers,” ABBA

Using the quotation above as your inspiration, write a poem (any form is fine) about precious time going by or about planned adventures – or both.
* * * * *

Option Five: Fiction

The summer air was soft and warm
The feeling right, the Paris night
Did it’s best to please us
And strolling down the Elysee
We had a drink in each cafe
And you
You talked of politics, philosophy and I
Smiled like Mona Lisa
We had our chance
It was a fine and true romance

I can still recall our last summer
I still see it all
Walks along the Seine, laughing in the rain
Our last summer
Memories that remain
– “Our Last Summer,” ABBA

Write a flash-fic, scene, or short story involving either a fine and true romance or memories that remain.

* * * * *

Option Six: Timed Writing

You are the dancing queen
Young and sweet
Only seventeen
Dancing queen
Feel the beat from the tambourine
You can dance
You can jive
Having the time of your life
See that girl
Watch that scene
Diggin’ the dancing queen
– “Dancing Queen,” ABBA

Take eight minutes (use all eight), but don’t go over), and write on the subject of dancing. Alternatively, use the words seventeen and/or tambourine as your inspiration, and see where they lead you.
This is a timed exercise and it’s expected that it won’t be perfect. Any format – fiction, essay, verse – is acceptable.

* * * * *

Don’t forget to comment with the direct link, title, and selected option for each piece you create. Happy Writing!

May/June Project

18 Sunday May 2008

Posted by in 2008, Projects

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Welcome to the May-June project for CafeWriting. Submissions for this project will be accepted until June 30th..

Because this is so late, I’ve provided double quotations to help inspire you, and two pictures that can be taken singly or together. In the United States, May finds us celebrating Mothers’ Day, and June brings Fathers’ Day, while the weather eases from the changing, often flirty weather of Spring, to the steady heat of Summer, so it seemed to be a good time to explore men and women, mothers and fathers.

For guidelines, please see The Rules. Remember that you should leave a comment with your link, including the title of the piece that you wrote, and the appropriate option number. Also, I would encourage everyone to visit the blogs of CW participants – most of our Regulars have amazing writing on their sites throughout the month. Please make sure you’re contributing original (new) pieces, not old stuff from your archives, though if one piece fits many memes you’re writing for, that’s fine.

If this is your first time here, please be aware that comments from first-time posters are held in queue until they’re approved by a live person.

* * * * *

Option One: Seven Things

There is a special place in hell for women who do not help other women.
~Madeleine K. Albright

No man stands so straight as when he stoops to help a boy.
~Knights of Pythagoras

In improvisation, one of our exercises is a game called “Seven Things,” in which we go around in a circle giving each other the challenge, “Give me seven things that [whatever].” We are not going to go around in a circle here, but if you’re drawn to lists, this prompt is for you.

Tell me about seven ways you’ve helped someone else.

OR

Tell me about seven people who have helped you.

You are not required to provide any explanations, but it’s more interesting for readers if you do.

* * * * *

Option Two: Pick Three

Men wake up aroused in the morning. We can’t help it. We just wake up and we want you. And the women are thinking, “How can he want me the way I look in the morning?” It’s because we can’t see you. We have no blood anywhere near our optic nerve.
~Andy Rooney

When you see a woman who can go nowhere without a staff of admirers, it is not so much because they think she is beautiful, it is because she has told them they are handsome.
~Jean Giraudoux

Pick at least three of the following eight words, and write a paragraph, scene, flash-fic, essay, blog entry or poem using them. It’s fine to change tenses, or pluralize if you want to, but please bold the words you choose.

arouse, morning, nerve, women, men, beauty, admire, nowhere

* * * * *

Option Three: Can You Picture That?

Use one of the following photos to inspire an entry in any form – fiction, essay, poetry. Please copy the photo to your own server if you want to include it in your post.

BONUS: Because this is a double project, use both photos as inspiration, and link them.

If you respond to this prompt, please copy the image to your own server, and credit the photographers. “Morning Smiles” is by Yvonne Chamberlain, and “Computing in a Coffee Shop” is by Quavondo Nguyen. Both are provided by iStockphoto.

* * * * *

Option Four: Poetry

Sometimes the poorest man leaves his children the richest inheritance.
~Ruth E. Renkel

The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness.
~Honoré de Balzac

Using the quotations above as your inspiration, write a poem (any form is fine) about mothers and fathers.

* * * * *

Option Five: Fiction

Single men and women who go home to an empty apartment or a dog or cat or child need adult conversation in their lives.
~ Dennis Franck

Write a flash-fic, scene, or short story about an adult conversation.
* * * * *

Option Six: Timed Writing

Life is one of those precious fleeting gifts, and everything can change in a heartbeat.
–Author Unknown

Take seven minutes (use all seven, but don’t go over), and write on the subject of men and women. This is a timed exercise and it’s expected that it won’t be perfect. Any format – fiction, essay, verse – is acceptable.

* * * * *

Don’t forget to comment with the direct link, title, and selected option for each piece you create. Happy Writing!

April Project

05 Saturday Apr 2008

Posted by in 2008, Projects

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There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
– Hamlet Act 1, scene v

Welcome to the April Project at Café Writing, and many apologies for being late. As you may not know, April is the month in which we celebrate the birthday of the Bard himself, William Shakespeare. (His actual birthday is unknown. He was baptized on April 26th, however, and died on April 23rd, which date is also used to celebrate his birth.). It seems appropriate, then, that we take our theme from his works, this month.

For guidelines, please see The Rules. Remember that you should leave a comment with your link, including the title of the piece that you wrote, and the appropriate option number. Also, I would encourage everyone to visit the blogs of CW participants – most of our Regulars have amazing writing on their sites throughout the month.

If this is your first time here, please be aware that comments from first-time posters are held in queue until they’re approved by a live person.

* * * * *

Option One: Timed Writing

I am constant as the northern star,
Of whose true-fix’d and resting quality
There is no fellow in the firmament.
–Julius Caesar Act III, scene i

Take seven minutes (use all seven, but don’t go over), and write on the subject of loyalty or constancy. This is a timed exercise and it’s expected that it won’t be perfect. Any format – fiction, essay, verse – is acceptable.

* * * * *

Option Two: Seven Things

All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.
–As You Like It, Act II, scene vii

In improvisation, one of our exercises is a game called “Seven Things,” in which we go around in a circle giving each other the challenge, “Give me seven things that [whatever].” We are not going to go around in a circle here, but if you’re drawn to lists, this prompt is for you.

Tell me about seven stages or changes in your life.

You are not required to provide any explanations, but it’s more interesting for readers if you do.

* * * * *

Option Three: Pick Three

Shall I compare thee to a Summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And Summer’s lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And oft’ is his gold complexion dimm’d;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm’d:
But thy eternal Summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wanderest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:

So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
– William Shakespeare Sonnet #18

Pick at least three of the following eight words, and write a paragraph, scene, flash-fic, essay, blog entry or poem using them. It’s fine to change tenses, or pluralize if you want to, but please bold the words you choose.

brag, course, decline, eternal, possession, rough, temperate, wander

* * * * *

Option Four: Can You Picture That?

Use the following photo to inspire an entry in any form – fiction, essay, poetry. Please copy the photo to your own server if you want to include it in your post.

If you respond to this prompt, please copy the image to your own server, and credit the photographer L. H. Prior

* * * * *

Option Five: Poetry

Edgar:
The gods are just, and of our pleasant vices
Make instruments to plague us:
The dark and vicious place where thee he got
Cost him his eyes.
Edmund:
Th’ hast spoken right, ’tis true.
The wheel is come full circle, I am here.
– King Lear Act V, scene iii

Using the quotation above as your inspiration, write a poem (any form is fine) about coming full circle.

* * * * *

Option Six: Fiction

If music be the food of love, play on,
Give me excess of it; that surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.
–Twelfth Night Act I, scene i

Write a flash-fic, scene, or short story involving music.

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Don’t forget to comment on any April post with the direct link, title, and selected option for each piece you create. Happy Writing!

March Project

05 Wednesday Mar 2008

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Welcome to March. Where I live, winter is giving way to spring, and we’ve had really odd weather, with warm sunny days followed by cold snowy ones. Wash, rinse, repeat. To me, March has always seemed like as good a time as any to embrace change, so our theme for this month is Change. You’re free to interpret it literally, spiritually, or metaphorically, of course.

For guidelines, please see The Rules. Remember that you should comment on this post with your links, including the title of the piece that you wrote. Also, I would encourage everyone to visit the blogs of CW participants – most of our Regulars have amazing writing on their sites throughout the month.

Also, if this is your first time here, please be aware that comments from first-time posters are held in queue until they’re approved by a live person.

* * * * *

Option One: Fiction

To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring.
– George Santayana

Write a flash-fic, scene, or short story about a happier state of mind.

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Option Two: Timed Writing

Life is one of those precious fleeting gifts, and everything can change in a heartbeat.
–Author Unknown

Take seven minutes (use all seven, but don’t go over), and write on the subject of fleeting gifts. This is a timed exercise and it’s expected that it won’t be perfect. Any format – fiction, essay, verse – is acceptable.

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Option Three: Seven Things

Never think someone will be there forever…forever is a long time and time has a way of changing things.
–Author Unknown

In improvisation, one of our exercises is a game called “Seven Things,” in which we go around in a circle giving each other the challenge, “Give me seven things that [whatever].” We are not going to go around in a circle here, but if you’re drawn to lists, this prompt is for you.

Tell me about seven people who have influenced you.

You are not required to provide any explanations, but it’s more interesting for readers if you do.

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Option Four: Pick Three

The first day of spring was once the time for taking the young virgins into the fields, there in dalliance to set an example in fertility for nature to follow. Now we just set the clocks an hour ahead and change the oil in the crankcase.
– E.B. White

Pick at least three of the following eight words, and write a paragraph, scene, flash-fic, essay, blog entry or poem using them. It’s fine to change tenses, or pluralize if you want to, but please bold the words you choose.

spring, change, virgin, dalliance, fertile, nature, oil, crank

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Option Five: Can You Picture That?

Use the following photo to inspire an entry in any form – fiction, essay, poetry. Please copy the photo to your own server if you want to include it in your post.

If you respond to this prompt, please copy the image to your own server, and credit the photographer Therese Chase. Her web page is here: http://velma-dacron.livejournal.com/.

Butterfly
Click for full-sized image.

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Option Six: Poetry

Each leaf,
each blade of grass
vies for attention.

Even weeds
carry tiny blossoms
to astonish us.
– Marianne Poloskey

Using the quotation above as your inspiration, write a poem (any form is fine) about something you find astonishing.

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Don’t forget to comment on this post with the direct link, title, and selected option for each piece you create. Happy Writing!

February Project

01 Friday Feb 2008

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In the Northern Hemisphere, February is the month of hearts and flowers, groundhogs, candles, and hope for the coming spring. In other parts of the world, of course, it comes with different meanings and traditions. Rather than making the theme for this month specific to Valentine’s Day, then, it will be a celebration of love, with a bit of hope for spring tossed into the mix.

For guidelines, please see The Rules. Remember that you should comment on this post with your links, including the title of the piece that you wrote. Also, I would encourage everyone to visit the blogs of CW participants – most of our Regulars have amazing writing on their sites throughout the month.

Also, if this is your first time here, please be aware that comments from first-time posters are held in queue until they’re approved by a live person.

* * * * *

Option One: Timed Writing

When love is not madness, it is not love.
~Pedro Calderon de la Barca

Take nine minutes (you have to use all nine, you can’t go over), and write about Love and/or Madness.

Any format (fiction, essay, verse) is acceptable; and it’s expected that your writing will be raw, so don’t stress about editing.

Option Two: Seven Things

Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs.
~William Shakespeare

In improvisation, one of our exercises is a game called “Seven Things,” in which we go around in a circle giving each other the challenge, “Give me seven things that [whatever].” We are not going to go around in a circle here, but if you’re drawn to lists, this prompt is for you.

Give me seven things that make you sigh. You are not required to provide any explanations, but it’s more interesting for readers if you do.

Option Three: Pick Three

Dreaming time has reversed, I watch drowned snow
Appear to lift up from the lake;
Reshaping magnified, each risen flake
Looms in the air, deliberate and slow,
Allowing me to let your picture form and wake
Astonished that you have returned to go
To watch me watch drowned snow lift from the lake.
Dreaming time has reversed—and you,
Your red cheeks radiant against the wind,
Are gliding toward me on the ice into
A frame of glided twilight—I
Again awaken from your being gone to find
Your gloved hands covering your lips’ good-bye
So you can watch me watch uplifted snow
As if your absence now concluded long ago.
– Robert Pack, Snow Rise

Pick at least three of the following eight words, and write a paragraph, scene, flash-fic, essay, blog entry or poem using them. It’s fine to change tenses, or pluralize if you want to, but please bold the words you choose.

astonished, conclusion, drown, gilded, hands, magnify, snow, time,

Option Four: Can You Picture That?

Use the following photo to inspire an entry in any form – fiction, essay, poetry. Please copy the photo to your own server if you want to include it in your post.

If you respond to this prompt, please copy the image to your own server, and credit the photographer Beverly Lussier. Her artist page is here: http://www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=profile&l=beverlytaz.

His Entire World by Beverly Lussier

Option Five: Poetry

From December to March, there are for many of
us three gardens:
the garden outdoors,
the garden of pots and bowls in the house,
and the garden of the mind’s eye.
– Katherine S. White

Using the quotation above as your inspiration, write a poem (any form is fine) about gardens.

Option Six: Fiction

You have to walk carefully in the beginning of love; the running across fields into your lover’s arms can only come later when you’re sure they won’t laugh if you trip.

~Jonathan Carroll, Outside the Dog Museum

Write a short story, scene, or piece of flash-fiction about the beginning of love.

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Don’t forget to comment on this post with the direct link and title of each piece you create. Happy Writing!

January Project

01 Tuesday Jan 2008

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A new year has dawned. For some of us this time is a period of reflection, for others, it’s a time to clean house and start afresh. Definitely the word “resolution” is bandied about, perhaps more than some of us would like. But that word doesn’t have to mean “promises to myself that I won’t keep.” After all, a resolution can be an act of political or social change, the solution to a problem, or it can involve pixels and clarity of image. Bearing all that in mind, can you blame me for choosing “resolution” as our theme this month?

For guidelines, please see The Rules. Remember that you should comment on this post with your links, including the title of the piece that you wrote. Also, I would encourage everyone to visit the blogs of CW participants – most of our Regulars have amazing writing on their sites throughout the month.

* * * * *

Option One: Seven Things
In improvisation, one of our exercises is a game called “Seven Things,” in which we go around in a circle giving each other the challenge, “Give me seven things that [whatever].” We are not going to go around in a circle here, but if you’re drawn to lists, this prompt is for you.

List seven resolutions that you’ve made – for the New Year, or just for yourself – that you’ve actually kept. (They don’t have to all be from the same year, either.)

Option Two: Pick Three
Pick at least three of the following eight words, and write a paragraph, scene, flash-fic, essay, blog entry or poem using them. It’s fine to change tenses, or pluralize if you want to, but please bold the words you choose.

breathless, change, elusive, pensive, reflect, surge, tide, vibrant

Option Three: Can You Picture That?
Use the following photo to inspire an entry in any form – fiction, essay, poetry. Please copy the photo to your own server if you want to include it in your post.

January Picture

Option Four: Poetry

“In silence and movement you can show the reflection of people.”
— Marcel Marceau

Using the quotation above as your inspiration, write a poem (any form is fine) about reflection.

Option Five: Fiction

“A thing that you see in my pictures is that I was not afraid to fall in love with these people.”
– Annie Leibovitz

Write a short story, scene, or piece of flash-fiction that incorporates the concept of falling in love with a photograph.

Option Six: Timed Writing

Take nine minutes (you have to use all nine, you can’t go over), and interpret the topic Resolution.

Any format (fiction, essay, verse) is acceptable; and it’s expected that your writing will be raw, so don’t stress about editing.

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Don’t forget to comment on this post with the direct link and title of each piece you create. Happy Writing!