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.)

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

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

1. It’s a Magical World, by A~Lotus
2. Indistinguishable from Magic, by Melissa A. Bartell
3. Seven Magical Things, by Becca
4. My Magic Seven, by Bobbi
5. Seven Magical Things, by Janet
6. Seven Magical Things, by Sister AE
7. Seven Magical Things by Zan

* ~ * ~ *
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”

1. Was Jesus Born on Christmas Eve?, by Bobbi
2. Fascination, by Tiel Aisha Ansari
3. Scene on a Winter Evening, by Melissa A. Bartell
4. Hold This Law, by Richard
5. Playing for Pleasing the Moon, by Gautami Tripathy
6. La Vie en Rose, by Lissa
7. Dream or Reality, by Anu

* ~ * ~ *
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.)

Photo Credit: Konstantin Yuganov

1. The Wonder, The Magic, by Bobbi
2. Oh, Wonder, by Niebla

* ~ * ~ *
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

1. My Angel, by Bobbi
2. Haiku, by A~Lotus
3. Living with Angels, by Tiel Aisha Ansari

* ~ * ~ *
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

1. Christmas is Green, by Bobbi

* ~ * ~ *
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”

1. Unseen Wonders, by Bobbi
2. Unseen and Unseeable Wonders, by Gemma

* ~ * ~ *

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

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.)

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

This is the Participants Page for the 2008 November/December Project: Jewels. It will be updated until the Project closes..

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

• Cat Views, by Tiel Aisha Ansari
• What Letters Are Made Of, by A~Lotus
• Brittle Yesterdays, by Gemma
• Jeweled Letter, by Niebla
• Time Tested, by Becca
• Pieces of the Landscape of My Youth, by sister AE

* ~ * ~ *

Option Two: Can You Picture That?

Photo Credit: Janet Spering

• My Three Girls, by Bobbi
• Dancing Through Time, by sister AE
• Something Old, by Melissa A. Bartell

* ~ * ~ *

Option Three: Poetry

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

• Heirloom Damonds, by Tiel Aisha Ansari
• Like Second-Hand Diamonds, by Gemma
• Second Hand, by sister AE
• Got Holiday Spirit?, by Linda
• Frozen Foods and Filly Friends, by Linda
• Different Kinds of Blood Diamonds, by Richard

* ~ * ~ *

Option Four: Fiction

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

• Autobiographical Art, by Snack
• Broken Promise, by Medhini
• The Pearl Bracelet, by Rob Kistner/li>

* ~ * ~ *

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)

• My Grandmother’s Pearls, by Melissa A. Bartell
• This Place, by James Steerforth

* ~ * ~ *
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

• Memory Box, by Bobbi
• Box of Me, by Melissa A. Bartell
• Stranger, by Rob Kistner

* ~ * ~ *

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.

Also? There’s still time to submit to this Project. Follow this link for the actual prompts.

HAPPY WRITING

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