HALLOWEEN 2016

It's time for a Halloween Writing Prompt

As per my usual, this is an image selected to give the most tantalizing inspiration.

This image is inspiring to me and I hope it is for you as well.  Here is what I wrote.
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She hung on his every word.  Watching him in the candle light as he recounted the tale of the ghostly form that haunted the old house they lived in.  Never once was she afraid as he spoke, until the end of the story when there was a sudden thump from overhead.

“What was that?” she whispered.

“That? Oh, never mind about that.”  Her father said calmly. 

Meanwhile, she started to shiver a bit and wrapped her arms around her body.  

"Now, you're not scared are you?  There's nothing to fear.  It's just a story and I doubt if it's even true." He said trying to calm her.  But, she was not calm.  Something inside her now knew the truth.  

Leaving her in the shadowy room, her father walked to the kitchen.  Alone now, her imagination took a hold of her.  She began to believe in the story her father told. 

In bed that evening, she lay in the dark, listening to the quiet.  Every noise, no matter how low, no matter how insignificant, fed her imagination. Pictures of unknown evil invaded her mind, voices rang in her head, smells and sounds now confronted her reality.  

A voice spoke.  Was it real? Was it in her mind?  She couldn't tell.  

"Come to me child." The voice called.  It sounded distant and weak.

"Come and find me."  It said, stronger now.

As though in a trance, she rose from her bed and dressed.  Outside, the night air was warm and humid against her bare skin.  The full moon lit up the landscape and glowed in the few leaves still clinging to bare branches. 

She walked.  Barely aware of her surroundings, she walked.  With no understanding of what she was doing, she walked.  Her eyes were open, but saw nothing. 

"I'm here!" The voice cried.

"You have found me!"

She stopped.  She stopped and stood.  She stood  waiting, waiting for someone, something.  There in the moonlight, staring straight ahead, without moving, she stood.

Her only sensation was the cold she felt as the shiver went up and down her spine and the night drew close around her. 

In the morning, her father called her down for breakfast.  He received no answer.  She would never answer him again.

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Despite being pretty busy with non-writing things right now, I do still find enjoyment in writing practice.  Lately, I've been writing stories about my childhood.  These little snippets of stories are fun to put together and are good practice for writing stories about other members of my family.  

Perhaps I'll share some of these with you in the near future. 

So what would you write if inspired by the above image?  I'd love to share your writing.  Please leave a comment.

Happy Halloween!

First Day of Fall Birthday Writing Prompt

So, the convergence of things today makes it extra special for me.  It's the uncommon occasion when my birthday is on the First Day of Fall.  I woke to a wonderful breakfast with my daughter and we watched a special episode of a favorite show together before I left for work.  Then I decided to write something and found this writing prompt picture online.  Below is my short piece inspired by these two young fishermen.

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“Aww do I have to get up?!” moaned Dave as he hunkered further under his covers.  Only the glow of the digital clock illuminated the room. 

“Yes!” Jason implored as he shook Dave’s shoulder.  “It’s Mom’s birthday and we’re making dinner, remember?!”  Jason stood back as Dave finally peeked out from the covers voluntarily.

“This is the best time to fish. If we wait, they’ll all have swum away.  Now get up!”  Turning on his heel, Jason left the room.

Dave swung his feet over the side of his bed and reached for his pants.  Pulling them on he stood up and fastened them.  Wrestling a shirt over his head, he finished dressing by the backdoor where Jason stood waiting, tapping his foot. 

Down at the river, the sun was barely a glow on the horizon when they threw in their lines.  Now they wait.  And wait they did.  It seemed like forever ‘til one of them got a bite. 

“It’s as if they know how important this is and they’re not going to bite!” Dave exclaimed painfully.  “Why does this always happen?!”

“Just relax.  They’ll bite.”  Jason said calmly as he moved his line a bit.

And who got the first bite as the sun was now fully over the horizon? Dave.  He felt a great yank that jerked him forward.  “Wow, this is a big one!”

Jason dropped his line and reached out to grab Dave’s.  They both tugged and Dave started to reel in the big fish.  They both gasped as the fish jumped fully out of the water.  The sun glistened on its scales as it arched and dove back in, wriggling and pulling.

Excited, Jason grabbed their net and took a step into the cold water.  Dave pulled a few more times and cranked the reel. 

With one fell swoop, Jason caught the fish in the net, “Woohoo!” he hollered!

“We did it! No, you did it!  This’ll feed half the town!”  Jason yelled.

Dave stood there, awestruck.  He’d never caught anything that size before.  All he could do was stand and stare, savoring the moment.  Jason pulled out his camera and took a picture of Dave.  Then he tossed the camera at Dave.

“Hey, get a picture of this.” 

The camera almost fell, but Dave caught it on the way down.  Shaking off his reverie, Dave aimed the lens at Jason and snapped a couple, then put the camera in his pocket.

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I hope you like this little ditty.  I've never fished before and that's kind of why I selected this picture as a prompt.  If you're inspired and write something out, please share it.  

Happy Fall!  Here's another lovely picture for your enjoyment or to use as another prompt.

Lyrics

This is just a fun blog to share some of my favorite Christmastime songs with you and to get you thinking about lyrics and how they can bring meaning to music.  Song lyrics are like poems, and songs are a marriage of words and music, two of my most favorite things. 

The lyrics of Christmas and holiday songs are special.  From the spiritual to the fun loving, all of them evoke certain images and feelings in anyone.  Even those who aren’t religious/spiritual, enjoy these songs because they resonate with joy, fun, love and hope. 

I have a lot of favorite Christmas carols and songs.  Some are favorites because of childhood memories.  Others are favorites for personal or spiritual reasons. 

A Christmas Carol favorite is Away in a Manger.  As a small child I loved that there was a lullaby for Jesus.  I remember singing it to my dolls at Christmas when I got ready for bed.

My parents had a number of albums of Christmas from different countries.  From the Christmas in England album I learned that there was another melody for Away in a Manger. This alternate melody has become my favorite.  The lyric remains the same.

Away in a manger no crib for a bed

The little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head.

The stars in the sky looked down where he lay

The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.

The cattle are lowing, the poor baby wakes

But little Lord Jesus no crying He makes.

I love thee Lord Jesus look down from the sky

And stay by my cradle ‘til morning is nigh.

Be near me Lord Jesus, I ask Thee to stay

Close by me forever, and love me, I pray.

Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care

And fit us for heaven to live with Thee there.

What tremendous memories a song and its lyric can retrieve from hidden secrets that lie deep within each of us.  I find myself singing this song when I feel stressed or out of touch with my spiritual self.  There is a calm that comes from placing yourself  as a child at the feet of ones God.

My favorite Christmas fun song is Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.  This is the first holiday special I remember watching on television when I was little back in the 60’s. 

Nowadays, I love to sing this song with my daughter.  We’ve been signing it since she was tiny.  We always start by singing out the names of the reindeer, that’s her favorite part.

You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen

Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen.

But do you recall the most famous reindeer of all?

Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer

Had a very shiny nose

And if you ever saw it

You would even say it glowed.

All of the other reindeer

Used to laugh and call him names

They never let poor Rudolph

Join in any reindeer games.

Then one foggy Christmas Eve

Santa came to say,

“Rudolph with your nose so bright

Won’t you guide my sleigh tonight?”

Then how the reindeer loved him

As they shouted out with glee,

“Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer

You’ll go down in history.”

Who doesn’t enjoy this simple story?  It’s one of many songs that were turned into television specials for children.  Some others include Frosty the Snowman and Santa Claus is Coming to Town.  These started out as fun children’s songs for the holiday and became endearing, long lasting holiday television shows.  If not for the gifted lyricists, these songs would never have been made into shows. 

Do you have a favorite holiday song, poem or story?  Do you return to that favorite every year to bring the memories, feelings and images back as part of your celebration?

Feel free to share with me in the comments.  I’d love to hear about your favorites.  Happy holidays!  Merry Christmas! Happy Hannukah!  Happy Kwanzaa!  And a pleasant greeting to all who celebrate in any way at this time of year!

Writing Prompts ~ 3 ~

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then shouldn't we be writing those words down somewhere?  Every time I see a beautiful scene or picture of just about anything, my mind wanders.  A story forms or I become inspired to write about it or describe it. 

Writing prompts can be a way to trigger or inspire words from anyone, most especially writers.  It's a great way to practice or even try a different style of writing.  I like to use prompts to help me get started on stories.

When my daughter was very small, she would get a story before bed.  Most of these were made up and most were inspired by an idea or character that she would ask for.  Some things she'd ask me to tell a story about include, a particular Disney Princess, the board game Candy Land, and Strawberry Shortcake (from the children's cartoon show).  

Many of my poems have been inspired by images, nature, or pictures.  Others have been inspired by a person or a particular trait of someone I know, like my grandmothers laugh.  

I have been very lax in writing poetry lately because I was working on writing stories about my uncle who passed away recently. As my thoughts wandered to all the memories lurking in my brain and heart about my uncle, I decided that the best way for me to mourn him was to write them down.

The stories about my uncle are on my Wattpad account in a new work called "Choose to Smile."  Here's an excerpt:

CHOOSE TO SMILE

Every year, around Easter, my family would drive out to visit them. My brother Keith, my Grandma Bang, and one parent would go along with either me or my sister (we had to take turns).

New Hampshire was like a dream when I got to go. On my very first trip I slept in the spare room all by myself. That first morning I remember waking to strange noises outside my window. The sound was rustly and crunchy and huffy. I lay in bed listening for a while until my imagination and curiosity could not be held back another minute. I climbed up to look out and saw three horses wandering around outside my window. They were nibbling at the ground and pushing at each other. They huffed out their noses as though the air was too cold. Finally they sauntered out toward the street.

I knocked shyly at my uncle's bedroom door and said, in an almost unheard voice, "There's horses outside my window. Can I go see 'em?"

All I heard was excited voices from behind the door. In a flash, my Uncle and Aunt were both bolting out the front door in coats and boots.

"Louise, what's happening, honey?" My Dad asked in the dark hallway.

"Daddy, there are three horses outside! Can I go see 'em?" I asked sweetly.

The next thing I knew, my Dad was running toward the door with boots and a coat too. Apparently, the horses weren't supposed to be walking around outside the house.

HALLOWEEN WRITING PROMPT
So, writing prompts can come from anywhere and your response to them can take many forms.  As usual, I'd like to present another picture writing prompt.  

I hope this isn't too scary for you, but it is the Halloween season, after all.

How does this image inspire you?  Write 150 words story or 3-4 stanza poem from this image.  Hopefully you will post this in the comments below and share with me and others.  

Here is my offering from this image:

She’s finally left, thought the evil presence behind the wall.  Slithering toward the mirror, tap, tap, thud, thud, harder and harder it knocked on the wall.  One small crack was all it needed to penetrate the other side and escape.  First the wall, then the mirror gave way to the insistent efforts.

An icy chill emanated from the fractured hole with razor sharp edges.  Slowly, the image of evil appeared from behind the wall.  Staring out from an abyss of darkness, the grayish creature had a visage of resentment and hatred. 

Noises came from outside the room. 

Now’s my chance, thought the entity, slinking back into darkness.

Bursting into the room, a tall, thin and lovely woman dressed in a flowing organdy gown covered in lace and pearls fairly floated toward the mirror, humming.  Seeing nothing amiss, she placed a vase of flowers directly beneath it on a table.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

That was fun to do.  I hope you like my interpretation.  Please keep writing.  Use prompts if needed to keep you going.  Also, please share your writing prompt offerings in the comments so others may enjoy them.

Keep Calm 

and 

Keep Writing

Writing Prompts

Haven't made a post in a while and I'm sorry.  Being unemployed is taking it's toll, along with other factors in my life.  Some are things I can control.  Many are things I can't control and must take time to deal with.

One continual joy in my life is the monthly Writers Circle at my local library.  The group grows and changes, yet is always full of talented, enjoyable people.  A frequent activity for us is to do a writing exercise, often with a prompt of some kind.  This month, we are writing from a picture, prior to our meeting, and then presenting our creations to each other.

After staring at this picture for long moments, and mulling it over, I came up with what follows.  The inspiration was two fold for me.  I was first inspired by the feeling I was infused with by the photo. The second was the personal connection that feeling brought forth.  Here is the result.  I hope you find something personal here, that it is touching and not saddening.

Lonely Beach

By Kimberly L. McClune

September 7, 2013

Looking out across the gleaming waters                                    

Eyes squinting, hearts pinching                                      

We walked together and yet separate.

Neither the rush of waves nor the glaring sun

Could penetrate our joint solitude.

The cry of a distant gull hung in the air

Unanswered

Just like the longing so ardent in our souls.

Would we ever?

No

Never.

Holding tears behind our eyes

Unwilling to show the pain

Unable to share the depth of feeling

We strode along the water’s edge.

The actual writing prompt was to write a paragraph or poem based on the photo.  I didn't really care which I wrote, I simply wrote what came to me.  In fact, my first scribblings were almost the makings of a paragraph, but I found that what came of this exercise wasn't a little story, rather, it was expressing the emotion that this photo inspired inside me.  My feelings often come in the form of a poem rather than stories.

You may find the same thing as you write, that emotions are expressed in a certain form and that anecdotes and experiences take another.  Perhaps they take the same form for you.  Regardless, I find that I miss writing very much and look forward to making much more time for it in the coming weeks.  I believe that you cannot become accomplished at anything unless you DO IT, and do it a lot.

Writing prompts are a good way to practice your craft.  You can find ideas on the internet with simple searches or challenge yourself or a friend.  You could select a photo, make up a title, or choose a subject for a simple paragraph or four stanza poem.  These exercises can become the basis for a new piece or just stay as an exercise.  Your writing is just that, YOURS!  No one else should tell you exactly what words to write or you are no longer the writer.  

Well, I've to get back to writing, etc.  Take care and enjoy the day.