Writing Explorations: Week 56, Urgency

[The Mood is Write]

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Sorry for the late post, and I have a new update (as of 4/1, and no, it's not an April fool joke).

This week and for the next few coming, I will not be reading through every response and commenting on them. Recent weeks have been a flurry of mental activity that have made it difficult to read and pay proper attention.

Know that I still love every single post people put up, and it's a joy to read them. I will not be pausing the exercises themselves—I enjoy coming up with themes and ideas for them, and it forces me to stretch my brain in new directions.

I will pick back up on reading once I have more free time to do so!

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My Writing Explorations series of exercises are a chance for users to explore new concepts and practice the art of raising two fingers to Writer's Block while screaming obscenities to fickle muses: to rebel against the idea that a person requires a mythical force inside them to make new and amazing things.

No. Listen well, users: there is no being inside you waiting to be let out. You are the writer, and in this exercise, you are given a place to push not only against Writer's Block, but also against the forces of stagnation. Feel trapped in your genre? Explore a new one! Stuck with a singular archetype? Do something else! In this thread, you will not be critiqued, and I will read every entry and let you know what makes me happy about it (temporarily not doing this). Should you wish it, I will happily offer my thoughts on how it might be improved, but I will not comb looking for fixes: this isn't the place: this place is for safely trying new things and indulging a love of writing.

Shake the bars of your cell block and roar, writers!

[fieldbox=How do I take part?]Curious about how this works? Good! Look over the offered themes and prompts and the bonus rounds, then think about them. Then, take your thoughts and get writing. You can write to one or more (or none) of the prompts, the theme in the thread title, the bonuses: hell, you can even cast aside all of what I offer if you get a different idea.

The whole point is "get writing!"[/fieldbox]

Themes:

1. Changes are slim, but (MC) won't let that stop them. It's escape or death.
2. The phone rings. The voice on the other end says "We need you again," then hangs up.
3. The lights go out for five seconds. When they turn on again, (MC) sees a note stuck to the window. It says one word: "Run."

Bonus Rounds:

• Write in a random genre.
• Use the word "cimmerian".
• Their hands met, reaching for the same book.
• "What now?"
  "I don't know. I thought the jump would kill us."
• "Where is he?"
  "My lady..."
  "Answer me."
• A character wakes up on the floor of a familiar room with an unfamiliar symbol tattooed on their forearm.

 

[MST3K 4ever]

Well the last few days have been interesting for four inch tall me. Once I got out of the car in Virginia I managed to escape inside a mail truck. I crawled into a mail bag and decided it was as good a place to hide as any. It turns out that the mail bag was heading off to a college in Ohio. It seemed like things were starting to turn around for me. I mean after all, a college they got a library, a lab all kinds of stuff that could help me find a cure. However, only a couple of flaws with my plan. One, I'm in a small town and if people realize that I'm here it could lead to all kinds of exposure. Exposure means Susan and company showing up here and me never seeing the light of day ever again. Two, the college I'm at isn't exactly top of the line. They are a small private school where the Student Union also has the library, the fitness center, and the school's basketball court all in the same building. Not to mention their computers are still using "A" drives! I managed to smuggle my way into a college dorm room of a guy named Edward Cobb. He's a lot like me in that he's way smarter than most of the people here, picked on for his intellect, and he's also into science. I've taken up residency for the moment under his bed. When he either goes to sleep, or leaves the room I check on his work for his science classes. The kid has potential I don't usually see too many errors in his work. If I do I make minor corrections for him. I know I shouldn't do that, but it's the least I can do considering he's letting me hide out in his room.

Now though, I am in a bit of a sticky situation. A literal sticky situation in that I was trying to make another correction on Edward's work, but as I was working along came a roach. Which startled me and caused me to fall off the desk. The fall should've killed me, but good news I landed in a spider web behind the desk. The bad news the spider has seen me and is moving slowly towards me down the wall. When I was a kid I saw the 1958 version of "The Fly" kinda chessey in terms of effects by today's standards, but it was a good story. It ended with the main character being caught in a spider's web. Right now, I'm wishing I hadn't seen it, because it wasn't a happy ending. I refuse to believe that I went through all this crap just to die as spider chow.

Just then I hear the door open and Edward walks in. If I ask him for help then that's it I could risk being found out and everything is all over for me. If I don't do anything I die a slow agonizing death at the hands of eight legs. Not a pleasant option either way, but sometimes you gotta take your chances. With every fiber of my being I yell out, "EDWARD! EDWARD! EDWARD!" I would love to know if he heard me, but then I feel the vibrations in the web. Next thing, I know I am looking up at a curly red headed teenager with acne and glasses. He is stunned, obviously, as I say, "Excuse me! Can you help me out? I promise I'll explain everything, but ummm…" I motion towards the spider and say, "He's determined to end my life. Help me Edward please!"

Edward just keeps looking at me and then he steps away. I say, "Edward!" Within a couple of seconds, he reappears with a set of tweezers and as gently as he can he pulls me away from the web and sets me on the desk. I stand there for a moment pulling off the excessive webbing, and say to a still shocked Edward, "Thank you Edward." I look at him and say, "Edward, please do something the whole staring thing is making me feel even more self-conscious." Edward smiles for a bit and says, "You're her. You're really her." I cock an eyebrow and say, "What's up Edward?" Edward opens a desk drawer very excitedly and the vibrations are enough to shake me. I say, "Easy, be careful there." Edward shows me a copy of "Scientific Studies" which has an interview with me on the cover that was done when I got hired at UCLA. Edward says, "You are my hero! I knew the reports about you were wrong!" I ask, "What reports?" Edward replies, "You're dead. It was reported you were killed in a car crash. I studied everything about it, and I knew somethings just didn't add up."

I sit down and take it in. To the world I'm dead. Susan and company have destroyed what life I had, and now I'm in a room with my biggest fan. I shake my head at the absurdity of it all.

Edward says, "Okay, I saved you and you promised you would tell me what happened."

I nod and reply, "Yes I did Edward." I stand up and tell him everything and Edward takes it all in stride. When I'm done he says, "All right Dr. Kramer I'm going to help you." I am a little surprised as he says, "You're the one who's been helping me out, and helping you could be one of the greatest scientific riddles of all."

I smile at Edward and say, "It finally happened. I had to shrink down to four inches tall but I think I finally found a friend."