Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Cannibal, Mysterious, Rain, Generous, Cat, Fire


What do these six words have in common? 

In writers group last night we used these random words to create 3 unique snippets of stories.  Here are the results:



The icy rain tumbled down in never ending sheets, and all the world was wet.  My fire was low and refused to give enough heat to warm my frozen hands.  I sighed.  As a traveler, I had grown used to these things.  I glanced around the cave, my temporary residence.  It was small, dark, dank and musty, but it provided shelter from the weather and a defense against the cannibal tribes living in the valley.  It really was a stupid idea to take a short cut through this place.  From the top of my bag, my agitated cat meowed.  I stroked his head.  Looking at the way he watched the rain I wished I could read his mysterious thoughts, but alas, I could not.  Tomorrow, I would move on.  Hopefully the people living in the next village would be more generous.  -  Tawnni






"The Donner Party became cannibals?" Jake asked his teacher incredulously.  He wondered to himself whether they had been able to at least make a fire out there in the cold, so they wouldn't have to eat each other raw.
Maybe I'd eat a cat, but a human is going way to far - he thought to himself.  The teachers voice droned on in the background as Jake's attention turned to the window.  It had begun to rain, and off in the distance a mysterious covered wagon emerged from the hills.  - Jenny




We watched, mesmerized as the rain began to extinguish the giant flames of fire, bursting from the mysterious island  floating in the mist.  My sister had warned me there had been rumors of cannibals in these waters, but if you were generous and presented the chief with a gift, they might let you pass unscathed.   Sheltered by a small lookout on the deck, I nervously stroked the soft fur of an orange striped cat, content and purring in my arms.   Suddenly I wished I had not made friends with our generous gift.  - Mary



Writers are often asked where they get the ideas for their stories.  I wanted to write for years, but I didn't because I thought I didn't have anything to write about.  I was so wrong.  I learned that I just need to write.  It doesn't matter if it's stories about your cat or your children or whatever.  Just write.  The ideas will come.   If anyone would like to try our experiment using these words - please do so and leave your results in the comment section or post them on your blog and let us know that you did it.  Happy Writing!

5 comments:

Tales of Whimsy said...

O
I love the last one!
I'm ready to read that story :)

Mary E Campbell said...

Thanks Juju I appreciate that. It's hard to let people read my rough draft stuff. Right now I'm just itching to fix some of it, but I'm not going too.

Diana Paz said...

I'll do it:

Lauren sifted through the rubble. The Cramden house hadn't been lived in for weeks, not since Ben and his family moved away. Then last week the place mysteriously burned to the ground. Lauren traced the steps around Ben's old room, hardly able to believe that just like him, the place was really gone. But she and Ben were committed to one another. Just one more year of high school and then they'd both go to State together. Lauren rubbed her arms. The gray sky promised rain and it was time to head home. She crossed the abandoned yard, sidestepping bricks from the crumbled chimney, a sentinel left from the fire, but before she reached her bike she heard a faint mewing noise. Droplets began to fall and she had half a mind to ride off, but the mewing grew louder. "Where are you, cat?" she murmured, backtracking to the charred remains of the home until she found the unfortunate little thing. "Mom will not approve," she said, but the cat mewed again and Lauren was feeling generous. She tried to reach the now rain-soaked kitten, moving aside some debris in her effort. And that's when she saw the gaping, vacant eyes of a skull staring out at her. Her fingers gripped the blackened wood in her hands and her heart slammed against her chest. People had been jealous of the Camdens. They'd said horrible things, disgusting stories but Lauren had never believed them. She swore to Ben that she would never believe but now the gaping, grinning skull mocked her, and in less than a minute she was on her knees, retching in the rain. Could it be possible? Was her boyfriend really from a family of cannibals?

Mary E Campbell said...

Wow! Diana - that's awesome. Creepy too. I think we'll definitely be seeing your books in print one day. Thanks for participating.

Diana Paz said...

Lol it was fun. I don't write creepy novels so I figured I'd try something different. If you ever have more of these writing games throw a comment on my blog and I'll come over :)