Another of the Steering the Craft exercises: The untold event: Give us a glimpse of the mood and nature of some event or deed by describing the place—room, rooftop, street, park, landscape, whatever—where it happened or is about to happen. The room was ready. Crisp, white cloths on the round tables, polished silverware and cut …
Another exercise from Steering the Craft. This time to write, then rewrite, the same basic scene, including transitions between the present and the past, but each time use a different Point of View and set of tenses. I find it fascinating how the voice changes, and different details become more important. Version 1 – All …
This morning’s routine was enlivened by the arrival of the Mayor’s kitchen boy, panting like the bellows. Turned out he’d run the whole way up to my cottage. What was cause? Another of those damn magicked paintings. I started to wonder about the mayor’s wife’s ancestry. One thing I’ll give her, she’s intelligent and learns …
Another exercise from Steering the Craft - to try and communicate a big wad of factual information in a way readers aren't going to skip. Anne looked on as David went through First Aid basics for the group of teens they’d been assigned for the afternoon. She managed to hold her tongue until he got …
I was dared to write a story without using names. It's a snippet, but name-free. The young woman stood at the top of the stairs. If it wasn’t enough to have her staring at him down several acres of white marble, she was also looking down her nose at him. Apparently the lady did not …
A 'diary' entry from playing the solo RPG One Day at a Thyme. It seemed the heatwave was a portent of something more. We had an unscheduled solar eclipse today. Really, that’s all I need. People are running around in a complete flap, trying to decide what disaster is about to hit and completely ignoring …
The vivid, intense blues of Sydney Harbour, reflecting the delicately cloud-dotted sky above it, looked like someone had applied some Photoshop filter to real life. The sun danced off the waves, refracting diamonds across kilometres of water. Ferrys, yachts and kayaks skittered across its surface, while gentle waves lapped at the white-gold sand of the …
He gazed wearily at the furious woman before him, "I suppose you're here for vengeance too?" She blinked, "Yes?" "You're not sure?" "Well I want my bill paid. If you count that as vengeance, then yes, if you count it as a very stupid way of doing business, then no." He sat up, suddenly interested, …
An exercise from Steering the Craft by Ursula Le Guinn that looks at the same scene from a bunch of different points of view... Rose bent for one final check in the dressing table mirror, adjusted an earring that had somehow twisted, then joined her godmother, Mariana, at the door. Mariana gave her a fond …
Another exercise from Ursula Le Guinn's Steering the Craft book. This time, to write something gorgeous. To play with the language and not worry about getting too ornate. Calypso arrived at Bondi as the early morning exercise crowds left for work, while the backpackers were still in their bunks after another night of beers and …
The DNA of Stories 