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 …
The rain had been and come and gone through the late afternoon and evening and I woke to a clear day, with a brisk breeze carrying hints of the chill expected at this time of year. After the usual chores, I decided to spend the morning in the forest, a mix of foraging and of …
From a '100 Themes' prompt list. Juliana woke to the soft encouragement of the sun through a gap in the curtains. She settled back into the cocoon of bedclothes and relaxed into a doze. There was time. There were no deadlines. There was Mark. She jerked awake. Mark. Was he alright? Would it be too …
Prompt: A character adopts a dog (I made it a cat) from a shelter and unbeknownst to them (yeah, not so unbeknownst in this case), they have taken home an ancient and judgmental mythical creature (in this case, a pooka). Who takes someone on a date to an animal shelter and then gets huffy when …
They had reached the little stone wall separating the cottage's front garden from the path, now little more than a walking track, and found the place pleasantly busy with people cleaning, building, and planting. Leila was enchanted. She’d never seen a place quite like this little stone cottage, sitting alongside two others in a fold …
Prompted by this photo, I just wish I could remember where I found it... Marie clutched the folds of her new cloak close as she wandered the neatly paved paths of the castle gardens. While the stones were in good order, none missing or raised to catch an unwary foot, the bushes on either side …
Finally, a day where I wasn’t expected to hare off on some emergency. Today’s little excitement was home-based. The unseasonal weather was not being kind to my garden, so I spent much of the morning checking irrigation tubes and suchlike. I started at the stable, and my usual chores for the animals, then worked my …
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 …
It was an old washing line, wooden posts holding up each end, with the four strands of line sagging between them. Cora thought a few too many blankets on there in one load would be enough to bring the whole thing crashing to the ground. Her mind conjured a picture of Flossie, the maid most …
In spite of Marya’s best efforts, she hadn't been able to time a day off to coincide with one of Leila’s until spring was in full riot across the island. Leila woke to a brisk knock on her door, with Marya calling through the boards. “Come on sleepyhead, we have things to do today.” She …
The DNA of Stories 