Thoughts on my Laptop

Note: I am writing this one a week late, yes again. I have also skipped ahead to the prompts relating to Christmas. Prompt While hanging up your Christmas lights, you a flagged down by a neighbourhood kid who offers to help. As he helps you, he tells you about the Christmas ghost that haunts his house. What's odd is that you've noticed some of the same things happening around your house. Write this scene. My Creativity Every year it is the same old thing: my wife nagging me to put up the Christmas lights. It doesn't matter how much I despise the task. To make matters worse, it doesn't seem to matter how carefully I put them away the previous year, they are always still bundles in one huge knot. It also doesn't matter if I untangle them inside the house, by the time I get outside they are once again knotted. This year I am actually ahead of the game. I am not doing it last minute, nor is it the coldest day of the year. Latter up, lights in hand, I am armed ...

Prompt Pick an event from your childhood that you wish would have gone differently. Write it as though it had happened ideally. note: This is difficult for me because I believe that without each experience I've had, I would not be who I am today. Every second in life shapes and guides us. However, for the sack of this exercise, I will try to think of something. My Creativity It was a beautiful fall day. The sun was out and the grass hadn't yet turned brown. The leaves must have been changing colours, although I can't remember. The wooden school desk was extremely uncomfortable, but all I could do was sit and wait for the school bell to ring. The seven hills were beckoning me. I swear I could hear the wind whisper a message, even through the closed window. Every one was lined up now, trying as hard as possible to stay still so our teacher would let up leave a little early. It hadn't happen yet; it was only the third week of grade one. The ringing bell could bare...

Prompt Finish this sentence: The best part about writing fiction is... My Creativity The best part about writing fiction is the chance to get to know the voices in your mind at a more intimate level.

Again I lost track of time; I will blame it on the approaching holidays. There is of course also the fact that I lost the sheet of paper. I am finding that as I try to build up my writing career, so much of my time is consumed with online socializing, Prompt Your move to a new office building hits a major hurdle when you arrive for your first day only to find out your name wasn't on the move list. My Creativity I stood in my tiny cramps cubicle  on Friday night looking at all of boxes. The moving company would be coming over the weekend to take them all to the new building. I was excited about finally getting my own office. I would be able to close a door. I got up earlier than usual on Monday; I wanted to start unpacking and organizing as soon as possible. I've never been one for clutter to chaos. As soon as I walked into the new building, I sensed that something was wrong. I walked around looking for a door with my name on it; I tried to find my boxes. I saw neither...

*I'm not sure how it happened, but I missed a week - sorry. Prompt You are dealing with a bout of insomnia that started two days after the loss of you grandmother. Suddenly, you see a ghost who claims to be her spirit. Her spirit orders you to take care of something she wasn't able to do before she passed. If you do so, she'll leave you alone. If you don't, she'll haunt you forever. Write this scene. My Creativity Day twelve and still not a single night of unbroken sleep. I've tried it all: counting, warm milk, steady breathing, and so much more. Nothing has worked. I am now laying in bed staring at the ceiling, wishing that slumber would find me. I know I am beyond exhaustion. I even think that I see my grandmother's ghost. I mean come on, a ghost. really? It has always fascinated me the kinds of tricks that the mind if capable of playing. "I may be a ghost, but I am no figment of your imagination," the ghost whispers. Great, now my dead...

Prompt  Around mid-morning one day, you realize that everything that is happening seems really familiar. After much thought you realize that your life has fallen into a terrible rut and now you must take drastic measures to find a way out of it. Write the scene where you make a life-changing decision. My Creativity Ask me what is on TV at a certain time of day, and I will likely be able to tell you. I wake up and start my day with coffee in front of the TV. I do laundry, in front of the TV, I work with the TV on...I think you get the point. I work from home, and I don't like being alone. It's too quite. I need to have noise The problem at the moment is that life has become too predictable. There is no element of surprise, no change from one day to the next. My life has become such a routine. I think that it is the routine making my decisions and not my brain. If that isn't a rut, I don't know what it. Surrounded by crumpled pieces of paper, a pile of laundry ...

This will be a very short paragraph today. My main focus is finishing my novel. Prompt The plane lifts off the runway and into the air. The person next to you turns and quietly whispers in your ear, "I know I'm supposed to keep this a secret, but I absolutely must tell someone." My Creativity The plane had just taken off, and I was trying to get comfortable. Unfortunately the plane had been overbooked, and I didn't end up with a window seat like I'd requested. I guess that's why people pay  the extra for guaranteed seating. To make matters worse, I didn't get the aisle seat either. I was in the middle. They guy by the window was already snoring and the person on the aisle wouldn't stop fidgeting. I put in my headphones, leaned my seat back, and closed my eyes. Even though I am a frequent flyer, I have never been a good passenger. No, I am not one of these people who drinks to get through a flight, nor do I get agitated. In fact, if you were t...

Note: Sorry I am a week late. I've been trying not to get sick and also getting ready for my time away. Prompt While at a bar, your high school sweetheart approaches you and gives you an unexpected kiss on the lips. This causes you to have an intense reaction that will lead to a very memorable night - but not for good reasons. My Creativity Standing by the bar, I was watching the ladies dance. It was just a matter of figuring out who would be my mark. After making eye contact with a girl for most of a song, I decided to approach her. As I left the bar and headed towards the dance floor, I was abruptly stopped. Next thing I knew, I was locking lips with my high-school sweetheart. We'd dated for two years. At the time I thought she was the love of my life; I'd even thought about proposing. Instinct took over, and I found myself kissing her back. My one hand instantly cradling her face and the other on her back. Just as suddenly as the kiss started, it stopped. She pulle...

Prompt You've been convicted of a crime, but the judge recognizes that this is your first offense. Instead of sending you to jail, he hands down an extremely unusual punishment. What's even more unusual is, after it's over, you come back to thank him. Why? My Creativity I stood there beside my lawyer waiting to hear what the judge would say. I'd just pleaded guilty to theft. It was stupid really. I was desperate to own the newest Gucci purse. I thought for sure it would help me get a job. I really wanted to be the editor of a fashion magazine. Now I'll be lucky to get a job at all. "Please rise for your sentence," commanded the bailiff. I stood beside me lawyer and took a deep breath. I think everyone in the courtroom was able to hear the pounding of my heart. "Given that you voluntarily pleaded guilty and that this is your first offence, I don't think that a fine or jail time is warranted. Nor am I convinced that it will teach you any l...

Prompt You get into an argument with another patron at a local bar, and the person challenges you to a fight out back. Because you've never been in a fight (and don't want this to be your first), you come up with a more creative way to settle your dispute. Write this scene My Creativity The music was pumping the dance floor and the lights were painting the walls. The dance floor was full as people moved to the beat. I hadn't wanted to go out, but I let my friends talk me into it. I sat and watched as they strut their stuff with everyone else. Being at the bar counter, my glass was never empty. I was drunk, really drunk. I hadn't been that bad since I was a teenager. The song changed to a line dance, and one of my friends came to grab me. "There is no way you are going to sit this one out." Everything spun as I stood up. Dance? I could barely stand. She continued to pull me towards the floor. I was yelling at her to stop, but of course she did not. So, ...

Prompt The Tooth Fairy visits your house in the middle of the night, only she isn't just taking you children's teeth. What else is she stealing from your house, and how do you attempt to stop her? My Creativity As a single mother, I was very excited when my only child lost her first tooth. I'd already done the Santa thing and the Easter Bunny thing, now I would get to do the Tooth Fairy thing. When I tucked her into bed, I made sure that she'd placed her tooth under her bed. I told her all about the magic of the Tooth Fairy, "While you sleep at night, a lovely fairy will come down to visit you. She will use her fairy magic to take your baby tooth and leave you a small gift. She will collect other children's teeth throughout the night and then return to her world. There she will add your tooth to the collection. She has a special place for your tooth, a spot where she will eventually put all your teeth. So close your eyes and sleep tight; you don't wan...

Prompt Getting Your Money Back You slide your card into the ATM and attempt to with draw cash, only to find that you account is empty. Something is wrong, as just yesterday, you had $5,000 in it. Only one person could be responsible for this-and without hesitation, you are off to confront that person and get your money back. My Creativity I stood there in the rain, mascara running down my face. My hair hung limply to my shoulders and my clothes clung to tightly. I hadn't even realized that it started raining so hard. I stood staring at the ATM screen 'insuficiant fund'. It wasn't even possible. However, I'd tried three times and three different ATMs, each one gave the same response. I could swear the last one was written in flashing bold letters so I'd finally register it as true. It couldn't be, only yesterday I had $5,000. As the thunder crashed overhead, my heart skipped a bit. Not in fear, but in anger. I knew that there could only be one person r...

I was once told that the best way to get a story started was to sit with a pen and a blank piece of paper and then just start writing. Maybe the writing would lead to something and maybe it wouldn`t. It was the process and the exercise of it. There is something very intimate about handwriting poems or stories. There is a bond between the brain and the hand. Most of my creativity has been born on paper and then later typed up. Pages that started electronically were always filled with millions of notes, usually connect with numbers and arrows. I suppose that those days are gone, most people dictate into a digital recorder or type. So, here I begin. At least once a week, I will start a new entry based on one of the 52 Writing Prompts in the spring 2012 issue of Writing Basics . Occasionally I may create an entry based on one of the Writer`s Digest contest. I invite you to add your comments and edits. I encourage you to write your own entry. What I will not tolerate in swearing or pu...