WP Prompt: What do you enjoy most about writing?
AI Art
When I write
I am comfortable in my own skin.
I hate my face and the sound of my voice a little less.
When I write
I feel like what I say matters and what I think counts
I really do believe it when I am writing.
When I write
The world makes sense
word by image by word
and I am actually glad to be part of it-
when I am writing.
AI Art
Back in the day, waaaayyyy back in the day my favorite video game ( we didn’t call the first Nintendo Game System a ‘computer game ‘ ) was Zelda.
I’m talking about the Zelda games that came out in the late 80’s early 90’s. Not the fancy pants versions that came out years later and have been churned out since ( which I don’t like ) but the original Zelda with the little guy trying to save a Princess that looked like a pretty Lego Girl. It was your basic fantasy story that pulled you in without fancy graphics because you could take your time playing through the screens.
I remember when me and my Sons would stumble upon secret passages and treasures all on our own because in those days you couldn’t ask Google to get you out your current situation. At that time we had to ” Ask Jeeves ” and God love that search engine, there was not a lot for him to search for on-line. If you got stuck you had to call people up or wait for a cheat book to come out. Anyway. Finding those things was a big deal and if you were the one who made the discovery you were the House Hero.
The only thing I didn’t like was the Music. I would play with the sound down, but I had to remember to turn it back up because when you got to your challenge, there were sounds you had to listen for.
My Sons didn’t feel that way, they’d hum the music from Zelda when they were not playing Zelda and it made me a little crazy. They would try to duplicate that tin like plink plink plink music and they were successful. Especially my youngest son who has a Pitch Perfect ear.
Now these many years I don’t play ‘computer games’ unless you count the word games I play on my phone. However, I have a new appreciation for the music of Zelda.
Several years ago my friend gave me and his Mom some tickets to see Lindsey Sterling at the Paramount in Seattle. I didn’t know who she was, but I had her current CD and I loved it so this was treat ( thank you Kenny & Linda ).
I don’t remember at what point in her show she started to play the music from Zelda, but with the first few bars she played I thought, ” hey I know this song- but from where? And then I got it.
It was the song from Zelda and it was beautiful:
I’ll be honest. If I could I’d dig up the system and these games and play them again ( I was also a big fan of Super Bomber Man and Donkey Kong ).
But maybe it’s time to play new games and hear some new songs.
MAYBE.
I’d like to say that I’m practical and have a lot of self discipline when it comes to my writing, but as the old saying goes, there are no atheists in the foxholes so when I hit the wall and I feel writers block hitting me but hard I have a rituals for helping me over that wall.
First off when I’m searching for ideas ( I used to use a phone book but that’s another story ) or story prompt I play this song until get a few good ones down.
By ‘good ones’ I mean I look at a prompt and go, ” I get it now.”
So when I have issues and need help, I call on Jim Dandy.
Sometimes when I’m writing, it really drives home that I’m in this TOO alone and I sort of loose steam. So I play Mozart for company and lo and behold I start writing again.
and then there are times when I need to focus and I can’t I play my cd’s by the Runaways- I’m not sure why they cut out the white noise swirling around my head, but they do.
So there we have it, the music I listen to when I have to clear my head and get to work.
Rock on.
anita
RDP Saturday: CLINK
photographer/subject unknown
When I was in high school I took a creative writing class and it was wonderful.
It was great for you if you wanted to write and it was great for students and who wanted an easy credit. So along with a few aspiring writers, there were also a few athletes and pep club types and stoners- most of them looking for a class to sleep through.
In that mix there were a few students who really did want to to learn about writing and the process.
Our teacher did realize his class was a dumping ground for students just looking for ‘an easy credit’, so he had this this grading system. If you showed up, kept awake and after he read the writing assignments, if you offered a word or two to prove you were sort o paying attention, you got a ” C ”
I was terrified of getting a ” C ” because in the real world that ” C ” was a half step above a Failing grade. That ” C ” meant you were being thrown into the clink- as in the notorious ” Clink ” in London.
Clink Museum- London
Photographer Unknown
There was another thing that would earn you a trip to the clink- even if you were a writer.
Every morning our Teacher put a word on the blackboard and circled it.
That was our ‘prompt’ and you had until the end of class to write about it.
He didn’t tell you how to use it so you didn’t get to write things like ” not feeling it” or ” hard pass, I don’t like this word”
If you were going to be a writer, then get to writing and if you want to be a creative writer then this shouldn’t be hard.
Well it was hard- but no WAY was I going to get sent to the Clink over one word- and do you know what this little exercise taught me?
To not be afraid to write.
Clink.