Friday Writings #137: At the Last Minute

 

Hello, Word Artists and Admirers! Today's optional prompt was inspired by a visit to TV Tropes. The one that caught my eye was Last Minute Reprieve. Although TV Tropes says it really isn't used much anymore in a serious way, a related trope The Cavalry definitely is alive and well (and regularly memed by the youth of today). 

So many memes with this clip show how well loved this trope is

So while your take on it does not have to be as dramatic as the Avengers (though who am I to stop you is you want to include lightning bolts, magic hammers, or bedazzled gloves that control reality), today's optional prompt is "at the last minute". I'm taking prose and poetry, fiction and non-fiction. Just remember to keep your pieces 369 words or fewer and one post per person, please.

Next week, Rosemary will be asking for reflections on the advice, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’

Friday Writings #136: “begin by doing small things”

How do you begin a new project, get involved in a new cause, or start over after life has forced you to take a break from the kind of living you’ve always done? Do you make a list? Do you leap into things and hope for the best? How do you begin to live differently… when you must?

All those questions have been dancing in my skull. And the more I think about them, the more I believe that, for me, doing a wee bit at the time is the only way to go. With that in mind, dear poets and storytellers, for today’s optional prompt, I invite you to write poetry or prose inspired by a quote that’s starting to feel like a mantra for me and my current needs: “We can begin by doing small things…” ~ Grace Lee Boggs

Required: Add the direct link to your response to Mister Linky. One post per participant, please. 369 words maximum (excluding title), for prose and for poetry.

Optional: You may share old or new pieces of poetry or prose, and you may write to the prompt or to a topic of your choosing.

Requested (not compulsory but strongly recommended): Visit other writers. Read their contributions. Let them know how you feel about their inked feels.

for next week, our Rommy will ask us to be inspired by the phrase “at the last minute”.

Friday Writings #135: Less is More

 

 

G’day again dear Word Weavers. 

I wrote most of this post ahead of time, but now have come down with the dreaded COVID. As some of you may well know, it isn't fun! But I am doing all the things I should and have good friends to go shopping for me etc. And Magaly has kindly agreed to do the hosting for me here, this time.

In other news, I’ve been revising some of my not-quite-working poems by seeing what I can usefully take out of them. ‘Cut and clean up’ one of my friends calls this method of working on her own poems. (In my case, it might sometimes be more like slash and burn!) 

In the far past I've been known to chop up poems manually, with scissors, for deletions or rearrangements. Luckily it's much easier digitally now.

 

 (Photo mine.)

 

Recently, in some cases I’ve been applying the erasure technique to my own poems, taking rather large chunks out of them; sometimes ending up with quite fragmentary results, which nevertheless work, and work better than the original. There are indeed times when ‘less is more.’

Your optional prompt this week is to take one of your poems or stories and turn it into a new piece of writing by removing some words and/or sections. It could be a series of tweaks or a full-scale erasure; up to you, so long as ‘less is more.' (You might like to leave a link to the original too, or include it in your post.)

Guidelines:

You may write to the prompt or ignore it.
You may share poetry or prose, new or old.
One post per person, please, 369 words maximum (excluding title).
Link to that post in Mister Linky below.
 
Please, if possible, read other people’s posts too and leave them some encouraging comments. Also we welcome comments below if there’s anything you’d like to say to the group or the team.

Next week, Magaly will invite us to write poetry or prose inspired by Grace Lee Boggs’s quote, “We can begin by doing small things…”

Friday Writings #134: It's a Dirty Job

Hello, Word Artists and Admirers! I am slowly but surely recuperating from my brush with COVID-19. Most of the household got sick. Only Darling Youngest remained unaffected. I am super grateful he was able to keep the house afloat and everyone well stocked with tea, water, and soup. 

So in honor of his Herculean efforts, I am using "It's a dirty job but someone has to do it" as this week's optional prompt. What thoughts come up for you when you hear that phrase. As always, I'll take poetry and prose, fiction and non-fiction. Just be sure to keep your entries to 369 words or fewer and just one entry per person please.

Next week, Rosemary will ask us to take one of our poems or stories and turn it into a new piece of writing by removing some words and/or sections.