The exercise:
Welcome to the 900th day in a row of Daily Writing Practice. I think I shall celebrate the occasion by writing the 50,000th word in my NaNoWriMo novel this evening.
Ah, right. A prompt, you say? How about... the random CD prompt?
Go pick a song at random - use YouTube, your iPod, a CD you pick out of your collection with your eyes closed - and use its first line as the first line of your poetry or prose today. Click the label at the bottom of the post to see how things went in our many previous attempts.
Update: here you shall find day twenty-five, wherein lies my 50,000th word. As with last year's magic word, it comes courtesy of Kat. Though I must say that 'home' was a whole lot easier to work in than 'bunny' was last year.
Update: here you shall find day twenty-five, wherein lies my 50,000th word. As with last year's magic word, it comes courtesy of Kat. Though I must say that 'home' was a whole lot easier to work in than 'bunny' was last year.
Mine:
Cocoon by Jack Johnson
"Based on your smile, I'm betting all of this might be over soon," I said, squirming feebly.
The dragon snorted, black smoke billowing from his nostrils. The stench was overwhelming, but it was still better than the flames I had been expecting. He dragged me further into his cave, my back gouged by sharp rocks and what I suspected were human bones - I never opened my eyes to confirm that though.
Still smiling his wicked, sharp toothed smile, he flung me against the back wall, my shoulder meeting stone with a sharp crack. The pain was intense but I fought against the darkness threatening to steal my consciousness. If I passed out I wouldn't have a chance to escape.
Not that my odds were significantly better awake. But, you know, positive thoughts equal positive outcomes, or some crap like that.
"I don't suppose a big sack of gold would convince you to let me live?" I asked, shifting to a sitting position.
"Human," the dragon rumbled before shooting a column of flame at the ground at my feet, "please shut up. You are giving me a terrible headache."
My jaw dropped open and then I snapped it shut, my teeth clicking together painfully. This was not going at all like I expected it would.
7 comments:
Congratulations on 900 days! How does it feel to have such a large number of consecutive days of writing? Were there any moments when you wondered why you were doing this?
It sounds like you're hitting the hard part of NaNoWriMo now -- you're about to hit the 50,000 mark which takes the obvious goal away. You'll have to define a new one, say 75,000 to finish the story in!
Today's writing seems to be novel-themed too ;-) I like it, though it's a bit unresolved; I'm left wanting to know what's really going on here! I think my favourite detail from today would be the human bones reference.
Inspired by Flash Delirium by MGMT (no link, as the youtube video seems to be banned outside of the US):
Mild apprehension
A subtle frisson,
Like Winter's child has stroked
My shoulders and then walked on.
No-one stood around me
And the snow is pristine, unbroken
As far as the eye can see.
So how did I get here?
Nothing in my pockets,
The perfume on my scarf
Hasn't been mine for a decade.
There's a bird in the vault
Of the heavens and it's calling my name,
Wheeling on invisible thermals,
Turning erratically, inspiring
Mild apprehension.
Marc - Congrats! It's amazing (reaching 50,000 words)! i am lagging behind at day 14 but i'll continue to read whenever i can! Your piece today sounds like the Jester's finishing off the dragon, great stuff, totally enjoying reading what you wrote! :)
Greg - thats beautiful :)
Bon Jovi - Shot Through The Heart
"Shot through the heart, and your to blame, darling
You give love a bad name"
We are the ones you never count
Have it your way like bad love
Buried alive and your to smile
Standing beside the white road
Ruby alive and its deep red
Don't keep staying, buried away
Keep lookin my way, right in my eyes
Feel the heat and stay that way
Marc: Congrats on your 900th day and on hitting 50,000 words!! That's amazing and great work! :)
Greg & Zhongming: I enjoyed your posts :)
Here's mine taken from Sting's Fields of Gold:
You’ll remember me when the west wind moves.
You’ll remember me when it stirs,
and you see traces of the leaves of once upon a time,
coming back with colour.
Spare a moment and pray,
when the west wind brushes against your face,
caressing your skin,
refreshing your mind free,
you’ll remember me.
I’ll be long gone by then,
when the west wind moves but you’ll remember me.
Congrats on 50,000 words!
And I would love to know what happens next with the dragon in your response to your prompt today.
yay! 900. congratulations, marc, on this milestone for daily writing. and it had to coincide with the 50,000 words on your jester story. wonderful. double congratulations then.
the grands are ready for bed now and i will read the chapter where jerry is going to acquire his sword.
-o0o-
from the "Sounds of Silence" by Simon & Garfunkel (yes, that's how old i am)
"Hello, Darkness, my old friend."
Marcus stood just outside the tall mahogany doors, his head bowed, hair disheveled, coat hanging from his hunched shoulders. He shot a glance at Awel and she saw that his eyes were red from crying. She opened the door wider and stood aside to let him in. His steps were unhurried and as soon Awel had closed the doors, Marcus cupped his face in his hands, his shoulders shaking. Awel wrapped her arms around his waist and when he embraced her and buried his face in his thick black hair, he wailed like a small child. They had been that way for a long time before his crying subsided and she led him to her study. A small candle is lit in the middle of the room and he could make out the tall shelves filled with tomes that had never been touched for centuries.
"Tell me what happened, dear." Her raspy voice soothed his pains, and he let go of a big sigh.
"She left me, Awel. She left me." He started crying again and Awel patted his shoulders.
"I know, dear, I know she left. We both knew it was bound to happen."
"I loved her, Awel. She was the only one for me."
Pain shot through Awel's heart. When was he going to learn that he never belonged to Riella? That he, Marcus, belonged to her and her world. He always called her Darkness because she always wore black, everything about her was black. She was most alive at night, like the bats that lived around her villa.
"Marcus, you belong here. You belong to me," said Awel, she placed a hand on her chest then pointed to her heart. "I think it's about time you accept your destiny."
-o0o-
i started writing this the last time you had a CD prompt, but i don't quite know what to do with it. it looks like a vampire story, but i know nothing about vampire stories and i refuse to read anything vampire as my vivid imagination goes to sleep with me and i get nightmares otherwise.
Greg - any moments that I wondered why I was doing it? Hmm, I'd have to say at the start, when no one was reading it, there were many. But not in the last year.
Fantastic first stanza - you set a great scene and mood there.
Zhongming - thank you, and I appreciate you finding time to read it :)
Great poem!
Watermark - thanks!
'... and you see traces of the leaves of once upon a time...'
Brilliant.
Morganna - thank you! And, me too. I'll have to come back to it. I really just stopped because I felt like I had gone on long enough and I still had a lot of writing to do.
Summerfield - thank you. And I hope they like it!
I love that song, great choice.
Great vignette, which I'd be thrilled to see continue. And who needs to know anything about vampires to write about them? It's all about making it up as you go :D
Another great prompt idea! Enjoyed all of these; I too wish to know what comes of the dragon! (If my migraine ease up, I may return and play along. :) )
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