Friday July 18th, 2014

The exercise:

It's been a while since our last theme week and, if memory serves, even longer since I've used it as an opportunity to tell a tale over seven days. I'd say it's about time to change that.

So, without further ado, allow me to introduce you to Baseball Week.

Over the course of the next week we will be writing based on prompts from various Major League Baseball team names. If you're not feeling up to connecting each day's writing that's totally fine, though I'd like to encourage you to do so this time around - I'm making an effort to have a theme within a theme in order to make week long stories a little easier.

Also to make things more manageable? Fridays are usually four lines of prose days and that won't change this week. However Saturday's four line poems and Tuesday's two haiku are out the window. You're welcome to incorporate a poem or haiku (or two!) into your writings on those days but it is absolutely not necessary.

And one last thing: all prompts are plural but you can choose to go with the singular version on any or all days.

Okay, I think that's everything. Let's get this started by writing four lines of prose about: the mariners.

They do not need to be from Seattle. Though they certainly could be.

Mine:

They took to the seas - ten men, two women, and three loyal to the extreme, highly trained wolves - on a misty spring morning. Sailors dating back several generations (Snarl, Howl, and Whisper included), they were convinced that they were on a mission ordained by the gods.

And they were, most certainly.

It's just that the commission was not handed down by the gods the mariners worshipped, despite what they had been led to believe.

2 comments:

Greg said...

I definitely wouldn't have guessed that you had this in mind! This a pretty cool idea, and I'm going to be very interested to see the names that you've picked for the week as they unfold :) And... thank-you for making the week a little easier! I know we've coped without the help before, but it's always been tricky :)
That's an intriguing start to your story! I'm very intrigued that the wolves are mariners too, and that there are Gods handing down the mission, but not the ones that were expected. I know I'm going to enjoy watching this unfold!

The mariners
Vastis, City of the Broken Hearted, lined the shore for nearly five miles along and sprawled inland until it reached the high granite cliffs that killed climbers. Much of the shoreline was taken up with harbours, dockyards, jetties, fishing fleets and marinas, all of which were thronged with boats. At a prime location where the land turned sharply was the school for Mariners, known affectionately as the Marinade, where the people learned to man craft and control the sea as effectively as if they held the moon in their hands. And in a squat building that jutted out over ragged, razor-sharp rocks, stood a class of eight men, listening intently to the words of their teacher.

Marc said...

Greg - this week ended up being trickier for me than I'd expected. When I'd originally selected the teams I had a story in mind, but then when I started writing I realized I'd need much longer than a week to tell it! I think I managed to do a pretty good job of adapting mid-week though.

Hah, the 'Marinade'. Love it. Also: great intro to your theme week story :)