The exercise:
I'm not sure how well this is going to work, but I might make it into a every Friday thing if it goes okay. I'll give it a couple tries at least before deciding one way or another.
Def Poetry Jam Friday is going on hiatus for a while, as I'm really running low on performances I want to feature. In its place, inspired by Greg's suggestion, comes Four Line Friday Prose.
The idea: write four sentences on the selected topic, fiction or non. Run-on sentences and excessive comma usage are not against "the rules" but are definitely frowned upon. Let's give it a go, shall we?
The topic this week: surrender.
Mine:
I am determined to win this battle. Losing is not an option; the stakes are much too high. I will be strong, I will be brave, I will be victorious.
I will not surrender to another restless night in a bed filled with dreams of you.
Aw shucks, now I'm all embarrassed again. If I were less egotistical I'd suspect that you only had this blog to embarrass me; as it is I'm certain of it.
ReplyDeleteI hope this four-line prose works out! I think it probably falls in to the class of constrained writing (such as oulipo, or also see confiction)
Yours is very good, I like the punchline. I feel a little sorry for your narrator too!
Let's see what we can do then.
Surrender
The battle of Cromwell appeared to be decisive. For the first time, the armies of the frog-goblin King outmanoeuvred the clockwork knights and left the field victorious. The Knight-magister, a grand cog in the scheme of things, came before the frog-goblin to offer his surrender. He knelt, and as the frog-goblin King smiled at his court, the clockwork knight exploded.
The point of the blog isn't to embarrass you, but I certainly don't miss a chance to :)
ReplyDeleteBut really, I'm just giving credit where it be due.
I like the challenge involved with such strict limitations - I'm pretty sure I'll stick with this.
I like your clockwork knights and frog-goblins :D
The length limitation kind of-sort of reminds me of the character limit of ficlets -nostalgic, sadness-tinted sigh-. But I digress.
ReplyDeleteFor whatever reason I felt the need to do a bit of Spanish, but I translated for your convenience. ^^
La Promesa de Abandono
Quiero seguir luchando, pero cada vez que trato continuar me caigo. Es inútil, la voz me dice con rencor, fracaso es inevitable.
Fracaso sería inevitable, pero no es para siempre. Abandono sólo es una promesa que regresarás para conquistar.
~~~
The Promise of Surrender
I want to keep on fighting, but every time I try to continue I fall. It's useless, the voice tells me with spite, failure is inevitable. Failure may be inevitable, but it's not forever. Surrender is only a promise that you'll return to conquer.
g2 - Sweet, I get to enjoy your writing and have a free Spanish lesson at the same time!
ReplyDeleteI enjoy length limitations on occasion, but if I had to deal with it in everything I write I'd probably go crazy.