WORKING FROM A LINE

Here's something interesting to do when you are stuck and can't get those words to come while writing.

Try picking a word or a line. Any that comes to you and start writing from there. See what happens. It could lead to a new story or a part of one you are already writing. Granted this is not a new concept and one that is used for beginning writers. But it could be helpful at times when even a seasoned writer is blocked.

Even though poems come fairly easy to me, this does happen with the poetry I write. Sometimes a line will pop into my head. I feel compelled to write it down and before I know it I have written a poem. When it comes to stories I usually don't work this way. But it can be fun and maybe even fruitful. 

The following is a one liner that led to a couple of paragraphs. And it may morph into an actual scene in a story. Still this is fun to do. So I thought I'd share.

~~~

First Lines

She chose her words carefully... 

...so as not to offend him. She knew how easily that could happen. Even though she didn’t understand him the way she wanted. She needed things to go well between them.

 “Alex,” she ventured. “Where do you believe you come from?”

He glanced toward her and squinted before tilting his head back.  

“That’s just it. I don’t have any idea.” 

He sighed and stared at the dingy ceiling mulling over the cracks where the paint had chipped. 

“Sometimes,” he said, “I almost see, almost know. But then all of it just disappears like a breath riding on the edge of the wind. No thoughts. No memories. Gone."

~~~

Kaye Manro

© copyright Kaye Manro 2017