EXERCISE: Mirror, Mirror, On the wall...

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

original posting: Fri, 25 Aug 2000 00:55:04 -0400

(I'm not sure where this started, but we don't need the introspection, let's get right to the reflection...:-)

Okay!  Let's assume that your character (pick a character, pick a scenario, you know what I mean) has acquired (bought, fished out of the trash, had delivered, or some other interesting method of arrival) a mirror.

So what, you say?

All right, pick a number from one to six.  Got it?

Their mirror:

1.  Let's them see far-off places (zounds!  A crystal ball in a frame?)
2.  Let's them see possible futures (true or not?  you decide)
3.  Let's them get the answer to one question a day (who's the freakiest one of all?)
4.  Let's them step into strange and wonderful places (but how do they get back?)
5.  Let's them see the past (how far back?  you decide...)
6.  Let's them see the real person (oho!  and how does it picture that reality, as opposed to the mere superficiality)

In any case, you get the drift.  This is not just a mirror, but a rather fantastic mirror!

Okay?

So give us a scene where they find out what the mirror does.  Then perhaps a bit of conflict, and they think about using the mirror to help resolve things.  And maybe it does, maybe it doesn't, maybe they aren't quite aware of the price they are paying for using this magic?  Go on, add another scene or three, build up to the grand climax (which is?  Do they smash the mirror? Cover it up, and swear never to use it unless...  Maybe they merely get back home, and relax?  Or?)

Go ahead, tell us about the mirror on the wall...

and what reflections it provides.

Exercise: Nourishing One's Own Inner Source of Joy

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

original posting: Mon, 24 Jul 2000 07:27:44 -0400

As the words run around the world, we find...

The Japan Times, 7/21, p. 17
Nourishing One's Own Inner Source of Joy by Toshimi Horiuchi

"One's inner sun is also a major source of joy.  When well cultivated, this sun's spirit pervades one's entire inner world not unlike the haunting loveliness that surrounds myrtle in full bloom, or the delicate crystallization of earth-stones into gems.  In either case, joy is created.  One's inner sun is a joymaker."

<skip a little -- and wonder just which one is myrtle?>

"It is well, then, to put this inner sun to work not only producing gems of joy for oneself but gems of joy to share with others.  When the soul sings out its joy, its echo is heard in the hearts of others like heaven's rays reflected upon a stream of water running through a grassy meadow."

<and the gentle stream rolls on...>

"So as we touch or 'kiss' a gem of joy, a thrill rises up from within because of the very mysteriousness of the event, like a star throbbing in heaven's deepest repose.  When a gem of joy resounds in the depth of the soul, we 'hear' a polished song like the song of the eastern sky embracing the purest dawn.  When we 'see' a gem of joy glittering in the heart of the soul, our spirit sparkles like the western sky reflecting the colors of the setting."

<tumbling synesthesia smooths the edges of our minds to...>

"In this way we infinitely elevate the quality of joy.  We rouse bright waves on the flat surface of life, creating chain reactions that attract and prolong the waves of joy."

Rouse bright waves on the flat surface of life...

Create chain reactions that attract and prolong the waves of joy...

Think about your writing (poesy, short storettes, the occasional friction, perhaps even a dash of non-fiction and light?).  How do you rouse bright waves in your writing?  Have you ever created a chain reaction that attracted and prolonged waves of joy?  What about those gems of joy -- have you seen them in others' writings?  Collected and shared them with others, to see the delight they find in those same facets?  Have you polished and cut the edges of your own gems of joy, kissing them, resounding with their song, sparkling and glittering with all the colors of the sunset?

How do you dig for these gems in yourself?  Where do you find the supersaturated solution that crystallizes around the fragmentary thought, how do you shape and finish your gems, what settings do you use, how do you choose to display the joys?

Tell us about the games that you play with your gems, found, borrowed, or honestly expressed from your own being...

In short (or in long!)...
write?

EXERCISE: Title/First Line/??? Challenge?

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

original posting: Wed, 20 Sep 2000 21:18:47 -0400

Quick, and a little bit quirky...

Consider the phrase:

I bought a jar of pickled smiles

Notice that the end of the line is unfinished.  It might turn into a new line, it might just get used as a title, it might have something about about where you found that jar, who sold it to you, what kind of price did you pay, or something like that.

(Incidentally, who does sell such things?  An odd little grocery story on the edge of never?  A god(dess) quite pristine?  Perhaps a tiny little wart of nastiness that has been stealing those smiles from your children and canning them with a dash of vinegar?  Or the smiling businesswoman who always has an overabundance of them to give away?  Who?)

Anyway, take that phrase.  Let it resonate in the mind, perhaps tickle your tongue a bit with it (are those sweet gherkins or dill as ever?).

Then, write a bit!

[what rhymes with smiles?  tiles, miles, biles, Giles...]

Go ahead, you know you want to open that jar!