How Do Your Writing Exercises Work? Essentially, I go to a “Single Word Prompt Generator” and have it throw a random word at me. Then I go to Unsplash.com and use that word to search their database of images, and scroll through for something that catches my attention. This may be something where I simply want to describe what’s in the image, or maybe it sparks a small story nugget in my brain. Regardless, I then take the picture and post it here, with credit, and proceed to write for 15 minutes. Whatever I produce, I share with you lovely people. Unedited. Typos are to be expected. Word Prompt: Gorgeous Power crackled at her fingertips. Streaks of light dancing across her hands as she stared at them, brow furrowed in concentration. Her magick gathered to her will, and the sparks increased in both size and frequency. The air before her began to ripple with the energy she was summoning forth, and Andreas sifted her eyes to the darkness of the forest. Slamming her hands together, before tearing them apart like she was pushing aside a set of heavy curtains she flung her arms wide and light exploded across the clearing. A perfect circle of light shimmered into existence, and for a moment she froze in surprise. It wasn't the first time she had attempted to open a portal, but it was the first time it had sprung into existence and stabilised. The light was a cold blue, washing the rocks she was standing on, and the trees around her, in a ghostly light but her gaze was on the portal, arms still flung wide from the spells final motion. Perfectly circular, a hard rim that made her mind hurt to think about. An unnatural tear in the centre of the natural world, and its rippling blue centre that looked like the brightest shimmering ocean. As she stared, a tiny white pinprick gathered in the centre, and the ripples increased. As the white speck grew, Andreas suddenly realised that something, someone, was coming through, and stumbled backwards nearly tripping over her skirts in her haste as a tall man stepped through. Purple eyes met hers, a wide grin stretching across his face. "Gorgeous." "What?!" Andreas spluttered, feeling her cheeks redden, even as the Wizard laughed at her. "The portal, Andy. It's gorgous. A smooth trip too," her mentor complimented, and Andreas blushed harder than if the compliment had truly been aimed at her instead of her magic. She'd fought with her magic for too many years to truly see the beauty in it, but his constant reassurances that she was making progress were finally beginning to settle into her mind as truth, and she turned her attention back on the portal. It was still stable. Settled. Calm and Andreas shook her head in mild disbelief. "I don't understand. Why did it work? I've been trying for weeks!" When silence was her answer, she turned back to Banyard, only to find him watching her already. Eyes sharp, and arms crossed. "What?" she asked, crossing her own arms defensively, and the wizard quickly softened in response. "It's because you're starting to believe in yourself," he explained. "Magic will only come to those who believe in it. You know you have it in here," he added, leaning forward and tapping against her forehead, "but your mothers' influence means you don't truly believe you can control it, in here," a sharp tap to her breastbone and Andreas' breath caught in her throat, the mention of her mother stealing her voice for a long moment and she averted her gaze back to the portal. "Shut it down, Andy," Banyard murmured. "What?" she spluttered, spinning back to him, "But... but you haven't told me how-" "Stop letting your magic power it." "As if it's that simple," she grumbled, pointedly ignoring his smug smirk as she turned back to the portal and focussed. Sparks gathered on her fingers again, but this time she reached forward and wrapped her fingers around the edges of the portal, grasping it like the curtains she'd envisioned as she threw it wide open, and slowly pressed clenched fists together, the portal folding in on itself as she moved, sweat beading across her face. With an audible snap, the portal closed, and the forest clearing plunged back into the midnight darkness of a new moon as Andreas dropped to one knee, panting for breath, the effort of reigning in her magic leaving her exhausted, but the quietly whispered "gorgeous" from her mentor gave her the strength the straighten her back and rise to her feet once more.
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Arista Holmes
I'm a writer in her thirties, who is based in the South East of England. Archives
March 2024
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