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: Marble Liam frowned at his hand where it hovered in the air before him. Palm up, fingers tensed, and with a fine almost imperceptible tremble. He grit his teeth, narrowed his eyes, and blew out a strained sigh as he focussed. Almost painfully slowly a drop of water gathered in his outstretched palm, and Liam struggled not to lose focus. Not to throw his hands up in excited success and waste the precious droplets as they continued to gather, forming a tiny pool. He could feel sweat beading across his face, and trickling down the back of his neck but he didn’t let it distract him. That wasn’t the liquid that was important. Gradually, the water in his palm began to move. A tiny ripple, a waver around the edges, and it lifted. Like someone was peeling it up from his skin, and moulding it, the liquid he’d summoned began to form into a tiny ball, a liquid pebble of pure magic and his eyes widened at the success he’d spent the last month attempting to achieve. A pin appeared in his field of vision, and pressed against the shimmering marble of water in his hand, popping it like a soap bubble and it shattered, splashing against his hand and spilling off his skin, onto the floor. “Argh! What did you do that for!?” Liam snarled, spinning to face his instructor, a hard faced woman who merely raised an unimpressed brow. “You summoned it, yes, but you were trying too hard. Formed it too solid. Water should have flexibility, a pin should not disrupt it’s form,” she explained, folding her hands behind her back. “Try again.” “I’ve been trying for months!” Liam snapped, running his still wet fingers through his hair in frustration, “That was the best I’ve managed, and you just shattered it!” “It was the best you have managed so far,” his instructor corrected, before moving to take the seat opposite him, studying him in severe silence. Liam moistened his lips, but met her gaze. Stubbornly refusing to shy away from her assessment. Andreas Bulmont had agreed to train him, but only because he’d been persistent in continuing to ask, even after she turned him away multiple times. Liam knew he had magic, but learning to control it had been a long, slow, process. Andreas locked her purple eyes on his, their strange colour marking her as a powerful sorceress, and Liam felt the sweat against his skin suddenly turn chill. “I’m trying-” “I know,” she cut him off softly, “what you don’t seem to grasp is that you are doing phenomenally well.” “I can’t even summon water yet, we’ve been at this six months!” “Most students of magic don’t learn to summon water within their first year, Liam,” Andreas said softly, and he stared at her, mouth agape. “So,” the sorceress continued, rising back to her feet, “now that you have had a chance to rest, catch your breath, we should try again. Do not struggle so hard this time, water is formless, gentle, easy to mould. If you try to hard, it will be hard, and fragile. Easy for me to break.” Stunned, shocked, and uncertain what to say in response to her quiet confidence in his ability to continue, Liam raised his hand again, eyes wide and staring disbelievingly at his damp palm. And he tried again. #Writing #Original #Writing Exercise #Ari Writes #Arista Writes
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Arista Holmes
I'm a writer in her thirties, who is based in the South East of England. Archives
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