A-Z Parts I & II
I.
A IS FOR ART
~
Prompt:
What to do there: Pick a painting to work with. Go for something figurative. Tell its story in detail as if you’re describing a scene. Stay within the frame. Focus on describing what you see before moving into “story”. When you’ve written for at least 20 minutes, allow yourself only one reference to what’s going on beyond the frame. Come back to describing what’s in the frame.
In response to Henn Kim’s Big Bang
*
LADY FATE (or The Invention of the Star-Crossed Lover)
*
There goes Lady Fate,
donned in solar sparks
and her lace corset.
Her overt promiscuity
catches the attention of
one unsuspecting astronaut–
his helm fogs as he exhales,
his breath crude and lascivious —
and even Neptune’s eyes themselves
glitter wetly with passion
as she struts towards Polaris in
her pinprick stilettos.
She adjusts her stance accordingly:
I. Purse lips into a smoulder
(might as well look
pretty while ya get the job done.)
II. Aim for the desired target
(that there’s the bull’s eye.)
III. Wreak havoc
just as any Fate is meant to do.
(But, of course.)
She picks up her staff and fires.
The universe tremors
in an unbridled spiral
of colour and chaos
as the planets
d a r t
about like billiards,
colliding/|\with/|\ the/|\ stars
who, in the midst of the madness,
d i v e r g e
and c* r* o* s *s*
for fear of being vanquished.
A cluster of mismatched constellations
and forsaken cosmic particles
settle into a state of
mutual negligence and destruction.
And, together, they liquefy into
a festering pool of molten silver.
Lady Fate grins–
yes, she has the stars right
where she wants them now–
and, in a final act of defiance,
she strikes against the earth
and watches with satisfaction as
it hurtles towards the silver
and sinks down into the molten
like an eight ball.
(And everyone knows it’s
Game Over
once you’ve sunk the eight ball).
From where she stands–
bent over Polaris
in seductive pretentiousness —
Lady Fate relishes
in the screams
of some wretched lover–
the very first lover to ever be
betrayed by the stars.
II.
S IS FOR SEA AND SKY
L IS FOR LAND
~
Prompt:
Write about movement. Sit and watch the world go by. Notice the differences between land and water and sky. If you don’t have a quay, a jetty will do, or a harbour, or a river bank. Tell the story of a character who transforms when they move from one element to the other and how this transformation impacts on their life, their relationships, and their daily routines. This could be your own story.
If Mother Nature Could Speak (or How the Water Learned to Let Go)
Twist on Prompt:
- Metaphoric movement/evolution of water + movement of the child from earth to air to water.
- Water, Air, Land personified as characters
Full moon over tide animated gif. (n.d.). [image] Available at: rebloggy.com [Accessed 5 Apr. 2018].
Jade,
Your writing never fails to leave me in awe. You adopt stylistic choices and explore subjects that many writers could never think of, let alone execute. Pieces like this hardly need any critiquing- so I’ll start with everything that I loved.
1. It is clear how developed your voice is throughout both of these pieces. Although both styles are different, the clarity and confidence of your writing falter in neither.
2. Your approach to both of your chosen prompts is SO creative. It is evident how much effort and thought you put into the creation and perfection of your work.
3. The details in each of your pieces truly leave me speechless. Every sidenote and transition is incorporated so seamlessly.
My personal favourite line- “When we don’t understand things—and the death of an innocent is not something that can easily be made sense of—we begin to doubt ourselves. Life becomes an anxious paroxysm of “ifs” and other hypotheticals.” Here, your “moral”/ theme are connected so perfectly to your storyline. After reading this line I was forced to pause and ponder the idea you presented(… and YES, I’ll admit, I did google paroxysm). Writing that makes its reader think critically about/ question the world can be written only with deliberate intentions. Throughout both these pieces, your intentions were clear and your skills were beautifully showcased.
Excellent work!!
For these pieces, though, I would have loved to have had a paragraph explaining your thought processes and inspirations. Although your points are made perfectly clear in your writing, as a selfish reader, I would have loved more! This piece left me wanting to read more of your work, and that’s hardly an issue:)
Thanks for sharing!
Kanchan
Kanchan,
I can’t tell you how much I appreciated the reassurance your comment has given me. If we are being completely honest, I lowkey threw these pieces together at the last moment, so part of me was worried my writing would come across as being sloppy. That isn’t to say I didn’t try– I suppose I was worried that my efforts would prove to be medicorce. So I am so very glad that you enjoyed my pieces! And I am glad that I was able to introduce you to a new word. Actually, “paroxysm” might very well be one of my favourite words. 😛
And, now that you mention it, I agree that an explication would have better tied my ideas together. Thank you for your suggestion, and, more importantly, thank you for reading!
–Jade
P.S. YOUR writing never fails to leave ME in awe