The Catch
(What If? Exercise: Read the description here.)
He had never believed one bite could be his doom.
He had always thought he could never be caught.
But he hadn’t counted on such alluring bait.
Just one little bite set it off.
He thrashed with all his might.
The pulling was too strong.
A painful tug followed.
His mouth hurt.
Too late.
This piece is based on What If? Exercise 93: “Ten to One”. The exercise is to write a 55-word story in which the first sentence has ten words, the second has nine, etc., until the last sentence has only one word. The objective is to show that precision and thrift in writing can produce surprisingly powerful results. I hope you enjoy what I’ve written. Thanks for reading!
What If? Writing Prompts: Fantasy/Science Fiction III
I hope you’re in the mood for some more “What If?” Writing Prompts! This week’s batch features some new fantasy and science fiction prompts for you to enjoy. See what sorts of fantastic tales you can spin around these ideas! Have fun!
What if… magic were a subject taught in school?
What if… mirrors functioned as portals into a backwards universe?
What if… computers could read human thoughts?
What if… you discovered you had the ability to bend time and space?
What if… you had supernatural powers that you couldn’t control?
Good luck creating your own fantasy and science fiction stories!
If you have any “What If?” writing prompt suggestions (for any theme), please feel free to share them in the comments below. Ideas I like may be featured in future “What If?” posts, with full credit and a link to your blog (if you have one)! Also, if you’ve written a piece based on an idea you’ve found here, be sure to link back to the respective “What If?” post. I would love to see what you’ve done with the prompt! Thank you!
Word of the Week: Fortuitous
Word: fortuitous
Pronunciation: for-TOO-ə-təs
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition:
- happening by accident or chance rather than design
- happening by a lucky chance; fortunate
Source: Oxford Dictionaries
It’s the beginning of March, and what better way to start off St. Patrick’s month than with a word related to good fortune? “Fortuitous” is a word I see and hear pop up every once in a while, so it would definitely make an interesting addition to this vocabulary segment. In my opinion, one can never know too many words for “good luck”!
A “fortuitous” event is one that happens by chance, generally a lucky one. The word comes from the Latin adjective fortuitus “happening by chance”, which stems from the adverb forte, meaning “by chance”. This word is derived from the noun fors, which means “chance” or “luck”.
Although “fortuitous” is listed as having two similar meanings, modern uses tend to favor the latter, which is more or less synonymous to “lucky” or “fortunate”. Note, however, that Oxford Dictionaries emphasize this definition as being a strictly informal use of the word, and one that should thus be avoided except in contexts of this sort. Of course, it all comes down to a writer’s discretion when deciding how best to work it into a story, so feel free to use “fortuitous” however you see fit, and may the best fortune find you in your writing endeavors anyway. Good luck (pun absolutely intended)!
What are your thoughts on this word? Any suggestions for future “Word of the Week” featured words?
Passion
Kiss these tender lips
Tremble as the heart flutters
Ardently in love
Fire burns within
Rage erupts in violence
Feel the seething hate
Unending cycle
First a blessing, then a curse
Passion knows no bounds
What If? Writing Prompts: Mystery/Suspense II
Here are some more “What If?” Writing Prompts to cover my creative writing posts while I catch up with my grad school work. The theme this week is a genre pairing that I have yet to feature a second time in this segment: mystery and suspense. Enjoy trying out these ideas, and please feel free to add more of your own! Good luck!
What if… you discovered your parents weren’t who you thought they were?
What if… whenever you answered that persistent knocking at your door, nobody were there?
What if… you were followed home by a strange animal?
What if… you couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching your every move?
What if… someone you’d never met passed away and left you everything in his/her will?
Have fun writing your own mysterious and suspenseful stories!
If you have any “What If?” writing prompt suggestions (for any theme), please feel free to share them in the comments below. Ideas I like may be featured in future “What If?” posts, with full credit and a link to your blog (if you have one)! Also, if you’ve written a piece based on an idea you’ve found here, be sure to link back to the respective “What If?” post. I would love to see what you’ve done with the prompt! Thank you!
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