Cookie Crumbs
(What If? Exercise: Read the description here.)
Mama said not to touch the cookie jar. I should have listened.
I only meant to take one. I didn’t think the jar would be so heavy.
I tried not to cry while Papa yelled at me in the kitchen. It was scary how his angry voice always carried through the house. The whole time, Mama was there cleaning up the porcelain shards and cookies scattered across the floor. She never said a word.
Papa sent me to my room, said I would stay there for the rest of the week. Only when I closed the door behind me did I finally open my right hand, where the stolen cookie rested half-broken in my palm. I’ll never forget eating it.
I remember the sweet smell of day-old dough as I finally heard Mama’s voice downstairs, telling Papa he had been too hard on me. I remember the taste of oatmeal filling my mouth as he yelled that she was always too soft with us. I remember the crunch of hard chocolate chips between my teeth as the shouting and crying grew louder. I remember swallowing the final bite just as the sounds of crashing and shattering glass pierced the night. And I remember picking the last crumbs off my shirt as I heard the front door slam. Salty tears marred the sweetness of the chocolate as Mama’s sobbing echoed through the house, the only sound I would remember hearing for the rest of the night.
It’s been five years since Papa left. I haven’t had a cookie since.
This story is based on What If? Exercise 41: “Peter Rabbit and Adam and Eve: The Elements of Plot”. The exercise is to write a story using four basic plot elements: a prohibition, doing the prohibited, personal/immediate consequences, and long-term/authority consequences. The objective is to become aware of common patterns in storytelling and to understand the importance of basic elements that underlie plots. I hope you enjoy what I’ve written. Thanks for reading!
Five Reasons I Love Science Fiction
After starting a set of posts on the comparison between artistic and scientific writing, today I’d like to take a break to discuss a related topic that’s been on my mind for a while: science fiction. With all the brainstorming I’ve been doing regarding science and art, I figured now would be the best time to talk about why I love the intersection between the two so much. So on that note, here is a brief list of reasons why I love science fiction. Enjoy!
1) It reconciles my two great passions: science and art.
As I’ve made all too clear by now, both science and art fascinate me immensely. I’m incredibly proud to be able to call myself a scientist and an artist, so their crossover area is basically my playground. It stands to reason, therefore, that science fiction is right up my alley. Combining elements of both worlds, sci-fi stories appeal to my artist side for the creative reimagining of our universe and to my scientist side for the exploration of the potential in real scientific theories. For someone like me who practically lives in this intersection, it doesn’t get much better than that.
2) It stimulates real scientific thinking.
One thing I notice whenever a major sci-fi movie comes out is a surge in discussions – both online and off – about how realistic it is. With films like Gravity and Interstellar comes a rise in articles and social media posts by actual scientists explaining the real workings of physics in outer space and pointing out the common inaccuracies in these movies. The same thing happens (albeit to a lesser degree) with stories about other scientific themes such as time travel, dystopian futures, robot uprisings and zombie apocalypses. And I, for one, love having those discussions with my friends and fellow academics. As a writer, I have nothing against a little artistic license, but as a biologist, I encourage the clarification of facts to make sure the truth isn’t buried too far beneath the fiction. As I like to think of it, ignorance is bliss, but knowledge is power.
3) It’s the ultimate “What if?”
I’m sure by now it’s only too obvious that “What if?” is my favorite type of writing-related question. I love imagining what sorts of stories could play out around a single major condition, and no genre can pique that curiosity like science fiction, because changing one detail means altering the entire universe as we know it. What if there’s intelligent life on other planets? What if computers had the intellectual capacity of humans? What if there were a virus that could turn people into zombies? Writing science fiction is like creating infinite parallel worlds with incredible possibilities, all with the power of our minds! How cool is that?
4) It unites people like no other genre can.
Some may not necessarily see this as a good thing, but I’ve always found it interesting how sci-fi has this indomitable power to bring people with similar interests together in a way that no other genre of fiction can. I make no secret of being a so-called nerd and proud of it, so knowing there are tons of people out there who also embrace that eccentric side of themselves is heartwarming. Science fiction offers a unique common ground for those of us who choose to occasionally forget this world and explore the possibilities contained within alternate realities. And if we can share that passion with each other, that makes our love of sci-fi all the more enjoyable.
5) It’s fun to indulge in!
For all the above reasons and more, science fiction is fun, as much to read and watch as to write. I love getting lost in alternate worlds, and sci-fi offers that escape in so many different flavors that I sometimes wonder how I manage to tear myself away from it long enough to face reality again. I could spend hours indulging in these fascinating stories, so if you appreciate science and art like I do, science fiction is definitely the genre for you! Enjoy!
What about you? Why do (or don’t) you like science fiction?
Word of the Week: Negate
Word: negate
Pronunciation: nə-GAYT
Part of Speech: verb
Definition: nullify; make ineffective
Source: Oxford Dictionaries
Monica: (on Richard’s answering machine) “Hi, it’s Monica. I’m just checking in ’cause I got this message from you and I didn’t know if it was old or new or what. So, I’m just checkin’. So let me know. Or don’t, whatever. I’m breezy.”
Joey: Hey, you can’t say you’re breezy! That totally negates the breezy!
– Friends (Season 3, Episode 2 – The One Where No One’s Ready)
Here’s an interesting verb that I’ve heard on my favorite TV series, Friends. After replying to a phone message from Richard, a nervous Monica accesses his answering machine and plays back her message for her friends to see what they think. Unfortunately, they make it clear to her that her message is not nearly as casual as she’d hoped; as Joey points out, by saying she’s breezy, she’s actually cancelled out the breeziness she was hoping to convey to her ex-boyfriend.
To “negate” something is to cancel it out, rendering it null and void. The word comes from the Latin verb negare, meaning “to deny” or “to refuse”. This verb is derived from the adverb nec “not” and the verb aiere “to say”.
Aside from its primary definition, “negate” can also mean “to deny the existence of something”. If you want to get into the technical part of language and grammar, the word also has the sub-definition “to make a clause, sentence or proposition negative in meaning”. I’m most accustomed to its first sense, though, so I would use it in my stories to indicate things that nullify each other. If you often find yourself writing an action that neutralizes the effects of another, “negate” is a good word to remember for your stories! Good luck!
What are your thoughts on this word? Any suggestions for future “Word of the Week” featured words?
Blessed Day
Friday He was slain
Sacrificed upon the cross
Our Lord and Savior
Saturday He lay
Resting in the Father’s grace
Soon to live again
Sunday He returned
And all the faithful rejoiced
Risen is the Lord
Now we celebrate
His sacrifice and rebirth
Each Easter weekend
Happy Easter to all my family and friends of faith! A very blessed weekend to you all!
What If? Writing Prompts: Humor I
I’m afraid I have some bad news. The thing is, I’m getting a little tired of these “What If?” Writing Prompts, so this will probably be my last post for this segment. It’s hard to come up with these all the time, and I just can’t handle it anymore. Sorry, it’s been fun, but it’s time to move on.
April Fool’s! I know, that was totally lame, but I couldn’t resist. Of course these never get old; I love coming up with new writing prompts every month! But anyway, I realized about a month ago that April 1st would fall on a Wednesday this year, and while thinking about possible jokes for that week’s creative writing post, it suddenly occurred to me that I had yet to include comedy on my list of “What If?” themes.
So without further ado, here’s a new batch of prompts for you, set to one of the hardest genres to write for: humor. I hope you’ll find these ideas fun, and may they inspire you to come up with your own! Enjoy!
What if… a witch cursed you to speak only in rhymes?
What if… you were lost and the only person around to ask for directions were a mime?
What if… your life became a musical for a day?
What if… an annoying sound played in your head every time you heard someone tell a lie?
What if… you could hear pets say what they really think of their owners?
Have fun writing your own humorous 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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