On the move...

I'm pretty late for an update. The reason is: I'm moving. Very excited about that. :D

Today I transported a total of 40 boxes from my old flat to the new one. And all of them were books and manga. Too much, you think? On the contrary, one can never have too many stuff to read. :D
I don't remember who said it, but I second the statement: "Nothing is as sexy as a room filled with books."

Be that as it may, I don't know if I'm going to be able to update my writing exercise on time or if I'm going to have internet access next week, but I'll try. Because writers should be able to make time to write, right?
Even if everything is packed up in boxes, which pile up to the ceiling, even if you hardly take a break from moving stuff, even if you're almost out the door and still not at your new home yet. Inspiration can still happen in between. Take that break -- because you need it -- and just sit down and let it flow. You might be surprised what you can achieve. ;)

Writing Exercise 067

It's time for my weekly writing exercise again. The topic was flowers, and I wrote a triple drabble. As flowers have meanings or are symbols of something, of course I chose them with purpose. Let's see if you can figure out my statement, shall we? ;)

2017/03/23 – flowers (triple drabble)

Recently I moved into a nice little town. My house was situated between an old half-timber house and an industrialized building.

The neighbours to the right were an elderly couple, whereas to the left there lived five young housemates. As I gradually settled in and set about to tend to the garden, I noticed the flowers my neighbours had planted. The half-timber house was surrounded by neat patches of hurtsickles while my neighbours to the left had potted carnations everywhere.

And I began to wonder what my garden should look like.

I couldn't quite decide yet so I postponed it.

Over the following weeks I chatted with both my new neighbours, mostly about the weather and the lovely gardens, but also a few serious conversations came up. I soon learnt that my neighbours didn't quite like each other's views. Yet I didn't want to be caught up in their issues, so I stayed friendly and polite to each of them.

As I listened to his stories the elderly man gifted me a bag of hurtsickle seeds, whereas after a long jaw with the youngsters I received a pot of carnations.

But which flowers should I put in my garden? I knew I would upset either of them if I planted the gift of the other party. Then my garden would become the battleground of their argument.

And while I didn't agree with either of their views, I came to a conclusion: I went to the garden centre and bought a bunch of flowers and little trees. And soon the garden in the middle was overgrown with anemones, white lillies, daffodils, cherries and zinnias. Because if I had to choose between both gifts, I would plant neither. True peace inhabited my house, for I realised I am right where I belong.

VIPs and WIPs

As I've mentioned in another blogpost, it is always good to have more than one work in progress (WIP), so you can switch to whichever work you feel you are able to continue best. Let your creativity tell you what to do!

Surely you will find that -- for a period of time -- you are most in the flow when writing one particular project. For the time being it becomes your very important project (VIP). Which is good. You focus on your VIP and spend a lot of time polishing your work, ideally until you finish it.

You may neglect your other WIPs during that time, but don't forget about them. They are waiting for you to return and spend some time with them, too. Your aim should be to finish what you started; not right now, not tomorrow, but in due time. And take that time. Remind yourself of all the good ideas you've had, and all the stories you want to tell. Can you really turn your back on them?
Surely you will find a new VIP amongst them...

Writing Exercise 066

My dear writing buddy Sam from the Dead Pete Society is responsible for this week's writing exercise. She posted a prompt, and I instantly took it and did with it what you are about to read. You will see, this little story is greatly influenced by one of our day trips while we were in Japan.
So here goes:

 

2017/03/16 – "They thought I would forget. But I remembered. Everything."

Sitting in a rocking chair on the porch she enjoyed the soothing warmth of the late summer sun, sipping on some iced tea and fanning herself with yesterday's newspaper with her good hand. The old radio beside her on the small table played a happy tune. The grass had turned brown due to the lack of rain and the leaves stirred in the light breeze. She peered at the cloudless sky as the weather forecast promised a summer rain in the evening.

The afterthought of a smile faded in the many wrinkles around her mouth. Rain. She remembered the feel of the rain on her skin; even decades later she saw every tiny detail before her mind's eye. Her life had changed so much, but still the image, the noises and smells of this one incident were so very vivid as if engraved in stone or captured in a black and white photo or family stories told for generations.

But photos turned so easily to ashes when set aflame, stone crumbled to rubble in the face of a destructive force beyond comparison, generations of people were winked out in a single blinding flash that made earth the embodiment of hell. Distinctive clouds heralding nothing but death in their wake, an explosion with a destructive force never seen before, the stench of charred black flesh, fatal damage done on a cellular level, a whole city of buildings blasted to dust, the wails of agony of those who survived the blast. And hours later came the rain – the black rain.

She had been but a child back then, innocent, never understood what hit her when it did. She lost everything on that day – everything but her raw life. Surprisingly she had sustained the mother of all explosions, the black rain, the long-term aftermath of radiation, and she continued to do so.

But she would always walk the Earth with her eyes turned skyward, her mind tuned to the many gods in the hope one might hear her prayers for peace to remain and the black rain to stay away. For, even if younger generations became oblivious to the inhumanity and destructive force of war, she still remembered. Everything.

Writing Exercises 064 and 065

While I was in Japan, I still found the time to do my weekly writing exercises. Number 064 is a drabble about my holiday impressions whereas number 065 is a Tanka (Japanese poem with 5-7-5-7-7 syllables) about Tokyo.
Here is my drabble:

2017/03/03 – holidays in Japan (Drabble)

Up, up into the sky we went eight hours into the future. Time seems to run a little faster over here – so much to do, so much to see, so much to experience, yet so little time. Almost a week has gone by, and I am overflowing with impressions. The old and the new, the bustling cities full of stately palaces and shrines and skyscrapers, people in suits rushing by and people in kimonos sauntering across the streets, lots of strange yet delicious food, and the blaring of commercials everywhere – everything is so fascinating and new. And I continue wondering.

 And this is my poem:

2017/03/08 – Tokyo (Tanka)

The vast capital:

Horizons full of buildings

Yet amidst it all

Islands of green and silence.

See the first cherry blossoms!

I'm back! :D

Finally I returned from my holidays in Japan.
It was just amazing and I have so much to tell and show you.

We stayed mostly in Osaka and did day trips from there to Kyoto, Nara and Kobe, then rode the Shinkansen to Hiroshima and spent the last three days in Tokyo.
Here are a few impressions:

This is Osaka castle, which we visited on February 27th. It was rebuilt after WW2, as it was destroyed back then. Now, inside there is a museum, and from the top you have very pretty views over Osaka.

Here you can see the beautiful view over Osaka from the Sky Building. I'm afraid, the photo doesn't show the extent of how breathtaking the sundown was, as the sun slowly disappeared behind the mountains.

In Kyoto we saw a lot of shrines and temples. The city is really beautiful with its old wooden houses and people actually wearing kimonos. Here you can see the Senbon Dorii (10,000 gates) route starting at the Fujimi Inari Shrine, which goes up to the mountain top and back. And yes, we went all the way! @.@

This is the harbour of Kobe, where we went on March 2nd. In Kobe we visited the Desaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institute, where they research earthquakes and tsunamis and what can be done when one of them strikes. We did not eat Kobe beef, but had very delicious curry. :D

In Nara there are deer everywhere, at the temples and shrines, at the bus stop, in the park, on the streets... As they are very tame, you can feed and pet them. Isn't that amazing? Though I kept thinking how delicious venison is. XD

Hiroshima was both sad and impresive to visit. This is the only building that somewhat survived the a-bomb. We have been to the peace museum, where they exhibited everything related to the incident from torn and tattered clothes to pictures of severely burnt and mutilated people. But there are brighter sides to Hiroshima, too...

This is Miyajima island, which is close to Hiroshima. In the centre of the photo you can see the famous Torii and parts of the temple to which it belongs. When it's high tide the temple is awash. There are also a few tame deer there. I wonder how they got on that island? o.O

Finally, we arrived in Tokyo on March 6th. Here we are in Akihabara, which is loud and colourful and bustling with people. This is pretty much how you'd imagine the capital, right? But this is but a part of it.

Even in Tokyo there are temples, shrines and pagodas like this one everywhere. And deep in the surprisingly green heart of Ueno park, we found this:

The first cherry blossoms!