Writing Exercise 090

I wanted to start fresh this month, so I waited for today. This week I wrote a German sonnet to wish you a 'good morning'. :)
Here it is:

2017/09/01 – good morning (German sonnet)

As the mist rises from the lake

The sun glimmers behind clouds of white

To shoo away the colours of night

Stillness remains for the watcher's sake

A memory of summer's end

Seems as if frozen in time

A spell cast in a wondrous rhyme

The melancholy off to fend

The sleepy forest lies so dark

A woodpecker assaults the bark

It is the only sound

Gently the sun heralds the day

A very 'good morning' to say

There's happiness to be found

Writing Exercises 088 and 089

Hey there!

I can't believe I didn't upload last week's writing exercise. So sorry!
Therefore this week you get to read two exercises. That's not so bad, isn't it?
So here is writing exercise number 088:

2017/08/20 – cactus (Haiku)

Though covered with thorns

A cactus is a symbol

Of passion and love

And this is writing exercise number 089:

2017/08/24 – too tired (double drabble)

[…] As Jack reached the gates, he couldn't fully believe what was happening. He knew the world was a more wondrous and magical place than anybody could imagine – hidden in plain sight before the eyes of the oblivious and ignorant humans. Jack might be human, too, but he did believe there was more than met the eye. And ever since he had met the fallen angel he really knew there was a lot more out there than most people assumed.

In the quietness of her living room Asuka Ishimaru sat at her desk and stared at the paragraph she had written, fingers hovering above the keys of her laptop. It was 3:49 a.m. and the author had been in denial of her tiredness for hours. Her brain felt as if cushioned in cotton wool and stuck in the thickest of mists; white, blank – and impenetrable for any words to come forth. She kept on staring at the screen for a good seven minutes before she deleted the whole paragraph and sighed frustrated. Asuka rubbed her temples and sighed deeply again. It was no use. Finally she stood and trudged to bed. Deeply huddled beneath her blankets she instantly fell asleep.

Writing Exercise 087

This week I wrote a drabble which includes the Words of the Day from Monday, August 7th til Friday, August 11th, which are "fructify", "mussitation", "ventifact", "palindrome" and "nimbus".
Here it is:

2017/08/11 – include the words “ventifact”, “mussitation”, “fructify”, “palindrome” and “nimbus” in a drabble

There was a mountain with an odd shape and colouring standing on a vast desert plain. It was a lonely mountain, tall and proud, that adamantinely withstood against the odds and especially the weathers. The angry wind kept sweeping and howling about the mountain top for years until its mussitation finally fructified; its ethereal nimbus swooshed back and forth, back and forth like a palindrome. And the result was a surface made of ventifacts – polished smooth and shining from miles and miles away. It made this mountain special, holy even. So it became a famous landmark. Do you know which?

Writing Exercise 086

Hello again!

This week's writing exercise is a bit of a squib -- or a satirical reality, sadly, as I didn't even have to exaggerate much. Anyway, let's see what happened, shall we?

2017/08/03 – a normal day in the town of S.

In the quaint town of S. there lived a couple who wanted to get married. As he was working all day they decided his fiancée should go do the visits to the authorities.

First she went to the registry office of the city where she was born to get a copy of her register of births. She knew she could have done this online, but the office lady she had phoned beforehand had told her getting them personally was faster.

A few women were waiting in line, some pushing their perambulators, others having a quiet jaw. Then suddenly a man burst into the floor, clearly annoyed, spewing hateful words and accosting those who opposed him. It soon became clear he was a right-winged racist and wrongly deemed himself amongst foreigners. The situation soon got out of hand and it wouldn't have taken much more and he might have gone violent.

Luckily it was her turn at the office so she got out of there. The office lady however wondered: “You're not listed in the database. You sure that you're born here?” The fiancée affirmed the truth and implored to look again. Still nothing. So the office lady went to look at the old folders and pored over them until she finally found her. “So you do exist,” she smiled and made a copy. “By the way you could have requested these documents online.”

A bit stirred up she drove back to get the registration certificates from the Citizens Advice Bureau of the city of S.. The queue was quite short and she sat down in the waiting area. There was plenty time to get this over with and go to the registry office to call the banns.

However fifteen minutes passed and nothing happened. More people arrived at the Citizens Advice Bureau. Time and again the telephone rang, but no one appeared to take the call. And inside the office everything came to a standstill. Apparently the only printer didn't work.

More people came and others left as they were fed up with waiting. Adamantly she stayed and waited. Another fifteen minutes passed as someone was called to repair the printer. But that someone didn't succeed in fixing the problem and they had to call someone else. Indeed five people stood in front of the damnable printer and discussed what to do until someone had the idea to switch a cable and restart the printer. After three-quarters to an hour the printer finally worked again and she got her registration certificates. “Is the registry office still open?” she asked and the office lady of the Citizens Advice Bureau affirmed. “But you have to make an appointment first.”

That was why she was headed there in the first place, but she accepted the note with the phone number and tried to phone the registry office. No answer. So she went home and waited for the lunch break to end before she tried to call again. Still no answer, and neither in the Citizens Advice Bureau. So she wrote an email in the hope they might call her back. They didn't.

After five more futile calls she drove back to the municipal building and tried to make an appointment personally. But when she reached the registry office, there was a note that no one was there and one should make an appointment via phone. Annoyed she tried again to make a call, but no one answered. She knocked at the neighbouring office, but no one was there.

On the adjacent floor there was someone in his office, so she went there and asked for help. The man was nice enough to phone different departments in search for the lost registry office lady. “She must be somewhere. Others are looking for her, too. Please wait for her return,” he said and she thanked him and waited in front of the office.

Another half hour passed and no one showed up. She was about to go home when suddenly the door to the registry office opened. So the lady had been there all this time! “So you're here after all. I'd like to make an appointment to call the banns,” she exclaimed.

But the lady said: “Please make an appointment via phone.”

“I tried several times. But it didn't work. That's why I went here in the first place,” she huffed.

“Anyway, please wait. I'll be back,” the lady said and disappeared. Baffled she sat back down and waited again. Time was ticking and the closing time drew near. Just five minutes to closing time the lady appeared again. “I'm sorry, time's up.”

“I just want to make an appointment!” she exclaimed, annoyed.

“Well, alright,” the lady seemed affronted but bade her in. “What is this about?”

“I'd like to call the banns,” the troubled fiancée explained.

“I can give you an appointment for the 23^rd of October,” the lady conceded after leafing busily through her calendar.

“But that's in over two months! We don't want to get married on that day, we just want to call the banns,” she couldn't believe it.

“Listen, I'm very busy. That's how it is. Either take that date or come back next year.”

Begrudgingly she made that appointment and went home exhausted, only to find out later in the neighbouring town she could have called the banns on the very same day. But that was how life was like in the town of S., and no one said it'd be easy to get married, right?

Writing Exercise 085

Of course, this week I'll post a new writing exercise. Again I chose to write about the 'Word of the Day'; this time it's a poem.
Here it is:

2017707/28 – word of the day: ballon (Poem)

Light and graceful she dances

As if she could fly away

Wonder what are the chances

That she might stay?

She jumps and turns with ballon

Casting alluring shades

In the twilight of dawn

As the fragile dream fades

Just as promised...

... I'm back with the coloured picture of my D&D character Aira Hild. This Saturday we are going to start the first session of our campaign, and I'm really looking forward to it. So of course this picture has to be ready as well, right? Again I used Sai to draw and colour this picture.
So here she is:

Something Different...

Finally, after all these weeks I am able to show you something different than my weekly writing exercises. :D

As some of my dear writing buddies from the Dead Pete Society and I have decided to play a D&D campaign together I got to create a character just for that campaign.
Our group consists of D&D beginners though; our dungeon mistress has never mastered before, the players have either never played pen&paper RPGs at all or haven't played in ages (earlier versions of D&D) or -- like me -- have only experience in different p&p RPGs.

For those, who know D&D, I play the lawful neutral Razorclaw Shifter fighter Aira Hild. And for those, who don't, you can still see how she looks like as I drew her with Sai:

 

As you can see, I only did the outlines as I was too lazy to colour her.  XD But there will be another picture in the near future, which I might colour.

Anyway, this is going to be fun! And once everyone has set up their characters we can let the dice roll. :D

Writing Exercise 084

Do you know that feeling when you want something so intensely you can alread taste it? This week's drabble is about something like that.
Enjoy!

2017/07/20 – pudding (Drabble)

Sometimes sweets is what the body needs. When you're taken by a certain craving, when your mind pulls a blank and has nothing to run on, that's the time when you should consider what to do to alleviate your sorrows. You mind formulates a thought, your mouth waters as you think you have a taste on the tip of your tongue, sweet and soft and smooth. Depending on the weather it should be hot or cold respectively, fresh from the stove or out of the fridge. It has to be. Because it tastes like home. A kingdom for some pudding!

Writing Exercise 083

Hello again!
This week I looked up the "Word of the Day" on www.thesaurus.com and decided to write a drabble in which the current word of the day is included. The drabble is about two inhabitants of my dear Neverbeen Universe, who you haven't seen for a while.
Enjoy!

2017/07/11 – word of the day: perambulator (Drabble)

“Un-fucking-believable,” Phobos exclaimed. He pushed the perambulator as Ayumu held little Crathos in her arms and shushed and cooed at him. “Why the hell did we buy this fucking thing if all the brat ever does is wail like a wimp when he is put in there?” the choleric groused.

“Because,” Ayumu emphasized, “Crathos is getting heavy. And I won't carry him for hours on end and hurt my back.”

“Can't you make him stop? This is un-fucking-bearable,” he grumbled. Ayumu sighed and rocked Crathos gently. But the baby only stopped crying when Ayumu placed him into his father's arms.

Writing Exercise 082

A new month -- a new weekly writing exercise. This time I wrote a poem. Let's see what -- or who -- this is about, shall we?
Enjoy!

2017/07/05 – the raven (poem)

Once upon an afternoon fine

I looked through a window of mine

And just on the neighbour's roof

Sat a raven, quite aloof

For a while I watched him sit

And I pondered about his wit

Concluded that he didn't lack

Seeing that he watched me back

So I nodded as a greeting

And just for a moment fleeting

I thought a cow flew over the moon

As in my mind he cawed: “Good afternoon.”

Writing Exercise 081

Another week has gone by. This is the last writing exercise in June already. Wow. Time sure flies by.
Today I have a Tanka for you and it's about a rainy day.
Here it is:

2017/06/30 – a rainy day (Tanka)

As the sky darkens

The clouds are heavy with rain

Droplets fall quietly

They are pitter-pattering

At the window of my soul

Writing Exercise 080

It's time for writing exercise number 080 already. Time sure flies by! :o
This week my task is to write a riddle. Let's see if you can find out what I'm writing about. I'm sure you will. :D

2017/06/23 – riddle

I see something you don't see,

Hanging from a willow tree,

Spinning on a single thread,

Far away from a spider's net,

It is wiggling,

it is jiggling,

Waiting for the wane of the moon,

Once it turns into a cocoon,

Tell me now, what did I see

Hanging from that willow tree?

Writing Exercise 079

Recently I feel like I'm neglecting my dear blog because I do nothing but post my weekly writing exercises each week. Which saddens me. :/
I want to give you more content, but right now I barely manage to squeeze my writing exercises into my week. And I figured, this is the least I can do.
So here is this week's drabble about twilight (not the series!):

2017/06/13 – twilight (Drabble)

Wander the tight rope, but don't fall off! Does your inner compass always show the right way? There is a fine line between light and dark, right and wrong. Sometimes that line blurs, sometimes it can't be seen anymore as it is overlaid by grey shades and ambiguity. Day turns into night, and night turns into day. Only then the sky shows its most beautiful colours, only then the light of the sun doesn't hurt your eyes and burn your skin, only then the darkness doesn't swallow your heart. Some things can only exist then. This time is called twilight.

Writing Exercise 078

I'm pretty late this week. But I do have a writing exercise for you. This time I had to write a story backwards. Interesting, don't you think? I tried to write it so it still makes at least some sense when read backwards. So here is writing exercise number 078:

2017/06/10 – tell a story backwards, from the last sentence to the first

So all was well.

It really was as good as I imagined.

At my parent's we baked the cake and I looked forward to eating it.

When it was done, I drove on.

I fetched some tools and tried to repair the car.

“Just my luck,” I groused.

When I was almost there, the car broke down again.

I grabbed my keys and started.

“Be there in a minute,” I said.

My mother called and reminded me of the cake.

It was a bright morning.

Writing exercise 077

Let's start the new month with a new writing exercise, shall we?
The weather is just beautiful; doesn't it make you want to go on holidays? But maybe this writing exercise will: it's a drabble on the topic 'journey'.
Here it is:

2017/06/01 – journey (Drabble)

On your way to a faraway place, what would you bring? Who would you take along? You see so many things. You might take a photograph, but the memory alone stays forever inside your heart – more colourful, more detailed, more charged with emotion.

So let us go towards that horizon, where the sky is blue and the land is free. Let us explore this wonderful world together, discover the places that no one has seen before. Let us leave some footprints in the sand and trailblaze a path into the heart of the deepest forests. And then return home safely.

Writing Exercise 076

Another busy week; but I still found the time to write a little something. The topic was "a day in summer" and with this poem I wish you such a day. Enjoy!

2017/05/26 – a day in summer (poem)

Roses, lilies, marigold

That's the story summer told

A butterfly flutters by

Up towards the clear blue sky

The black martins are singing

Good weather they are bringing

Over hill tops to a lake

Wanderer, which route to take?

Through long grass, under the trees

Listen to the birds and bees

Enjoy the day; it won't last

Autumn is approaching fast

Writing Exercise 075

Time sure flies by. This week my task is to restart an old project, and a dream reminded me of something back from 2014, which has not been published yet. So I revisited this very story and decided to continue it.

2017/05/15 – restart an old project (fanfiction, Naruto)

Read the first chapter of my fanfiction 'Peach Flower' on AO3: http://archiveofourown.org/works/10913244/chapters/24267126 

Writing Exercise 074

Guess what! It's time for my weekly writing exercise again. :D
This week I wrote a triple drabble; and today is a lovely day, so the topic is 'carpe diem'. Sounds fun?
Here it is:

 

2017/05/10 – carpe diem (triple drabble)

The morning is clear and bright. You feel energized to brimming and ready for action. There are so many things you want to do today. Go for a walk, go shopping, clean your home, meet your friends, call your family, complete the game you recently bought. Study and write, draw and read, set up a cupboard and do some gardening. But where to start? You want to do everything at once. If only you could clone yourself to accomplish that!

First you push the button and make yourself a nice cup of coffee; all decisions are reached faster enhanced by a cup of coffee, you believe. So where to start this lovely day? The weather is nice, but there are so many things to do at home, too. As you contemplate, a whole pot is emptied before you decide you have had enough. The afternoon is gone by the time you realize you have done nothing yet. How odd is that. You have had so many plans, yet you haven't started a single thing.

By now it is too late for shopping or going for a walk or gardening. Disappointed and disheartened you sit down and try to write or draw, but you can't force creativity. So the paper stays as blank as your mind, and you set the idea about creativity aside. The instructions tell you, you need some help to set up the cupboard, and you don't want to bother your friends and family so late. As you sit down to study you feel tired and find it hard to concentrate. So reading is not an option either. You remember why you stopped playing that game, as you are stuck, and you don't want to clean any more either.

Nobody said it was easy to seize the day.

Writing Exercise 073

This week's topic for my writing exercise was the question 'What did you dream last night?'. I waited for a memorable dream and wrote everything down in a hurry, so I didn't forget about it right away. What I made of it is this poem:

2017/05/05 – What did you dream last night? (poem)

Last night I had a nightmarish dream.

On my way to uni I went through the city,

Looking forward to the lecture I felt quite witty.

A lot of people were running about;

Suddenly I could hear frightened voices shout.

Amongst the panicked mob there was gunfire.

A civil war – my heart sank like a piece of lead;

I saw people tumble and fall, they were dead.

So getting out of there was my strongest desire.

But there was no going back; the road was blocked.

A sudden pain – the blood on my hands was hot,

I looked at the barrel of a gun and knew I was shot.

Realising I was dying I was quite shocked.

Then I woke with a silent scream.

Dembelo's discussions

As I've mentioned, I've been to the authors' bar camp at the Unperfekthaus in Essen last Saturday.

The Dembelo team, which I am part of, had a lot to set up before the event could start at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. The workshop room had to be prepared, the buffet had to be organised, posters and logos had to be hung up, the reception had to be set up as well as the exhibition desk. But we managed everything on time!

When finally a total of 42 participants, coming from all over Germany, had arrived, the authors' bar camp could oficially start. At first we introduced our project, then explained how the bar camp functioned and collected the topics the participants wanted to address.
These topics were summed up into six workshops, two of them held parallelly each throughout the bar camp.
These workshops were:

• The future of reading and writing
• Writing skills
• Cooperative writing
• Readings
• Selfpublishing
• What to do after the first draft

During my shifts I moderated two of these workshops, Cooperative writing and Readings. I was very excited, but it worked out pretty awesomely. Together with the participants some interesting and intensive discussions unfolded; the important points were noted on a flip chart, so the results could be presented at the plenum at the end of the authors' bar camp and before the midnight writing workshop began at half past eleven.

And in between the authors could hold readings, which were broadcasted via life stream.

So later, when only the participants of the midnight writing workshop were left, we moved to the shared appartment hotel of the Unperfekthaus to write all night.
Well, I wrote until half past three, then I was totally exhausted. At least I managed to write one and a half decent chapters for one of my WIPs.

But after retreating to the room I shared with my fellow Dembelo teammates I couldn't sleep at all. Not even for a few minutes! So many impressions kept me awake, and the appartment hotel was also pretty badly soundproofed.
So the next morning during brunch I felt like a zombie. But still it was a very successful weekend for the Dembelo team, and for me personally. I would totally do it again and am looking forward to next year's authors' bar camp! :D