prompts and practices

today before work at the comic shop i decided that i would do a writing excerise out of a book i haven't looked at in awhile. it's called prompts and practices by judy reeves. it's a cool book with a calendar for all 366 days out of the year. and with each day there is a little idea about what to write about for that day. it doesen't say how or what you should write. whether it's a poem, short story or prose. it just gives an idea and lets you run with it however you want. i really enjoy this book and it has some great ideas. for whatever reason i haven't looked at it recently so i thought i would open it again and see what today's prompt was. today's prompt was: it was a summer of blue-black nights. so i wrote this as my practice:


Kari sat on the front porch looking out into the world. Her chair was an old rickety thing that her grandfather had made when he first moved out west. Every time she rocked on the chair it creaked with a groaning of days long past. Even though her mother yelled at her not to sit in the chair, for she was scarred that the chair would break, the old chair was Kari’s favorite in the whole house. While rocking in the old chair Kari looked out into the wide open prairie of the west. Her family owned all the land around her to the point that she couldn’t see another house close to her. The closest person was 80 miles away in any direction. Kari liked it that way. It was like the land around her was her own personal ocean of green prairie and blue sky. Night time was her favorite time to site in the chair and look out into the world. The night was lit up with the stars and the prairie had a glow about it from the stars also. The world seemed so peaceful those nights. Tonight the sky was darkened. She couldn’t see the stars that well and the moon wasn’t shining like it normally did.
Kari heard the back door to the house slam and heard the old Chevy coaxed into being driven away. She ignored, for a moment, the silent sobs she heard from inside the house from her mother. All Kari could think about was that the sky wasn’t as beautiful as it normally is. Kari stood up and sighed. She opened the front door and walked into the house to help her mom with whatever she needed.


i must advise that i've just written this and it has had really no editing. but this is what came to my head when i read the prompt. there is a little symbolism with the sky not being as beautiful as it normally is with her family not working out as it should, but nothing too heavy handed i think. i like the short story i wrote and maybe one day i'll came back to it and expand on it. but for now i like it as it is.

critics

so i was looking at my book of quotes i have. it's a spiral that i have that when i find a quote i like i write it down (i'm on my second one now). and i came across this quote that goes perfectly with what i was saying about critics and symbolism.

"a critic can only review the book he has read, not the one which the writer wrote." - mignon mclaughlin.

33 does not always equal jesus.

so i thought i would elaberate on why i don't like symbolism. my buddy rhode explained it best.
"You know, it's not that symbolism is bullshit, it's just that it should actually deal with the action of the story. I think where symbolism becomes tedious and stupid is when it's not so much symbolic of what's physically happening to the characters but rather is just heavy imagery that invokes some kind of tone or mood that was already implied by what was happening. So yeah, fucking use symbolism, just make sure it adds to the action of the story, not just the "way the story feels."" he posted that on my facebook. and i agree with his statement. what bothers me is when critics and teachers teach a book's meaning when the author has never said one way or another. when an author has a character die and aged that same chacter 33. so the critic would say that the author was paralling jesus' life with that character. and if the author has never come out and said that how does the critic know? they don't. they are assuming. and i hate assumtions. 'assuming makes an ass out of you and me.'

so that's why it's such a big deal to me that i'm using symbolism. for i'm using it the way i hate it. but i'm going to use the colors as part of the action of the story also. if that makes sence. colors can be part of action. so yeah. i hope that explains it better why i don't like symbolism. though i am explaining that i'm using those things for the symbol. so yes critics you can say that now. i give you permission.

day one

so this is my first post for my new fiction story i'm writing. so far i've decided to call the story different days. i'll have to wait and see if that stays or not. the story is about a girl who goes through life and in the end kills herself. the point is that i want to show that suicide is out there and that many people die from it. most stories i've come across that have suicide tend to have the character live. well i'm not having that. people die.

so far i have the death scene and the beginning of the first chapter. i am using some symbolism. which i'm a huge person against. why does there have to be symbolism in everything? there isn't. sometimes i just want it to rain, not because the characters are sad am i having it rain (the great gatsby). but i'm using two colors for the meaning behind it. green (midori) for the meaning of eternal life, youth, and misforutne. and blue for the meaning puirty, feminity, life, stability, and depression. also i'm naming the main character sarah. sara from the bible stood for beauty, was blessed and she was the princess of the tribe.

well that's all for now. for this journal i will not be caring about spelling and whatnot. that's for my story. if you have any thoughts or cares, feel free to share. by for now.