Wednesday 17 April 2013

Ocean


It's the middle of the week: that bittersweet halfway mark, though Friday is still too far away. 

Let me cheer you up with this beautiful photo for today's writing warm-up as part of my A to Z Blogging Challenge

O is for Ocean.


1. Write about someone sitting on the sand, gazing at the water. What's on their mind? Why do they come here specifically? Describe the scene before them: are there dog walkers? People jogging by, looking disgustingly healthy and content with their lives? Does someone come along and interrupt their thoughts? Is it someone they know or a complete stranger (and a pesky one at that)? Scribble down your thoughts and see where it takes you.

2. Sketch a mind-map using the key word as the nucleus, then branch out in whatever direction you please. You might find yourself going in completely unrelated paths (which I personally prefer). Do a five-minute freewrite incorporating as many (or few) branch words as you like. Here is my mind map (created using the SimpleMind app on my phone).


3. Choose one of the following sentence starts and freewrite for a few minutes, letting the words tumble out without a second thought:

  • My heart stopped when I saw it floating...
  • I would sit there and imagine him coming back to me, coming right back out of the water...
  • I woke with the tide coming in...


I find it best not to read my freewrites for at least a few days. Why not stuff them in a drawer and surprise yourself? It's blatant evidence that our minds work in mysterious ways. Plus, I defy you not to find an array of story seeds amongst your work.

Do you have any writing warm-ups you'd like to share?

Take care,
Catherine x

Note: All photo prompts in the A to Z Challenge 2013 are my own. Feel free to use/copy/share to your hearts content. Help yourself. :)  




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5 comments:

Unknown said...

You have so many wonderful ideas! Thank you for sharing them.

Anne Mackle said...

Where do you get these ideas? Very clever.

Unknown said...

Funnily enough, I don't think I've ever written about the beach, even though I love going there. I do somehow seem to have sailboats crop up in a lot of my stories, even though I know NOTHING about sailing.

Rinelle Grey

Unknown said...

oh my goodness, this is so beautiful! I love it! Looks like you had a great time :)
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Unknown said...

These photos are gorgeous. I have to admit, I'm really not excited about heading back to the Pacific Northwest in three weeks... how could I be, when right now I'm in Paris? But every once in a while I stumble upon something that makes me think, "Hey, this might not be so bad, after all." And this post definitely falls into that category. Thank-you :)Surf Photography Posters

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