Averil Dean's Blog, page 21

Shiny People

This prompt is courtesy of our Alarna, and it’s a beauty:

Pick a quote by a favorite author and say something about it…The more personal and/or controversial the better.

Mine comes from Agatha Christie: “Very few of us are what we seem.”

It’s a simple line and self-evident, but it’s the main concept behind everything I write and much of what I think about. It’s the locked room again, this idea that the true essence of every human being is unknowable to every other—yet we struggle daily with the...

The Collective

A couple of people have suggested that we make up our own prompts for this space—and after reading a couple of ideas for April 30, online and in my Writer’s Book of Days, I have to agree that we can do better. So if you have a question you’d like to ask of the collective, or a prompt to get us writing, let’s have it. The more the better. I’ve got eleven more months of these dailies and need all the help I can get.

Or, you know, just tell me what’s going on in your world. Writing projects, rand...

Gap

Small deviation on the daily prompt business, which is starting to frustrate me. Today I switched to A Writer’s Book of Days for some more delicate and interesting ideas. These are not questions so much as writing generators, so we’ll see how it goes. For April 29, the prompt is:

This is how he (she) looked…

I’m going with the first person who comes to mind, a patient who was in our office yesterday. She works in a big-box store, which is how I imagine she lost a front tooth. Maybe something fe...

Grudge

Do you hold grudges or do you believe in forgive and forget?

I try to hold grudges. A grudge is necessary sometimes, even admirable, especially if you’ve been badly wronged. In fact, some of my favorite people are vengeful as gods—a loveable quality, I feel, and a sign of wisdom and vitality. But I tend to forget things inadvertently. I remember that I want to dislike the person and that there is a reason to do so. Sometimes I recall a vague outline of whatever they did to hurt me. But the ang...

Circles and Squares

You’re throwing a party — for you! Tell us all about the food, drink, events, and party favours you’ll have for your event of a lifetime. Use any theme you like — it’s *your* party!

Oh, it would be tiny. One round table, Spanish guitars, a lot of wine to keep us talking and a chef behind the scenes to keep us fed. Actually, I have a scene in Blackbird that describes the kind of meal I’d like:

They sat on the terrace beneath a flowering crabapple tree. Its blossoms drifted to the table, into the...

Cartoon Hearts

What was it that drew you to your significant other? Their blue eyes? Their ginger countenance? Their smile? Their voice?

I met my husband through an old-school dating service, where you’d go to an actual office and browse through a library of three-ring binders. Each person had a written profile and a picture, and a truly awful video should you be inspired to watch it. If you found someone you’d like to meet, you’d stop at the front desk to request an introduction.

One day I was on my way out...

Galoshes

If you could learn a trade — say carpentry, electrical work, roofing, landscaping, plumbing, flooring, drywall — you name it — what skill(s) would you love to have in your back pocket?

Hmm, interesting question, Sir Promptsalot. Pleasant mental images of me in leather apron or mechanic’s jumper, wielding a wrench or nail gun or sexy plumber’s crack (that’s ass cleavage to you, boys) and plunger, ready to play Ms. Fixit. I’d love to be able to repair my own car, or even understand how the damn...

Sting

Who did you idolize as a teenager? Did you go crazy for the Beatles? Ga-ga over Duran Duran? In love with Justin Bieber? Did you think Elvis was the livin’ end?

Small Expectations

We want you to ponder your best, and worst, expectations.

Okay, I’m pondering. There’s a lot of meat on the bone with this one, especially for a group of writers. Expectation is one of the tools of good storytelling—setting it up, knocking it back, dropping hints about what a reader may expect to find in later pages and then deciding whether they will or they won’t. Then there’s buyer expectation. What can a potential reader infer from the cover, or the publisher, or the author’s name, or the...

One Hand Clapping

How do you handle conflict? Boldly and directly? Or, do you prefer a more subtle approach.

I would like to say that I handle it boldly and directly, that I’m mature and articulate in my points of dispute, or the one at the front of the picket-line with a bullhorn and catchy slogan. Sadly, this is not the case. I usually handle conflict with silence.

I suppose silence is a cowardly modus operandi, but sometimes I think the other person only needs some space to hear herself, which she’s not going...