Razor's Edge : Taking a Vacation

I've been posting the Razor's Edge on Fridays for a few years. Or on most Fridays.

My original intent was to post the weekly prompts, keeping them fresh and incorporating music, video, photographs, and word prompts. I've made most Fridays, with a few missed deadlines or vacation absences.

I still support the idea of weekly writing prompts. But I also feel like the essence of "Razor's Edge" hasn't been met and I'm thinking about this.

I am on vacation this week and didn't get the weekly post put together before I left town.

And I've decided to give "Razor's Edge" a hiatus while I think how I want to proceed. I may bring it back with a new format, or I may do something different.

I will keep posting other things.

Oh, and NaNoWriMo is just around the corner, so you know you'll be reading about those adventures!

Razor's Edge:

It's the middle of the night. You heard a sound outside your window and, after lying in bed debating, you decide to take a look.

From a safe distance.

You pick up the flashlight from your bedside table, press it against your pajamas and click the on/off switch. It clicks. But no light. You return it to the table and walk on your tiptoes to the thick, nearly blackout level dark blue curtains. The sound seems to be gone but you think you hear whispering. Or the wind. Or maybe raccoons hissing at your cat. Or something.

A twig snaps. Too loud to be an animal, you think.

You stand as flat against the wall as you can and lift the edge of the curtain, waiting for your eyes to adjust.

You turn your head and look outside. And there, just feet from your house you see ....


(start the video below, go, write for as long as the music lasts - about 8 minutes)


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The Razor's Edge : Unexpected

This week you have another series of pictures to use. Pick one if it inspires you, or use the series of three and tell the story it, or they, brings to mind.

1. Look at the photos
2. start the sound video (it's ~10 minutes long)
3. and using the word prompt :  That morning, she noticed that something was different...
4. write until the rain stops.

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Razor's Edge : Neighborhood Found Prompt

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I'm returning cautiously to some event walking. Building up slowly and carefully, paying attention to my back and knee, pushing just a little for fitness sake and not pushing too much to set myself back again. And setting an attainable bar, not reaching for the sky with only a 6 foot ladder.

A few weeks ago I signed up to do a 5k walk, which is a part of a bigger event. I have a friend who is walking (or maybe she's jogging, or a combination, perhaps) the half marathon part of the event. She will start an hour before me and her time for a half marathon is now under 3 hours - yay! But that means I'll cross the finish line maybe 30 minutes before her. Maybe.

And that's okay.

So signing up for this event has kept walking more in my fitness routine than it had been. I am certainly not giving up on swimming; I need that; my body needs swimming; my mind need swimming. But I've been walking more than I had been and I've added distance. Which, obviously, means longer walks.

This week on one of my walks, I was in familiar territory, though I hadn't taken that particular route for a while. It's in an area I tend to drive through or around, but not much walking.

Walking an area brings out sights you don't see from a car. Again, obvious, I know. But I came across this delightful installation. And I thought it would might a nice prompt for this week.

Look at the picture.

What book would you put in the mailbox?

What book would might you discover there?

Or choose to write about the people who live in the house who installed this feature?

Or what book would you write to put into the mailbox?

Go. Write for 10 minutes.

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Razor's Edge: Where We Live

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Today's prompt is a series of pictures. Found prompts from a recent walk. An intriguing place which sparked the creative fire and I want to know more.

Tell me the story. Who lives here? Or who died here? The history?

If you'd like, start with this ...

That morning, as the sun fell across her face, she knew ...

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Razor's Edge : Memories

Today's Razor's Edge is a the following video of a performance piece, "Cassette Memories." I recently saw a performance here in Portland which was curated by Aki Onda, as a part of the T:BA:12 series.

Watch his performance and take the perspective of the performer or of a performance viewer. There are some interesting characters who pass by in this video.

Or perhaps your story is of an outsider, who stumbles on this performance and maybe the story isn't about the performance, but about the experience of watching those who are watching the performance. Or not watching but wander by and wonder.

Let yourself sink into the video and then write. For 8-10 minutes.

Go.

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Razor's Edge for 9/14/12

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Today's prompt starts with a video of a Contact Improvisation dance. Watch and listen to the dance and then read the prompt below the video.

And, go!




Prompt: Think about the people you've been closest to in your life. Make a list of the top five to seven. Look at the list and let an event come to mind with each of them. Which event feels strongest or evokes the most vivid images? Choose that one.

Tell me about this person. Start with the image which came first to mind and write. Write for 10 minutes.
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Razor's Edge : Water Movement

Water is important; we all know that. But this week water has been a particularly commanding presence in my life. It started with the discovery of a soaked bathroom rug in the middle of the night, which led to shutting off water to the entire house, and calling a plumber.

All this on the day the Literary Kitchen started another round of Wayward Writers. And we had a date with the youngest member of our family to go to the Pirate Festival. Oh! And Pirates = water. Yet another connection.

The plumber came and went last Saturday and we had a new cold water connection, a new sink drain, and were told we needed to call our insurance. Which we did. And we waited.

For returned calls.

Which came. With anxiety producing predictions of the process. With threats that the potential damage may not be covered. With trying to schedule visits from a disaster recovery contractor and an insurance adjuster and then another visit from the contractor's office. With more promised appointments and visits to be made, with the potential of another team of workers if the samples taken today turn out to contain asbestos or lead paint (our house is over 100 years old; the chances are good).

All this while trying to work. To write a story. To prepare to interpret a wedding on Saturday. To rearrange the interpreter line-up for PCS because one person had to back out for the season.

This momentum, this movement in a new direction while holding our own in the stream of our lives, started with a burst water pipe under the sink and behind a drawer.

Stepping on a soaking wet mat on the way to the toilet in the middle of the night.

Water. Important. And powerful.

So, for you, today's prompt is water related.

This is a relaxing and attractive video of a river. Turn it up so you can hear the water. When you feel yourself letting go a little, feel the edge of tautness slipping away, read the prompt and write.

Or, read the prompt first and then turn on the video. It's 10 minutes in length; the amount of time I'd like you to write.

PROMPT: 

I looked into her eyes and knew ....

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Razor's Edge for 8/31/12 : Sharing Space

Today's prompt is a video along with words. The words might be sentence starters, or the essence of a paragraph, or perhaps your writing takes you in a completely different direction. Don't feel compelled to use the exact words, though you can if you like.

The video is about 20 minutes long; it is pieces from a performance.

Watch the video for at least five minutes before you start writing. But I suggest waiting as long as you can to start unless you are pulled to start earlier.

Start by reading the word prompts. Then start the video. Write when you are ready. Write for about 10 minutes.

Go.


[1]  Before I forgot what I knew, I thought that ....


[2]  Her arms touching my arms felt like ...


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Razor's Edge for 8/24/12: Using a Lifeline

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This is Friday. The day for another writing prompt post. I love searching for them, creating them, sharing them. And today started, on barely six hours of sleep, with a visit to the dentist. My second visit to the dentist this week. Wednesday's visit was a regular cleaning, plus xrays and an exam by the dentist.

Uh - oh.

The hygienist had noticed a little decay at the edge of a crown. The dentist looked further and said I needed to replace the crown right away, so the decay didn't spread into the root, which would mean a root canal. And, right next to that tooth which needed the crown replacement, is another tooth which has been holding up fine but which needs a crown. It's had a chip for a little while due to a large old filling, but hasn't changed since the chip. But it's the neighbor to the do-it-now crown tooth.

I gave in. Fine. Do them both.

That was my morning.

And I didn't have my Razor's Edge for today done.

I'm not feeling too badly, thanks to Arnica and a tincture from my Naturopath. But I'm not up to my usual creative energy, either.

So, rather than skipping a week [no - I will not let the tooth demon stop me from posting!], I'm going to randomly select two prompts from "Wake Up Your Muse: 1001 Story Starters for Fiction Writers," by Jan Christiansen.

Oh, and look, I went to the website and they're having a giveaway of that very book. What a lucky piece of synchronicity. Now you, too, can get a copy of the book for yourself. And if you're not a winner, buy it. It's a handy book to carry with you.

Check it out here: Wake Up Your Muse . Comment there for a chance to win.

On with the prompts for today...

[1] The lullaby sounded hauntingly familiar and out of place.

[2] I don't believe in seas monsters, but it's only my third day into the cruise and this guy just might qualify.

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Razor's Edge for 8/17/12 : A Salty Place

Today's prompt is a place. One of my favorite places, for relaxation and rejuvenation, for contemplation, for walking.

The beach.

Imagine yourself walking onto the beach.

Feel the wind and the sun, the change in the air. Smell the salt and sun screen, water and rocks, humans mixing the carcasses of sea life scattered along the tide line. Hear the gulls chatter and scold, the delighted children and the crying children and the friends laughing. Hear the quietness, the presence of waves on sand on rocks in the air particles between breath and above the humans' heads.

Does being here excite you? Calm you? Frighten you? Or bore you.

Look at the ocean.

Find your first thought when I say, "Why are you here?"

Write.
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Razor's Edge for 8/10/12: from the word bag

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Today's prompts are words picked from my word bag. Actually it's a lovely orange envelope of words given to me by Ariel Gore in a writing workshop a few years ago. I still carry it with me, re-adhering it to the inside cover of the new journal as I fill one up and move to another. I still keep the orange envelope of words inside the bigger red envelope with an oversized jack rabbit picture pasted onto the front. I know the rabbit is oversized because it is a giant in comparison to the scene in which it was placed. And I added a picture on the front of the orange envelope; something I found in a magazine or on an art opening postcard, it inspires me.

The word bag idea, and the words themselves, come from another amazing and inspiring writer, Lynda Barry. They're from one of her books and she gives permission to copy and carry them with you. She has several versions of these handy inspirations, including a set of questions to copy and carry to help move you through the stuck places.

So, all in all, this is a very useful word bag to have with me. Words and inspiration passed down from author to author to author and so on.

So, write a story with the two words I will now pick from the magical writerly envelope. Well, what do you know, I pulled out three words. So here are your three words:

rope

ugly

monster

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Razor's Edge for 8/3/12: Place

Today's prompt is a location and backstory.

Your character is on walking off a recent conversation. She took the three-hour train trip to spend the weekend with her friend. But something wasn't quite right from the time she arrived. Her friend doesn't want to talk about it, but there is something going on which is distracting the friend.

Your character sets off to get some air and let the tension move through, rather than getting stuck in, her body. She has no idea where she's going; she's only been to this part of the city once before.

She turns the corner and finds herself in this lush, overgrown yard. A presence in the house seems to be pulling her closer ...


...Go... Write for 10 minutes!

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Razor's Edge for ... a day late: Say Yes

I realized earlier today that I'd missed posting my weekly writing prompt yesterday. I felt guilty, and a little embarrassed (see, I made this promise to myself and have an implied promise to you). Then I let those feelings drift on through and knew I'd go ahead and post the weekly Razor's Edge; just a day late.


This is a quick one.


But not necessarily easy just because I want you to do it quickly.


I'm going to give 2 options of how to do this one. I have the theoretical approach which I think will yield some fabulous ideas. And I know that I, at times, would balk or alter that same idealistic approach.


The prompt: What I'd like is for you to quickly think of 8-10 things you feel you can't (or shouldn't) do, can't have,  and so on. As each one comes to mind, don't write it down. Instead write down its opposite as a positive, "YES! I can/will do/get/have...".


My intent in not writing down the negative is to not give it any more power. Keep the power of the word on the positive; on the YES!


As an example, here is a short excerpt from Alexis Pauline Gumbs article, "Reclaiming Yes" at Utne Reader.  This is a group created poem and there is much more to it on the original posting; it's worth the click.

Reclaiming Yes  

YES!!! to acting on the impulse inside 

YES!!! to defining the erotic as strength  

YES!!!to claiming what we know deepest inside us as KNOWLEDGE 

YES!!! brilliance remastered means brilliance unchained visible everywhere NOW!


YES!!! to our deepest desires 

YES!!! to our power 

YES!!! to being love 

YES!!! to being me and not caring ...

The option: make a very quick list of the "can't"s and write out the positives. 


Write your positives quickly, too, but feel free  to expand and include more details.



Go!

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Razor's Edge for 7/20/12: Listening and Shadows

Today's prompt is a video and a sentence starter. As always, don't feel that you have to include the phrase, but you can, of course. It may spark a completely different direction or you may start writing towards it but never arrive; whatever you write is fine.

Of course.

This week, read the word prompt and then watch the video. You may feel drawn to write before the video is done, so go with it. This week is about listening to your writer voice inside. If you feel wrapped in the movement and/or music of the video and want to hold off putting words onto the space until it's done, that's fine, as well.

Listen in. Write. For 10 minutes.

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PROMPT:  Stepping back into my life I noticed . . .




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Razor's Edge for 7/13/12

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On Monday, in Radical Writing Advice, I talked about the impermanence of punctuation. I'm not saying there is not a place in writing for punctuation, but I am saying that there are options. There are creative ways to use punctuation and it can be another too we as writers use. For pacing. For tension. For emphasis. And more.

Today I'm continuing on that theme.

Today's Razor's Edge is a challenge. To play with punctuation. Don't worry, you can go back to your usual patterns, be it a graduate degree strict adherence to the rules or line editor preciseness, or rebel to the rules. But let's venture into prose without periods and commas and other textbook markers for a freewrite.

Oay, let's play with punctuation. I've put in a couple of samples below, taken from a short story I'm in the early stages of developing. If you're up for it, try writing without any punctuation, without capitalization. This is what I've done in the first sample below. Or try like I've done in the second sample below, using space to represent the stops and pauses which would usually be filled with punctuation.

After reading the samples, use the picture and the prompt to write. For 10 minutes.

*sample one*

the key card slid smoothly into and out of the slot on top oftthe faux gold security box on the door it was followed by a whir and then silence and the illumination of the central pinhole yellow light in the traffic light pattern on the box yellow damn i said though there was no one around i wouldnt have said it if there was someone nearby it would ruin my image i repositioned my bag on my shoulder as it was slipping toward my elbow and this had the markings of a longer than a quick dash to get into my room i might even have to make a trip to the front desk sigh all i wanted to do was slip into the room change out of this chimp on a rope uniform and crash the bottle of makers mark was calling me from the mini fridge and i could taste the reeds extra ginger brew which was the reason my bag kept sliding towards the floor shit another expletive without an audience ice

*sample two*

the key card slid smoothly into and out of the slot on top of the faux gold security box on the door    it was followed by a whir and then
silence
and the illumination of the central pinhole light in the traffic light pattern on the box      yellow

damn  i said though there was no one around     i would not have said it if there was someone nearby

it would ruin my image.

i repositioned my bag on my shoulder as it was slipping toward my elbow
and this had the markings of a longer than a quick dash to get into my room i might even have to make a trip to the front desk

sigh

all i wanted to do was slip into the room change out of this chimp on a rope uniform
and crash
the bottle of maker s mark was calling me from the mini fridge and      I could taste the reed s extra ginger brew which was the reason my bag kept sliding towards the floor

shit    another expletive without an audience

ice

 
PROMPTS:

As he approached the street corner I noticed . . .
 

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Razor's Edge : Sacrifice

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The past few weeks or so I've been thinking about the role of writing in my life. Or I've been thinking about myself as a writer and what I want that to look like. You may have noticed I've started a new weekly series "Radical Writing Advice," which came out of these contemplations.

Although I am wondering how "radical" I can keep things in this new set of posts. Isn't that the challenge, though, to keep it fresh and keep not only my energy moving, but to help others, as well. After all, I am a writer. So I'm writing. About writing.

In this process of writing about writing, and starting - again - to do some drawing with images instead of with words, a story is emerging. It started out as a snippet of some unknown larger context in the online Literary Kitchen Lit Star Training with Ariel Gore. I took that quick write and used it for a later assignment to expand a quick write and then that was the basis to build on for last week's story. And it's still not done. I don't know the character yet. The character has only revealed pieces of that life and I have some of the same questions as the other writers who have given me feedback on what I have so far.

The reason I'm telling you this is that writing about writing has oiled my writing joints and there is a story moving through me. I can't force it to be this way or that, or it hides away. And I find it interesting that I've been thinking about writing as my other career choice - which it is - and this new story I am following emerges. Writing my passion and drive and the thing I do when I'm not interpreting or sleeping or swimming. I've considered doing freelance writing as another income stream but I don't think that is for me. I like interpreting and I'm good at it and it's a part of me. So why not keep with the interpreting - which I know - and allow the writing to develop.

Books and articles and blogs and e-newsletters about freelancing are again crossing my field of vision. Questions are coming up about being a "professional" or being an "amateur" or being a "real" writer.

Earlier this week the book "The War of Art" came up in a blog which was about the author, Steven Pressfield, and his newest release, "Turning Pro." As I often do when interesting writing (or other) books are mentioned, I look them up. So I did with these, as well.

This week's Razor's Edge is based on the Amazon blurb for Pressfield's recent book. The title of the book is a little challenging in an "I dare you" kind of way; at least for me. The earlier book is intriguing, as well, and that one I did order in an electronic format. A book I will have with me anywhere I go since I can read it on my computer, my tablet, and even my Blackberry. I don't have many electronic books; I prefer paper, but this one? It felt right to get it electronically - it's the second electronic writing book I've purchased.

So this week, read the Amazon description of Pressfield's most recent book below. Once you're done reading, set a timer for 10 minutes and then use the prompts which follow the description and write. As always, feel free to post your writing or a section of it; or post a response. I'd love to heard how this affects you."

The Amazon description of "Turning Pro," by Steven Pressfield:

The follow-up to his bestseller The War of Art, Turning Pro navigates the passage from the amateur life to a professional practice.

"You don't need to take a course or buy a product. All you have to do is change your mind." --Steven Pressfield

TURNING PRO IS FREE, BUT IT'S NOT EASY. When we turn pro, we give up a life that we may have become extremely comfortable with. We give up a self that we have come to identify with and to call our own.

TURNING PRO IS FREE, BUT IT DEMANDS SACRIFICE. The passage from amateur to professional is often achieved via an interior odyssey whose trials are survived only at great cost, emotionally, psychologically and spiritually. We pass through a membrane when we turn pro. It's messy and it's scary. We tread in blood when we turn pro.

WHAT WE GET WHEN WE TURN PRO. What we get when we turn pro is we find our power. We find our will and our voice and we find our self-respect. We become who we always were but had, until then, been afraid to embrace and live out.

Now, set your timer for 10 minutes.

What is it you are afraid of giving up? What have you experienced to get where you are today, the familiar and perhaps the comfortable only because it's familiar?

If you were able to do the thing you desire, what would it be?

Where is your power? What do you need to embrace your power?

Tell me.
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Razor's Edge for 6/29/12

Today's Razor's Edge prompt is a character sketch.

Read her dexcription and then choose one of the photos below as the setting for her story.

Write for 10 minutes.


NAME: Freedom Malloy
AGE: early twenties
HAIR: Chestnut, for now; cut just below her shoulders
ENJOYS (partial list): reptiles, all things blue, tango dancing, her vintage institution green scooter, reading, being in high places
DISLIKES (parital list): fizzy water, all things pastel, miniatures, imitation foods, the smell of the overflowing sewer after a hard rain
TATOOS: dragonfly

Razor's Edge for 6/22/12

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Today's prompt is a video: Regina Spektor's "All the Rowboats." It's a music video - but my challenge to you is to turn your speakers off before you watch it. Watch the video all the way through and then write for 10 minutes.

What are you (or your character) about to fall into? Are you (or your character) running to something or running away? Or do you (or your character) feel trapped where you are?

Where are you?

Start with this:   All around me I could see ....

After you've written, go back and watch the video again, this time with sound. Did something different come to you with her music? Or does it deepen what you've already written?

Write for another 5 - 10 minutes. Add on to what you already put down, or start something new. Start with this:   And then I knew ... .



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Razor's Edge for 6/15/12

Today's prompt is taken from an article I just read in the July/August issue of Writer's Digest: "The Reluctant Risk-Taker's Guide to Filling the Creative Well." The author, Elizabeth Sims, writes that, "Great writing begins with an appetite for life." She then goes on to offer ways to challenge yourself - as a writer, as a person in the world.

Her first suggestion is to "Know thyself." Do this exercise... And then I encourage you to read the rest of her article. It's inspirational and a welcome change from the list of how-to-be-a-writer rules - a chance to open up and look for opportunity. Allow yourself to fall into this exercise.

I'm going to shorten the times of this writing. Sims asks the writer to spend an hour on two questions. In the tradition of Razor's Edge, I'm going to shorten it to 10 minutes for each question. But feel free to spend an hour on them if you are so inspired!

First: List your fears. What do they feel like? These may be anything from a spider on your windowsill to losing your job to speaking in front of people. Big or small, list your fears and the accompanying feelings.

Second: on a new page, Write about your wild side. What does she look like? Sims suggests looking to your childhood self if you're unsure of your wild side. Then Sims says to think about your wild side and see "Is it happy, or is it listless and neglected? Listen to it. What is it asking for?"

Now: look at the two lists. Which makes you feel better?

Sims says: "Remember: Fears are only thoughts, but the world is thrillingly real."

...and read the rest of her article as soon as you can, especially if you believe as she does that "Taking the safe path won't always cut it."...