Prompts

Create a vignette. Prompt #308

Many of us have vignettes, little stories of things that happened, that we could write about: Events or situations that enlightened, inspired, or changed us.  All are memorable and could be written. But why? Why should you write these stories?

“All humans understand and use story on an intuitive level. It’s our most effective teaching tool. It’s how we understand our world, ourselves and each other. It’s how we make and deepen our connections. It’s how we draw meaning from experience.”  — Deb Norton, “Story Structure, Simplified,” WritersDigest, February 2017

What if there was a recipe for this type of writing like there is for voodoo doughnuts?

“Learning when to throw the flour, proper handling of a rolling pin, the intricacies of an old fashion, the ‘flip,’ and countless other tricks of the trade were now in the hands, minds, and notebooks of  Cat Daddy and Tres.”  Voodoo Doughnut

Recipe for Writing Vignettes

Learning when to throw in anecdotes, proper handling of strong verbs, the intricacies of memory, the fear of exposure, and countless other tricks of the trade are in your hands and your creative mind. There are many resources to help shape your creation.

Click Memoir for recipes . . .  how-to ideas . . . for writing anecdotes. Now, get to creating!

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2 comments

  1. Ke11y

    The Space a Kiss Might Have Filled

    One day I’ll find an island, a think place. Go there with a mess of songs and do some thinking about the women, about the towns I left behind before Sausalito. What can I put into the empty space that a kiss might have otherwise filled? I ask myself this: am I talking about a brief moment in time or a lifetime missed for one brief moment?

    Older now, looking out over the waves, shallow, shouldered in linen, I can turn inland and not have to think anything about anything. But then, standing here, I remember how much I loved the sea when I was young; something about its aloneness, wildness, its hugeness, its mystery and how my life dwells on its shoreline, while my heart lives in its depths.

    What then, fills the empty space a kiss might have filled?

    The bravery of love, maybe. Knowing the night must first couple with the day, skin on skin, till eventually one fades from the other having first coupled with the hills above Sausalito, lain in its clefts, fallen down its back into the gully of want.

    For those who lie alone this night, a prayer, that whoever you are waiting for comes soon and brings along a pocketful of stars to scatter in your heavenly path. Don’t move from the hillside. Anyone who knows you, knows where you’ll be.

    Love continues to sedate me. I truly don’t want to wake anywhere else but in some space a kiss might have filled.

    1. mcullen Post author

      Beautiful, gorgeous writing, Kelly. I enjoy the dreamy quality of this writing. . . the “what if” aspect. I especially like, “What can I put into the empty space that a kiss might have otherwise filled?” and the last two paragraphs. . . “brings along a pocketful of stars to scatter,” and all the parts about the sea and the bravey of love and “For those who lie along this night” . . .

      Okay, I love all of it. Your writing has an ethereal quality, grounded in reality, sprinkled with magical writing that always moves me.

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