Mini assignment - describe the sun

Based on assignment five, this mini-assignment, only asks you to describe the sun.
How would you describe the sun to someone who never knew one?
The sun -heat -light -essential for plant growth -think of a dark dungeon vs. a nice sunny room -think about looking up to the sun with your eyes closed on a chilly day to feel the sun's warm rays -think of prisms or the light in the mist of a waterfall -think of the dappled light on a forest path -think of the green glow of the sun in spring tree leaves -think about a warm rock -think about a blacktop parking lot to hot to walk barefoot on -think of skin cancer -think of a rainbow -think of color and the light spectrum -think of global warming -think of the age of the sun, it only being a medium sized younger star

Think of the sun and write a brief description of what you would say.

no due date.
simply post your description as a comment to this post.

Assignment Five - Sunrise tears

The setting for this assignment comes to me from a recent movie I saw, the new Tron movie in Imax 3d, talk about eye candy--wow! The story could have used some work, however, but I was mostly motivated to go watch the movies because it was the Holidays and because I loved the first one back in the 80's when I was a kid. At the end of the movie (and I won't spoil anything for anybody - no worries - well maybe a little) the computer program leaves the Grid with Flynn's son (Flynn was the first movie's main character that went to the Grid). The computer program having heard so much about the real world from Flynn and the books that he provided for her to read wanted Flynn's son to describe the sun to her, and so at the end of the movie he is driving the computer program on his motorcycle toward the beach around San Francisco or someplace similar and the sun is coming up and there is the moment when she sees the sun for the very first time ever -

and it got me thinking.

There are always those moments when someone escapes some adversity and beholds the sun rising; the person could be escaping a Jewish concentration camp or like in the movie, The Shawshank Redemption, when he is working on a boat at the end. It could also be something else more common, like seeing the sunrise at a camping trip and being filled with an amazing sense of awe at the beauty of the world. The list goes on.

Write a short story ranging from 400 to 600 words long (or however long you want to make it) about a person that looks at a sunrise and is overcome with a sense of joy and appreciation for life and a tear rolls down his/her cheek.

click here to post your writing

Due date January Sunday 23.

Assignment Four- writing together on a common picture

For this one, we'll all write a story about the same random picture.  Trying to choose between the three highlighted characters, write a short fiction story about how they got to that point in the picture.  If you're moved to write about another character, go ahead.  No other guidelines on this first attempt. 

Click here for the picture for assignment four.  

Due December 3rd.

Assignment three: Beach moments

So far, the writing prompts have been general in nature; this time however, I am giving you the beginning of a story. Take it and run! Make it yours, and see where it takes you.

----

The sun sets. I pant, bent over propped on my knees. My back heaves up. Down. Up. Down. I rise, straighten my back and take in the last rays in the cloud-splotched sky. I turn; I know in my stomach that I have not gotten away. I have to keep on going. But I feel I can’t go on anymore; I want to die.

I give in for a moment, close my eyes. The sand beneath my toes is the only good thing in the entire universe right now. If only I could be a grain of sand, any grain of sand, a grain of sand touched by the setting sun everyday, turned golden and warm for a moment.

Did I hear a twig crack? Why can't I have some rest?

I turn, gasp, my instincts engage...

----

Due Nov 15.

Click here to post your writing.

Mini Assignment: describing place

"White chickens, red wheelbarrow, the plums that were in the ice box, so sweet so cold." William Carlos Williams

Such imagery with so little effort.
Think about a place, could be where you are now, could be imaginary, could be someplace you want to go/be, or could be someplace you've gone to.

Now see if you can capture it in a similar way, short and sweet, like William Carlos Williams

Here is another blog that talks about describing place--I haven't checked it out fully yet, but from my fleeting first glance, it looks like it could be an interesting resource.

http://www.writeshop.com/blog/
http://www.writeshop.com/blog/2010/02/23/choosing-vocabulary-to-describe-a-place/

Assignment two: a résumé for you and stuck in an elevator

It is not a challenge of thinking of something, of coming up with the next assignment... the hard part is deciding what not to pick. So many possibilities end up making this a process of elimination, more akin to chipping away at stone or wood to reveal the sculpture within.

So I have TWO assignment for our second assignment!
And the first isn't even "due" yet! I am just so antsy to keep writing; aren't you?

So here they are:

• Construct a one page (front only) résumé for an imaginary employer who wants to take note of all the things you wish employers did value. Construct inventive and creative headings, titles, categories, etc. This résumé is for YOU. Instead of trying to anticipate what someone else might want... figure out what you want - what you value in yourself - and write about it.
• Next, write a story (was 1,000 words too long? not long enough? You can break all the rules in this creative writing class, you know, as long as we remain respectful to one another) in which you are trapped in an elevator with one(?) other person [maybe two other people?] ---well dang, I think I could craft an entire creative writing semester with variations on elevator entrapment scenarios--- I will just leave it open... since I cannot make up my mind. You are trapped in an elevator. Make it boring and about nothing, like real life. Make it stressful, like real life. Make it funny, like real life. Make it a scene in an adventure novel, maybe Jane Bond instead of James, less like real life. Whatever. Just be creative, right?

Hope everyone is having fun. I am.
Due date, let's say November 6th.

Click here to post your writing.

Assignment one: a difficult loud silence

I am giddy with hope and worry. This is the first, but how many will there be - I hope many more to come.

SO - if you have any good ideas on ways to organize, structure or coordinate this via blog, then please do not hesitate to offer me your ideas. Some might be reflective. Some might be short stories, some longer stories, some could be poetry, some might be fantastical, fictionalized history, biographical, autobiographical, about your environment... etc. I will try and organize them as best I can... but for now, I have no clue.

I am guessing it will just have to evolve. Because I have no idea how it should be... maybe that is the way God felt in the beginning... that is if there is one.

For the assignments themselves, sometimes I will suggest a page length. Sometime I will leave it open. Sometimes I will suggest a style or from a certain point of view... etc. If you want to deviate, I am excited to support your creativity, but sometimes writing along certain guidelines might foster better discussion if we have writing that is comparable. This may not hold true always, but sometimes, and for now, I have no way of knowing when those times occur or look like, etc.

But onto writing:

In about 1000 words, write a story about a loud silence that is difficult.

Hope that is specific enough and open enough.

Due Date: October 25

Click here to post your writing