A Writers Tale

Day 12 Take the first line of your favorite novel. Remove and replace the nouns and verbs, and write a story that begins with your new line. Delete the first line. "The alchemist picked up a book that someone in the caravan had bought. " The alchemist traced his fingers over a book that someone in the caravan had hidden under the supplies. How foolish of that young traveller, the alchemist thought; to hide such valuable books in obscure places and assume nobody would find them... Or did the alchemist have it wrong? Maybe this is exactly what was meant to happen... The soul of the universe communicates in such ineffable ways, and the alchemist was more than aware of the nature of existence. The leather bound cover was in amazing condition, the gold laced over the cover conveyed an intricate pattern and symbols completely unbeknownst to the alchemist… A feeling of familiarity washed over him as he traced the cover, he recognised these symbols but he couldn't re...

Day 3 Now send your character to his or her grumpy grandmother's house for a visit. Write the scene of your character's arrival. Sana glanced out of the car window at the blurred forestry on her way to Granny Dot’s home that afternoon. Family duty was one of the most tedious lifestyle necessities in her opinion, but yet here she was, on her way to her demented grandmothers home like a good little red-riding hood. She didn’t very much like people, granny was no exception to that  rule . All humans were pretty much the same from Sana’s point of view, we all bleed, shit, cry and we’re all so darn needy. The last time Sana had seen her grandmother, she had been force fed tea cakes and jammy dodgers by the thousands, she had been made to sit on the old net curtain style sofa chair, sipping at a china cat mug of tea and feigning interest at Granny’s absolute shock that her good friend Dorris had fallen down the stairs and broke her fragile little old lady hips, resulting in 5 we...

Day 2 Think of three people in your life. Give your character the hair and laugh of person 1, the face and bedroom of person 2, and the wardrobe and mannerisms of person 3. This is your new protagonist. Feel free to give him or her any other characteristics you'd like. Give us an idea of who your character is by describing only the first 60 seconds of the character's day. Sana spent the first 10 minutes of her morning fading in and out of consciousness. Restlessly repositioning herself in search of comfort. She spent a further 10 minutes with her eyes closed, contemplating her steps to get out of bed. As this was the ultimate chore for her. When she finally opened her eyes she realised she was lying on her bed upside down… She had always been the fidgety type, never being able to stay comfortable in one place for too long, this was no exception in her sleep. Sana had once woken up, her head on the floor with her body draped from the bed like a sock on a washing...