A picture is worth 1000 words.

I'm sure you've heard it said that a picture is worth 1,000 words. Do you believe it? Today's warm-up exercise is going to test that.

I'm not an artist, trust me, I've tried. To make up for my shortcoming in that area, I try to make my words come alive when I write. Generally my writing is a lot more description than anything else. That won't work with every story, and it can turn even the best story into a boring chore for the reader if used too often. Description is one of the key points to fiction though, and to create an image in the mind of the reader, you need some descriptive imagery. With that, here's the next "Warm-up" exercise.

My challenge, as you've probably guessed by now, is to find a picture and describe it in writing.

The number of words is up to you, for a challenge, aim at exactly 1,000 words. You can chose any picture you want, from a masterpiece painting to a picture of a rose. Once you have a picture, and you feel ready to start writing, decide what you're going to write about. Are you going to challenge the picture, and write a 1,000 word description? Are you going to prove that words are better than a picture by describing the smells, and sounds in the picture? The true test is showing somebody a handful of pictures, and seeing if they can identify which one you wrote about. This is a personal challenge, so you don't win any extra brownie points if you cheat, and give somebody 30 pictures of birds, and the one picture of a castle is the one you wrote about.

You might want to stretch this one out for a few days, if you feel uncomfortable with writing 1,000 words as a simple warm-up. Once again, feel free to post your work in the comments for other people to read. You can also add a link to the picture you used (Or a list of pictures). In my next post I'll show you my example.

Until next time, keep writing, and have fun!

Thriller: Lollipops and Rainbows

The Weapon of Clowns

Walking home after work. I hate the late shift, alone on the streets at midnight. I always think I hear footsteps behind me. I joke about it, telling my friends it's not paranoia when you're alone at midnight. After the day I've had, I wish I had the money to take a cab home. The police tape is still up from this morning. I still can't believe it was only 9 hours ago...

I was on my way to work when I heard a scream. Being the nice guy I am, I ran into the alley to see if I could help. I was confronted with the view of a clown walking towards a young woman. He was holding a huge blue lollipop. You know the kind, they're as big as your head, takes a week to eat the thing. It was the lollipop that got my attention first, the sun was reflecting off it in a weird way.

I noticed the clown next. He was huge, 6 feet tall and wide. He was wearing the usual polka-dot dress and colorful wig. At least I think it was a wig. I'm not so sure anymore.

Going back to the scream, I know some people are scared of clowns. I've never understood why, but I thought that was the cause of her scream. I stepped forward, about to tell the clown to back off when he swung the lollipop at her. It was the strangest thing I have ever seen, and all I could do was stand there while he swung it again and again.

I finally regained my senses and ran towards them. At first I didn't notice that the girl had fallen. It wasn't until the clown turned around that I got a glimpse of her, laying on a pile of garbage bags.

The clown looked at me, and snarled. He was still holding his lollipop, but the blue color was gone, it was pure red. He pushing past me and took off down the street. I'll never forget that face. It was the first time a clown looked evil. I don't know what it was, the red tears painted on his white face, or the way the smile was painted. All I know is that something made it look sinister.

I ran over to the girl, and immediately saw that she was in trouble. She had cuts all over, and was bleeding everywhere. I ran back to the street and yelled for help, while taking out my cell phone to call 911. Off in the distance I heard the music of an ice-cream truck.

It didn't take long for people to run over and try to help. It was in vain, she didn't make it. The police questioned me, but I couldn't give them any new information. They explained that the clown has been loose for a week, killing people in broad daylight with a strange weapon. It was a metal disc, sharpened to the point of a knife. It was painted to look like a lollipop, and given a strong handle. Other than that, the police didn't know anything about this crazed circus killer. They thanked me for my time, and gave me a note for work. I felt foolish asking for a note, but my boss is like that. If I'm late, nothing short of death will make up for it, and there's no way he would have believed my story without proof.

Such a bad day, but like they say, when you hit rock bottom, the only direction to go is up. I can't resist looking down the alley as I pass it. Just stick my head over the yellow tape. It's too dark to see anything, but I wonder if I will ever be able to walk past it without seeing that face. It's quiet, the distant sound of cars from a few streets down. The usual music is coming from the noisy neighbors again. I can't help but think how lucky I am, not to live beside that guy. Always blasting rock music this time of night.

I'm at the halfway marker, the flickering streetlight. I've been walking this way for a year now. Not always at night, but when it's dark I've noticed that the same light has been flickering like that. I wonder if they will ever get it fixed. There's something a bit odd tonight, but I can't place it. Everything feels the same, but there's out of place.

I'm almost home, and I finally figured out what it is. I can hear an ice-cream truck. That's strange, at this time of day. Suddenly it hits me, and I remember the music from earlier today.

I run home, and as I put the key in the lock the strong smell of paint overwhelms me. I turn around, and there he is!

"I knew I'd find you"

End

I hope you enjoyed the second story in my "Lollipops and Rainbows" series. This one was again done fairly quickly. I hope you will forgive the errors that I left in it, they might distract from the story, but I wrote this piece as an example of "Warm-up" writing. I hope it shows the difference between a serious piece of work, and the liberties you can take with your warm-ups. If I'm looking through old warm-up exercises, and this piece inspires me to write a longer, detailed story, I can worry about the editing then.

I am not saying that I'm a lazy writer, or that editing is not important. I am trying to show that when you sit down, and start on a small piece to get yourself going, you can start with something raw and creative, and work up to a serious level.

You might have noticed that I didn't mention rainbows at all in this story. I did mention the colorful clothing and hair of the clown. I'll let you be the judge, if that's enough to qualify. It's now easy to insert the word "rainbow", to describe the clothing and hair. If you are writing for a specific theme, and have sent the editor some questions, you can start writing before you get a reply. It will usually take some time before you get a reply, and you don't want to miss a deadline while waiting. Just make sure your story fits the general theme, and there's enough room to change things around once you get a response.

A final tip. Do not try to force a theme, or squeeze a story you've already written into a new theme. You might think it works, and every now and then it does, but editors know what they're looking for, and can easily spot that kind of thing. If you don't have anything that fits the theme, do something new.

That's it for now. I think I've covered "Lollipops and Rainbows", and I don't want to go too far with it, so my next post will probably be a new "Warm-up" exercise for you to try.

Thanks for stopping by. Until next time, keep writing, and have fun!

Mystery: Lollipops and Rainbows

The Case of the Candy Killer

"You all know why you're here." Adam said to the assembled officers. "There's been another murder. The same M.O. as the serial killer the newspapers dubbed 'The Candy Killer'."

"That's impossible!" One of the officers shouted. "He's been in jail for the past week."

"It's not only possible, it's true." Adam replied. "As you can see, this is a nightmare for our department. Either we arrested the wrong person, or there's a copycat killer out there who knows more about the real killer than we do. We've called in a professional for this one, he's waiting for us at the crime scene. David and John, come with me. I want the rest of you to find out if there's any talk on the streets about this. Discretely!"

With that, the crowd broke up, heading toward the exits. "One final note!" Adam shouted at the departing officers. "Until we know more, I want the press out of this at all costs."

Two black VW Bugs pulled up in front of the run down house, beside the red minivan parked carelessly on the street with one tire on the curb. Adam pulled his large frame out of the cramped front seat of the first car while David and John jumped from the second.

"I wish the department had a better selection of unmarked cars." John remarked as he finished extracting himself from the vehicle. "I feel like a clown riding around in these sardine cans."

"You're not made for undercover work." John replied, laughing. "You can be spotted from a mile away."

"Enough with the jokes." Adam said. "I'd like to introduce you to our expert. Boys, meet Shirley." Adam looked around for a moment, finally spotting Shirley on the front lawn, crawling on her hands and knees. Adam cleared his throat and tried again. "Ahem, I'd like you boys to meet our expert, Shirley."

"I heard you the first time." Came the reply from the crawling figure. "Did you even bother looking outside the house before calling me?"

"Of course we did." Adam replied, insulted. "I told you we processed the crime scene and couldn't find any new clues. There was a rainbow colored lollipop beside the body. We dusted for prints and got nothing. We went over the front and back lawn, driveway, and garage without finding any evidence.

"Obviously you didn't look close enough" Shirley said. "I've been here for less than 30 minutes and I can already tell you who did it."

"What! Are you telling me that you know who is responsible for killing Mr. Corke?"

"I don't know their name, but yes. I can tell you exactly who you're looking for. Your men carelessly trampled the grass, so it was difficult to find the footprints I knew would be here. There was a light rain last night, once I found them, the marks left by the killer were easy to tell apart from the prints your men left. The actual prints are the same, leading me to believe that they were made by the same regulation boot all your officers wear."

"Are you telling me it's one of our own? That's ridiculous!"

"Is it? There are also marks at the edge of the driveway that match the tire treads of your 'sardine cans'. You yourself told me that the killer knows information about the case that the media didn't report. It's quite obvious."

"You said you know who it is. I can't question everybody in the entire police department."

"And I do. The footprints left by the killer show that they have a slight limp. There are a few other things that might help you narrow it down. It's a male, and the print is fairly small. There can't be too many officers who wear that boot size. He smokes, and was recently promoted or given a raise."

"How can you know that?"

"I found a number of cigarette butts, the older ones were a cheap generic brand, but the butts from the past few days are an expensive name brand. With an expensive habit like that, a change in brand often shows a change in personal finance. The killer obviously had past relations with Mr. Corke, the prints and tire markings go back a few months. He used an unmarked car, so I doubt the relationship was professional. I'm sure you'll find the officer responsible without too much difficulty."

"I already know who it is, I'm just shocked that you solved it so quickly."

"All it takes is observation. If your men had taken the time to look, they would have seen the same things as I did, and my services here would not have been needed. I hope you remember that for the future, Adam."

End

I hope you enjoyed the first story in my "lollipop and rainbow" series. It's short, and I used the theme, but I didn't let the theme dictate where I wanted the story to go.

As this is just a warm-up exercise, I didn't spend too much time on it. I kept descriptions basic, and tried to let conversation run the story. It could use some editing, and that's your choice when you do a warm-up. You can use it to get the creativity started. You can use it to help get yourself ready for things like grammar and punctuation.

Come back soon, I'll have another example for the "Lollipops and Rainbows" theme. Until then, keep writing and have fun!

Warm Up: Lollipops and Rainbows

Inspiration...

It can make or break a writer. There is a lot of controversy over inspired writing, and my 2 cents on the topic is that you can't be a slave to inspiration.

Great books have come from inspiration, but you can't wait for it to come.

When it comes to talking about inspiration, my favorite topic is "Lollipops and Rainbows". Inspiration might not come as a whole story, or even part of a story. It could come from two words, and a unique relationship between them. I enjoy using Lollipops and Rainbows because at first, it looks like a story for children.

My challenge for you today, is to write a short story, or summary, using "Lollipops and Rainbows". The only condition is that it can't be a children's story.

If you want some last minute suggestions, think about genre. A mystery story could be based on a serial killer who leaves a rainbow colored lollipop at every murder scene. Horror: a creepy pedophile who drives around in a rainbow painted van, handing out lollipops to children.

Getting an idea yet? What about romance, two strippers named "Rainbow" and "Lollipop" who meet each other, and realize that their lives were empty up to that point. Together they change their lives, working through hardships and the painful past they both try to hide.

You can get silly if you want, it's just a warm up exercise. It's meant to get you in the mood, kick start your mind, and above all else, have fun with it.

How about a Western story, with a lollipop sucking cowboy riding into town on his trusty stead, Rainbow. Sci-fi/fantasy have a lot of options. The last rainbow in a war torn post apocalypse world. Where does the lollipop come in? You tell me!

Once you can see that you're in a box, it's much easier to think on the outside, and come up with something original.

Feel free to leave your story in the comments for others to enjoy, keep it in your archives in case it inspires you later, or write it and leave it. You might want to think about keeping a separate notebook or folder for warm up exercises. It's a great way to see how far you've come, and you never know what might come out them in the future.

I will post a few of my "Lollipops and Rainbows" stories in the next few days. Until next time, keep writing, and have fun!

A Humble Return

I'm back, and this time I'll keep up with posting new, helpful, and hopefully entertaining entries.

I realized that I stopped writing for my blog when it was more of a chore than fun. I had a number of saved posts that I didn't get around to uploading because it meant I would have to write more of them.

This time I'll try to keep my posts simple, and fun to write. I won't have as many tips as I had originally hoped, but I'll share them when I see a good one, or get inspired to address a specific topic. If you are looking for a looking for some writing tips, I highly recommend "On Writing" by Stephen King. Many well known authors have written a book of writing tips, and I have found this one to be among the best.

What I will try to write instead are "warm up" exercises for you to try, with examples of what I've done, and small samples of some of my current works.

I look forward to the journey this blog will take us on, and I hope you enjoy it!