Writer's block unfortunately happens to all of us writers at some point; I was originally going to write on another topic, but I got
a little stuck and decided to scrap it for later. Then I needed to figure out another topic to
write instead, so I searched through various writing prompts for something that
stood out to me as being interesting and fun to try. Finally, on http://creativewritingprompts.com,
I found prompt number 75:
Flip through a magazine and create a story around the first image you see.
I didn’t have a magazine handy, so I headed on over to
Flickr, moused over Explore, and from the drop-down menu I clicked Galleries (each time you do this, you’re shown a new picture so if you'd like to try this prompt, you likely won't get the same picture).
This is the picture I got:
She walked through her garden as best she could; these days arthritis made it difficult for her to attempt even the simplest of tasks, but she wholeheartedly refused to let it keep her from her garden. It was her sanctuary, the place she came to remember her first date with George, who had later become her husband and, eventually, the father of her three children. In her garden, George was still alive and she was still a young and slender 18 year old woman in a long white dress slowly walking up the aisle of a little country church. She was the frightened young woman in a hospital bed clinging tightly to George's hand as their first child, a girl, made her grand entrance into the world. She was even the anxious mother sitting in the waiting room clinging tightly to George's hand as that same daughter transformed her into a doting grandmother. She had many happy memories of her life, most of them taking place with George at her side, and she relived each one here among her collection of various flowers and plants every day, even the day she closed her eyes to follow George into Heaven. She pruned her favorite rose bush, the same roses she'd carried in her bouquet all those years ago, and tenderly held some to her nose and inhaled their sweet aroma. Her knees bothered her particularly badly that day, so she shuffled over to the little bench she had placed near the roses only a few months earlier. She sat cradling the pruned roses in her hand; a single tear rolled down her wrinkled and careworn face and dropped softly onto the petals as she whispered his name, the last thing that would ever pass through her lips. She closed her eyes as her broken heart stopped beating, her breath leaving in a soft exhale, and she was whole once more.
Not a particularly "geeky" piece of writing, but I am a full-fledged writing geek. I love writing and learning new words and creating pictures through writing, and I like that I get to share this talent with all of you. If you've always wanted to try your hand at writing or maybe haven't written in a while and would like to jump back in, writing prompts are the best way to start if you're drawing a blank or are unsure of where to start. Using prompts allows you to write freely and discover your own personal writing style. I'd like to challenge all of our readers to try out this prompt and share your creations in the comments down below. I look forward to seeing what you guys create!
~ Capt. Shinypants
