[CAUTION LOCKWOOD VILLA SPOILER]
Alice Kuipers’ writing prompt:
This week we’re going to do a freewriting exercise. Freewriting is a great way to loosen up the binds of ‘performance anxiety’ that a blank page can make you feel. And freewriting is an excellent way to fuel your imagination – if you think of your imagination as a hungry monster (or giraffe, or cat, or something that needs to feed!), then think of freewriting as food. When you freewrite, you let your imagination take over and you stop yourself from censoring your ideas, which is the best path to inspiration.
So, freewriting means writing WITHOUT STOPPING for a period of time. I’ll give you a prompt and then you write, even if you just write the words I don’t know what to say over and over, that’s okay!
So, write for six minutes (time yourself) using this prompt, which was suggested to me by a workshop participant when I was teaching last year:
FAMILY REUNION
My entry:
Family Reunion
"Man, this tie is too tight. Hey, Leez," Ace called to his younger sister as he followed her out of the room.
"No." came the reply.
"You don't even know what I wanted to ask you...!" he protested.
"You were going to ask me to help with your tie." she turned and looked at his awkward tie.
He smiled his killer smile, one that makes all the girls in his high school melt into gooey puddles.
Leizel wanted to tell her brother just what he could do with his tie, long flights from Manhattan to London made her cranky, instead she sighed and helped him with it.
"That's really good, how on earth did you--"
"If you just watch Dad tie a tie once, you'll learn." she told him.
She took two steps away she heard Zane coming out of the room struggling with his own tie, he took a look at Ace's tie and said, "Hey, how did you get your tie to look good? Mine looks like Tequila tried to tie it."
"Uncle Andrew and Aunt Lexi's dog, Tequila?" Ace chuckled.
"Yup." Zane nodded.
"She'd tie ties way better than you, any day." Leizel threw over her shoulder. "Plus, Ace has a sister who can tie ties."
The boys followed her down the stairs.
"But, then I have a sister who can tie ties too!" Zane said, frowning at Ace, who shrugged.
Leizel laughed. "No, Zane... Don't you remember? You're adopted..."
"Adopted?!" Zane played along, acting baffled. "But, but Ace and I are twins!" he told his fifteen-year-old sister as they walked out past the lawn to the massive Ball room.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Alecia sighed as she watched them go. "Sam, are you sure there was no lead paint in their baby food?"
Samuel Kolton laughed. "No, Lec, they just have a strange sense of humour." he kissed his wife on the forehead. "Anyway, that was seventeen years ago. Who know maybe they crawled out while we were asleep and found some lead paint and--"
Alecia pushed her husband away, "Shut up! My kids are the smartest kids in their respective classes!"
"Calm down, I'm kidding." he said, walking her across the lawn to the Ball room in the Recreational Centre, hand in hand, still behaving like newly weds.
"I don't get their obsession with ties. The first thing they talk about when we come to Family Reunions are ties! Every year! I didn't even make them wear bow ties this year......" her voice was drowned out by the music.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I really love all the characters they're all well rounded personalities. This is actually the sequel series, we're still writing the first part that surrounds Alecia and Sam. Hope you liked it!
