Round Up: Week 1

Prompt: 
Each participant must turn to page 206 of the book nearest to them and read the third sentence of the second paragraph. Your story must draw inspiration from this sentence. It does not need to include the sentence.

Amanda

“He did not believe there was a bolder rider in England!” (Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen)

I was really excited when the first book I found was Sense and Sensibility and I read this line. Immediately I was filled with a million ideas of what a bold rider could be. The story I ended up with was one I was really pleased with in the end. It was my first attempt at writing Jane Austen style which is why some of the word choice is probably questionable for the time frame of the story. But, hey, I tried, and I really liked it in the end. If written as a novel, I would definitely draw out more the slowly emerging rumors of the Duke Eider, though I would keep the reveal of his true identity for the end. Peter could have been a character, but not one with much importance placed on him so the end reveal could still be fun.

I got the name eider from a type of duck that wikipedia tells me is found in England. I liked Eva’s character because although I love Jane Austen and that whole time period, I think life would be very boring filled with nothing but “gossip, dowry, and pincushions” and I personally would long for a more exciting life, perhaps even in Africa.

MY VOTE: Kylie

Korrin

“I couldn’t imagine not remembering anything.”

When I finally picked up a book to do my prompt I was at a friends house and lucky for me they had exquisite taste in books.  Rick Riordan is one of my favorite authors and he did not disappoint me.  I started thinking of doing realistic fiction (not my forte).  I could have someone whose loved one got amnesia, then I realized that had been overdone. Then I thought I could do something with Alzheimer's, then I realized I knew nothing about Alzheimer's.  So I went for something I did know, magic.  When I started writing, I had no idea where the story would lead.  I didn’t know characters names or relations.  I had no intention of making Gillian an orphan until I started writing it.  Everything came from the spur of the moment and as I kept going I thought, “Wow, this is getting really good.”  What I did know is that I wanted the story to end suddenly.  I wanted it to feel like it could go on, but had some kind of resolution.  The storyline is definitely rushed and if I wanted to write the idea into a novel I would have a much more drawn out storyline.  This piece also ended up being a lot longer than I originally planned, but I am very happy with the end result. It is very unpolished, but what can you expect, I wrote it in two hours.  

MY VOTE: Amanda

Kylie

“The worthy doctor replied to her, ‘Margery, I would not have spoken against you, though you had cried until evening.’”

My quote came from The Book of Margery Kempe. Now, I don’t know how many of you know who Margery Kempe is, but she is an absolute riot. That’s not a metaphor or anything. She literally caused riots because she would not stop crying and it annoyed people so badly. I wish I was making this up, because it would mean that I was a genius of fiction and humor. Unfortunately for me, Margery was a real live person.

So when I got a quote about Margery crying, I really shouldn’t have been surprised. But this was an extremely difficult prompt for me. I don’t know why I couldn’t get into the flow, but I just couldn’t. So I’m technically proud of what I have, even though it isn’t much and it isn’t one of my favorite pieces. I’m sure the plot isn’t very clear, either. Basically, the doctor gave her a voice box transplant that stops her voice from wobbling when she cries so that she doesn’t make any noise when she cries. While the ethics of the procedure in this piece are hazy at best, trust me--this would have been an incredible blessing to the people around Margery Kempe.

MY VOTE: Amanda

This week, the prompt is this:

Write a story from the point of view of any inanimate object. Don't anthropomorphize it (it can talk, just not like Mrs. Potts level of humanism), just let it tell you a story.

I am very excited about this prompt and I cannot wait to see what stories this next week brings!