Writers’ Asylum: Colonising Minds: Prologue

Welcome to the Asylum. Settle in, make yourself comfortable; you’re going to be here for a while.

We have a lot to get through today: 5 challenges, each with a goal to write 1,000 words in an hour.

This year, we’re trying something different: a series of connected challenges, building up a single world and a single story. These challenges are intended to be done in order; it will make much more sense if you do.

I’m going to ask you some questions, guide you through some decisions, and help to build a picture in your mind. People, places, situations. From there, I’m going to ask you to write about a specific aspect of the situation in front of you.

Ready? Let’s get started.

Today, we’re going to establish a brand new colony. Step by step, you’re going to break free of the comfort and security of an establish community, you’re going to strike out on your own, cross wildernesses and vast open spaces, and at the other end, you’re going to set up a new home. Over today’s five challenges, you’re going to tell the story of this colony.

First, think about the community and society where it all begins. All colonists come from somewhere originally. Think about the era it’s in: it can be anything you like, from ancient Vikings to the tall ships of the 17th century, from magical medieval lands to far-future planet-hopping. It could be a contemporary setting, or near-future, trying to squeeze something new out of an already fully-claimed planet or foraying out into our nearest heavenly neighbours.

Next, consider where your colony will be located. Is it a foreign land, or planet, or climate? Is it at the bottom of the ocean, or huddling inside the warmth of an old volcano? Is it ice-bound, or the temperate rolling of fertile fields? Think about the distance between this new colony and its origin.

You have some idea of what your colonial effort will require now. Equipment, supplies, sustenance. Skills and people. It’s no small endeavour, no cheap feat. You are starting to get an idea of what it might take to make this thing happen.

Next up: Challenge #1

Altered Perspectives: Challenge #5

Picture someone who travels a lot. They might travel for any number of reasons. It could be their work, as a businessman, or a long-distance courier, or a cargo hauler, or any number of other mobile professions. They might be in the military, always being posted in different places. They might be a habitual traveller, someone who is simply happiest when going to the next new place. They could be a happy backpacker, working random jobs or relying on the kindness of others as they make their way between locales. They could be one of the wandering homeless, drifting between camps and shelters. They might live on a ship of some kind.

It this person male or female? How do they afford to travel all the time? What led them to this particular kind of life? Do they love to travel, or hate it? What is the first thing they do when they reach a new place? What is the thing they most like to do in a new place?

This person has been travelling for years, one way or another. What is the one thing they never travel without? Why? Is the attachment emotional, or practical, or sentimental? What is important to this person?

What kinds of places has this person travelled to? What sort of people have they met? What sort of conditions have they travelled through, stopped in, or dealt with? Do they travel alone, or with a group, or does it vary?

In all of their years of travel, this person has carried the same piece of luggage with them. It has survived countless trips, possibly been repaired a few times, and is still going strong. What kind of luggage is it? Is it big or small? Is it a case, a duffle bag, a sack with a rope around its neck, a purse, a pouch? What’s it made of? What does it look like? What colour is it? What does it smell like? Do its many journeys show, in scrapes or stickers, stains or scars? Is its value obvious?

Fast forward to your traveller’s last journey. How old is your character now? Where are they going? Why is this their last journey? Is it planned to be their last, or does something happen to force it? Where does the character end up – do they make it to their destination?

Tell us the story of the end of this final journey from the point of view of that piece of luggage the character carries with them. Tell us what happens to the luggage after that journey is over.

Finish up: Epilogue

Altered Perspectives: Challenge #4

Think of a religion. It can be real or fictional; your choice.

Think about what the religion values. The things that are important tenets or rules. What are its key teachings? What does it forbid or encourage in its followers?

What kind of people are its clergy? Who are its believers? What is the community that believes in this religion like?

Picture the trappings of the religion, like robes or incense, symbols or gestures. What does its talisman look like, if it has one? Where does prayer happen? Where do its altars live?

Think about the services, rituals, and ceremonies of this religion. Where do they happen? What is the tone of them? Who is involved? What is involved? Is there chanting, or singing, or silence?

Now consider what that religion might consider to be an artefact, a sacred object. What is this object? Is it big or small? What is it made of? Is it a piece of one of its saints, something that once belonged to someone important, or a vessel containing some kind of power? Something else? Why is it of such value to this faith?

How is that object kept? Is it locked away, kept in a glass case, or out in the open? Who has access to it? Is it kept privately or shared with any follower who wishes it? Is it part of a particular ritual? Is it preserved, or allowed to become rubbed smooth by the touch of thousands of hands over the years?

Where has it been in its existence? Does it travel, or is it kept in one place? Has it ever seen the sun? The stars? What has this object been exposed to in its lifetime?

One day, a thief enters the place where the artefact is kept, intent on stealing it. Why? What does this thief hope to gain? Is it money, or power, or something based in belief? Does he or she believe in this faith, or in the power of this particular artefact?

Tell the story of this theft from the point of view of the artefact.

Next up: Challenge #5

Altered Perspectives: Challenge #3

Choose a building where people rent rooms: a hotel, motel, hostel, or an inn. Think about where it is located. What kind of world is this? What era? Is it in a city, out in the wilds, the last stop for miles, or part of a thriving hub of travel and tourism? What is around it? Next door?

What is within its walls? Does it have many rooms? What are they like? Is there a penthouse suite? A honeymoon suite? Is there a restaurant, or a ballroom, or a swimming pool?

This building has been open to the public for many years. Decades, perhaps. What kinds of celebrations and events have been held there? What is the general tone or feel of the place? Is it aging well?

What kinds of people have passed through its doors and slept in its beds? Who is its usual clientele? How do they treat it? How long do they usually stay? Why do they come to this particular hotel, rather than anywhere else? Is it price, or facilities, or a particular feature like a famous chef, or something more nebulous, like a promise of anonymity?

What does the building think of its clientele?

Now think of a particular evening. A celebration is happening. It could be something public, like New Year’s Eve , or a private event, like a costume ball or a wedding.

While this celebration is ramping up to full swing, there’s orange light growing nearby. A fire is making its way towards the building, burning up the city or the brush or woods nearby. It’s out of control, driven by prevailing winds, and eating up everything in its path.

Write this night of celebration from the point of view of the hotel. As an extra challenge, include a conversation between the building and the fire.

Next up: Challenge #4

Altered Perspectives: Challenge #2

Picture a world. It can be in any era you like: ancient civilisation; contemporary and modern; medieval; fantastical; far-future. This world does not have to be Earth, though feel free to stay at home if you wish. It could be an alien planet, a colonised one, an asteroid, or simply an area in the void between worlds. I want you to focus on a particular location. It might be a spot on a continent, or in an ocean, on a mountainside, out in the reaches of space. It is a place of note. A place of importance to the people who live near there.

It is a place where many battles have happened. Armies have crossed this place countless times. They have fought and died there. Perhaps it is a border between two powerful states. Perhaps it is the gateway to a place of strategic advantage, or religious importance. Its wealth might be real and physical, or ideological, or spiritual. Its wealth might simply be a logistical quirk of geography, like the valley that passes between two insurmountable peaks or the proximity of an important stronghold. Choose a reason. Decide why this place has drawn so much battle onto it.

Consider the armies that have clashed here. Whose blood has soaked into the soil or water here, or hangs suspended in the vacuum of space? What did they want? How were they armed? How did it change over time?

What scars does this place have? Does it have any at all? In peace-times, can anyone tell what violence happened here just by looking at it? Has anyone cleaned it up? Are the dead buried here? What about their weapons; are they still here? Vehicles, warhorses, mechanoid helpers? Are there any signs under the surface?

Think about the fabric and atmosphere of this place. How has it been affected by what has happened in its embrace? Is this place vicious? Bloodthirsty? Is it sad and battered? Abused? Is it proud? Peaceful? Haunted by the ghosts of those who have fallen in its arms? Is it tired? Does it wish for peace-time or the thunder of the wardrums?

Now take this place to a time when there hasn’t been a battle in a while. It might have been a few years, or as much as a century. Enough time for it to grow quiet. Distantly, a group approaches. They might be on foot, on mounts, or in vehicles. They are obvious, they are armed, and very soon, they’re going to step into this place.

Tell us of the story of this group, from the point of view of the battlefield they are about to cross.

Next up: Challenge #3

Altered Perspectives: Challenge #1

Picture a sprawling city. It can be any kind of city, from any era: wood and tiles; brick and mortar; glass and steel; plastic and neon. It’s a thriving city, healthy enough to have a bustling warehouse district, though it’s not as busy as it used to be. Parts of it are starting to fall into disuse.

Perhaps industry is starting to move elsewhere, or businesses have found better facilities in other parts of the city, or someone is buying it up to convert it to a different use. Either way, the warehouse district has started to age in patches, creating areas with a rundown feel to them. Trucks or wagons don’t rumble down those streets like they used to. Foremen’s voices don’t ring out over the fences so much. The streets are starting to fall into poor repair as the city isn’t investing time or money in them lately.

In this district, focus on a single building. It was once a busy factory, but it hasn’t been used for that purpose for a while now. Once upon a time, new things were made inside it, packaged up, and shipped off somewhere else. Consider that time, when things were all go here.

What was made in this factory? Was it a complicated process, like building pieces of technology, or something simpler, like bottling drinks or weaving fabric? Were its wares made by hand or machine? Was it powered by anything? Did a lot of people work here, or just a few overseers, or no people at all? What kind of vehicles used to pull up to the big doors to take the goods away?

The sign on the door is faded now, but what did it used to say? If there was a logo, what was it?

What caused this factory to be closed down? Was the real reason the same as the public announcements? Who was the last to leave and lock the doors behind them?

Now, a few years have passed since the industry in this factory was wound down and its doors closed for the last time. Dust has settled and spiders have spun impressive webs.

What is left inside? When it was closed down, was it gutted? Has any of the equipment been left here to age along with the building? Machinery, chairs, looms, tables, a lone broom? Build a picture of what this place looks like inside and out. Is it still hale and whole? Has the weather been kind to it?

What kinds of creatures might have moved inside and made themselves at home? Focus on one type of non-human creature in particular. Are they native to the area or imported? What do they eat, and what effect do they have on the building? Do they live individually or as a group? How many generations have lived inside this old factory?

A person is now approaching this abandoned factory. Perhaps they have a key; perhaps they do not. Either way, they mean to enter the building; they have a purpose here. Picture this person in your head. What do they look like? When they pause to glance up at the building, what expression are they wearing?

Tell us the story of this visitation, from the perspective of one of the creatures who calls the factory home.

Next up: Challenge #2

Altered Perspectives: Prologue

Welcome to the Writers’ Asylum. Settle in and make yourself comfortable; you’re going to be here for a while. Don’t mind the sound of locks turning behind you; that’s the least of your problems now.

The theme of this Asylum visit is Altered Perspectives. Today, you’re going to be challenged. You’re going to be taken out of your own head and placed behind the eyes of someone – or something – else. You’re going to be asked to consider the world from different angles. You’re going to be asked to give a voice to something that does not normally speak.

There are five challenges ahead. You’re going to hear a series of prompts, questions designed to draw a picture in your mind. You’re going to build a world, populate it, and focus it on a particular spot. Then you’ll hear the challenge itself, and step outside yourself to write it.

In the hour that follows each prompt, you need to write at least a thousand words. You can write in first person or third limited, it’s completely up to you, but it must be from the perspective specified in the challenge. You can go off on any tangent your imagination comes up with; the prompt is only a starting point. See where these new eyes take you.

Push yourself. Venture outside your comfort zone. Go as crazy as you like. I will not ask to see your writing, though you’re welcome to share it if you wish. Feel free to post it in the comments on my blog.

But that’s later. Right now, the door has closed behind you. The Asylum has begun. Hold on tight, for the first challenge is almost upon you.

Next up: Challenge #1

Spam spark: money’s smell

Following another spam comment clear-out, I came across this gem:

Money has no smell.

That was the whole comment. Nothing else. Well, okay then! Thank you for your random, spam commenter.

It pinged my awareness as a writer friend recently mentioned that communicable diseases have been on the decrease since the introduction of credit/debit cards. Physical money carries with it the germs and imprints of the people it touches. Now there’s a concept you can get hold of and run with. But is fragrance-free money the way the world is moving? Is this a good thing?

There’s a spark for you. Enjoy!

Spam spark: can someone computer

While cleaning out the spam comments on my blog, I found this sparkling gem of a sentence:

Can someone computer the on the web traditional listing shield, just like Good friend Criminal.

[All completely sic. I couldn’t make this up.]

There is so much potential and so little sense here, that I couldn’t resist. I think it is an awesome spark for a story.

Where will you take it? I’d love to hear about it. 🙂 Go forth, write!

Sparks from spam

I get a lot of spam on my various websites, in the form of comments full of links, nonsense, and fake praise. Some of them make no attempt to seem like a legitimate post, more concerned with getting the links up on my pages. Others sound perfectly sensible until you realise what they’re commenting on and know that they haven’t read it at all.

In the middle, there are the wordvomit comments. These almost seem like sensible comments until you read them: while you might know all of the words in the comment, they make no sense whatsoever. It’s like an auto-translator or a thesaurus twitched and threw up.

Some of these wordvomit comments are so funny that I feel the need to share them, like this gem: “big switching point that have a real wood cedar plank upon it along with the point that you can cigarette lighter in material?”

A writer friend of mine suggested that these would make great writing sparks. Well, I suppose it’s a use for the nonsense I have to wade through regularly to get to the real comments. I came across this today and thought it was weird enough to produce something interesting:

Big gloomy eyes staring alibi from a photo frame.

So there you go: one spark from the wealth of wordvomit in my spam folder. Have at it!