The Popular Pollster - writercize #127

Who doesn't love a completely meaningless popularity statistic from a poll that has no bearing whatsoever on real life every now and then?  

You know what I mean - they're the polls magazines like US Weekly run, like: 

• Who's hottest without a shirt? Leo, Brad or George?
• Which celebrity mom snapped back into the best shape two weeks after giving birth? Heidi Klum or Angelina Jolie?
• Which celebrity baby name trend is the coolest?  Naming children after fruits, Greek gods or emotions?
• Which couple has the best chances of surviving the relationship based on popular nickname?  TomKat, Brangelina or Bennifer?

(Hmm, apparently Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie can be worked into any popularity poll - congrats to them on being the winning popular pollster couple, appearing in three of the four fake poll questions above.  Another fun, meaningless statistic to reflect on.)

Today, you get to make your own.

writercize:  Create a fake celebrity poll to measure popularity.  Choose any topic, and give three to four options for the reader to choose between.

Bonus points (towards absolutely no tangible prize, but the pride of knowing you've contributed to research - wink, wink) for answering everyone else's polls.  Extra bonus points if you choose to give a witty reason for your answer.

Click "read more" for writercizer sample response about celebs participating in reality TV.

This writercize created based on the prompt "popularity" over at GBE2, hosted by the blog world's most popular hostess with the mostest, Ms. Elizabeth Grace.

Falling Back in Time - writercize #126

This week (most of) the United States fell backwards an hour with the switch back to standard time.  For those who have trouble remembering when to turn the clocks forward and when to turn them back, the beauty of an English language that offers homonyms and nouns that double as verbs has made a simple sentence to remember:  "Spring forward, Fall back."

Gain an hour in the fall, lose an hour in the spring.  If you're single.  Or have older children.  If you have young kids, you will be completely unable to gain or lose that hour as kids seem to believe their stomachs and sunlight more than a digital clock.  Darn.

A couple tidbits about time changes that you may not have known:

• Residents in Arizona and Hawaii are fortunate enough not to have to worry about changing their clocks twice a year, although they also don't get the joy of adding an hour to a fall weekend ... a joy I'd gladly pass up to keep the sun setting later in the evening year round.  In my ideal world, the sun would never, ever dare to set before 7:00 p.m.  (Noteworthy: While Hawaiians and Arizonans don't have to consider time change, their relatives living in other states, however, must remember that the time difference is variable which could be sort of a nasty chore.)
• We do not change our clocks at the same time as Europe.  We're two weeks earlier in the spring and a week later in the fall.  (They are last Sundays in March and October; we're second Sunday in March and first in November.)  That means we get three weeks extra time admiring a later sunset.  This I am happy about.
• Prior to 2007, we changed at the same time as Europe in the fall and a week later in the spring.  The President has the power to change when the time changes, and George W. Bush did just that.  I guess I have something to thank you for G-Dub.  Though I'd prefer if you just abolished ugly, dark Standard Time altogether and threw us into permanent Daylight Saving Time.  (We were first Sunday in April and last in October.  Europe was still the same.)
• The fire department wants you to check your smoke alarm batteries when the time changes.  Did you do it?  Go now.
• In the southern hemisphere, the clock changes opposite of the northern hemisphere to match the seasons "down below."  Which means there is a wide variable in time differences across time zones between hemispheres.  Families straddling zones and hemispheres may need an advanced mathematical degree to figure it out!  (Or a iPhone ... those things seem to know it all.)

Want to know more, including which countries don't make the switch at all, and who the first person credited with suggesting daylight saving time is?  Read more about it at Time and Date.

So how does this fit into a writercize?  Remember my fall back, spring forward thing?  You have to create a shortcut to remember the change on your own!  It can refer to the time change in general (like the season and direction above) or get specific about the weekend ... or it can somehow address the difference between states/countries/hemispheres in how they participate ... or the fact that you gain an hour by falling back and lose an hour by springing forward - a concept that seems to keep a lot of minds I know running in circles.  Good luck!  And please share!

writercize:  Create a simple phrase that can be used as a way to remember those pesky time change rules.

Click "read more" for writercizer sample response, and please leave your phrase as a comment or link below!  I prefer my second take, but am not one hundred percent on either yet!

Guest Writercize - Brianna Renshaw - Book Blurb to Opener

Welcome this week to Brianna Renshaw, the deliciously honest and raw writer over at Pocketful of Playdough.  Brianna and I met through the A to Z Challenge, and I always enjoy her voice and the sentiment behind her posts.  I highly recommend her blog and that you sign up to become a follower - she always has something worthwhile to read, sharing her personal truths about being a writer,parenting,running and religion.

(Btw, my apologies for a week long pause here at writercize - out of town guests and the Halloween holiday have blown this week by at warp speed.  I don't quite know how that happens!  Expect me back and exercising those brain muscles all week next week!)

Without further ado, today's guest post ...

Good morning, Writercizers! Are you ready to work out those writing muscles?

Wait, I can’t hear you…

Alright! That’s the spirit! Let’s get moving!

First let’s stretch a bit – crack your knuckles, wiggle those fingers and take a few deep breaths! Now we’re ready to begin.

As writers we all know how important the first sentence of our story is. It’s the hook that’s either going to capture the attention of editors and readers or bore them to tears. No pressure, right?

Not if we are regularly working out our writing muscles! Here’s an exercise focusing on writing strong first sentences:

Read the back-cover blurb of a book and then write an opening sentence.

The beauty of this exercise is that not only does it allow you to practice writing an attention-grabbing opening sentence; it could also be a stepping stone to an original book of your own!

 You are free to use whatever back-cover book blurb you like or use the three samples from the genres of science fiction, mystery and romance below. Write a first sentence for all three, or just one, and share it in the comments section.

Science Fiction

On the North Pole of Pluto there stands an enigma: a huge circle of standing blocks of ice, built on the pattern of Earth’s Stonehenge –but ten times the size, standing alone at the farthest reach of the Solar System. What is it? Who came there to build it?

The secret lies, perhaps, in the chaotic decades of the Martian Revolution, in the lost memories of those who have lived for centuries.

~Icehenge by Kim Stanley Robinson, 1984, ISBN 0-312-86609-7~

Mystery

Not much happens in Contrary, West Virginia –a sleepy town with failing coal mines, a few old moonshine stills, and an urgent need for revenue. A federal grant for a nonexistent bus system seemed just the ticket…if only the government auditor, sent to look things over, hadn’t drunk to much white lightening. And ended up dead.

Now his successor, Owen Allison, has come down from D.C. to check out the situation. Disgruntled with his life inside the Beltway, Owen is willing to give Contrary’s officials the benefit of the doubt –and himself some time to romance Mary Beth, the alluring town controller. He soon feels like seventeen different kinds of fool. Because something has long been fermenting in Contrary besides corn mash. Another body has been found. And Owen may be next…unless he uncovers the big secrets hidden in the hearts of a small Appalachian town.

~The Contrary Blues by John Billheimer, 1998, ISBN 0-440-23504-9~

Romance

Innocence was the only word to describe Mary Frances Murphy. Expelled from a convent, her only sin was desire: For intimacy. For experience. For true carnal knowledge. Once forbidden, these things were now within her reach –as she searched for her sister’s killer in a world of staged seduction, virtual passion, and fantasy made flesh. But Mary Frances had never even been touched by a man…let alone a man like Webb Calderon. A man whose erotic finesse was as vast –and dangerous—as his empire. A man who could devour her innocence…and kill her with pleasure.

~ Innocence by Suzanne Forster, 1997 ISBN 0-425-15663-X~

Read this writercizer’s response below (as in Brianna! Alana's will be posted as comment):

My attempt at a first sentence for Icehenge:

The discovery changed the universe, but no one remembered.

My attempt at a first sentence for The Contrary Blues:

Every small town has secrets and Contrary was no exception.

My attempt at a first sentence for Innocence:

It was during Mass when the prospect of what was under Monsignor Alexander’s robe got her so hot and bothered her habit was in danger of going up in flames  that Mary Frances first thought being a nun wasn’t her true calling.

Guest Writercize - Dawn M. Hamsher - Dress-Up Time!

I am very excited to introduce all of you to the very talented Dawn M. Hamsher, author of The Write Soil blog and purveyor of book reviews, writing exercises, tips, photo prompts, shout-outs and more!  

Be sure to visit her blog and while you're there, check out her series on dialogue - it's short, sweet, visual and very relevant and helpful to all sorts of writers.

Without further ado, I pass the "mike" over to Dawn! Be sure to participate, leave a comment, and visit Dawn's blog. Can't wait to see all your creative answers.

Guest Post: What are you dressing up as?
Dawn M. Hamsher @ The Write Soil (http://thewritesoil.blogspot.com)

Hi, I’m Dawn. My blog has writing exercises, tips, comics, and whatever else writing-wise that I get into.

Wow, Alana! I am so excited to do this post! I love writing exercises and I love dressing up (acting and costumes), so I decided to combine the two since it is Halloween time.

Recently I attended the Susquehanna Writers Conference and one of the best tips was write well-thought out, believable characters, setting, and plot. It should be so well done that readers can feel like they are there. The exercise today will give us some practice with this.

writercize: Writing Prompt – What are you dressing up as for Halloween? Write fiction or non-fiction, but make sure you give some good description so readers can “see” it in their minds.

(Read on to see Dawn's response to her writercize challenge:)

Mine… (as in Dawn's)

Dressing Up as a Writer

This Halloween, I will secretly change into my writing costume and become Dawn M. Hamsher, author. Gone is the daily, mild-mannered IT Specialist and in her place emerges Can-Do, Try-Anything Book Writer who is ready to take on any challenge.

To play the part, I will wear my dark gray-patterned newspaper reporter hat. My blogging business card will stick out in anticipation of networking with other Trick-or-Treating writers.

I’ve prepared for years for this moment, purchasing used English textbooks and clearing Border’s book shelves of books on writing. Each book cover holds sweet writing tips, like candy hidden in wrappers, for me to discover. I will learn them. I will use them.

My laptop stands ready. The cursor blinks expectantly. My fingers hover over the keys. My trusty red notebook is opened beside me, filled with story ideas. The characters swirl in my mind, ready to come to life on the page.

This Halloween, I will take risks. I might even dangle from a particle or take a mad dash. What am I waiting for? I have my hat on. I am dressed the part. I can begin.

Colorful Emotion - writercize #125

As promised, a reverse to Emotional Color, writercize #122, from last week!  Same intro as last time, slightly altered writercize.  Have fun and thanks to last week's responders!

I'm not sure of the reason or the origin, nor am I sure if we mirror other languages and societies in this aspect, but in the English language we seem to have an affinity for linking colors with emotion.  

"Green with envy."  "Feeling blue" as a euphemism for depression or sadness.  "Seeing red" to convey rage.  There is something about color that pairs nicely with an emotional image.

In a different spin on my next word game, I'm going to give you colors and I want you to give me an emotion for each. 

writercize:  For each of the five colors listed below, tell me the first emotion it brings to mind. 

• gold
• crimson
• violet
• neon orange
• vanilla

Click "read more" for writercizer sample response.  Leave your own as a comment or provide a link back to your blog!

Explaining the Birds and the Bees - writercize #124

A couple of weeks ago, I was enjoying a pleasant day at the California Science Center with my family, taking a break for lunch, when one of my four year old twins asked me, "Mamma, where did you buy me?"

A tad surprised by the question, since they are around pregnant women fairly often and know that babies reside in their mothers for several months prior to birth, I answered, "I didn't buy you; I made you."

"Oh, you made me?"

"Yes."

"But, *how* did you make me?"

"Let's talk more about it at home."

We were sitting right next to a table where there was a mom with her two year old and newborn, and I wasn't sure how appreciative she'd be of me sharing life's lessons that close by.

I have a feeling my daughter had imagined I had purchased tiny versions of each of them to insert into my belly and carry around for a few months before popping them right back out.

Naturally, when I got home I searched for ways to tell a preschooler that would be honest, direct, not overly informative in a manner that might potentially scare her, and open to questions.  I ordered a book that has yet to arrive (Mommy Laid an Egg by Babette Cole), and then sat both of the girls down a day or two later to ask if they still wanted to know the answer to their question.  

I told them that they were getting to be big kids, so they could learn about babies, but it's up to mommies and daddies to teach their kids, so they should keep the lesson off the preschool playground.  (See an approximation of what I told them under "read more" after the writercize directions.)  Of course they wanted to know.  One drifted away after a couple of seconds while the other listened intently and repeated key words.  After I was done talking, I asked if she had any questions, and she said "yes."

"Ok, what is it?"

"Did I wear a dress and shoes when I was born or was I naked in your belly?"

"You were naked."

"But then after I was born you put diapers and a dress on me?"

"Yes."

"Ok, good."  

That was it (for now) - she ran off to play with her sister.

writercize:  Pick a complicated subject for a preschooler (divorce, pregnancy, death) and break it down to an appropriate level for the audience.

I realize "appropriate" is a subjective word here.  Just share what works for you!  My example may seem too informative for some, but it falls within my personal goals in teaching them body awareness from the start.

Click "read more" for writercizer sample response about the birds and the bees, and the night you were conceived ...

#5MinuteFiction Finalist at Leah Petersen's Write Me

I take a break from writercize to let you know about a really cool weekly contest over at Leah Petersen's Write Me blog.  She gives a prompt and you have fifteen minutes to submit a piece of flash fiction, any style, any genre.  It takes place every Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time.

This week I'm a finalist and would love it if you check it out.  And while you're there ... vote for someone!

Note - some responses may not be family friendly - there is often a mix of swearing, violence and adult content in the flash fiction, so fair warning for underagers!

Another writercize prompt is on its way tonight so check in later!  Thanks for indulging me in this quick break.