Free writing exercise #1: balloon, sugar, impossible

I'm sharing the piece I wrote by following the first assignment in the Steemit writing workshop I'm launching. What is that expression about eating your own dog food?"

The assignment is to write for 10 minutes right now, without stopping, and incorporate these three words into your piece: balloon, sugar, impossible. Set a timer and go. Do not stop writing for those 10 minutes. You must keep putting words on the page, no matter what. And you must not stop to edit along the way.

The following is the result of my own 10-minute writing exercise. In the assignment, I did not specify anything about whether to edit the piece after the 10 minutes is up. That is up to the writer. But I chose not to. For better or for worse, this is the raw piece of content that I wrote by following the assignment. I've highlighted the three required words.

In the impossible dark, Angela fell forward. A sense of dread, a sound that perforated the dark like a drumbeat but was unrecognizable, all at once close and far. She caught herself, tried to stand, but in the dark could find nothing to hold to. The world had fallen away. What was this place? Slowly a tiny light emerged. No, she imagined it. Or did she? She was certain one moment that it was her imagination, and then it grew closer.

An echo of steps joined the light. And now she knew, she was in some deep corridor, lost. She had fallen through some hole in her uncle’s ancient house. Now, in the dark with the light creeping closer, she was unsure whether to be grateful or fearful. It really didn’t matter, at the end of the day, because she had no choice but to wait. She listened and could hear only the steady steps. There was an aroma of damp, like the cupboard where her uncle kept the sugar for his coffee.

She wondered how far down beneath the house this hidden corridor existed. Could her uncle hear her if she screamed? Could the thing that was walking toward her now, with the light growing larger and more luminous like an inflating balloon, see her in the darkness? And was there anywhere to hide? She waited now, petrified and hopeful, not knowing whether she would be rescued in a few moments or slain. “Hello” she said, finally. “Hello there? Who are you?” She had so many questions. The thing walking toward her did not speak. It did not answer. It simply came on, like a very slow moving train, like a thing with no soul. She was so much more alone now than she had ever been in her life.

Okay, where the heck did that come from?

I believe that writing is a lot like dreaming. We never know what intriguing or unsettling images and ideas are lurking in the recesses of our imaginations until they emerge and startle us. This little piece is nothing like the kind of writing I produce when I am consciously working on developing a character or a plot line. I don't expect to work with it further, but it was certainly fun, and very freeing.

The truly interesting thing is that 100 people could follow this exercise and incorporate the same three specific words and none of their work would bear resemblance to any others. If you try it, I hope you'll share what you created, and use the tags #writing and #workshop. And be sure to mention whether you want feedback from others.

Of course you can also use this exercise anytime you need to explore. For example, if you are trying to get to know one of your characters, you could try thinking of what you know so far - his name, the color of his hair, and one thing he wants - and then write for 10 minutes solid without allowing your inner critic to be involved. I'd love to hear how this goes for you.

To your success!