Until _____, nothing had ever happened in the village of Fool's Knock.Set a timer for 10-15 minutes, fill in the blank and keep writing.
You won't have a complete story by the end of the time, just a beginning, perhaps just a paragraph. The purpose is to get stuff flowing out under pressure. Don't worry about grammar or spelling or even if things make sense! It's going to be raw.
If at the end of the timer you're on a roll, by all means keep going!
Often the biggest roadblock to writing is ourselves. We edit too much. We reject ideas before we even give them a chance. The timer will force you to write over that voice that says "Nah, that's no good," or "That's boring."
You will write a lot of junk. Expect that. Maybe even require it of yourself. If you expect it to be bad then the gems that pop up will be like treasures. Again don't worry that it's not a finished product. Don't worry about grammar and spelling.
Until the traveler came, nothing ever happened in the village of Fool’s Knock.
ReplyDeleteThe traveller entered the tavern, cloak drawn about a slender figure, face hidden in the shadows of the hood.
“Ale,” said a dusty voice to the tavern keeper. It might have been a woman’s voice. It might not have.
The handful of villagers paused in their drinking and talking, eyes fastened to the figure. A hush lay over the close interior of the tavern.
A slender hand swept back the hood to reveal the face of a woman. Her eyes were bright in the flickering light of the oil lamps. A spider work of lines etched the edges of her eyes and mouth as though she had spent years smiling into the bright sun. But the most startling feature was the lacework of tattoos and scarifications across her face.
The ale thunked on the counter and her slender fingers slid from the sleeves of her cloak to place a silver — silver! — coin on the wooden counter. She grasped the handle of the mug. Her fingers, too, were tattooed and scarified.