Inspired to write

June 5, 2015 at 2:27 pm (creative writing)
Tags: free writing, Markham Village Writers' Group, Poetry, rhyme, writers' groups, writing prompt

I’ve been moderating the Markham Village Writers’ group for the past fifteen years, and I can tell you that there’s no better way to be inspired than by listening to a group of your fellow writers as they read their work aloud and share feedback.

During the last fifteen minutes of our meetings, I throw out a prompt and everybody free writes until end of meeting. We don’t have to share what we’ve written—it’s just a little exercise to challenge the writing juices.

The prompt that I assigned at our May meeting is below in case you’d like to try your hand at some free writing. There are no rules. Write whatever comes to mind. It can be one sentence, a paragraph or ten pages. You’re the boss. Once you get going, who knows what may happen?

Here’s the prompt: Write about a lie you told as a child, or that your character told.

This is what I wrote:

Liar

When mother asked where the money went,
When father found his fender bent,
When brother’s wallet disappeared,
When sister claimed that she was scared
to leave her room unlocked…

How shocked!
when they confronted me,
with blame-filled eyes that used to see
an angel boy, a stand-up guy;

To tell the truth, it made me cry.

Me? Steal from you? Or hurt a fly?
Me tell a lie?
Oh, no. Not I.

Ah, but their scorn. Their slurs! So in return,
I gave them good the truth they yearned.

Their ashes fill a lovely urn.
I watched them burn.

So obvious—I wonder why
they took so long to see that I’m

a psychopath. Of course I lie!
(Photos courtesy of pixabay.com)