Let's start the year off write!

Cheesy title I know, but considering I'm recovering from all the New Year's Eve festivities I think I'm allowed to be a little cheesy. It's my first blog posting of the year after all!

Starving for inspiration I turned to some of my favorite poetry and writing blogs for a little direction. The One-Minute Writer did not disappoint. The prompt is simple enough; describe 2009 in 20 words and hopes for 2010 in 10 words. I think I managed to sum it all up, though I didn't follow the prompt exactly. This is a new year and I plan to create my own rules. :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! Hope 2010 is good to you. XOXO

2009:
You brought me more joy, heartache, love, pain, failure, success than I ever could have imagined.

2010:
You’re a vision; a revelation just waiting to happen.

Six Word Saturday

I love Six Word Saturdays over at the One-Minute Writer, but I rarely get to participate.

There's only you.
There's only me.

Life in a time capsule.

Here is the list of items I would place in a time capsule to memorialize my life thus far. The prompt is courtesy of the always fabulous One-Minute Writer I cheated because this took me longer than one minute to write...it was more like ten.

Pictures (family, friends, and my dog Lola): because I love them.

Charlotte’s Web and To Kill a Mockingbird: because they are my favorite books.

Fiona Apple CDs: because she is my favorite musician.

An old journal: so the person who finds my capsule can read about my life.

Copies of some of the poems I’ve written: because I like to pretend I’m a poet!

Mark, my stuffed bear: because Piglet is too important to me.

Tarot cards: because they remind me of high school.

A pen and blank notebook: because I always have a pen and paper on me.

Mardi Gras beads: because they are fun!

Hair ties: because I always wear them around my wrists.

Stargazer lilies and red roses: because they are my favorite flowers.

Vanilla scented candles: because I love vanilla scented things.

Copy of my birth certificate: proof that I existed.

My Dwight bobblehead doll: because The Office is my all-time favorite show.

An empty Starbucks cup: because I love coffee!

For you. A day late. Next week/last week.

Years ago I wrote a lot of "letters" starting with Dear You. I revisited that time in my life for the prompt over at The One-Minute Writer. Next Week/Last Week was actually yesterday's prompt, but I didn't get around to trying it until today. Here's what I came up with:

Dear You,

Last week I gave in to someone else’s touch. He reached for me and I was too lonely to resist. I thought about you the whole time.

Next week I’ll pretend it didn’t happen. And if you ask me, I’ll deny it. We'll both know the truth.

XOXO,
Me

I had the One-Minute Writing of the Day!!!

I am honored to have my piece Stage Fright chosen as the One-Minute Writing of the Day for the Friday Fiction prompt over at The One-Minute Writer. Honestly, words cannot describe how proud I am right now. I have been following this blog for a few months and have come across some really talented writers, so to have the One-Minute Writing of the Day is a great honor to me. Please head over to the site and see the amazing daily writings that people choose to share.

Thanks so much to C. Beth for choosing my piece and thank you to all of those who continue to support my writing efforts. Every comment, email, and visitor is greatly appreciated.

Turning fact into fiction.

It's Friday! Let's celebrate by turning fact into fiction. It's Friday Fiction day over at The One-Minute Writer and today's prompt was to take a true story and write a brief fictional story based on it. Here's mine:

Stage Fright

The bright lights hit his face. It burns. A warm, steady burn so familiar it feels like an old friend. His leg is twitching. He can’t seem to stop it. Nerves, he tells himself. He’s done this a thousand times before, but never like this. Never with her.

She always said she would come, but never did. This time is different. This time she promised. Not just any promise; the cross-my-heart-and-hope-to-die, stick-a-needle-in-my-eye kind of promise that children believe in. And he wanted to believe it.

The anticipation builds. His heart sinks into his stomach. The curtain opens. He scans the crowd.

It has sort of a cliffhanger ending, but I promise in real life the ending was a happy one. I didn't want it to get sappy and I wanted to keep it short. This certainly took over a minute to write, but it was under five.

Hindsight isn't always 20/20...

But in this case it is.

Another great prompt from The One-Minute Writer, http://oneminutewriter.blogspot.com/

I apologize in advance for the rhyming. I have been challenged by a fellow writer to rhyme more in my pieces. I always think rhyming comes off as being very cliche, but I have accepted the challenge, at least for today. And in this case I think it came off more sappy and crappy than cliche. To be completely honest, I really like the first stanza, but the second is just...YUCK! But hey, it was written in one minute and I was struggling to rhyme; all things considered it isn't horrible. It might be bad or generic, but not horrible. LOL!

20/20

If I could go back
to when all wasn't lost
and tell myself that the price of love
is usually worth the cost

I would save up my pennies
until the day I met you
and cash them in
on a dream come true

It takes discipline. I have none.

Today's writing prompt is Discipline and it's courtesy of http://oneminutewriter.blogspot.com/, a great site that I like to visit often for inspiration. Scroll down to see what I was able to come up with in one minute :)

In other news: I think I've officially decided to start a blog dedicated to poetry. I say "think" because the only thing really holding me back is what to call it. I have a hard enough time naming my pieces, most of them end up untitled, so this is going to be a tough one. As always, I'm open to suggestions.

Discipline

I used to know how to avoid you
How to pretend you didn’t exist
You filled me up with promises
I tried hard to resist

Once so disciplined
Now I can’t get you out of my head

I missed my chance