Clownin' Around

From the Speakers: BEAT IT by Michael Jackson

Because I'm too lazy to do it otherwise, every so often I will dedicate a blog post to some writing exercise. I'll try to keep them short enough to be interesting and not overwhelming. All of it will be made up on the spot. Today's exercise is to come up with 5-10 good, engaging, intriguing opening sentences of short stories. My hope is that brainstorming here might produce some seeds that will grow into stories.

Let's "begin."

1. When she ordered the portabella pasta, he gave her a look.
2. I wondered why she was so standoffish, but being a detective, I noticed the paler skin around her ring finger.
3. At the time we assumed we'd be safe once we reached my house.
4. I let the cop pass by before pulling out into traffic; success was all about reducing risks.
5. "I would rather spend a winter naked in Antarctica," he said, "than spend one more minute listening to you."
6. My car smoking is really what began it all.
7. The ancient Romans took a lot of amazing things from the heart of Africa to display in their arenas, but there's one thing they left behind.
8. Life threw me a change-up.
9. When he threw up in her boots, I rolled my eyes and figured it was time to intervene.
10. He carried a long sword. A king's sword.

Okay. Now I ask myself (and you--let me know): Any of those any good? Any have the potential to blossom into a story? Which one catches my attention the strongest?

Since space in my head for new ideas is scare right now, I'll probably come back to these after I knock out the stories I have in mind. That's the beauty of these little exercises: completing them keeps me one step ahead of writer's block.

So that was fun. And speaking of fun, you should check out my friends Stitch and Spaz at http://stitchyspaz.wordpress.com/. They're doing some great things for people who need great things.