Lyrics for Life
I could cite Simon & Garfunkle, Johnny Clegg or a bunch of Beatles song lyrics, but I’m going to go with the Boss and two lines from Jungleland.
music, Social Discourse, society, Writing Prompt
Writing Prompt
Africa, education, Namibia, Nomad, teaching, Writing Prompt
Keeping Promises to Yourself
I decided that my way to Africa was as a teacher. It took two years to get everything sorted. And longer to get there. I was facing two big hurdles: I’d never taught, and I’d never lived in another culture.
critical thinking, education, society, Writing Prompt
Nature vs Nurture
The WordPress/JetPack writing prompt for today is:
Do you think we’re shaped more by our experiences or by who we are? And my answer, without taking an easy out, is both.
critical thinking, Namibia, society, Writing Prompt
Future Technology
I’ve been thinking Sam Neill thoughts since learning of his passing. This has led me back to “Until The End of The World” (1991). The film is a good example of a William Gibson’s quote that I like, “The future is already here, it’s just not distributed evenly.”
Creativity, Writing Prompt
Writing Assignment: The Bear Necessities
One of the interesting weeks we had in my writing course was where we had to deconstruct then rebuild a famous story, in this case, Frankenstein. I decided early on that my version would have Elizabeth Lavenza (Victor von Frankenstein’s fiancé) as the hero, and that the story would involve nanotechnology.
Creativity, Writing Prompt
Writing Assignment: Rethink the Trope
Writing is often filled with tropes – preconceived ideas that both the writer and the reader bring to the story. For this assignment we were asked to redefine a fairy tale trope of our choice. I chose trolls.
Creativity, Writing Prompt
Writing Assignment: Rewrite A Scene
For a creative writing class, I was taking, we had to write a 500-word scene from The Catcher in the Rye demonstrating a specific perspective of our choice. I chose to do third person limited from D.B.’s perspective.
Creativity, Writing Prompt
Writing Challenge: Write a Story in 100 Words
My first actual paid stories were six 100-word stories (often called “drabbles”) in 2016. I was paid US$5 for each. It was a big shot of validation early in my career.
Creativity, Writing Prompt
Writing Assignment: 1st Person Short Story
One of our assignments in my first writing course was to write in a voice you don’t usually use (first person versus third). This was my entry.
Creativity, Science Fiction, Writing Prompt
Writing Assignment (Unsubmitted): The Dilettante, 1982
During my first writing course, I wrote four different stories for the final assignment. We could only submit one. This is one of the ones I chose not to submit.