Games

A friend's blog had the following two games in it. I thought I'd give them a try.

Ris wrote: Holly Lisle posted this fun little exercise, similar to the game I did below:
1. Delve into your blog archive.
2. Find your 23rd post (or closest to).
3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions. Ponder it for meaning, subtext or hidden agendas…
5. Tag five people to do the same.

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog along with these instructions.
5. Don’t you dare dig for that “cool” or “intellectual” book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest.

First exercise I used the 23rd post from my other blog, the May 5th entry: http://www.nanopubye.org/forum/weblog.php?w=8&month=5&year=2005&day=5

Where is the light coming from?
It makes me think of inspiration. I've been reading James Herriot again. His work is inspired by his own life and the people and animals he's known and loved. I think when I'm writing at my best, I do the same. Without that sense of warmth, and fragility, without the fear of someday (or immediately) losing the precious things in your actual life somehow getting transmitted onto the page, the work is without soul. There's no risk. The writing (or art) is too safe, and the inspiration is just a shadow on the page. It might still be interesting, but it's not compelling.
Note to self: write real

For the second game I grabbed a Writer's Book of Days. It's so easily at hand at my desk I would have had to move it to reach for something else. It happens that page 123 is a chapter break.

August
"Anyone can become a writer. The trick is staying a writer." -- Harlan Ellison

That's okay, I guess, but I like the actual sentences on the next page:

Tell the Truth. Every time you write you have an opportunity to tell the truth. Sometimes it's only through writing that you can know the truth, which may be one of the reasons we write in the first place.

I haven't read up to this part in the book yet. I'm behind by several months. If I do the exercise for today, I'll be writing about a pillow. I like that.