The Pen of a Ready Writer

The Rooglewood contest Facebook page had a fun activity today. Anne Elisabeth Stengl asked us to post our first few sentences from this week of writing and our last few sentences of the same. Here are mine: Where I started:      Moriah sniffed the air. Brews hung heavy on the mist. She was almost there.      The herbalist's cottage nestled so cozily into the trees that it almost appeared to be one of them. Moriah wrapped her cloak close around her for security, but it was more out of habit than from any feeling of doom. On the contrary, there was something about this old place that made her feel more at home than any castle. Where I ended:      Tripping over her own feet, she staggered out of the cottage and fled into the forest. As she reached is safety, she heard cackling far behind her.      It sounded like the fourth dwarf.

I am still playing with my story idea for a good queen.  One of my favorite things is to incorporate pieces from the original Grimm tale -- pieces that were proof of the queen's wickedness -- and show how they were misheard by the minstrels who passed down the tale. For example, what if the huntsman failed in his job to protect Snow White from the dwarves because of an inopportune boar attack?  And what if my queen is so distraught that she lashes back verbally, as she is prone to do, and her words are overheard and misunderstood?  What kind of story do you think would be circulated among the common people?       “Please, I did try to protect her!   Here!   I have the lung and the liver of the boar as proof!”   He swung a bag from his shoulder and held it out.   “There was a beast attacking, and I did kill it!”       “Then make it into a soup, you idiot!” Moriah shouted, angry now.   “What do I care for them?   It’s Snow White’s heart I wanted!”   Moriah droppe

     Don't count the dwarves in the picture.  There's thirteen of them instead of seven like I was trying to find.  Pinterest isn't perfect, and I'm not a master in digital photo editing.        But here is part of my twist on Snow White, and I am having more fun with it than you can imagine.       I have a queen...drop-dead gorgeous...cold...reserved...tormented...but not evil.      I have a princess...sheltered...trusting...a little naïve...generally believes the best of people...but not stupid.      I have a huntsman...big...terrifying to behold...but well-meaning.      I have a maid...tender-hearted...driven to reveal the truth and set things right...but completely mistaken on so many points.      I have an herbalist...talented...bound to serve the dark side but resenting it.      I have 7 dwarves...blood-thirsty...twisted...scheming...evil.

     Have you heard some of the ideas floating around for this contest?  The next 7 months of writing is going to be so much fun.      I started my one of my own ideas for a story before I heard everyone else's.  Then the rumors started flying in: mythical creatures, play-on-words, historical or foreign settings, other worlds, sci-fi, steampunk, abstract art forms, and so on.  Everything sounds so exciting, and each idea stirs my imagination as I try to guess what sort of tale it will turn out to be.      It's hard to not feel intimidated...or to kick myself, wishing I had thought of such a genius twist.  Some of the brilliant ideas make my story look very, very ordinary.  Others are so crazy and abstract that I probably wouldn't care for them much, but others will.      I'm somewhere between 1/4 and 1/3 of the way through my first draft, which is an easy time to feel discouraged and wonder if your story is worth the effort.   The typical artist cycle has

It's brainstorming time, guys!      We have a story to write.  It must be based on Snow White (here is the original tale ).  The rules dictate that we include the original elements of the tale in a recognizable way, even though we are given creative license in that.  So here is our brainstorming for the day: What ARE the key elements of Snow White?      In other words, which parts of Snow White make it Snow White?  What characters or items or pieces of story line are important to keep (even if you recreate them in a new way)?

     So I freely admit that I was not expecting the tale to be Snow White.  In fact, I had carefully laid out all my reasons that it surely would NOT be Snow White.  Clearly...I was mistaken.      My hat is off to all of you who predicted Snow White.  Nice work!  Your validated guess, as Mr. Bennett said, "shows some greatness of mind."      I am not a dark-and-disturbing sort of writer.  The fact that the tale was not what I expected plus the thought that contest winners would be of the dark-and-disturbing sort made me highly in favor of skipping the contest this year.  I felt disappointed and petulant.      I called my husband to complain and fret and assure him I intended to sit this one out.  But, far from offering sympathy, he expressed only excitement of what I could do with the tale.  And I have to say his enthusiasm was contagious.      Think of it, he said.  How much fun I could have developing the characters of the seven dwarfs?  And the story has

THE FINAL FAIRY TALE CONTEST! The announcement is finally here!  Are you ready for it?  Are you ready to see the cover for the last Rooglewood fairy tale contest book?  Here it is!      That's right!  The final contest will be on Snow White.  Did you predict that or were you surprised?  Anne Elisabeth Stengl is excited over the stories you guys will write for such a "dark and lovely" tale.  Ready to get started?  You will find the link to the contest rules below: THE FINAL FAIRY TALE CONTEST Rooglewood Press invites you to join the adventure of the Five Poisoned Apples creative writing contest! CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS .      It's a gorgeous cover, isn't it?  I like covers that make me want to step into them and see what it is like there.  ;)  The design was done by Julia Popova as always (her website is here ), and the cover model/photographer this time is Wynter Clark (her website is here ).       Time to get started now.  Put your finge