Creative Nudge #9 - Taste

 Before I get started on the Creative Nudge for today I just wanted to let you know there is only one day left to win the above book!! Hush Money was a great read that reminds me of John Grisham's work, only written with a younger and edgier tone. Go enter to win it!  There are very few entries so far so you have a good chance of being the winner.

Now onto today's Creative Nudge! As I explained last week, I am going to spend the next few weeks focusing on the different senses as a device to help add descriptive flavor to my writing, and hopefully yours! I'll be posting what I write up (this is what I wrote for the smell prompt) and I would love to read what you have to write as well.

Isn't that picture cute? It's cake....but it sure looks like a cup of coffee! Perfect picture to start out my discussion of taste. Make sure you check out the artist. 

I decided to follow smell up with taste because the two are very connected, in fact 80% of what you taste is because of the smell, which explains why food tastes so bland when you have a cold and your nose is all plugged up.

When I think of taste I primarily think of food, which is normal, there aren't a lot of other things that adults taste, although tooth paste and the lips of a significant other come to mind. Food is a very important part of most cultures, and I've always found it fascinating that people have such a wide variety of interests in food, and that what I think of as comfort food you might find completely gross.

Here's some fun facts about taste thanks to this site and this site:

• Hypogeusia is a diminished sense of taste. 
• Dysgeusia is a persistent taste, usually an unpleasant one.
• What we perceive as "flavor" is actually a combination of smell, taste, spiciness, temperature, and texture. So yes, it really does taste better cold, or hot, or whatever. Goldilocks knew what she was talking about!
• That "taste" I mentioned in the last fact? It is made of up of taste groups sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami (a savory taste).
• You know those bumps on your tongue? Those aren't your taste buds, rather, they contain your taste buds, and each one has an average of 6 taste buds inside it. 
• The average adult has between 2,000 and 10,000 taste buds, "super tasters" have even more!
• Your flavor preferences change over time and can be very affected by social queues. For example, if the first time you see someone eat something they react badly, you are less likely to like the taste of it yourself.

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So how does the Creative Nudge work? Read on...

The Creative Nudge:

Theme: The sense of taste.

Genre: Any

Other requirements: Try to make the sense of taste central to whatever you write!

How it Works:

Take a few minutes to write a short response (any format or genre) to the prompt.

Post it on your blog.

Come back here and leave me a link in the comments so I can read it!

I'll post my own response on Tuesday for you to read.

Check back next Saturday for another Creative Nudge!

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Need some ideas to get you started?

1. Write about your favorite food and a memory associated with it.

2. What's the worst thing you've ever tasted? Write about it!

3. Send your main character to a restaurant. What would they order? What do they think about the food? How does it make them feel? 

4. Go to a World Food Store, pick something you've never tasted, try to describe it.

5. Pretend to describe your favorite dish to someone totally unfamiliar with the cuisine. So describe macaroni and cheese to an African tribesman. Or Thai food to someone who grew up on Southern home cooking.

6. Describe a taste none-food related. Someone's lips, medicine, toothpaste, or even blood if you write about vampires!

Have fun!

~ Ruthie ~

The Way the World Smells

Like free books? Check out my giveaway!

The following piece is my response to the Creative Nudge I posted on Saturday - taking the sense of smell and making it central to a short piece. I used the characters in my current WIP and wrote a totally new scene for them, that I might just include somewhere in the book (or unwritten sequel).

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“How does the world smell to you Levi?”

Levi looked up at Alina from his bowl of Keava’s stew, and just stared, confused, with out a clue how to respond to this strange question.

Seeing his confusion Alina tried again, “I mean, I know you are a Wolf, and that Wolves are very scent orientated, and I’ve noticed that even when you are shape-shifted into human form you tend to sniff at things. For instance, you just took a deep whiff of that stew you’re holding, and while I do that too because Keava’s stew is fantastic, I’m just wondering what the world smells like to you.

“Like … the world?” Levi wasn’t trying to make a joke, he still was completely lost, and unsure of what Alina was trying to get out of him. She asked the strangest questions sometimes, and right now he’d rather just go back to his bowl of stew.

“Well, yeah, of course, but what does that smell like? Does it smell different when you are a Wolf versus when you are in human form?”

“No.”

“Really? I’ve always wondered about that, what stays the same when you shape change that is.” Alina wanted to figure out her friend, well, honestly, she wanted to figure out everything, but right now she was focused on this strange, black haired Wolf that fate had thrown her together with.

Levi sighed and put down his stew. “My abilities mostly stay the same, except I’m not as strong as a human. I can still see everything through scent, hear better than you can although not quite as good as I can as a wolf, and use my mental abilities of course.”

Alina rolled her eyes. “I knew you could use your telekinesis and telepathy, and those make sense to me, it’s just seems strange that your physical abilities change so little.”

“Well think of it this way, I’m in charge of the shape change, it’s not like I’m casting some spell that does the work for me. I mean yeah, there is a spell involved, but I still have to put the intent into forming the shape. So what can stay the same, and that gives me an advantage, does.”

“Ah, that makes sense.” Alina looked thoughtful, “Do you think you could ever teach someone else to shape-shift?”

Levi just shook his head.

“Why not?”

“I’m not that good of a teacher!”

Alina laughed, thinking he was wrong about that, but letting it rest for now, she still wanted an answer to her earlier question. “So what does the world smell like to you?”

“You aren’t going to give that up are you?”

“Nope.”

“It smells… like information. I can tell that you and Keava were collecting herbs earlier because your clothes still smell like rue and lavender, and I could tell you what spices Keava used in the stew, and that there was a herd of deer through this clearing earlier. The fire smells like a bouquet of the different woods we used in building it, I can smell the different flowers growing around us, and a whole bunch more.” Levi ended awkwardly, not sure if this is what she wanted to hear, but then, looking back up at her and seeing the wonder on her face, deciding that it was.

Creative Nudge #8 - Smell

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(I love the smell of coffee!)

Senses are what allow us to connect with the world around us, and with our own bodies. Lose just one of those sense and the world loses some of it's richness, and might even become very challenging, just think about what would happen if you permanently lost your sense of balance! As writers our goal is to create a rich environment for our readers, without drowning them in detail of course. One of the ways we can do that is by providing sensory descriptions.

Over the next few weeks I'm going to do a series of Creative Nudges based on the different senses. I'll start with the traditional five (smell, touch, hearing, sight, and taste) and move on to some that we all know about but don't hear as much in school, such as balance and temperature.

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Did you know that the sens of smell is scientifically referred to as Olfaction? Or that an inability to smell is called Anosmia? Here's some other fun facts about the sense of smell - thanks to the Sense of Smell Institute. Who would of guessed such a thing even existed...?

• A year later - people will still recall smells with 65% accuracy.
• Most of the things that we smell fly "under the radar," that is, we aren't aware of them.
• Our sense of smell is directional, which is probably why we have the expression "follow your nose."
• The sense of smell is responsible for about 80% of what we taste.
• The average human can smell 10,000 different scents. Dogs can smell about 20 times that.
• Everybody perceives scent differently. So what I think smells fantastic you might think utterly stinks.
• Every single person smells different, and this scent is always changing based on things like what we have eaten, our mood, and even the weather!

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Scent also has a powerful impact on mood and memory, which is why it is used so commonly in aroma therapy, and why I think it is very important to include (when appropriate) in writing. When you include this sense in your writing you have created opportunities to evoke powerful connections in the minds of your reader, so don't forget to use it! 

The Creative Nudge

Theme: The Sense of Smell

Genre: Any

Other requirements: Try to make the sense of smell an integral part of whatever you are writing.

How it Works

Take a few minutes to write up a short story based on the prompt.

Post it on your blog.

Come back here and leave me a link in the comments so I can read it!

I'll post my own response on Tuesday.

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Stuck? Here's a few ideas to get you started!

1. Describe your favorite scent and a memory it brings.

2. Kidnap, blindfold, and stuff ear plugs into your character's ears and have them guess where they are at based on the smell alone.

3. Describe a smell you hate.

4. Write a scene based on the inability to smell (be it a temporary thing or more permanent condition).

5. Put your character in a situation where they are assaulted by new smells.

And of course - have fun!

~ Ruthie ~

Ps. My first giveaway is coming on Monday - you don't want to miss it!

The Luck of the Irish - Creative Writing

This week's Creative Nudge was:

Theme: The Luck of the Irish

Genre: Any

Other Requirements? None

Here's what I wrote up :)


Patrica Ann O'Conner (Patty to her friends) was Irish to the core, and her parents would never let her forget it.

Neither would her friends.

Patty supposed that she would have liked being Irish if things had been a little less, well, Irish in her life, but there was no hope of that. First there was her red hair. It was actually a good shade of red, but her friends never got tired of making jokes about how she was the most Irish person they had ever met, and if she got grumpy, teasing her about the inevitable temper that an Irish red-head was bound to have. She also kinda hated how badly she burned in the sun.

Neither of those was as bad as her parents though. They weren’t just Irish, they were Irish and they reveled in it. Her house was done in a thousand shades of green. Green grass that was fertilized to keep it's healthy color. Green plants. Never a flower in the flower bed because, well, they weren't green. Light green paint with darker green trim on the outside. Paler green on the walls inside, accented by the furniture, the dishes, the carpet, the pillows, the nick-nacks, and even her parents, all in shades of green.

The sole exception to this green paradise was her room. Patty did her room in purples when she was 12 (much to her parents dismay, but they had let her pick out the paint) and accented it with silver, white, and black. She owned green clothing, but only because her parents bought it for her, and she shoved it to the back of the closet so that the only time green ever really invaded her home was when her parents would come in to talk to her.

Don't even get Patty started on St. Patricks day. Seriously. Don't.

If an unfortunate person were to make the mistake of asking her about the quintessentially Irish holiday they would be subjected to a lengthy rant about the improbability of St Patrick actually having anything to do with snakes, let alone eliminating all of them from an entire island, how society currently used it as an excuse to get drunk (and if that wasn't a stereotyped way of portraying the Irish she didn't know what was), and her parents. Her parents, you see, took the holiday as an excuse to throw open the doors of their home to any reveler passing by who might like a pint of guiness in the most Irish household in Sacramento. It was embarrassing really.

Her friends didn't get of course. They thought her parents were weird but cool (especially around the holiday not to be mentioned) and loved how her Mom showed up at school every year with green cupcakes for Patty's birthday. This tradition lasted until Patty's first year of high school when Patty threw a legendary tantrum in which she threatened to dye her hair black if her Mom ever crossed the threshold of her school for anything but a parent teacher conference or otherwise normal reason. Her friends didn't understand why she fussed about it (and why anyone would reject cupcakes) and it was about this time that Patty decided she might need new friends. Not coincidentally, she also began introducing herself as Ann and refused to answer to anything else.

Others might thinking Patricia Ann O'Connor was lucky for being born with into her heritage, but honestly? Sometimes it sucked being Irish.

I had a lot of fun writing this! It was definitely influenced by all the young adult fiction I've been reading lately, and it was fun to try something that I haven't done before! I might try more of it in the future. We'll see.


Did you write up a response to this week's Creative Nudge? Leave me a comment and tell me about it! 


~ Ruthie ~

Creative Nudge #7 - Luck of the Irish

Cool Project for a Leprechaun Catcher

I haven't done a creative nudge in way too long, but now that life seems to be settling back into a routine, I'm excited to post them on a weekly basis again! I'm really excited about this one, I actually got the idea for it last night as I was going to sleep, and I'm going to go write up my own response to it as soon as I'm done posting this! 

The Creative Nudge

Theme: The Luck of the Irish

Genre: Any

Other Requirements? None

How it Works

Take a few minutes to write up a short story based on the prompt.

Post it on your blog.

Come back here and leave me a link in the comments so I can read it!

I'll post my own response on Monday.

Have fun!

~ Ruthie ~ 

Creative Nudge #6 - Meet Levi

Due to my back injury I was never able to respond to the last Creative Nudge I posted - or to post a new one! To catch up I'm both going to share what I wrote and give you a new Nudge - all in one post. Sorry if this gets a little bit long!

Creative Nudge #5 was to interview a character from one of your stories. If you didn't get a chance to respond to it but still want to, feel free to leave a link to your post in the comments of this one! For now... Here's mine :)

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Levi is one of the characters from my NaNoNovel 2011 which I'm currently referring to as Misfits (although I'm thinking maybe Pack of Misfits instead?) Levi is a Wolf. Wolves in Maerdon are sentient, have a range of psychic and magical abilities, and years ago began learning to shape change to enable them to more easily communicate with the members of other races that weren't comfortable (and sometimes not capable of) using telepathy. Levi has a tortured past, and when we meet him in Misfits he is choosing to live out among the other races in the shape of a man. He's big, 6'2" in human form, with black hair and blue eyes. I've had him answer these questions based on his life before the book starts.

Question #1: What's the hardest part about shape changing?
The small things. At first that means things like getting the fingers and ears right, but then once you have learned the form that becomes much easier. Then you are tripped up by things like facial expressions, mannerisms, even the way you walk. I've spent enough time among the other races that I've learned to imitate them fairly well, but I still forget that most humans can't smell the way I still can while in human form. It takes a lot of focus not to be constantly sniffing the air.

Question #2: What's your favorite thing to do?
Hunt. I love the hunt, and, based on experience, it's something I won't really be able to explain to you.

Question #3: Since you've chosen to live among the other races and not with a pack, how do you make your living?
I hunt. I've learned out to take down a kill without ruining the hide and I then tan and sell the hides. 

Question #4: Where do you live?
I travel a lot. Never stay in one place long, but I do have a cave I take the hides back to so I can tan them. 

Question #5: Wolves are a pack society, is it hard living as a lone Wolf?
Yes.

I could ask him more questions - but this post would get rather long (because of my questions, not his answers obviously, did you notice they got shorter as we went?).  

Erin Morgenstern's Website

Creative Nudge #6: The Circus! I'm currently reading "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern and I can barely put it down (but I know I have to do my own writing too!). So write some thing about a circus, or a clown, or something else you associate with the circus. 

Go write! Then Blog. Then come back here and leave me a comment so I know you did! I will not be using the linky tools that I was previously using (don't want to pay for it) and I'll be looking around to see if I can find another one before next week.

~ Ruthie ~

Creative Nudge #5 And A Fun Picture!

Remember my review of Prison Nation and my author interview with Jenni Merrit?  We've been chatting a lot and went out for coffee today! I was thinking maybe one or two hours chatting... Three and half hours later we were no where near running out of topics and we are planning on getting together at Powell's soon. What's better than two writers talking about books and writing in a book store?

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I was a bad girl and never wrote a response to my own writing prompt this last week. Ooops. It's been a bit of a crazy week, I'll write up something for this week's Nudge though!

Creative Nudge #5: Take a character, it could be one from a story your writing or just one you make up on the spot, and do a Q&A session with them! You'll get to know them a lot better along the way - I promise! Ask what ever questions you want. Have any you want me to throw at one of my characters? Leave a suggestion in the comments!

~ Ruthie ~

Creative Nudge #4 and My Response to the Last One

Oops - I never got around to posting my response to the photo-nudge from two weeks ago! Sorry guys - I've been sick and it's been kicking my tail. Slowly getting back to normal though. Here's the picture as a refresher (don't forget you can buy a print here!)

"Don't touch the presents under the tree or the evil Christmas Tree Squid will come and clamp on your face while your asleep AND you won't get any presents this year!"

A mouthful, I know. That's my mom for you. Full of warnings and, um, an overactive imagination. The funny thing is we believed her when we were little. I never touched so much as a single present before Christmas morning. It was torture. So many tantalizing packages in red, green, gold, and silver, so many strange shapes, and I couldn't so much as poke them let alone shake them!

I was in middle school before I started realizing that my Mom's stories might be a bit strange. I clearly remember telling little Bobby Walker in our art class about the little children living on the other side of the moon who wouldn't have any teeth if we didn't stick the one's we lost under our pillow for the tooth astronaut to take, and his look of complete confusion. At first I thought his tale of a tooth fairy was really weird, but then we started talking, and I found out about all those little stories most children grow up with, and I had never heard.

Still, it wasn't until I was in highschool that I conquered my fear of the evil Christmas Tree Squid. I had my boy friend to thank for that. We were talking about my weird Mom and he asked me why I had never drawn any of the strange creatures she had told us about. Took me totally by surprise, but I guess he had a good point. I mean, at that point I was drawing everything I could, on everything I could, so why not that?

The first version of the Christmas Tree Squid was drawn on a paper napkin that had grease stains from what the cafeteria called pizza, but soon I had drawn him over and over again. Now I'm a world famous children's author, and most of my stories are based on the tales I heard as a child. My Mom is incredibly proud of me, and she has co-written a few of the stories with me, but I've also learned that I have her talent for the absurd, just look at my story about the Ninja Goldfish!

Thanks Mom. Merry Christmas.

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Note: that story is a complete fabrication! While I DO have a very active imagination (obviously) I can't draw. Oh well. 

Creative Nudge #4: "Leather." That's right - one word. Simple and sweet. What are you going to do with that one word? 

Once you write a response don't forget to come back and leave a link in the linky tool below! I've included a link for the last Creative Nudge.

~ Ruthie ~ 

Charlie Brown Understood

I was going to post this yesterday - but I got all caught up in spending time with my best friend who's in town for the holiday's and completely forgot! Oh well, since this is my response to last week's Creative Nudge it counts as posting a piece of my writing right? Plus, just look at this coffee mug she got me! It's perfect for today's post - and just ignore the coffee drips at the top that are evidence of how much I'm enjoying using it.

(In case you can't read it: "Every Time You Think Things

Can't Get WORSE They Get Worse!)

It is said that art and life often imitate each other, and while I have found that to be very true, rarely has it been more true than this week! I assigned the writing prompt, "have things go wrong!" and then quickly got busy so it didn't get tackled as quickly as I would have liked. I had a few vague ideas about how I was going to tackle it, but nothing super concrete beyond, "take the characters from my story, Jemnath, drop them in the woods, and have something go wrong! Probably have them attacked."

Yes, brilliant. I know. Well thought out to eh?

I never could seem to get to writing it though.

Why? Well it started the day I assigned the post. I had spent half of it taking care of car troubles. Our car's fuel pump was failing, and dealing with it took up my entire day on Saturday as I rode the bus down to Wilsonville with my hubby (he had left the car there the night before), got it towed to the mechanics, and then waited to find out what was going on and how much it would cost me.

Then I was ambushed by Christmas. I think that's something that all of us have been dealing with in one way or another, but it seems like everything I've tried to do for Christmas this year has gone wrong! My Christmas card idea failed, shopping took way longer than I had expected, and I literally went to 12 stores on Tuesday trying to track down a couple of simple items that I thought would be easy to find. Boy was I wrong...

That's not so bad however, the real kicker that day came when I tried to make dinner. I was exhausted from shopping so I planned on making some taco salads (or a burrito for my hubby if that's what he wanted. Now, to give you some background, burritos were a staple in my house growing up. Along with spaghetti, there's no meal I've made more frequently. So I shouldn't have been able to ruin it right? Wrong.

I was absent-mindedly throwing spices in (I don't have to measure for this dish) and kept thinking, "huh, why am I smelling cinnamon?" I was turning my lazy-susan spice rack trying to make sure I hadn't missed anything when I spotted the chili powder. "Wait, I thought I..." That's when it trickled into my exhausted brain that this was NOT the shape of the bottle that I dumped at least a tablespoon's worth of spice from (thinking it was chili powder of course). Right behind that thought came the realization that this could have something to do with why I was smelling cinnamon...

Now, I'm told that a hint of cinnamon in taco meat can be quite good. A tablespoon mixed with lots of garlic and cumin? Not so much! That got thrown in the trash, and when I picked my hubby up from the bus stop later I petulantly explained that we were having fresh pizza from Bellagio's because I was so tired I had managed to fail a can't-fail-meal. He was amazed that I could fail at burritos...until I explained to and he started laughing so hard his face turned red.

Ok, so looking back on it, I can see why he laughed. At the time I was considering grabbing the frying pan when we got home and then eating all the pizza myself.

To top it all off, Wednesday morning I took the car back into the shop to have it fixed (our car guy had shown us how to keep it working for a short time, basically by beating the gas tank if the car wouldn't start) and discovered a curb on the way to the bus that I didn't know was there! I ended up on hands and knees with a fire starting in my ankle. Best part? There was a guy walking nearby who kept walking after I told him that no, I was most definitely not alright!

I may have to be nice to my characters for a few weeks, obviously my love of mischief in writing has decided to visit my personal life! And yes, Charlie Brown most definitely had it right.

BTW - my ankle is healing just fine :)

~ Ruthie ~

Love Creative Nudges? Check out the picture I used for this week's Nudge!

Creative Nudge #3 - Plus Excitement!

I'm so excited! Do you see that beautiful pile of paper to the left? That's Misfits - my NaNoWriMo Novel! My best friend printed it up at school (shhh...don't tell anyone!) and brought it to me when she came home for the holidays. When she gave it to me I just hugged it to myself for awhile.

Now I'm going a little bit crazy. I really, really, did I say really yet? want to start going through it! I have it right there after all. Still, I promised myself no editing until the 1st (partially so I can start working on Jemnath again, which I have) so it's just going to sit there for now. Still... I think I know what I'll be doing as soon as I have my coffee January 1st!

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Creative Nudge #3

This week is our first photo prompt! 

Before I say anything else - let me tell you that I got this fun and zany Christmas Squid from my friend Carapace's Etsy Store. You can buy it here - it's only $5!

So what now?

1. Stare at the picture long and hard - then write! What will you write? I don't know! That's up to you :)

2. Post what you wrote on your blog! 

3. Come back here and leave a link in the Mr. Linky Tool below! Feel free to leave links there for previous Creative Nudges as well. I'll list the first two nudges in the link tools below in case you want to check them out. 

That's it! Have fun writing and with the madness of finishing getting ready for Christmas! 

~ Ruthie ~

Ps. I'll be putting up my post to last week's Creative Nudge tomorrow!

A Christmas Memory

(Picture is of my Grandma-Great, myself, my brother Gordon - Peter wasn't born yet, and my Mom. Christmas '87 I'm guessing.)

Grandma-Great was the center of our family, and never was this clearer than at Christmas. Every year the entire family, in-laws and out-laws alike, would gather in her home to eat good food, laugh, and exchange presents. It was my favorite part of Christmas!

There was always more food than we could eat, although I remember one of my Aunt's joking that the reason the girls went first was because the boy's wouldn't leave any for the rest. I had four older boy cousins, so you can imagine the dent they made! Despite the size of the house, the kitchen really wasn't that big, and looking back at it now I marvel that the adults always managed to keep everything warm using that tiny little oven.

It was a two story house plus basement, and the kids would always gather downstairs to play pool and whatever else we could find to do. I remember one of the cousin's sticking the pool queue in the ceiling when his turn was done. It stuck. I thought it was hilarious (and later had to try it).

I was young enough that I really only have what I'd call "snap-shot" memories of those parties. I remember particular instances, little pictures, but no big stories. The big things I do remember is the warmth, both of the room, and of the company, and Grandma-Great.

Grandma-Great was the Queen Bee of the party (and the family). She made everyone feel loved, and my favorite parts of the Christmas gathering usually involved her. I remember showing off to get her attention, and she must have known that's what I was doing, but she always handled it with grace. Other's might yell at me to stop goofing around, but never Grandma-great! 

I remember noticing after we lost Grandma-Great that it seemed like the heart had gone out of the family. She hadn't been well in several years, so the big gathering's were already a thing of the past, but I don't think I really felt the difference as strongly until after she was actually gone. It was several years before I saw many of the extended relatives, and I've never spent much time around them since. Oh sure, we have a family party again now, but it will never be the same. 

I miss her.

~ Ruthie ~

Ps. This is my response to my first Creative Nudge (although I hadn't come up with that name yet!). If you have a response post to the first or second week please go to the post for week two and leave a link!

Creative Nudge Week 2 - Things Happen

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Time for a new writing prompt! No, it's not about cars. Car issues are simply my inspiration. You see, apparently my car has developed an issue that means every once in awhile, if the stars align just wrong, the car won't start. It's rather annoying and figuring out what was wrong with the car has taken up my entire day, left me with sore legs from walking too much with the bus, and in general driven me nuts. The end result? Other than an extra layer of insanity in my life? I'm scrambling to get a blog post up!

So.... Instead of posting up my response to last week's prompt, I'm simply going to give you this weeks. I'm tired, I haven't edited my response to last week's yet (I was going to do that this morning before... ya), and I'll post up my Christmas memory on tomorrow's blog post.

Also, instead of calling this a writing prompt I have decided it's a Creative Nudge. Same thing - one just sounds boring and like something a teacher would assign - and the other sounds fun and inspiring!

Creative Nudge - Week 2:
Have something go wrong! There are many different approaches to this, and you don't have to involve a car, so feel free to have fun wrecking havoc! If your in the middle of a longer project (like a novel), I dare you to have something go wrong in your story. Or to take one of your main characters and write a short piece where something goes wrong in their life (you might be surprised what you'll learn about them!). If your not in the middle of a novel, then congrats, you have the entire world as your play ground.

How this works:
1. Go write your response to my creative nudge - do so in the next day or two or life will get in the way!
2. Post it on your blog.
3. Come back and leave your link in the Mr. Linky tool below! If you responded to last week's prompt feel free to leave that link there as well.

Have fun!
~Ruthie~