All posts filed under: Creative Writing

Writing Challenge: Flash Fiction

Published by

Write at least one six-word story and one piece of flash fiction.   300-word flash fiction This morning, she perfunctorily put on the black dress she had laid out the night before and vowed to herself in the mirror that she would hold it together today. All eyes would be on her and she didn’t want to give those cruel strangers the satisfaction of watching her cry. Thanks to him, she was in an awkward situation. His wife and three children had not known about her until the end, so when she entered the funeral home, a hush came over the room and people leaned in to whisper furiously, probably wondering what nerve she had to even show her face. She adjusted her black wide-brimmed hat and put her dark glasses back on, then found a seat toward the back of the room. A big, fat tear sat atop her lower lashes, so she blinked to allow it to fall. It ran down her cheeks and landed on her hands, which were crossed on her …

side orders | Weekly Writing Challenge: Fifty

Published by

For this week’s challenge, you must write a fifty-word story. Not five thousand, not five hundred, but precisely fifty words. She ducks into her favorite booth, the tacky vinyl sticking to the backs of her legs as she slides toward her favorite part of the seat. Once there, she breathes in the familiar and usually comforting aroma of coffee and pancakes, but it doesn’t make her feel better. Not today.   I really enjoyed this challenge, since it allows me to dabble in fiction without fully committing. Whatever idea for a story, I can fit succinctly into 50 precise words and then step away. I like that. I might do more of it.  Weekly Writing Challenge: Fifty | http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2014/04/07/writing-challenge-fifty/  

Weekly Writing Challenge: Writerly Reflections

Published by

Learning to read at a very young age meant never being lonely. As an only child, I both lost and found myself in books. In fact, some of my best friends were characters in my favorite books, like Ramona Quimby, Jo March, and Elizabeth Bennet, whose personalities influenced my own. Getting to know their outgoing characters definitely helped to quell the social awkwardness, that might’ve come  with being an only child. I began writing, as a kid, under my uncle’s and aunt’s encouragement. Being a voracious reader, they recognized my colorful imagination, so my uncle created blank homemade booklets for me and soon, all of the interesting stories that popped up in my head were put to paper. Although they weren’t stories and novels of epic proportions, they served as an outlet for all the creative churn that came with being an introverted only child with an overactive imagination. Writing had become such a part of my daily existence back then that I distinctly remember sitting in an entrance interview to attend a boarding school as a 7th grader and being asked by the interviewer, what …

Zero Hour

Published by

The clock struck midnight. I fumbled through a series of keystrokes, a vain effort to compose a blogpost worthy of publishing. I reached for the thesaurus and scanned for snappy, vivid words. The objective: to deliver eloquent prose, anecdotes or better yet, a story deserving of a 5 star rating. But reviewing the written content exposed an incondite structure and lack of depth. Free-flowing stream of conscious writing revealed no epiphanies. Desperate for inspiration, hungry for words, afflicted by writer’s block. I had arrived at “zero hour” with no story tell.

Don’t Forget to Breathe

Published by

“Taking one down… faking a smile with coffee to go.” David Powter’s song, Bad Day, was playing on the radio; the timing was uncanny. I had slept through my morning alarm, and I was late for work.  As I traveled down Kawaihae road in a frenzied state, I managed to spill hot coffee on my white blouse and all over the cars center console. A series of colorful “words” quickly ensued. “This is going to be a long day,” I thought to myself. And it was. I spend a lot of time on the road commuting between jobs and devote many hours working through occupational hurdles in my head. Sometimes turning-off the “work switch” can be difficult; that seemed to be the case on this particular day. En route to my second job in North Kohala, the large number of humpback whale sightings took me aback. Whales breeched every 6-10 miles and spouts reached 10 feet high. At that moment Mat Kearney’s song Breathe In Breathe Out blared through the car sound system: “Breathe in breathe out…breathe in …

DP: Never Gonna Give You Up

Published by

You. We know *you* are vice-free, dear Daily Post reader. But, or perhaps we should say, “butt,” others around you and in your life are riddled with vices: they smoke; they eat too much celery; they hog the covers; they can’t keep their hands out of the office candy bowl. Which vice or bad habit can you simply not abide in others? Photographers, artists, poets: show us VICE. My husband has been a smoker for 20 years. His addictive habit is a sensitive subject in our household. We manage to keep the peace in our home by sticking to a few ground rules that require much effort on his part to keep our shared living quarters smoke-free: Rule 1: Husband shall not smoke around Wife. Rule 2: Husband must eliminate any/all traces of smoke from clothing, hands and breath before snuggling with Wife. Rule 3: Smoking is prohibited within 20 feet radius of shared dwelling. Rule 4: There should be no evidence of cigarette butts in or around the home and cars. Rule 5: DO NOT ask …

Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda

Published by

Tell us about something you know you should do . . . but don’t. I can never remember my husband’s birthday. I always think it’s 2 days earlier than it really is and what ensues is the following conversation, which has happened more than I care to admit. Me: “Hey, it’s your birthday…” Him: “…” Me: “… soon. Yay!!” I really need to either memorize it or put his special day in my calendar. With a reminder. Wait, tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, isn’t it? Uh-oh.

Haiku Holoholo

Published by

Fellow blogger Nathaniel, of Introvert Japan, just posted a great write-up about the history of haiku. Here is my challenged and cringeworthy attempt at the aged art. ʻahu mark the path. mokuʻāweoweo. ascent to the gods.   steep and winding path. quiet wonder in the cliff. nageiredo.  sighing gentle breeze. like fingers through my loose hair. seduced by the wind. rays of light find me. piercing through the canopy. illuminated. crumbling at your feet. fragile wall around my heart. you dismantle me. Weekly Writing Challenge:  Haiku Catchoo! |  http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/11/25/challenge-haiku/

Daily Prompt: Fright Night

Published by

It was a warm and humid summer evening in the sleepy town of Kamuela, Hawaii. I was getting ready to turn down for the night when I caught a glimpse of an unusual shadow figure in the bedroom mirror. Was that my reflection? I thought to myself. It had to be; my husband was already in bed, sound asleep. “Get a grip, Rogene. You’ve been watching too many horror flicks,” I mumbled aloud as I turned off the lights, slipped into bed and drifted to sleep. I’m a light sleeper; any subtle movement or unusual sounds will awake me at night. So, later that evening, when I felt a slight brush on my feet my eyes shot open. I looked over to my husband to see if he was tugging on the sheets, but he was lying completely still on the opposite end. I turned to look at the clock; it was 3am, too early to get up. A half hour had passed when I felt another tug on sheets. My night vision had not …

Try Wait?

Published by

Write about whatever you’d like, but write using regional slang, your dialect, or in your accent.  Try Wait? (Translation: Please hold on a second?) **cell phone ringing** Wrong Number: “Hello?” Local girl: “Who da hell is dis’? Wrong Number: “Excuse me?” Local girl: “No even try, ‘kay? I know who you…” Wrong Number: “I’m sorry, I think you have the wrong number.” Local girl: “Oh, I don’t have a wrong numba’. Dis’ Chelsea, hah? What, Kawika stay wit’ you?” Wrong Number: “No, my name is Michelle, not Chelsea, and who’s Kawika?” Local girl: “No ack’, kay? I know as you, Chelsea. You stay talk all good English so I get tr-own off, but I rec-a-notice yo voice. You work da drive-tru at Taco Bell so you can make nice voice if you like… You bettah tell Kawika he bettah get his ass home pronto.” Wrong Number: “I’m hanging up now. Please don’t call me again.” Local girl: “Chelsea, if you hang up on me, when I see you again, you gonna get it. And you …

$12 Mullet

Published by

My first real life lesson was balancing meager finances and spending priorities, which happened at the tender age of 13. It was my first year boarding at Kamehameha and I was ecstatic to be off Kauaʻi, away from the prying eyes and attention of family. If you grew up on a neighbor island back in the day, you may be able to relate when I say that being on Oʻahu made you think you could pretty much do anything. Kinda like Vegas, but whatever you did would eventually find its way back home by the end of the week via the coconut wireless. It might’ve been the anonymity of living in a sea of unknowns or the fact that anything I ever wanted, or didn’t know I wanted, was conveniently available, but that along with my newfound freedom was exhilarating. I began to think that because I could wash my own clothes, I was probably capable of making decisions for myself too. Despite my developing confidence from living “on my own”, I felt there was very …

Letter to My Younger Self

Published by

A few years back, celebrities began writing letters to their younger selves. Now that I’ve hit a major milestone, I thought it’d be an interesting exercise to take stock in the things I’ve done, to let go of some of the things I should’ve done differently, and to revisit some of the things that I still have time to do. Dear Younger Kainoa, Despite those feelings of insecurity, trust that you’ve been raised right, that you’re intelligent and creative, and that you’re beautiful. Here are a few pearls of wisdom to guide you on your way: Rebel every once in awhile – Considering your lineup in the family, you’re always expected to do the right thing, the safe thing, all the time. Take risks and do things that challenge your obedience. Do it now before it floats up when you’re 40 and it’s no longer seen as cute, but as a desperate last-ditch attempt to hold on to your youth, pre-midlife crisis. Feed your need for adventure – When an opportunity arises, get out there and explore! …