Errant Epiphanies
A home for writing and creativity exercises

Archive for June, 2006

Two Gifts

Friday, June 30th, 2006

Take five minutes to list out the most memorable gifts you have ever received–good and bad, tangible or not, for a special occasion or not. Circle the one ‘best’ gift and the one ‘worst’ gift and follow these instructions:
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Lightning Fireball

Thursday, June 29th, 2006

Lightning Photography and Lightning Photo Tips - lightning picture 2003033040

The above-linked stunning photo of lightning looks like a cross between a fireball in the night sky and a ball of crackling electricity. It’s absolutely amazing, but I hope I never see anything like it too close to my house!
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Title Jumble–Memories of a Graphically Designed Ecosystem

Wednesday, June 28th, 2006

Once again I’m going to give you three genres or sub-genres of book, and I want you to follow the instructions below:

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Crime and Punishment

Tuesday, June 27th, 2006

Imagine a world in which the justice system worked exactly the way you wanted it to. Set a timer for thirty minutes and free-write about this world. This could take several forms–a simple list of crimes and punishments, an idealistic narrative about your uptopian land, or whatever comes pouring out of your head.
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Light and Dark

Monday, June 26th, 2006

Take two pieces of paper, or make two columns on one sheet of paper. At the top of one, write the word “light.” At the top of the other, write the word “dark.” Free-write for five minutes on each, free-associating from that word. What do you think of when you think of light and dark?
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Important Irritations

Sunday, June 25th, 2006

Pick a fictional character you want to explore (a character from a story or novel you’re working on, an RPG character, etc.). First, set a timer for five minutes and list each thing that’s important in this character’s life, whether it’s as big as world peace or as small as a kitten. When you’re done, go through and put check-marks next to the most important things–particularly the things that represent some sort of goal, or something that could be threatened.
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Locked Box

Friday, June 23rd, 2006

Picture a locked box in your mind. It’s small enough to pick up and carry, but large enough that you can’t hide it under your coat. It’s rectangular, made of exotic woods and carved with ornate symbols that look vaguely familiar… but you can’t quite place them. Delicate inlays in a lighter shade of wood depict a tree with branching limbs and intricate leaves. The wood seems subtly perfumed, and the scent is dark and a little spicy. The box has some heft to it–enough that you’re sure there’s something locked inside of it, even though it doesn’t rattle when you carefully shake it–but not so much that you can’t lift it.
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Crystal Cave

Thursday, June 22nd, 2006

The Crystal Cave in World of Warcraft (found in Un’goro crater) is a surprisingly stunning sight when you come across it in-game. The crystalline formations really do glow brightly with striking colors, and the first time I saw it, it took my breath away.
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Animal Mania

Wednesday, June 21st, 2006

List out two animals you love and two animals you really don’t like (or have negative feelings about). List these animals across the tops of a sheet of paper and free associate related words, phrases, and word-images beneath them (or use some other free association method, such as mind-mapping).
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Rainbow on Fire

Tuesday, June 20th, 2006

Photo in the News: Rare “Rainbow” Spotted Over Idaho

This one’s a pretty darn simple prompt: Look at the photo in the article linked to above, set a timer for 15 minutes, and start free-writing. If you want to do something more specific with this, use one of the following formats:
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