Write what you know, they say. Write every day, they say. I think about “what I know” and today it doesn’t seem like much. I’ve lived a rather ordinary life, and I feel I have little to write about sometimes. Yet, I am compelled to write.
The laptop screen stares blankly at me, waiting patiently, silently reminding me that a writer needs to write. Something. Anything.
I type my name at the top: “Story by Jesse Whitehead.” There, that’s something, four words. I chuckle at the absurdity.
I sit for 10 minutes; nothing comes to mind. Nada. Zero. Zilch. The much-dreaded writer’s block. I hate it. What did I do last time? Where did my ideas come from then? I can’t remember. My mind is mush, jumbled, vacuous, devoid of ideas. I’m such a dullard.
I flip through the pages of my notebook where I jot my thoughts, idea snippets, and so forth. My scribbles mean nothing to me, jumbled, nonsensical, incomprehensible. No story sparks here.
I’ll do a brain dump. I set my timer for five minutes and write whatever comes to mind, drawing lines to connect related words and ideas. This usually works, but not today. When I’m done, I can’t make sense of it. No inspiration here.
I contemplate what to do. I’ve got it. The online Random Word Generator. I’ll try that. I click the link to the website and punch in the parameters. I think five…no, six words will do it.
I press “spin” and get these words: morning, smell, dare, drift, flicker, hope.
Okay, that is pretty random. And a challenge. I’ve been reading some dystopian stuff lately. I’ll try that. Shoot for 200 words, maybe more, see where it goes. Dystopian, dark, with a dash of hope.
I copy and paste the six words beneath my name at the top of the page. I have no clue what I’m going to write, but this gives me a framework now. I’m going to type whatever comes to mind, no matter how silly or bad, and let it flow.
An hour later, I have a first draft of 150 words. It was a challenge, but I did it. Not great, but it’s a start, and something to work with. Frankly, I’m amazed every time words take shape on the page. It’s almost magic.
I bet you’re curious now. So here it is, the start of a story, using the seed of six random words.
A Flicker of Hope
Story by Jesse Whitehead
The morning air was heavy with the acrid smell of ash and despair. Mara gazed at the sky, bleak, gray, and hopeless, and remembered times past when the sun shone bright with promise. The ruins of the city drifted in and out of focus through the haze, mirroring her muted memories of the “good days” before the alien invaders came.
Hopeless. The opposite of hope. She wiped away the moisture that seeped from eyes and reflected on that solitary word. Hope. A repressed idea, a forbidden concept, a dangerous game for those who dare play it. Many have tried and failed.
Yet today felt different. Her pulse quickened as she heard an inner voice whispering for change, igniting a flicker of resistance, thrilling and terrifying. She didn’t know how or what, but she knew when. Today, she would take the first step beyond the dark and reclaim hope for a brighter world.
I closed my laptop, the satisfying sense of accomplishment settling over me like a warm comforter. I’m happy with my writing for today. I don’t have to “write about what I know.” All I need is a brain, a little imagination, and six random words.
