Tag: creative writing

Posted in Writing, Writing Prompts

Writing Prompt – Mom’s Favorite

Posted on by Kassandra Carrillo

mom's favourite

“And what are you doing now a days, Kylie?”

The question came from our next door neighbor, Mrs. Goodman. She moved in month three weeks ago and Mom they needed to be friends. It was something about pottery and robots.

When she asked, the other two guests turn their attention to me. It was suppose to be some sort of book club but they never spoke about books. They talked about the armor suits their husbands were working on. Sometimes they talked about dinning in space and how there was a ten year wait line. Today they were talking about children.

I swallowed the last mouthful of my lemon cake. Like always, it scratched my throat on my way down. Why was it that every time I ate lemon cake, the same conversation returned.

“I’m working at a cake shop,” I told her. “Business is good. Very busy.”

“That’s good to hear,” Ms. Lawman supplied. “My Joshy started up his tenth business just last week. I’m sure you girls have seen him on TV.”

Mrs. Goodman rolled her eyes and took a sip of her pink lemonade. “Good for you Helen,” she said. “My daughter is too busy running a tourist empire to appear on TV.”

“That’s unfortunate,” Ms. Lawman shot back. “Doesn’t that mean she’s no good at management? If she can’t make time then there’s obviously something wrong.”

The way Mrs. Goodman looked I was glad there was a coffee table between them and they were sitting on opposite sides of it.

“Wasn’t your brother on TV?” Mrs. Taylor asked me, quickly interrupting. “You look so much like him. I’m sure you’re trying to follow in his footsteps.”

I cleared my throat. Why did she have to bring me in to this? “Um, not really,” I told her. “I like baking. It’s nice and quiet.”

Mrs. Taylor frowned. “What about your sister?”

“Rebecca like working on her own,” I told her. “Plus it gets too cold in her lab and she’s anti-social.”

Mrs. Taylor’s frown deepened. “Surely the twins,” she began.

“Kylie is very good to me,” Mom said walking into the living room. “The others don’t have much time to visit. Kylie visits all the time. She goes shopping with me and helps me bake.”

I gave a grateful smile to my Mom.

“That’s nice dear,” Ms. Lawman piped up. “All our children are off somewhere saving lives, helping society, they make the true sacrifices.”

If I wanted shade, I would have sat outside. However, my mom’s smile never wavered.

“That’s true,” she said, “but at least I’m not lonely and my home isn’t empty.”

I hid my smile behind an empty glass of lemonade. Ms. Lawman shifted in her seat.

“I’m going to get more cake,” I muttered and bolted out of there.

Regardless if my siblings were more successful than I was, at least I had Mom. They didn’t get to eat her dishes like I did.

Posted in Gamernation News, updates, Writing

D&D Article, Updates, and Writing

Posted on by Kassandra Carrillo

I am happy to announce that my article on dice superstitions has been posted on Gamernation News. You can check it out here. I’ve included pictures of my dice and those of my fellow players but most of them are my dice. It was fun collecting all the information and hearing all the quirks and superstitions out there.

Lately, there’s been a lot of writing going on. From lesson plans, articles, Camp NaNoWriMo, and posts, I can’t seem to catch my breath. Of course let’s not forget running my own D&D sessions. I’ve been so busy lately. Somehow, I’ve managed to have everything under control. Let’s hope it stays that way.

I have to say that staying busy and writing is a good feeling. I feel very productive. Although I’m a few hundred words behind my daily goal for Camp NaNoWriMo, I think I’m doing well. I haven’t run out of inspiration. The story seems to be writing itself. Plus, getting into the mentally that it doesn’t have to be perfect is really helping me. Honestly, I think that’s the hardest part about writing.

If I had to say anything that I was dissatisfied with is probably the time I sent my posts out. I usually try to get them out between 3 and 5 but lately that hasn’t been working out. I’ve had to cover weird shifts at work that doesn’t allow for all that. School hasn’t made it easy yet. I’ll try to keep to that timeframe next week.

While it’s been a short update, I’ll cut the post short. I have to finish typing up my daily word count for Camp NaNoWriMo. For those who are participating, how’s it going? Have you run out of steam or still going strong?

As always, good luck.

 

Posted in NaNoWriMo, updates, Writing

Changes, Articles, and July

Posted on by Kassandra Carrillo

June has come to an end (sort of) and July is right around the corner. The week has been productive. Starting next month, I’ll be writing articles about Dungeons & Dragond for GamerNationNews and I’ll provide the links for that. It’s also for tabletop games so that’s going to be interesting.

As you’ll know, the website has changed. I’ve made some visual changes. There’s more changes coming but it’s going to subtle and I’ll mention it as well.

The certification program is going well. There’s a lot of reading but nothing I can’t handle. With managing everything, I’m getting posts published on a set schedule. Plus, I have also manged to get in some writing time.

Now, as July comes closer, there’s one thing that I’m unsure about. July brings Camp NaNoWriMo. Unlike the other times, this time, I don’t know if I want to participate. There’s a lot on my plate and there’s only so much I can time manage.

If I wasn’t attending the program, I could do it but now, I’m not so sure. I think what I might end up doing is to start Camp NaNoWriMo in July and continue with it as much as I can. There’s a way to change the word goal for the month.

Instead of 50k words, I might set the goal at 25k or maybe even 30k. To me, every goal for any NaNoWriMo is write more than my usual daily word count. Finishing a novel in 30 days won’t be my goal this July. I just want to write.

Hopefully, my time management will work out. In any case, if I can’t get to my set goal, at least I tries. However, for now, I won’t think negative thoughts. I’ll focus on Camp NaNoWriMo.

Posted in Writing, Writing Prompts

Writing Prompt – Legendary Knife

Posted on by Kassandra Carrillo

Long ago, the legendary sword Excalibur was melted down and lost to history. The mythical’s blade steel ended up in your butter knife, with all its magical purposes.

“Honey, can you wash those silverware?” my mom called out from the kitchen. “I just got them from a garage sale. Margaret down the street is selling all her antiques.

“Apparently, she got them from her mother-in-law who lives . . . somewhere in Europe. They’re suppose to be ‘magical’ and – Jessica, are you there?”

“Yeah?” I called out the living room.

“Don’t you hear me talking to you?”

“I heard.”

“Then why haven’t you washed the silverware? What are you doing?”

“Learning how to escape quicksand.”

“Hurry up and wash them.”

“Alright, alright.”

Sighing, I peeled myself off the leather couch and headed into the kitchen. My mom was just closing the pantry door when I entered.

“Your Aunt Lucy is coming tonight. I want downstairs spotless. Tell Carmen to help you.”

“We’re having a bar-b-que. We’re not going to be inside.”

My mom gave me a look. “Why don’t you ever do anything I ask? My hair is going to turn green because of you.”

“Never mind,” I muttered.

I turned to the counter. There weren’t any silverware. I looked at the dinning table. Nothing there either.

“Mom, where are they?”

She clicked her tongue. “Look for them,” she said before heading out the kitchen.

I went through a couple of drawers before finally finding the ‘new’ silverware in a grocery bag on top of the fridge. Opened the bag and looked inside. They looked like regular silverware to me. What’s so antique about them?

Oh well. I took the bag over to the sink and dropped them in the sink.

‘Ow. Watch it.’

Frowning, I looked over my shoulder.

“Mom?”

No reply.

“I must be hearing things,” I muttered.

Grabbing the sponge, I squirt some dish detergent on it and picked up a butter knife. It was a simple butter knife. There wasn’t anything strange or abnormal about it but the metal was warm. There were strange markings on the handle but I couldn’t tell what they said.

“Antique? Yeah. Right. Couldn’t she get some silverware that wasn’t scratched? Aunt Lucy is going be throwing some shade tonight.”

I soaked the sponge and started scrubbing.

‘You’re scratching me. Stop it.’

I whipped around. The heck?

“Carmen, is that you?”

My sister didn’t reply.

“Mom?”

She didn’t answer.

No one else should be home. And it couldn’t be the television either. I had that on mute. Was my house haunted? I looked down at the butter knife.

Maybe I was a werewolf and allergic to silver and now I was hearing things. Hmm, could be.

“Get a hold of yourself Jessica. Ghosts don’t exist and you’re not a werewolf.”

‘Could have fooled me.’

Yelping, I dropped the knife and ran out the kitchen straight into Carmen. With an ‘oof’ we crumbled to the floor.

“What the heck?” she groaned.

“Carmen, our kitchen is haunted.”

I rushed to my feet and pulled her up.

“Look, you have to listen.” I grabbed her arm and pulled her into the kitchen.

Carmen yanked her arm away. “Are you sleep walking?”

“Don’t you hear it? There’s a voice.”

“Yeah, yours and it’s annoying.”

‘Hey! You dropped me. Pick me up.’

“Did you hear that?” I asked. ‘The voice spoke.”

My sister gave a glare. “Dude, you’re weird.”

Before I could stop her, she walked out.

‘There’s some moldy cheese down here. How long do I have to stay here?’

My gaze fell on the butter knife. It was wedge between the floor and the counter. Could it be . . .? Warily, I picked up the knife.

‘Finally,’ the voice said. ‘You really need to clean underneath there. How haven’t you died yet? It’s so unsanitary.’

I stared at the knife for a long time. Yeah, this was a dream. I opened a drawer, dropped the butter knife, and closed it.

‘Hey! Hey! It’s dark. Don’t leave me in the dark! I hate the dark. Do you realize how long I was stuck in stone? Hey!’

I quickly scrubbed the rest of the silverware and closed the faucet. This was all a dream. I was going to ignore the voice and sit back down. When I woke up again, there would be no voice.

‘Hey! Hey!’

“There would be no voice.”

Posted in Methods, Resources, Writing

Lore – Before or After?

Posted on by Kassandra Carrillo

I believe that no matter what type of story you write, there’s going to be lore involved. The story/world that you create is going to have history. I don’t mean history of how you came up with the idea. I mean, history as in the world and everyone in that world is going to have a past.

Lore is one of the last things I think about through the creative process. Typically, I tend to dream up of a certain type of character and try to place them in all types of settings until I find one that they fit in. I don’t think about the lore until much later. It usually comes into fruition all on its own.

As the story develops, the ‘truth’ of the world starts to unravel bit by bit. I find it easier to let the lore develop on its own. If I need something to be held true like a kingdom invaded a thousand years ago or something along those lines then, I just have that happen.

The way I tend to create the lore is by starting out with general concepts. I look at the big picture like a major event. After I have some of that figure out, I look closer at the details. I mentioned an invading army before. With looking at the details, I figure out why the army invaded, what was the cause, who invaded who, etc.

Personally, I think having an overall concept of what you like the lore to be is a good place to start. There’s nothing concrete and the details/concepts can be molded to whatever it needs to be for the story.

At times, when I set something in stone before the story, I find it difficult to incorporate it into the story. For some reason, my brain is stuck in that little box I created before and I end up stressing myself. It’s good to have some flexibility when writing lore and everything else. Sometimes, inspiration strikes when you least expect it.