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“Thought Process”
By Kiyofox
Thursday Prompt 10/6/22
Keyword - philosophy
Kiyo stared at his laptop screen, languidly perched on the table in the open atrium. The unfinished paragraph taunted him. His muse abandoned him an hour ago, leaving his plot analysis paper to grind to a halt. He sighed and gulped his sweating golden oolong tea, hoping to pick up the thread he so firmly held a short time ago.
A trio of other students wandered into his periphery, providing an unexpected distraction. He glanced their way as they flopped into seats around the adjacent table. From their tone, they were deep in the middle of a debate.
“All I’m saying is, you don’t have to write down every last little thing your character does,” the iguana punctuated by tapping a claw against the table.
“I know that, Allan,” the cheetah said defensively, “but there has to be some kind of descriptive stuff going on.”
“I think you’re missing the point, Justin,” the iguana replied, “you have to find the method that works best for what you’re trying to say.”
“Have you made much progress on your assignment?” the ram asked.
“Not as much as I would like,” Allan sighed.
“Yeah, I hear you. I’m still working on my outline.”
“And I’m sure you’ll make out with an A like always,” Justin spat, “you always produce great writing, Thomas. I’ve read everything you post on the writing forum.”
“Thanks,” the ram grinned, “but there’s a big difference between writing for an assignment, and writing for fun.”
Kiyo nodded in quiet agreement and turned to listen to the trio’s deliberation.
“The thing I’m having a hard time with is figuring out where to draw the line on what is needed and what is not,” Justin said.
“Well, that’s part of your problem, Justin,” Allan chuckled, “you drown the reader in text.”
Thomas nodded in agreement.
“Why write five pages, when you can say it in two,” the iguana offered.
“Yeah, but I’m talking about the things that are usually glossed over or skipped entirely,” Justin countered, “take Star Trek for example. We’ve seen plenty of times where a character eats something, but they never even mention that the same character has to use the restroom at some point.”
The ram and iguana shook their heads.
“Here we go again,” Allan muttered.
“Dude,” Thomas said, turning to Justin, “trust me; no one wants to see that, much less read about it.”
“Yeah, but it’s not very realist-”
“I don’t ever want to know about my favorite character taking a dump,” the ram interjected, “and if you want people to like your characters, you don’t need to give the reader all the gory details.”
“Readers are smarter than you think,” Allan added.
Kiyo laughed and picked up his tea.
“Let me guess,” the fox called to the trio, “it’s an assignment from Prof. Perkins, right?”
“How did you know?” Justin blurted out.
“I took his class two semesters ago,” Kiyo grinned and took another gulp of tea.
“Yeah, this one’s a kind of vague assignment,” Allan replied, “it’s supposed to be about the philosophy of writing, or something.”
“Up to now, it’s just been writing exercises like take a character from one book and put them into a scene from another book,” Thomas said, “but this time around it’s kind of hard to figure out what direction to go.”
“I’m sure you guys will figure it out,” Kiyo replied.
“Hey, um, I know we haven’t actually met, but could you maybe sometime like take a look at my stuff? I’m always looking for feedback,” the cheetah stammered.
“Sure, I’d be happy to take a look. By the way, I’m Kiyo. And you’re Justin, Allan and Thomas,” he pointed. “Sorry, I couldn’t help eavesdropping on your conversation. And I’ve been there, guys. Just keep at it and you’ll do fine.”
“Thanks,” Justin grinned.
“Nice to meet you, Kiyo,” Allan smiled, “would you care to join us?”
“Yeah, slide over here and slip some wisdom into the convo,” Thomas laughed, “we could probably use it, especially with these two knuckleheads.”
Everyone laughed.
“Sure, why not,” Kiyo replied, “I lost my groove a while ago. Maybe a philosophical discussion will help me find it again.”
“Great! Let me buy you another tea,” Justin offered.
“Thanks, I appreciate that,” the fox said.
Kiyo moved his laptop and bag over to the discussion table as Justin came back with a fresh tea.
“So where were we?” Kiyo prompted.
“I think Thomas was saying what a colossily bad idea it is to point out to the reader when a character ate a bad plate of clams,” Allan grinned.
“Yeah, I can’t think of a reason why I need to know that,” Thomas said.
“True, however,” Kiyo held up a finger, “there’s a time and place for everything. What if that’s how we find out the bad guy botched his hit on the intended target? Or it could be a way to show how enamored our love interest is with the girl who’s really bad at cooking but doesn’t care?”
Justin’s mouth gaped open.
“Whoa, I never thought of it that way,” he whispered.
“Ah, yes, context and perspective make a huge difference,” Allan nodded.
“Indeed, and if I may offer, it seems the spirit of the assignment is to open your creative mind to thinking in new ways,” the fox grinned.
“Ha, you are clever, fox,” Thomas chuckled, “tell us more of your wisdom.”
“Certainly,” Kiyo smiled.
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“Thought Process”
By Kiyofox
Thursday Prompt 10/6/22
Keyword - philosophy
Kiyo stared at his laptop screen, languidly perched on the table in the open atrium. The unfinished paragraph taunted him. His muse abandoned him an hour ago, leaving his plot analysis paper to grind to a halt. He sighed and gulped his sweating golden oolong tea, hoping to pick up the thread he so firmly held a short time ago.
A trio of other students wandered into his periphery, providing an unexpected distraction. He glanced their way as they flopped into seats around the adjacent table. From their tone, they were deep in the middle of a debate.
“All I’m saying is, you don’t have to write down every last little thing your character does,” the iguana punctuated by tapping a claw against the table.
“I know that, Allan,” the cheetah said defensively, “but there has to be some kind of descriptive stuff going on.”
“I think you’re missing the point, Justin,” the iguana replied, “you have to find the method that works best for what you’re trying to say.”
“Have you made much progress on your assignment?” the ram asked.
“Not as much as I would like,” Allan sighed.
“Yeah, I hear you. I’m still working on my outline.”
“And I’m sure you’ll make out with an A like always,” Justin spat, “you always produce great writing, Thomas. I’ve read everything you post on the writing forum.”
“Thanks,” the ram grinned, “but there’s a big difference between writing for an assignment, and writing for fun.”
Kiyo nodded in quiet agreement and turned to listen to the trio’s deliberation.
“The thing I’m having a hard time with is figuring out where to draw the line on what is needed and what is not,” Justin said.
“Well, that’s part of your problem, Justin,” Allan chuckled, “you drown the reader in text.”
Thomas nodded in agreement.
“Why write five pages, when you can say it in two,” the iguana offered.
“Yeah, but I’m talking about the things that are usually glossed over or skipped entirely,” Justin countered, “take Star Trek for example. We’ve seen plenty of times where a character eats something, but they never even mention that the same character has to use the restroom at some point.”
The ram and iguana shook their heads.
“Here we go again,” Allan muttered.
“Dude,” Thomas said, turning to Justin, “trust me; no one wants to see that, much less read about it.”
“Yeah, but it’s not very realist-”
“I don’t ever want to know about my favorite character taking a dump,” the ram interjected, “and if you want people to like your characters, you don’t need to give the reader all the gory details.”
“Readers are smarter than you think,” Allan added.
Kiyo laughed and picked up his tea.
“Let me guess,” the fox called to the trio, “it’s an assignment from Prof. Perkins, right?”
“How did you know?” Justin blurted out.
“I took his class two semesters ago,” Kiyo grinned and took another gulp of tea.
“Yeah, this one’s a kind of vague assignment,” Allan replied, “it’s supposed to be about the philosophy of writing, or something.”
“Up to now, it’s just been writing exercises like take a character from one book and put them into a scene from another book,” Thomas said, “but this time around it’s kind of hard to figure out what direction to go.”
“I’m sure you guys will figure it out,” Kiyo replied.
“Hey, um, I know we haven’t actually met, but could you maybe sometime like take a look at my stuff? I’m always looking for feedback,” the cheetah stammered.
“Sure, I’d be happy to take a look. By the way, I’m Kiyo. And you’re Justin, Allan and Thomas,” he pointed. “Sorry, I couldn’t help eavesdropping on your conversation. And I’ve been there, guys. Just keep at it and you’ll do fine.”
“Thanks,” Justin grinned.
“Nice to meet you, Kiyo,” Allan smiled, “would you care to join us?”
“Yeah, slide over here and slip some wisdom into the convo,” Thomas laughed, “we could probably use it, especially with these two knuckleheads.”
Everyone laughed.
“Sure, why not,” Kiyo replied, “I lost my groove a while ago. Maybe a philosophical discussion will help me find it again.”
“Great! Let me buy you another tea,” Justin offered.
“Thanks, I appreciate that,” the fox said.
Kiyo moved his laptop and bag over to the discussion table as Justin came back with a fresh tea.
“So where were we?” Kiyo prompted.
“I think Thomas was saying what a colossily bad idea it is to point out to the reader when a character ate a bad plate of clams,” Allan grinned.
“Yeah, I can’t think of a reason why I need to know that,” Thomas said.
“True, however,” Kiyo held up a finger, “there’s a time and place for everything. What if that’s how we find out the bad guy botched his hit on the intended target? Or it could be a way to show how enamored our love interest is with the girl who’s really bad at cooking but doesn’t care?”
Justin’s mouth gaped open.
“Whoa, I never thought of it that way,” he whispered.
“Ah, yes, context and perspective make a huge difference,” Allan nodded.
“Indeed, and if I may offer, it seems the spirit of the assignment is to open your creative mind to thinking in new ways,” the fox grinned.
“Ha, you are clever, fox,” Thomas chuckled, “tell us more of your wisdom.”
“Certainly,” Kiyo smiled.
A discussion about writing process pops up.
Category Story / All
Species Unspecified / Any
Gender Any
Size 120 x 120px
Listed in Folders
I hope I am not represented by any fictional or dead here.
Glad juices were flowing. Mine have been really good too of late.
Glad juices were flowing. Mine have been really good too of late.
Haha honestly I had no influence from anyone on this besides what was already in my head and in my (college) past ;)
Yes, it does seem like there has been a wellspring of creativity flowing for others as of late. I hope we can all keep tapping into it and make some long overdue progress on projects.
Yes, it does seem like there has been a wellspring of creativity flowing for others as of late. I hope we can all keep tapping into it and make some long overdue progress on projects.
When you teach writing it becomes a nervous habit if people are going to put you in a story. I agree on that creativity, I have such a back log, but every little bit has been feeling great.
I've heard that discussion about Star Trek before but not such a good explanation. Certainly worth a read Kiyo!
Haha well I'm sure people think about it all the time. My 'thought process' is usually: what is most relevant to the story? Tho I still tend to fall into bad habits sometimes and gush words when it's not needed.
Thanks for reading.
Thanks for reading.
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