Friday, December 11, 2020

Where to begin? Let's start with Seekerville Story Marathon

Hello Seekerville! Annie here. Today I want to play a little game, but before we get to that, I want to ask you a question. How do you begin writing? 

About a few months ago, I had someone tell me they would like to write a book. I encouraged them to, but they are befuddled on how and where to begin. It's not as easy as it sounds, is it? I then went and basically asked everyone - in person, on the phone, and on social media, "how do you begin?" It's not only how does one begin, but it's also the question of where and what.  Here are some of their responses:

"I don't know. I just write everything down." 

"I started journaling, writing my day."  - Klarissa M.

"I read." - (multiple)

"Words don't always come. So I start with a people chart." - Cecily

"Brain dump 10 minutes a day. I write whatever comes to mind." - M.A.

"Random jotting of words and thoughts." - Joanne K.

"Think about something you care about and write your thoughts about it." - @pens_andwrittenwords

Real - life stories of beginnings:


"I wrote as a child and then as a high schooler did a novella for a project where I had to learn about publishing. Then I did MANY NaNoWriMos and started going to writing conferences and really studied what publishing was about." - @createexploreread


"I have written as a hobby since junior high. I didn’t show my stories to anyone except family and close friends and didn’t plan to ever pursue writing as a career. When I was in my mid-later 20’s I began working on a book I felt more passionate about than the rest, and after a lot of soul searching, plus moving overseas and quitting my full time teaching job to stay home with my son, I started thinking that maybe I wanted to switch careers a write professionally, for publication. So I worked, worked harder, learned craft, cried, and pitched my novel and got rejected a whole lot, learned more craft, and cried some more until finally somebody say the magic word: yes! And now, my debut novel is under contract!" - Haylie Hanson, (debut coming soon!)


"I'm a strange case...I started my publication journey after working in publishing, in the marketing department of Bethany House. I've been writing for as long as I can remember, though, and reading everything I could get my sticky little hands on at our small elementary school library. Every now and then I'd look at the shelf where "Green" was and imagine having books there someday. So I guess you could say that I started with an overactive imagination and just enough perseverance to occasionally finish one of the many fiction projects I started." - Amy Lynn Green, debut author


"My writing journey began when I told a friend I had an idea for a book and she told me I should write it. No one had ever suggested I actually write something when I shared an idea. I never even thought myself to actually write something. It was as if the idea never occurred to me. After that, I started writing an outline and fell in love with storytelling immediately. I'm not published yet, but since that moment of talking to my friend, I've written two novels, a couple short stories, a novella and I'm working on my third novel." - @lunasluckymoon


"I started with a writers course through the Christian Writer’s Guild that introduced me to mentors that taught me the process as I wrote my first manuscript. Then I started attending writers conferences, which is where I pitched my story and met with agents and editors. This led me to signing with my agent and with my publisher for my books. ☺️" - Natalie Walters, published author


Let's start together! Presenting "Seekerville Story Marathon":


I know it's not easy. I, like many will have no idea where to begin, but I do know that sometimes, the best ideas come out at the least expected of times. So why not start together? When I was young, my sisters and I (sometimes add in some cousins) would play this game called "Word Marathon." Eventually it led to "Story Marathon" which is basically a game to test our improvisational skills. The objective is to "create" a story at the spur of the moment.

This was how we played:
  1. One person started with a word or a sentence.
  2. Another person followed on with a word or a sentence that continued from the first person.
  3. And so on and so forth. Easy, right?
  4. The last person left standing to continue the story successfully won.
The tricky part of this games is that no one knows where the story is going, since the next person may completely change the direction of the story. Sometimes it's funny, sometimes it's suspenseful and some times, it makes no sense at all.


So, for this Seekerville Story Marathon, we will do steps 1 through 3 as follows:
  1. I will start the story first with one sentence. 
  2. The next person, please leave in the comments, the next sentence or sentences of this impromptu story.  (Write as much as you'd like.)
  3. Everyone will continue on from the previous commenter's "sentence(s)". 
To make it easier for us to know it is part of the story, please put your sentence(s) in "quotes".  
Feel free to come back and continue on even if you've commented before, but it must continue from the last commenter's input. 


One random commenter who participated in the Seekerville Story Marathon, will be selected to win  "A Writer's Starter Pack" curated by me. Sorry, US participants Only.  Giveaway ends 2 PM EST, December 18, 2020 and winner will be announced on the Weekend Edition on December 19, 2020. I will also post the completed story from this Story Marathon sometime that week. Prize subject to  Seekerville terms and conditions set forth for giveaways. 


START: 
"Dashing through the snow, little Ruthy couldn't wait to get home to show her mom what she had found." 


Now it's your turn. GO!

48 comments:

  1. "She was so excited! It had been a long day at school, but this discovery made everything better."

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  2. Not playing today, too brain-dead, but thought I'd share this quote from, of all people, John Steinbeck.
    “When I face the desolate impossibility of writing five hundred pages, a sick sense of failure falls on me, and I know I can never do it. Then gradually, I write one page and then another. One day's work is all I can permit myself to contemplate.” – John Steinbeck.
    He had me at "desolate impossibility."
    I don't usually start a book until I'm READY to start, including character profiles, plot outline and enough research so I don't fall flat on my face, although research will go on for the extent of the writing. But I've never gotten a contract on spec either. My publisher only contracts after the book is done, so I don't have that gun to my head. I begin when I begin. But I've done enough other things to relate to that "desolate impossibility."
    I'll be interested to learn what little Ruthy did find.
    Kathy Bailey
    Your Kaybee
    Freezing to death in New Hampshire

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    1. Kaybee, I'm adding this Steinbeck quote to my collection of quotes on writing. Thank you for sharing it. I hope you warm up! :-)

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  3. Clutching the small item in her mitten covered hands, she tried to run faster through the snow covered roads.

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  4. “Ruthy hoped and prayed all the way home that this would bring the sparkle back in her mother’s eyes that read “No Vacancy” for way too long.”

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  5. “Mama just hadn’t been the same since daddy went home to be with Jesus “

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  6. "Suddenly, Ruthy slipped on an icy patch and cried as the item fell out of her hands and somewhere under the snow."

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  7. As she searched the snow bank, Ruthy saw a pair of muddy galoshes.

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    1. Ooo. A twist! Where will this go? Thanks for playing!

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  8. “ But, where oh where, is that dazzling diamond ring that is going to make Mama’s eyes shine, Ruthy despaired as she frantically continued digging in the snow even as she ignored the searing pain, her wet mittens long abandoned.”

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  9. What fun, Annie!

    "'What are you looking for, little girl?' The voice was deep, like Santa Clause, but with a false friendliness."

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  10. "Her gaze focused again on the galoshes and followed them up, over the pants above them, across the heavy denim jacket, and further to a pair of eyes harder than the rock she'd just misplaced."

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  11. "Ruthy looked up at the giant stranger, whose gorgeous green hazel eyes looked amazingly like her own, 'You're my real daddy, aren't you?'"

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  12. “Ignoring her question, he said, “Did you lose something?”

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  13. "Hi, Mister. Yes, I lost my Mama's Christmas present. I dropped it in the snow and can't find it. Will you help me?"

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  14. PS, I can't tell yet if this is a child-abducting murder mystery, or Ruthy Saves Christmas. Which is extremely interesting.

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  15. "'Ruth, don’t move your feet. Look for a hole in the snow. If it fell into the snow, it will leave a hole, like over there.' The man reached down and pulled out the shinny ring."

    "'Only my real daddy ever called me Ruth. You are him!'"

    "No, your real daddy died in battle, a hero, just like your mother has told you. I'm his evil twin, Lester, your mom won't have told you about me. I've come for some answers.'"

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  16. Wow! Y'all totally rock. Sorry for this little intermission. Just want to thank those that played along already and this little story already sounds like fun! Can't tell were it was going. Back and forth from a sweet Christmas story to a mystery and suspense. Keep it going! Thanks again!

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  17. A tendril of fear laced through Ruthy's stomach, and she stammered, "My daddy had a twin?"

    Lester laughed, then turned his attention to the shiny diamond pinched between his thumb and forefinger. "Yes, yes, he did. Now, let's go see your mama."

    "No." Ruthy balled her hands into fists. "Give me back my present for my mama."

    Lester grinned, and Ruthy decided she didn't like this man who claimed to be her uncle. He was scary. She ran, the deep snow making it hard to move.

    "Hey, you little brat! Get back here!"

    Tears streaming down her face, Ruthy tried to run, but it was no use. He was going to catch her. Suddenly, she fell face first into the snow, her heart pounding from exertion and terror.

    "Lester!" The deep voice rang out like a shot. Sheriff Briggs!!! Ruthy rolled over, pushed her hair out of her eyes. Sheriff Briggs stood tall, and looked just as hard and mean as uncle Lester. She'd never seen him look so! But he wasn't looking at her, only at Lester. He jerked Lester up and slapped a pair of handcuffs on her uncle. "I knew you'd return some day, and I've been waiting."

    Sheriff Briggs turned to Ruthy, and hardness on his face melted away, the familiar softness returned to his blue eyes, and a smile kicked up one corner of his mouth. "Well, Ruthy, girl, looks like me and you caught us a varmint."

    Ruthy grinned, stumbled through the snow and pried her mama's diamond ring out of Lester's clenched hand.

    "Yes, sir, we did."

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  18. "Sheriff you're making a big mistake. I ain't no varmint. I'm the new preacher, come to Grace Christian Church, which as I understand it, you're a member. You might say I'm more vicar than varmint."

    "Then why you scaring poor little Ruthy half out of her mind? Why take her mama's ring?" The sheriff wasn't buying any of this nonesense.

    "I found the ring for her. I didn't come here for no dime store ring. I came for answers."

    "What kind of answers?" Briggs was very leary of this big man's tone of voice.

    "I was going to marry Ruthy's mother, pardon me if I still quite can't say her name. It was the day before the wedding; I was called up for a dangerous mission. I had to leave at once. Lives were at stake. I left a note explaining all this but she just up and married my brother, Howard, instead. Her pappy had a small fortune invested in the wedding expenses."

    "So she just up and married your brother?" The sheriff's eyes were as big and round as silver dollars.

    "Well we were identical twins. Interchangeable you might say. At least to her we were. She was the only girl in school that I knew who played with two Ken dolls."

    "Well what do you want to ask her after all these years?"

    "I want to know if she will still marry me? A preacher should have a wife and family."

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  19. "Well, you're gonna have to wait a few more years to ask her that," the sheriff stated without empathy. "You didn't fool me back then & you're not fooling me now."

    With no further ceremony, Lester was loaded into the back of the waiting deputy's vehicle and carted away to await his fate with the justice system. As they watched the car disappear down the road, the sheriff kindly patted Ruthy on the shoulder and sent her a reassuring wink. She grinned at him in relief and shivered a bit when a frigid breeze swirled around them.

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  20. The sheriff then took Ruthy home and asked Ruthy's mom to marry him.
    Ruthy's mom said, "No, I just got a book published and they're already talking movie deal. I don't need a man and will only marry again if it's true love."
    And Ruthy's mom made good money, supported herself well, didn't have to put up with a cranky man, and she and Ruthy found the nice lady who'd lost the ring and returned it to her. And they all lived happily ever after.
    The End

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  21. "That is they all did well until the publishing industry began to suffer the pangs of change. Big change. Change brought on by competition that rose up like a sleeping giant. A giant that wasn't sleeping anymore.
    Contracts were cancelled.
    Bills went unpaid.
    Phones went unanswered.
    And Mama sat in her old gray chair with the lights out. Not just the lights in the 5th floor walk-up in the bowery, but the lights in her eyes.
    "I've come back, Mama." Ruthy picked her way through the glum stillness of the front room a week after she finished medical school. She didn't look up at that cobwebs or down at the mouse droppings.
    At least she hoped they were from a mouse.
    "I've come back for you. It's time to take you out of the city, Mama. You did well. Quite well. Now it's my turn."
    Was she hoping to inspire that glow? That warmth? The old excitement?
    Nothing like that happened.
    Instead, Mama simply dropped her face into her hands and began crying. Crying like the old, lost soul she was and it was the worst sound Little Ruthy had ever heard.
    Except for Benny's death, but no one in the big city wanted to talk about that. Except her, maybe."

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  22. Oh mylanta, this is so much fun!!!! Thank you, Annie!

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    1. Ruthy your story gave me chills. (It might've been from the mouse droppings but I don't think so)

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    2. Thanks Ruthy! Glad you're having fun!

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  23. "Lester walked out of that state prison a free man. Free after twenty years for a crime his brother, the good twin, committed. As he walked into the freezing rain, sad to leave the prison ministry that had brought so many lost souls back to Christ, he was pleased with the plan God had given him.

    "Some of the criminals Lester saved in prison were now rich and prosperous. It was a few of them who paid Ruthy's medical school tuition. Ruthy thought they were scholarships and, in a way, they were. It was all routed through the normal school administration.

    "Ruthy's mother who once required a man and a spare, make lots of money, lived well, and made it on her own in style. But all fame is fleeting. It seems all her friends had faded into the woodwork. She was alone and felt she deserved it. Only Ruthy meant anything in her life now.

    "Ruthy and Lester had corresponded for the last ten years. It took a long time but Ruthy finally believed that her uncle's sins were indeed washed away by the blood of the lamb and that Lester's born again life was joyous and for real. Ruthy wanted that joyous peace for her mother as well.


    "When mama finally agreeded and left the big city, she moved in with Ruthy near the finger lakes of New York.

    "Lester owned the parsonage next door to Ruthy's rental house. It took three long years but in the end Lester and Ruthy's mother, Myra, were married in Lester's church. What few years they had left were the happiest in both of their lives."

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