Adventures of Balloon Boy

No blog would be complete without some mention of the Balloon Boy, who kept America’s glued to their televisions and computer screens yesterday.  In case you were hanging out in a cave with Bin Laden, here is the story.  A 6 year old boy was believed to have floated away from his home in a helium balloon which had been tethered in the family’s backyard.  The boy’s father is a weather enthusiast and uses the balloon for tracking storms, or something along those lines. At least that’s the father’s explanation for having an alien spaceship in his backyard.  At any rate, the boy’s brothers reported to their parents that Falcon was in the basket when the balloon took off. Authorities were called in and everyone tracked the progress of the balloon until it landed 2 ½ hours later and 50 miles away. To everyone’s horror, there was no sign of Falcon.  Search teams were formed to scour miles of terrain believing the boy had fallen from the balloon and was lying injured or dead. Turns out, Falcon was hiding in the attic the entire time. Now everyone is questioning whether or not the whole event was a hoax to garner media attention.  During interviews Falcon attempted he heard his family calling his name. When his father asked why he didn’t come out, Falcon answered, “You had said that we did this for a show.”  Obviously this story isn’t over yet.

As a writer you could take this story to new heights.  I think this would make an incredible children’s story, with our little hero Falcon flying off to adventures in far away lands.  Of course it would also make for get Sci-Fi.  Imagine if this family was from another planet and their little extraterrestrial took the flying saucer out for a joy ride.   Would the world learn the truth or would the family be able to keep their secret?

Story Starters – 25 Absolutely Free Story Starters

Super Human Powers

Heroes is a popular television show about ordinary people who discover extraordinary abilities. Unlikely heroes emerge from all walks of life and so do villains, each with powers such as invisibility, healing, teleportation, telepathy, the ability to fly and superhuman strength.

It’s only natural that we ask “What if?” If these super human powers were possible, what would become of the world as we know it? If I discovered superhuman abilities what would become of me?

Luke Skywalker tapped into the Force and used it to overcome evil. Like the Force, Chi (breath) is a universal energy, the fundamental energy of life that keeps the planets in orbit and binds atoms. Chi is at the core of Chinese medicine and disciplines. Martial artists channel the power of Chi to defeat opponents in battle, no light sabers required.

Stephen King’s first published novel was Carrie, the original girl gone wild. Carrie turned her telekinetic powers on the high school bullies who teased and tormented her. While King has described the work as “raw” and “with a surprising power to hurt and horrify”, the book and subsequent film have gained a cult following. Telekinesis is the ability to move matter with the mind. Pyschokinesis (PK) is a much broader range of abilities such as: object deformation (including metal softening and bending), influencing events, biological healing, teleportation (disappearing and reappearing elsewhere), phasing through matter, transmutation of matter, shape-shifting, energy shield (force field), control of magnetism, control of photons (light waves/particles).

Author Michael Crichton mentioned his experience with PK in his 1988 book Travels. “I looked down. My spoon had begun to bend. I hadn’t even realized. The metal was completely pliable, like soft plastic. It wasn’t particularly hot, either, just slightly warm. I easily bend the bowl of the spoon in half, using only my fingertips. This didn’t require any pressure at all, just guiding with my fingertips. I put the bent spoon aside and tried a fork. After a few moments of rubbing, the fork twisted like a pretzel. It was easy. I bent several more spoons and forks.”

A recent survey of 1000 Canadians forty-five percent picked healing as their top superpower, compared to 25 percent who wanted to time travel, 15 percent who selected telepathy, 10 percent who would prefer to fly and five percent who wanted to steal the powers of other people. Some mystics practice rituals of self injury and are able to override the body’s physical response to injury, stopping pain and blood flow. Skeptics may say the results are due to mass hypnosis, but believers believe they are receiving healing energy from their Deity.

Reiki is a “laying on of hands” healing. Reiki masters describe their healing abilities as a linking with the cosmic radiant energy, an opening of chakras, or an attunement with universal life energy.

Whether super human powers are real or fiction, those who possess them can still suffer fear, loss and grief. They are still human after all.

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Creative Writing

Creativity (or “creativeness”) is a mental process involving the generation of new ideas or concepts, or new associations of the creative mind between existing ideas or concepts.” Wikipedia

Creativity is a skill, strengthened with consistency. Physical trainers will recommend variety, a combination of aerobic exercise and strength training to condition your body. The same technique can be applied to creative writing.

The following strength exercises focus on building certain skills:

1. Write a paragraph or page with short concise sentences, limiting the length of each to three words. This forces you to choose the best words to say exactly what you mean to say.

He turned away. She sobbed uncontrollably. They were through. Their love destroyed. Her sin unforgivable. Hasty lies told. Their daughter confused. Her daughter now. He turned away. Left them both.

2. Write a paragraph or page with words beginning with a single letter. This exercise, called an alliterative, is just one example of constrained writing which stretches your vocabulary and imagination. The Oulipo group is a gathering of writers who use constrained writing techniques, including:

• Lipogram - a letter (commonly e or o) is outlawed.
• Palindromes – such as the word “radar,” read the same forwards and backwards.
• Acrostics – first letter of each word/sentence/paragraph forms a word or sentence.
• Reverse-lipograms - each word must contain a particular letter

Ernest Hemingway was a master of words, using simple yet poignant words in his stories. Broaden your vocabulary and find just the right word for a particular tone or mood.

3. Begin at the end of the story and write to the beginning. They say hindsight is 20/20 so if you know where the story will end, it may be easier to see how it got there.

 

Aerobic exercises include reading and writing everyday.

All writers must read. Read for pleasure, but also read to hone your craft. Study the way in which other writers develop characters, set a scene or use descriptive language. Read several genres and compare the styles within genres. When you find a genre you enjoy reading, identify what it is you like – the pace, themes, settings, voice or specific writers. Douglas Adams and Ray Bradbury are both Sci Fi writers, but they have very different styles.

There is a reason why most writers recommend writing every day. You need to build and condition your writing muscles. Failure to do so will cause atrophy. Stephen King, Danielle Steele, Dan Brown or JK Rowling, didn’t give up when they were told no. Instead, they continued to write and improved. Acknowledge the fact that your writing is imperfect. Make space for imperfection and you will make space for improvement.

Edit your work over and over.

Unleashing your creative writing skills may feel awkward and difficult at first. When you work out the first time, your muscles don’t instantly get stronger and muscular. Creativity is a muscle that you have to exercise.

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