What is Writober?

Chatterbox: Inkwell

What is Writober?

What is Writober?

Can someone explain it to me? What exactly do you do? I think there are prompts - where do you get them? Do you make your own? How much do you write?

If someone could give me answers on this or anything else you think I should know for Writober, that would be very much appreciated, thanks!

submitted by Hunter
(September 29, 2022 - 2:02 pm)

It's not much, and it's been done a thousand times before, but I hope you will enjoy thinking about these things as much as I enjoyed writing them out.

24) Wonder
Love in all its infinite depth,
And smiles that speak of joy at its crest,
And hearts that meet
And quicken their beat
And immediately know to connect.

The feeling when you’ve gotten something done
Or when a new book has just begun
Or a crisp apple pie
Or a wond’rous surprise
Or a well-done drawing of a dragon.

I hope that you’ll give an assist
By adding some things to this list
I know it’s not much
But in a time crunch
It’s a bit of fun for some joys that I’ve missed.

submitted by Hunter
(October 24, 2022 - 6:52 pm)

Continuing my practice of making it sound mysterious and cryptic instead of just actually fleshing out the details that you are supposed to put in a story. Isn't that fun? I'm thinking of rewriting this just as a jumbled dialogue of just pure gossip when I have more time, so do let me know if you think that's a good idea, becaue I don't know.

16) Nemesis
I will say his name only once, so listen closely, dear reader.
Prenethis.
There. I said it. It burns my tongue just to shape the word, but it needed to be done.
He was once my greatest friend, someone who understood me. He was generally well-liked, a typical “golden boy”    in every respect. His family was not nearly as beloved, of course, but the Community were willing to ignore that for the boy. And besides, they had more juicy things to gossip about.
Like me. His “misfit friend”. Yes, that was what they always called me, avoiding my name almost as much as I avoid his, not out of hate, but out of a desire to overlook what they did not understand.
And they loved to talk about me. About us. Of course, there never was an “us,” at least not in the way you’re thinking, and I never tried to attempt to change that. Neither did he.
And we were happy. Kind of. I was happier than I would have been without him. Not happy happy, because I felt like I could barely breathe without throwing a metaphorical coughing fit. But before I met him I had been drowning, and he had thrown me a life preserver.
As for him, he was-
Well-
I thought he was-
I think-
He certainly acted happy. He certainly was, to every eye in the town (even mine) content with his golden boy life of simple pleasures and adoration. We all thought that that was the pure truth.
Until that day.
Until the day when he betrayed me. Betrayed all of us. Until the day when he decided that we were not good enough for him. Until he decided to let out the contempt that he held for all of us. Until he decided to drop the gilded mask that he wore so well.
Until he left.
And he didn’t just leave. He left us a few parting gifts, ones that the Community will never forget. Ones that I will never forget.
He left death.
He left destruction.
And he left my broken heart. For a villain’s backstory often does not begin with a nemesis. It often does not begin with a friend, despite what the stories will tell you years from now.
It often begins with a friend.

submitted by Hunter
(October 25, 2022 - 7:38 pm)

Bother, I don't feel like writing right now. I guess I kind of wrote myself out with the first part of my ski-lodge. However, I will give you the feedback I promised, Hunter!

Okay, I really like the way all your writing is well-thought-out, and the endings are usually satisfying, even if they're sad - they fit the story very well. And it's always imaginative! For constructive criticism, I really don't have much, because all authors write differently - there's not really a good or bad way to write. I would just say I think you're best at writing happy things, like the Sunrise prompt - I think that was really enjoyable! :) 

For rewriting the Nemesis piece as a dialogue of gossip, that would be interesting! Especially if it's written like a play, so you can see who's speaking and what they're doing :)

submitted by Poinsettia
(October 25, 2022 - 9:14 pm)

Thank you so much! I do think I will do that at some point but I'm also kind of busy with high school applications and schoolwork and Halloween preparations, so at some point might be a bit far away.

submitted by Hunter
(October 26, 2022 - 1:58 pm)

I actually kind of like this. I don't think it's that original or anything, but I really enjoyed writing it.

26) Solitude
I can’t see. It’s not dark. As far as I can tell, there is no darkness to be seen. There are simply no signals communicating from my eyes to my brain. And it is terrifying. I send the command to raise my fingers up in front of my face. It might have worked. It might not have.
It is silent. Not like any silence you have ever heard before. There is truly no sound. It is oppressive, suffocating, to not even have any white noise coming from the deep recesses of imagination.
I cannot taste or smell anything. For most people, this would be the last thing they noticed. But normally there is something. The scent of a rug I am sitting on. The taste of my own breath on my lips. Now, there is nothing.
And I cannot feel. Normally, our brains must endlessly filter a thousand textures and simulations. But suddenly there is no air on my skin, no floor to stand on, not even the feel of my hands as I tell them to clasp together.
If they obey, I do not know it.
I am scared. For the first time in my life, I am truly, mind-numbingly terrified. I have screamed at the sight of a startling bug and worried when the world dreaded a catastrophe. But never before have I been frightened in this way.
I do not know if I am alone. I feel like I must be, but there could be a thousand bodies crushing me and I would have no idea. I could not feel an embrace, or breath in the scent of a partner, or watch in horror as someone drew a knife or listen to the murmurs of a foreign voice.
No, I do not know if I am alone, but I certainly have never felt so lonely.

submitted by Hunter
(October 26, 2022 - 8:41 pm)

I dislike this, and will almost certainly redo it, but anyway.

15) Epiphany
Once I had an idea,
But I lost it.
And then I had an epiphany,
And I found it again.
I think that that is what thinking is:
Finding ideas
And losing them again
And seeing one but
Not understanding it.

submitted by Hunter
(October 27, 2022 - 8:45 pm)

27) Sequoia (eek, the 27th already?!)

The deer moved softly through the great sequoia forest, filled with slanting rays of light and dancing dust motes and red-trunked sequoia trees. Here was a cathedral of nature - the pillars were trees and the stained glass windows were the leaves that blazed when the light was behind them. The only congregation was the squirrels, and the birds, and the deer - and the one lone man who stood amongst the trees with his binoculars, a little smile on his face. Yet they all felt the beauty, and sacredness, of this place, equally.

submitted by Poinsettia
(October 27, 2022 - 8:55 pm)

Poinsetta, I like this one very much! And I agree, the writober aspect of this month really flew by!

submitted by Hunter
(October 28, 2022 - 8:37 pm)

I was inspired for this by the fact that my Halloween costume is Nyx (the goddess) and my sibling's costume is a general Fate (Greek-inspired but not actually Greek-based). Also, as someone who has lived my whole life in a rather light-polluted area, this feels like a lie, but oh well.

28) Stargazer
The stars above form a tapestry of night;
Beauty that makes it hard to breathe;
Primordial in its simplistic light,
Elegant in the complex puzzle it weaves.

Crafted by Fate’s own gifted hands;
The stories we have given it woven in the thread;
A blessing seen by people from every land;
A blessing to watch as I lie in bed.

submitted by Hunter
(October 28, 2022 - 8:51 pm)

This is true: I have the lofty goal of growing up to have deep crows feet once I grow old.

29) Map
When I grow old,
I want to be the kind of person
With the deepest crow’s feet around my eyes
I want to wear woolen sweaters
And bake cookies the perfect shade of gold
And make people laugh in surprise
When I come in after gardening,
Soaked despite sunny weather.

But most of all,
I want to be the kind of person
Who can pull down an map off of the highest shelf
And point at all the places I’ve been
And talk about myself and make everybody else
Somehow, magically, begin to grin.

submitted by Hunter
(October 29, 2022 - 7:37 pm)

I'm so far behind! Here's what I've written for the earlier prompts:

22) Blossoming

Azalea stared at the tiny tree. When had it grown so tall, so proud? True, many years had passed since she fled this house with her father. The Nazis had come and gone while she was still a child. Now she was a woman, twenty-four years old. And miraculously, this house was still standing.

And the tree was blossoming.

A little breeze stirred the soft, pale-green leaves of the tree and the shining petals that covered it, almost like a bird's dress. A bird flew onto the branches, with a whirr of wigs, and let out a glad trill, just as the birds used to do twenty years ago. Azalea smiled. Life had come back to her, along with the tree. Both had been in grave danger, but both were now in their prime of life. Both had blossomed.

23) Train

Ellie followed her mother into the train. She found herself in a beautiful rectangular room. Long seats lined the walls, which were covered with wallpaper. The whole room was filled with lamps  standing on tables, since they were still in the dark train station.

A conductor appeared.

"Please sit daown, lydiez, plez sit daown," he ordered. "The tryne'll bistarin'n' efew minz." And he went on.

"Well, the conductors' pronunciation hasn't improved," Ellie's mother Sandra laughed. "But everythig else is wonderful. Just think! It's a high-speed electric solar-powered train!"

"The world's getting better," Ellie agreed, sitting down. 

The train started off. Soon it was winding its way through fields and along rivers, without giving off any CO2. Yes, the world was getting better.

24) Wonder

Standing next to Niagara Falls, I felt wonder pouring over me the way water was pouring down the waterfall. How could that endless sheet of white water go thundering on and on? on and on, without end? Such power, such energy, such force - how could it even begin to exist?

And the one for today: Farewell

Eve's eyes blurred as her father went down the path. She had never lived away from home. But now she had gotten accepted into a university, and she would have to live by herself. Without her father.

He turned at the gate and waved, smiling.

"Goodbye, Evie," he called. "I'll be seeing you."

"Bye, Dad," Evie said softly. Suddenly she felt better. She would see her father again - and she would never be truly on her own as long as he was around. She knew that now.

 

I should be able to post my writing for the rest of the prompts as soon as I've actually written it...

@Hunter, your poem for the Stargazer prompt was so beautiful. I also really liked the poem for the Map prompt. It makes you feel good when you read it. And both poems are really well-written!

Oh no, I guess if it's the 31st, Writober is technically over. It's been fun doing it with you! You really are a good writer... keep up the good work! :)

submitted by Poinsettia
(October 31, 2022 - 6:12 pm)

Thank you! I really liked yours as well, especially the kind of dual-narrative in your writing for Blossoming. Maybe we can collab sometime? I like your style.

submitted by Hunter
(November 2, 2022 - 4:15 pm)

Yes, we can definitely collaborate on something whenever you'd like! That would be fun!

submitted by Poinsettia
(November 5, 2022 - 12:04 pm)