Assignment 2 - Story about the I-Hop Billboard Goats

My husband and I have about a 40-minute drive to and from work every day.  The highlight of our drive is looking to see if there are any goats on the I-Hop billboard that we pass every day.  One day last year, I counted at least 10 or more goats on and next to the sign, including babies!  :)  Pictured below are some goats on the billboard (photo by someone on Facebook who started a group for these goats!  I will add my own photo once I can get a good one of them).

For my second writing assignment, my husband asked me to write a story about the goats on the billboard. I pleaded with him to not give me a word limit, so we'll see what he decides.  I also don't have a due date yet, but I think I'll at least try to aim for about 3 weeks, unless I have a volunteer illustrator who needs more time. I'll update this post later once my husband decides on a word limit (or not) and due date.  I'll also update if I do find an illustrator for this story!

Completed Assignment 1 - Mini-story about Wally and Crumpet

Well, I finished my first assignment by the second due date (tomorrow, Friday, July 9), but I went way over the word count. Go figure!  That's why my blog is called my "Pleonasm Playground" -- I take more words than others might use to tell a story. Don't worry, I got my husband's permission to post the story anyway.  He said he'll be a little more lenient since this is the first assignment and he wants me to get something up here.  :)   It's certainly not the best story in the world, but it's a start...so here you go!

A Good Team

One summer day, when the sun’s rays produced fake, blurry puddles along the pavement, Wally and Crumpet pranced along the side of the road next to their humans who were walking with them. But shh, don’t tell anyone that Wally was prancing…it might embarrass him!

Wally Bear Houston and Little Miss Crumpet Houston are the two most good-looking and friendly dogs on Hatcher Street. And as far as they can tell, they’re also the only dachshunds in the neighborhood.

Both Wally and Crumpet jaunted along joyfully because their humans finally didn’t have to go away for the day, so they were all four able to go on a stroll together. It seemed to be a leisure day for the whole neighborhood. Wally and Crumpet saw an occasional butterfly flitting by and birds swooping from yard to yard. Their human Mommy and Daddy chatted amiably while they walked. The two dachshunds saw other humans outside playing in their yards – some kicking balls that Crumpet wanted to go tackle, some pushing noisy machines through the yard that Wally wanted to investigate, and some eating scrumptious human food which Wally and Crumpet could smell and made them lick their chops.

“I want some!” Crumpet yipped as she bolted toward the scent of the food, but her feet slipped from underneath her when she reached the end of her leash. She scrambled back to her feet as Daddy tightened his grip on the leash to pull her back to his side.

“Why did you even try? You know we have to stay by their side,” Wally wrinkled his forehead and looked over at Crumpet solemnly.

“But it smells sooooo good!” Crumpet coughed and shook her head vigorously to loosen the collar around her neck as she returned to Daddy’s side glumly. “You know you want some too,” she added while sticking her nose up in the air and went back to prancing alongside Daddy.

Perhaps I do, but I have more self-control, Wally thought to himself as he sniffed the air for any scent of danger.

“Why do you always have to be such a good boy?” Crumpet persisted. She crossed in front of Daddy’s legs, much to his frustration, in order to nip at Wally’s ear.

Wally tried to ignore her. Crumpet was very smart and fun to play with, but sometimes she could be quite a handful. Wally was Crumpet's elder by 6 months and he did his best to be patient with her frequent wild antics.

Crumpet wagged her tail as she nipped at Wally’s ear again and then butted his neck with her head. Wally shook his head and almost tripped Mommy while pouncing on Crumpet’s side.

“Ha ha! I knew you couldn’t resist!” Crumpet cried triumphantly. Wally tried to continue walking. Crumpet continued a muffled chanting as she nipped at his legs, ears and neck, “Wally is a good boy, good boy, good b-”

Crumpet abruptly quit chanting, perked up her ears and stood rigid in one place, sniffing the air vigorously.

“What’s wrong, Crumpet?” Mommy, Daddy and Wally all asked at the same time.

“Do you think she heard something?” Daddy asked Mommy while bending down to pet Crumpet’s back. “What is it, girl?”

Crumpet was quiet and kept sniffing the air for several minutes in the direction of a yellow house across the street. Wally sniffed the air too, trying to figure out what was alarming Crumpet. Mommy and Daddy looked confused as they looked around to see why Crumpet stopped. They had just rounded a corner onto Luke Avenue and there was no activity around the homes on this street so far.

Crumpet stared intently at the yellow house across the street from where they stood and whispered to Wally,

“Bruce.”

“Are you sure, Crumpet? I don’t see him or smell him.” Wally looked around to confirm his response.

Crumpet didn’t even blink. “He hasn’t come outside yet, but he will. He saw us. I heard his collar. He’s not in his crate and the dog door is open.”

Bruce was an abused Jack Russell terrier who lived in the yellow house on Luke Avenue and bullied other dogs in the neighborhood when he wasn’t kept in his crate. Wally felt sorry for him, but had only heard stories about Bruce’s bullying; Wally and Crumpet had only seen him one time when he was locked up in the house and barked at them viciously through the window.

Mommy and Daddy tried to tug on the leashes to get Wally and Crumpet to keep walking, but instead, Crumpet leaped behind Daddy’s feet to hide.

Wally grew more concerned as he turned to face Crumpet. “Maybe we should just keep walking and he will leave us alone. Come on, Crumpet, let’s…”

Suddenly Wally caught the scent. Every hair on his back bristled. He looked at Crumpet and then turned around slowly to face the yellow house again. Bruce’s white and black body emerged from the dog door at the side of the house and his angry eyes looked straight at Wally.

Wally crouched, emitted a soft growl, and tried to convey a quiet message to Bruce that they didn’t want any trouble. He heard Crumpet’s faint whimper of fear behind him as Bruce slowly crossed his yard toward the street.

Mommy and Daddy saw the dog heading toward them with no leash or owner in sight, so they urged Wally and Crumpet to keep walking. Neither one budged. Crumpet stayed rooted to her hiding place behind Daddy and Wally knew that Bruce would definitely pursue them if they started walking or running away. He continued to growl softly as Bruce got closer still, baring his teeth at them. Bruce was in no hurry and seemed to enjoy watching Crumpet quake with fear. Wally had to think of something to do!

When Bruce reached the edge of the yard, Mommy and Daddy were about to pick up Wally and Crumpet and run, but a raspy man’s voice called out angrily through a window of the yellow house.

“Bruce! Get back in the house NOW!”

Bruce’s face changed completely. He cowered in fear and hugged the grass beneath him. He looked at Wally in humiliation.

Wally stood up straight and ceased his growling. Fur no longer bristling, he looked solemnly across the street at Bruce, feeling sorry for him once again. Wally let out a short whine to express his sympathy. Bruce lifted his head from the ground in surprise that Wally wasn’t barking angrily at him.

“BRUCE! Inside now!” The voice yelled again.

Tail between his legs, Bruce sprinted back across the yard and disappeared through the dog door. Wally frowned.

“Poor guy,” Wally said to Crumpet. “He probably wouldn’t be such a bully if his humans were kind to him like ours are.”

As if they understood Wally, Mommy and Daddy bent down to pet both Wally and Crumpet. “Good puppies,” they said. “Let’s head home.” They began to chat with each other about how people treat their dogs.

Crumpet bounced up next to Daddy, ready to get away from there. “Thanks,” she said to Wally. She felt ashamed for being such a coward, but as usual, Wally didn’t try to make her feel bad about being scared.

“Hey, you’re the one who heard him coming to warn us. We’re a good team!” Wally moved over to give her a loving nudge with his nose. Crumpet smiled and wagged her tail.

“I wonder if Bruce would ever be able to play with us?” Crumpet wondered aloud.

Wally smiled. Crumpet always wanted to play. “He may need help first,” Wally said, “but maybe one day.”

Crumpet wagged her tail again and they all made their way back home, ready for a refreshing lunch in the summer sunshine.

Assignment 1 - Mini-story about Wally and Crumpet

For the first assignment, my husband told me to write about a 500-word mini-story about our two dachshunds, Wally and Crumpet (pictured above and below):

Hubby actually gave me this first assignment at the end of April when we first came up with the idea for this blog, but I was too busy planning his birthday party and making summer plans to start working on it until now!  Maybe I can be more motivated now that I've actually started it...  I'm going to try to get this assignment done by next Friday... I will post the story when I'm finished!

A New Writing Project inspired by my husband

"The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt." -Sylvia Plath.


There it is: a small window into my life. Regardless of all other hindrances, self-doubt disables my motivation and throws me into a handicap when it comes to writing. I am striving to write again!

"The story I am writing exists, written in absolutely perfect fashion, some place, in the air. All I must do is find it, and copy it." -Jules Renard, Feb. 1895.

And so you find me here!  My husband, Thomas, will give me writing assignments along with deadlines and I will post the assignment and my response to it in this blog. He's not a writer, but he does have great ideas!  This project may turn out to be a total flop, but what can it hurt to try? There will be several difficulties working against me:  I've gotten into a habit of not writing. Time is not usually on my side. My creative writing skills have probably weakened due to lack of use. I have a husband, two puppies, home, friends, and family who also need my attention. I have a pretty dry job that stifles the flow of creativity in the synapses in my brain. And finally, I am a perfectionist, which hinders my writing because I don't even want to get started unless I have everything figured out first; then even if I get started on the writing process, I quickly lose motivation because there are too many thoughts flying about in my head and the perfectionist me can't seem to align them all in the proper manner.  But those are all excuses right?

Well, I have some motivating factors too:  I have a husband to give me the assignments and reminders to write!  I live in a beautiful area that ought to be full of inspiration, if only I look for it.  I have some excellent writing resources at home from which to draw ideas and assistance. I even have my own writing/creativity room at home which may need a renewed dubbing. I have, I hope, at least a few readers...you!  :)  You will be reading my posts, won't you?

"The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug." ~Mark Twain

As with everything, practice makes perfect and it may take me a little while before I am able to get back into the swing of writing such that I am able to pin-point a more exact and proper word choice for every situation. I may have to go back to doing things like reading the dictionary!  I am not scared by words, or even a whole lot of words when I see them on a page; I am, however, afraid of using imprecise language.

I like pleonasm...I like having the "wiggle" room to describe something in as many ways as I can think - in too many words, as some people think.  However, I do not like being unable to conjure the words I need to describe exactly the emotion or scene that I feel with my heart or see in my mind. It is this fear, oftentimes, that disables my motivation. I don't want to tell you that the moon is shining; I'd rather show you the glint of light on broken glass (Anton Chekhov). I often tell myself:  If I have an idea worthy of writing down and if I cannot write with a certain precision of language and give that idea the description it deserves, then I should not write it down at all (me).  So I don't write it down, and then it never gets written down because I get distracted by life. I wonder if anyone else encounters these road blocks? I'm sure I'm not the only one.

I am afraid of humdrum writing...I certainly don't want to leave myself, and especially not my readers, bored! So, I'll try to give myself a break if you will too, okay? 

In 1947, George Orwell gave a candid explanation for why he wrote; he expounded upon 4 motives for writing, which every writer has to varying degrees. Orwell was correct in saying "and in any one writer the proportions will vary from time to time, according to the atmosphere in which he is living." You can read Orwell's entire explanation here: http://www.resort.com/~prime8/Orwell/whywrite.html

Without going into great detail which you can read in Orwell's explanation, the 4 motives that he identifies are Sheer Egoism, Aesthetic Enthusiasm, Historical Impulse, and Political Purpose.  I think those identifiers are pretty self-explanatory. I will, perhaps, start to discover which of these motives is stronger in my current self as I write these assignments. It's not as important to find out which motives are the strongest in me, but rather, which is the strongest motivator to actually make me start writing again -- that is the one I need to feed and nurture like a seedling, and yet, I must do so in a manner that doesn't compromise the other priorities in my life. I have a feeling that the motivator that I have most nurtured of the four - Sheer Egoism - not only makes me feel guilty because I feel selfish, but I think that it is currently and apparently the least likely of the 4 motivators to get me back into writing...

Sometimes, people realize something about themselves - something about their personality or about how they relate to the world around them - but they don't always say out loud what it is they've realized. Tonight, I realized something about myself and spoke it out loud in words with no one but my two dachshunds in the room. They just kept on sleeping...no cataclysmic change for them. But it was a great discovery for me! Though it has been lurking in the recesses of my heart since I was young, I finally discovered and spoke out loud one of the key things that has motivated me to want to write and publish books. As I mentioned above, this motivator is that of "sheer egoism," but in my case, it has built upon itself since my childhood and would probably best be described as a sort of desperate egoism. I also realized this same motivation has lately had the complete opposite effect on me such that I have often thought "what's the point in writing?"  And so I don't write. This is a cycle that I must put to an end. I will need to refocus my thoughts and energies to draw my motivation from somewhere else - perhaps from one of the other motivators. Unfortunately, this part of my story will be anti-climactic for you readers because my discovery is not something I can share with the world at this time because it may cause hurt for some who read this - I hope you will forgive me for keeping you in the dark for now. I hope that one day I will be able to share it without hurting anyone. On the other hand, I'm sure there are many intelligent folks out there who can easily put two and two together to figure out more or less what my discovery was.

I once found a quote by Sinclair Lewis that said "It is impossible to discourage the real writers - they don't give a *darn* what you say, they're going to write."  As a few years have passed, much also has come to pass in my life. I have had what I deem as "the writer's urge" to write about it all, good and bad; instead, I have written nothing. I disagree with Lewis - I don't think this makes me less of a writer. It makes me a little more like how Jesus Christ wants me, I hope. I think I do care too much what other people think or say, but in terms of what I am going to write and publish, I don't want to publicize some real-life event that may hurt someone who reads it. That's not my goal in writing. On the other hand, I think that someone might be able to learn from my experiences, good and bad, so I struggle with whether or not to write about it and publicize it. I prefer fiction anyway, especially children's literature, but sometimes I just wish I could write creative non-fiction about my experiences...not to hurt someone who's "in" the story, but to share it for a didactic purpose - to give others the opportunity to learn from my experiences, if they will.

The slightest little thing can serve as an inspiration for a "story," and that story can transform into anything from a passing thought, a short story, a novel, a series of novels, a TV show, a feature film...you get the picture.  I recently had an inspiration for what will probably turn into either a series of novels or a TV series. Numerous facets of my present life gave way to this one inspiration for a story, but one of the oddest things that inspired me for this story was when I scrutinized the tiling in a public bathroom! It is indeed an odd place to get inspiration for a story!  Since then, I feel like my eyes have been more open and ready to capture the slightest detail from my daily life in order to form a story or story character. Exercising my creativity, you might say. So, let me get started and see how I manage to keep up with this writing endeavor...I will respond to my husband's writing prompts and maybe insert some of my own commentaries or assignments; hopefully I will evoke a laugh, a tear, a smile, or even a creative thought from you. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to post them and I will respond as soon as I can - even if you are just requesting that I make the font size bigger!  :)