5 minutes...

Writing is a skill that I have never truly mastered. Sure, I can write, and occasionally I can write well. It's just a struggle to get all of my ideas out of my head quick enough and in a logical order. But I have decided to work on that with some creative writing projects.

This first project came from the following prompt: "Write a short paragraph ending with the words: He would give anything to turn back the clock five minutes." This proved encouraging and challenging all at the same time! I told myself that it would be easy because it was only one little paragraph. But that was also the hard part. Condensing an entire story into just a few sentences was tricky because I wanted to add details about my character, what had happened earlier that week, give him a family or friend group, give him an actual, proper story. But no. One paragraph. This was the result.

As a coworker tossed a stack of reports onto the desk, they knocked over a cup of cold, black coffee. It trickled across his desk, onto his khaki slacks, and inevitably onto the beige carpet. This is just great! I don't have a change of clothes and she'll see me like this. There was nothing he could do at this point except run the reports down the hall to his supervisor. She had only noticed his blemished appearance because his speed caused him to trip directly in front of her cubicle. She rushed to help him with compassion in her eyes but he was already up and walking away. Her compassion had turned to disgust because he had completely disregarded her efforts. But he didn't know what else to do so he kept going. The shame and horror that happened couldn't be removed from his mind. I'll never get another chance with her now. He would give anything to turn back the clock five minutes.

Its not perfect, but its mine. It took three different tries to come up with a story that I liked. I encourage you to try this for yourself! take the prompt and write your own! And don't forget to post them in the comment section below.


Sincerely, Ann