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Monday, July 19, 2010

Monday Writing Challenge

Greetings, lovies...

I am currently writing you from beautiful, verdant, and sunny (gasp!) England. I always feel inspired by this country--maybe it's because some of my favorite novelists (Jane Austen; Dickens; Henry James; Lewis Carroll; Phillip Pullman; J.K. Rowling) are English or at the very least have spent a huge portion of time here, but the landscape of England just seems saturated with literary magic.
In fact, I was saying to my sister just today--as we were strolling through the charming, labyrinthine Oxford streets; and crossing over the Thames, which winds lazily through the city and is dotted with houseboats and punters; while students and scholars whizzed past us on bicycles--that it almost seems unfair. Pullman, Rowling--they had such magic material to work with in the first place! They came from a place steeped already with tradition and story and imagination--no wonder they were able to get the creative juices flowing!

So, my pets, my Monday Morning Challenge is this: today, I want you to write between 250-300 words of the first page of a children's book...set in Detroit. If you can find magic in that city, dear friends, you can find and evoke it anywhere! And no cheating. I want car dumps, and cracked sidewalks, and packs of roaming dogs, not the shiny bright glitter of the Detroit 1950s hay-day, or some bowdlerized version of the place now.

Send your texts to me at laurenoliverbooks@gmail.com and I'll post 'em up!

Cheers!

xL

7 comments:

ReggieWrites said...

Ahh! Lucky! I was in London a year ago for summer and it was amazing! Hope you have fun!!!

iffath said...

You're in England?! *gasps* Finally!! I will find you..

Bidisha said...

Oh! I've never been to Detroit, so..guess I'll pass :(

Unknown said...

I just got back from England! Too bad I missed you there!

Keri said...

I love England. Wish I wasn't stuck all the way down here. If there is one place I could not set a novel in, it's here in NZ.

I have a friend/fellow blogger who lives in Detroit, so I'll mention this to her.

I'd give it a shot despite not having been there (because I rock at the desire to write about places I know next no nothing about) but I've banned myself from working on anything except my WIP, especially the potential start of a new project.

♥Ah, off to dream about English magic while writing a novel set in the US. Why does this always happen to me? XD

Anonymous said...

So jealous that you're in England! I visited last summer and have been obsessed ever since.

Twi-sessed said...

You're in glorious England and making fun of Detroit. I can't help but feel personally offended here. J/K!

If only I had time to write a 250 worder for you. Too busy outlining and restructuring thanks to someone's suggestions. *wink, wink*

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