Category: Flash

Writing Exercise: Tools of the Trade

Erin Penn

Buffalo Skull Stock Photo

Image Courtesy of Witthaya Phonsawat at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Tools of the Trade

Writers, as all occupations, need to know the tools of the trade and be skilled in their use. For a writer, knowing the language is key. Most people have a fairly solid grasp of noun and verb by finishing primary school levels; a slightly less solid grasp of pronouns, adverbs, and adjectives; and a questionable grasp on punctuation and grammar. Language includes parts of speech, punctuation, structure (like paragraphs and sentences), and more esoteric items like figures of speech.

I’m going to concentrate on figures of speech today. These can also be called rhetorical devices or stylistic devices.

figures of speech

“any expressive use of language, as a metaphor, simile, personification,or antithesis, in which words are used in other than their literal sense,or in other than their ordinary locutions, in order to suggest a picture or image or for other special effect.”
(from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/figure+of+speech – copied Feb 26, 2015))

Painting pictures with words is what writers do; becoming skilled with the various figures of speech will hone that skill.

Examples of figures of speech: allegory, allusion, analogy, antithesis, catachreis, euphemism, hyperbole, hypocatastasis, irony, metaphor, oxymoron, paradox, personification, puns, simile, tautology, understatement.

(from http://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/writing-stylistics.php#.VO877_nF-2F and http://grammar.about.com/od/rhetoricstyle/a/20figures.htm)

… the most complete list for those wanting to go to the next level is here: http://changingminds.org/techniques/language/figures_speech/figures_speech_alpha.htm

“The four fundamental operations, or categories of change, governing the formation of all figures of speech are:

  • addition (adiectio), also called repetition/expansion/superabundance
  • omission (detractio), also called subtraction/abridgement/lack
  • transposition (transmutatio), also called transferring
  • permutation (immutatio), also called switching/interchange/substitution/transmutation”

(from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure_of_speech – copied Feb 26, 2015)

WRITING EXERCISE: Ready for this month’s challenge? Write a five sentence description of a character from your WIP (work in-progress) without any figures of speech. Then do it again using a least one figure of speech per sentence.

*****

Severance

Sheriff Severance was a little less than six foot tall. His wrinkled face had been exposed to lots of sun and had a permanent tan. His clothes were always dusty from the desert, worn and faded. The only thing on his person shiny and well-kept was his gun. Roy had never had to draw it on someone from his town. (words 60)

*****

Tall enough to make most men look up in the 1800s, Sheriff Severance was just shy of six foot. His leathered face was well-tanned from years in the sun, but new wrinkles had been carved deep on a face aged from the badge since the curse had consumed his town. Ill-fitting, worn clothes hung on him; desert dust clinging to the fabric with skeletal fingers sucking shine and color from Roy. Only his gun was in mint-condition, oiled and cleaned daily before he left the jailhouse. He never had drawn it on someone he knew and hoped like hell he never would. (102 words)

  1. “Shy” – height cannot be shy
  2. “Leathered” “tanned”
  3. “carved”
  4. “aged from the badge”
  5. “curse had consumed”

(ect.)

(first published 3/14/2015; republished in new blog format 9/27/2016)

 

Flash: There you are

Erin Penn

Black Girl with Red Lock

Image Courtesy of imagerymajestic at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

“There you are.”

Turning her head from where it was buried in her hands, Rafaela squinted against the sunlight coming through the storm drain opening, barely making out a head turned sideways looking in. The shimmering lock of dyed red head confirmed who had hunted her down. “Jenna.”

“The one and only.” Her friend carefully stepped into the round opening to walk on the curved inside of the pipeline. “So what is it this time?”

Leaning back from here she had been curled against her knees, the Latino-American waited for her friend to join her. Once Jenna reached where Rafaela sat, she braced her feet against one side of the drain and her back against the other. Her dark hands rested against the concrete surface steading her in the semi-awkward position. For a second her eyes closed and she stroked the concrete. After breathing a sigh of relief, she opened her koi-lined eyes and brought her hands to her knees.

“Just thinking about the case.”

“Oh god, you’re taking it? The guy is as guilty as shit.”

The right side of Rafaela’s mouth turned up and she shrugged.

“Don’t give me that lawyer crap of confidentiality.” Jenna waved both her hands. “You forget, coz, you had me touch the evidence.”

“Bagged evidence.”

“Like my psychometry cares when that level of emotions is involved. The money was his, the gun his, my god his emotions from when he shot the officer were so strong. He hated Officer Galuppi’s guts, personally, not just because he was a cop.”

Rafaela winced at the rush of words and the truth behind them. “But the drugs were not.”

“The guy is a drug dealer.”

“Still the drugs were planted by the cops so they didn’t need a warrant to search his car and that is how they found the gun and blood-coated bribe money. Thank you for seeing that.” Rafaela squeezed her left hand into a fist and released it a few times. “I really wish they hadn’t planted evidence.”

“Nunez would have dump the gun before they had a chance to get a judge’s signature. That bastard has killed before.” Jenna leaned forward and whispered. “I think he’s an ejecutor.” Returning to bracing herself against the curved surface, Jenna slapped her hands against her legs. “How can you defend a criminal?”

Contemplating her left hand, Rafaela squeezed it into a fist and released it a couple more times. “Because it protects the innocent.”

“What?”

“Everyone needs their day in court. It’s how our justice system works.”

Jenna’s hands swept wide. “He’s guilty. Justice is going to jail.”

“In this one particular case, maybe, but not if the whole system is going to work.” Rafaela looked into her friend’s dark eyes. “Only by protecting the rights of each individual are we able to protect the rights of all individuals.”

Shaking her head, Jenna soften her voice. “I never realized you were a social activist.”

“Yeah, well.” Rafaela shrugged and looked deeper into the shadows of the dark side of the drain pipe. After nodding at something that wasn’t there, she stood in the pipe. She hunched much lower than Jenna, being just shy of six foot instead of Jenna’s short five foot two height.

Rolling on her hands and knees to stand, Jenna led the way to the lip of the drainpipe. She tossed her hair to look over her shoulder. “Care to give a girl a lift?”

“Not a problem.” Rafaela reached forward, touching Jenna on the shoulder and then closing her eyes against the bright afternoon sun beating its way into the darken pipe to focus on her task.

Once Rafaela muttered “All done,” Jenna bounced outside of the drainpipe and quickly ran up the steep sides of the concrete channel. “God, I love that!” She continued to bounce in a circle at the top, reaching heights of five and six feet while waiting for Rafaela’s more sedate ascent to the top of the drainage system.

Rolling her black eyes, Rafaela made an adjustment to the gravitational field surrounding Jenna and herself, bending the light, making them effectively invisible. Jenna’s whoops continued to echo throughout the city drainage system.

(words 698 – first published 9/25/2016)

Flash: Team Necro (Version 2)

Erin Penn

Waking Dead Logo

Image created by Erin Penn

“So what is in the box Caitlynn?” The dainty brunette asked as the larger woman easily hauled the box in from the hall.

Caitlynn smiled, dropping it on the left desk of their small office quietly since Gerald lay on the long sofa with a tattooed arm thrown over his dark eyes, covering the fresh scratches on his face from the previous night. “Advertisements!” she stage-whispered, snapping open the small knife she always carried in her back pocket to cut the packing tape.

The large black man groaned from the sofa.

The leggy blond respond to what for Gerald could be interpreted as a full sentence. “Yep, got everything we looked at.”

Dropping his arm, Gerald’s muscles bunched as he leveraged himself into a seating position. “No ties.” He bore holes into the more enthusiastic of his two best friends of the female variety.

“Went with the vests instead of the Men-In-Black look.” She took one out, snapping it to unfold it, and laying it against her ample breasts. Blood red, the pocket was embroidered with the company name she had chosen.

Jenni frowned. “Still think ‘Waking Dead’ is going to get some copyright infringements.”

“That’s what Daddy’s lawyers are for, and if things like ‘Lawn’n’Order’ for a landscaping firm can exist so can we.” Caitlynn smiled at her two friends. “Besides Walking Dead hires necromancers. Three of their actors require them.”

“Really?” Jenni raised an eyebrow at the claim.

But Caitlynn knows her business. “Yep, two of the dead are really dead and one of the ‘living’ who will get bit in the next season. Everlasting Staffing requires all their actors to sign a contract allowing them to be raised for up to ten years. Very useful for unexpected deaths. Imagine how much better Zounds or Dark Cloud Mountain would have been if Nowell or Payseur had been able to complete filming. Several movie companies are trying to make it part of the boilerplate but the union is fighting it.”

“Throw one here.” Gerald stood up. All six foot eight and three foot wide of him. Caitlynn pulled at one of the largest vests and tossed it over. He slid it over his stained and torn t-shirt and button up the front.

Eyeing the red fitting snuggly against Gerald’s chest, Jenni nodded. “Some days I really hate you Caitlynn.”

The blond sighed, licking her lips. “He looks great in uniform.”

“Toss one over here.” Jenni walked over from her desk.

Both of the women quickly buttoned up the vests. Caitlynn’s hugged her generous curves yet screamed professional like an accountant, while Jenni’s straightened her back and took her from dainty doll to something a breath more lethal. Suddenly they went from three recently graduated college kids to a professional firm.

The blond pulled out the door sign for their office to replace the paper printout presently taped to the door. “Waking Dead, Necromantic Consultants”

(word count: 485 – first published 9/18/2016)

Blog: Comment on Team Necro

Erin Penn

Ready for tomorrow’s flash?

Last month I wrote a flash on Team Necro. When I worked through it, the characters and scene were all tell instead of show. I was describing the situation with scene and character descriptions overshadowing the story – even stuffing in some backstory. Basically parsing out the beginnings of a new world and group of people.

I have tried the story again, this time concentrating on the story instead of world creating. Hope you like the new version. These characters have been popping up the last few months with additional stories they want told. This is still more of a scene then a story, but I think it is much better than the first version. Let me know what you think when you read it tomorrow.

Flash: A Kiss

Erin Penn

Brick wall pressing her back, Genna’s eyes drifted closed. John’s hand cradled the right side of her face. His lips hovered over hers and she felt the mild breeze of his exhale. He wasn’t crowding her. The only things she felt was the gentle touch of his left hand and the heat radiating from the right arm where it was braced.

And her lips. They tingled and pulsed waiting. Ever so slowly his mouth met hers. His bottom lip brushed her bottom lip once side to side. Her lips parted in unseen invite just as he leaned the last bit forward.

Heat ran down her front; from lips, through throat, branching at the sternum to make both breasts beg for their own soft touch, dancing a moment in her stomach and finally pooling in her womb. An icy rebound started immediately at her knees, making the wall the only reason she remained standing. The cold raced up her back. Her spine shivered, her shoulders tensed, and her head moved forward so the ice could melt. His hot hand understood the need, moving through her hair to cup the back of her head.

John’s lips moved back and Genna’s eyes opened. Her blue eyes looked into his vivid green. As she watched him about to speak, all she could think was “Please don’t make this moment stop.”

 (words 226 – originally appearing at Sunday Fun on Breathless Press 12/9/2012 with the visual prompt inspiring it before the site was taken down as well as my blog; could not find photo copyright permissions so did not copy; republished new blog format 9/11/2016)