Noodle around with a thought, and leave the rest for later
The lovely thing about writing with a 10-minute timer is that you know you can’t paint a big picture, so you don’t worry about trying to get everything in. You have the luxury of focusing in on just one thought. You can forget about whatever else might be going on in the prompt or in your story, and let your imagination turn that thought this way and that, the way you’d hold a jewel up to the light.
With so much going on in this image (a photo taken by James Navé after the premiere of Carlo Calma’s ballet “Diyosa,” in Manila, Philippines) and the list of words it generated, Melissa Malm was captivated by one idea: blue. What is blue? How pale, how deep? Where is blue? How does blue feel to the eyes and the heart?
There's a kind of blue that reminds me of the miracle of being alive.
Maybe it's the neutral cobalt of tidal waters left behind as the ocean slides away.
Or maybe it's the graded wash of cerulean that spreads across the sky, complementing the sunflowers, making them seem abundantly large.
Or maybe it's a rich ultramarine blue that draws my soul into the steady gaze, a pool of water so deep it's multidimensional, whispering of mystery and wonder.
Or maybe it's just a hint of itself in a paynes gray that cloaks the clouds in somber attire.
Or maybe it's a brilliant turquoise reminiscent of the stones prized by the ancients.
However that blue appears, I will ask it if I can have this dance of life.
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