Exercise 1 – Chapter 3
Posted by absoluteidiot on March 1, 2010
Writing exercise 1 – Chapter 3. Just start writing.
I really want to write a short story for a contest I heard about from my new writing group that I joined online. The contest submission must be 2,000 words or less and take place in Cave Creek/Carefree, AZ. All genres and time periods welcome. The Deadline is April 1, 2010. That would give me the whole much of March, since it is only the 1st today.
The big obstacle is that I have never written a short story, or any story for that matter. I don’t even know what 2,000 words look like. I have been trying to come up with ideas all morning and nothing seems to interest me. It’s as if I am coming up with ideas just for the sake of having ideas. I have very little experience with Cave Creek and Carefree. I am just going to free write to see what 2.000 words look like.
What I do know about Cave Creek and Care Free is that there is a cute small town in Cave Creek with cute rustic shops and small eateries. The town is so small that if you sneeze, you will miss it. On the way out there, there are the Boulders on the right if you take Scottsdale Rd. The boulders are a beautiful set of large boulders and there is a resort at the base of them. It is known to be a place where celebrities spa and vacation. I’ve also heard there are ample hiking trails on the resort property. I had to go the boulders one day for a meeting when I worked for origins and I have to say that I was not at all impressed. The place is not near as nice as lesser-known establishments I have been too.
I use to work up that way as an interior designer and I remember one time that it rained and the roads were so flooded that I had to stop and turn around because my car could not make it through the deep pools of water on the road. Others had ruined their cars that day by trying to cross the puddles. Carefree and Cave Creek are the only areas in Phoenix where I witnessed actual snow. I never in my life thought I would see snow in this hot box of pavement in the middle of the Sonora desert. I had to call my mom and tell her about it. All I ever hear is, “how can you live in the desert, there is no weather there, you must get so tired of the heat”. There is weather here. There are violent monsoons that cause miraculous wind shears that can take down the heftiest of light pools at any given second. There are dust storms that are so fierce that streetlights explode one by one and you cannot see at all so you have to pull over and watch the light show. So, this is 561 words.
The story:
Random thoughts arrived in the mind of one woman called Acton, in response she decided to explore her city of Phoenix in more depth. Realizing that she had never taken the time to really see, hear and smell her new town where she has lived for 4 years now made her feel sad. “What have I been doing these last 4 years? I know I did a lot of complaining about not having anything to do. I think I will take a trip up to Cave Creek to do some exploring.”
Why Cave Creek you wonder. There was an otherworldly force that has been pulling Acton to this area since before she moved to town. Cave Creek was always on her mind, her first job as an interior designer was right on the outskirts of Cave Creek about an hour away from her home. She had many clients but when one from Cave Creek would come in, she would drop everything and make them her priority, even if they were after a look that she abhorred.
Acton never understood why her mom was the only one of seven children born in Arizona. No one in her family ever mentioned Arizona and all her mom knew was that she was born there and she was an infant when her family left to come to California. She did know that when she announced that she would be moving to Arizona, she got little to no support.
I just realized what I have to do. If I want to write something of value, I need to actually go explore Cave Creek. I can load up the baby and go up there tomorrow. That should be a fun day trip for us.
Please know that I am open for suggestions and constructive criticism any time. In fact I enjoy and need it immensely.
