When I first dove back into creative writing after a long pause (two husbands and two children type of pause), I found a community called The Freewrite House. They were on a little, nearly invisible corner of the web, and I immediately realized they were my tribe.
Every day, the founder would post the Five Minute Freewrite. The prompt was a word or phrase and the idea was you sit and write for five minutes straight and whatever came out came out.
It was a lot of fun, but I’ve strayed away from doing them regularly as I got wrapped up in other things. We’ll I’m ready to pick up the Freewrite torch again (in a manner of speaking). What I’m really excited about, though, is being able to share more stories with you.
Sometimes really strange things happen since the writing is uninhibited (that’s the goal anyway). More often I get a seed of a story that I expand into something more. Sanctuary of Mind is one of those stories. It began as a series of continuous freewrites, using a new prompt every day and adding a little more to the story.
The Don’t Worry Freewrite
The prompt I found for today’s freewrite was “don’t worry.” Here’s what I did with it.
I stepped back when I heard the whoosh. A breeze blew hair into my eyes and I knew it was close. I just wished I could see it.
The darkness here wasn’t unexpected. Harry had told me about it. My greenish orb of light hovering over my head only illuminated about three feet, no matter how much magic I poured into it. Eventually, I decided to save that energy for when I reached the chamber. Assuming I could navigate there one tiny step at a time.
The whooshing though, he hadn’t mentioned that. And I didn’t sense any magical creatures nearby, but something had moved past. The fact it wasn’t living, or at least not magical, wasn’t comforting. That left too many options open and gave me no idea how to protect myself. Curse you, Harry!
“Don’t worry about anything until you get to the chamber,” he’d said. “There won’t be anything you can’t handle. It’ll be a piece of cake for someone of your talents.”
“And when I get to the chamber?” I’d asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Yeah, can’t help you there. No one’s ever… well, even the books don’t say exactly what form the power takes.”
I’d nodded, somehow believing it would be as simple as going in and bringing out the object said to possess the power of a thousand suns.
I was wondering why I’d taken the job as another whoosh went by. Money? Fame? No, I had more than I wanted of both. It niggled at me as I waited, unmoving. Every five seconds, a whoosh passed. Regular. Mechanical?
I unwound a bit of rope and tossed out at the next pass. A thud and the rope dropped. Pulling it back, I found a clean cut. Seconds later, the sounds continued. Something big, slicing through the darkness, undetectable with my magic. I think it’s time to worry.
What do you think? It’s just a snippet, but now I’ve mentally committed to writing a story with a tentative title of “The Chamber of Power.” What’ll be in it? And what is this character’s name? Freewrites are such a fun way to get creativity flowing.
Want More Flash Fiction?
If you like these fun story snippets, I’ve got an exciting secret. But I can’t tell you yet. Keep an eye on my Facebook page, website and newsletter for the announcement in the next month or so. I’d love to hear your thoughts about this freewrite and the idea in general. Let me know in the comments or on Facebook.
