Name + object story practice a la Dreamreich style

See here the basic instructions for this practice.

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The main idea is to use a random name and a random letter to derive (?) a word you like.

I chose the name Tina (it was the first that came to my mind) and the letter “B” (and this too).

Then I thought about words that start with “B”. I could have used a dictionary, and there could have been really interesting choices, but this time I just listed words that came to my mind. From those words I chose that one that evoked the most thoughts/that I liked the most.

The result was “Tina’s bat”. Inspires thoughts, right?

Next I chose the perspective and then I just started writing.

Here is the story:

Tina's Bat

It was covered in blood, lying a couple steps away. The whole room was trashed and Tina was shaking, huddled in the corner. 

She had just wanted it to end. To defend herself.  And now there was his body. 

It wasn’t supposed to end like this. She had had a clear plan: when he would come back to threaten and hurt her again, she would show him that she could defend herself. 

And now she had killed him. What was she supposed to do now? 

Tina had bought the bat to defend herself, to show Ron that she wasn’t helpless, that he couldn’t threaten her into his illegal activities. 

The living room was so silent, the only sounds were the cars in the distance and Tina’s harsh breathing. 

She hadn’t meant to hit so hard, but when Ron brought out the knife she didn’t know what else to do. 

With unstable legs Tina went to gather the bat. Who knew if Ron had backup. 

She was sure somebody would come to avenge Ron… or at least to make sure that he wouldn’t have anything against them anymore. 

Ron and his men had been threatening almost everyone in the city. Half of them with violence and the others with information. He had sensitive information about almost everyone and if you landed on his bad side, he would ruin you in seconds. 

But Tina hadn’t had anything to lose anymore, she had just lost her baby and she had vowed not to take Ron’s treatment anymore. 

Well, now she would not have to endure that anymore. But what about everyone else? 

What about Ron’s followers and his enemies and those who wanted to make sure that their secrets wouldn’t leak out? 

All she had to defend herself with was her bat. She was so going to die. 

Tina was sure that someone would have killed Ron years ago, if it wouldn’t have been to the fact that he was well insured. He had made it known that would anything happen to him, a trusted, loyal person would publish the feared data. Everyone knew that Ron’s wife was the loyal person in question, she was his backup system and if anything happened to them both they had a system in place that would ensure the publication either way. Nobody was going to mess with Ron. 

And the wife would have done anything for Ron, which was simply a fact. She had proven that again and again and because of that the power lay in the end in her hands, didn’t it? 

When the loud sound of vibration pierced the air, Tina knew what she had to do. 

With brisk steps she went to Ron’s body and awkwardly took his cell phone out of his jacket. 

Clutching the bat in one hand she took the call. She would take her life into her own hands. 

One of Ron’s henchmen, Paul, was calling. 

“Tina here. Listen carefully, I am going to be in charge from now on, Ron is out of the picture.” Tina couldn’t believe how calm, authoritative and empty her voice sounded. 

She could here Paul exhaling. “What the f*** Tina? Where is Ron?” With a cruel little smile Tina delivered the killing blow. ”It doesn’t matter where my husband is. I am in charge now and anybody that will try to undermine my authority will be eliminated. Understood?” 

Paul quickly assured his devotion to her and ended the call. 

Now Tina just had to get rid of Ron’s body and surround herself with loyal men, or better yet, men that had a lot to lose. Nobody would threaten or harm her ever again. Nobody could take her baby from her and walk away unharmed. Nobody. She would make sure of that.

Well, it turned out a little dark, I immediately went in that direction from the name. Somehow the bat immediately directed the story to violence and danger and dramatic changes, I just couldn't imagine a bat being purely for sports.

Name + object story practice

I got the idea to this practice from the object-poem-practice.

I thought it would be an interesting practice to choose a random name and a random letter.

For example Tina + B

Then one would think about possible words that start with “B”, like bath, bottle, bed, bat, bravery, banana, bandana, bear, beer, bonbon, bingo, breakfast…

Then you choose the combination that interests you the most, which gives you the most ideas.

For example: Tina’s bat

That would then be the topic of the short story.

While writing one would think about basic questions like why, when, who, how, what, where.

Why does Tina have a bat? Why does she need it?

When did Tina need a bat? Does she still need it? When did/does she use it?

For what does she use it? What is the bat like?

How does Tina feel? How does she use the bat? How does the bat look?

Where is this bat? Where did Tina get it? Where is she using it?

And then out of these components you write a story.

See here the short story I wrote using this practice.

The Second Creativity Poem Practice

I really liked the practice where you write random thoughts and make a poem out of it.

Here are the instructions and here is the last poem I wrote using this style.

I know that the previous poem with this style has only been a couple of days ago, but I feel like letting go and trying it again.

This time I started to write just random real and imaginary thoughts and feelings without an image as support.

Five Minutes start now.

I am feeling really tired. Not only tired but almost exhausted. Today I achieved a small victory after having had to endure a long time of defeats. For such a long time I was full of energy, and somehow I am still, I have a feeling that I can do anything, anything at all. At the same time I just feel tired, exhausted. I know that I just have to move forward, to do a couple little things that are really small hurdles compared with other things I had to do and endure. But still. I feel weary in a bone deep level, even though my thoughts are also positive and exited. This is probably nothing that a couple hours of sleep and a little bit of work will not cure but when will the light not only be at the end of the tunnel but also in front of me? I am usually a positive person, and still I believe and feel that everything is going to turn out great and that life has so many possibilities. But just for a moment I need to rest, load my batteries and just simply stop for a moment. All the time life moves forward, time is of essence and the clock is ticking. I just want to be living in the here and now. Breathing. And so I am, that’s what I am doing. That gives you the feeling of lightness and relief. Pure relief.

And the time is up.

Now I will again strikethrough all the words that are not needed to convey the main content.

I am feeling really tired. Not only tired but almost exhausted. Today I achieved a small victory after having had to endure a long time of defeats. For such a long time I was full of energy, and somehow I am still, I have a feeling that I can do anything, anything at all. At the same time I just feel tired, exhausted. I know that I just have to move forward, to do a couple little things that are really small hurdles compared with other things I had to do and endure. But still. I feel weary in a bone deep level, even though my thoughts are also positive and exited. This is probably nothing that a couple hours of sleep and a little bit of work will not cure but when will the light not only be at the end of the tunnel but also in front of me? I am usually a positive person, and still I believe and feel that everything is going to turn out great and that life has so many possibilities. But just for a moment I need to rest, load my batteries and just simply stop for a moment. All the time life moves forward, time is of essence and the clock is ticking. I just want to be living in the here and now. Breathing. And so I am, that’s what I am doing. That gives you the feeling of lightness and relief. Pure relief.

Formatting and naming the poem.

The result:

Letting go

Tired. 
Exhausted.
A small victory,
after defeats. 

A long time,
full of energy, 
I can do anything, 
anything at all. 

Tired, 
exhausted. 
A couple little things,
small hurdles.

Weary,
bone deep.
Positive 
and exited. 

Sleep. Work.
Cure.
Light at the end
of the tunnel.

In front of me.
Positive.
I believe.
Life has possibilities. 

I need to rest, 
load my batteries.
Just stop,
life moves forward.

Time is of essence,
the clock ticking. 
living here and now. 
Breathing. 

I am.
Lightness.
Relief. 
Pure relief. 

The funny thing here was that I thought "I feel like letting go", and then I wrote the random text and formatted the poem and named it before I realized that I had named it "letting go". My subconscious thoughts were really focused on the feeling of letting go and what it entailed.

What do you think of this poem and of this practice in large? I rather like doing it regardless of how the poems turn out to be. This practice is just perfect for getting started.