Prompt, First Line & Question

Good morning all - 

I love prompts and first lines, both in using and giving them.  In both my Seniors' class and Gilda's class I give a prompt as homework.  And I find it so interesting to see the different stories the participants come up with of the same prompt.

Today's prompt is:   Write about someone's hands.

A couple years ago I was at a writing retreat.  A friend and I decided to give each other a first line to write off.  The first line I had to work with was something like the cabbage on the counter smile at her.  What do you do with that? Before I started writing, I played with the "What If" game, and the story that came from that first line was quite a surprise.

Today's first line is:   He blinked.

My favorite writer is Stephen King.  I have read just about everything he has written.  And I am always looking for new books from him, and usually have it pre-ordered.  I find it interesting that I like his writing, as I don't really like to read horror. When I was younger, I loved going to all the horror movies and reading scary books.  But now ... not so much. Yet I like his stuff. 
His fiction has never influenced my writing, however, his book On Writing was a great read.  It was so encouraging and if you haven't read it yet, I would strongly suggest you do. 

His stand on adverbs has also been a big influence on my writing.  I detest adverbs and will cover that at some point in a Monday writing.  Stephen (we are on first name terms when I'm doing the writing), does not like the use of adverbs, also.  In fact, I refer to his quote quite often:  "The road to hell is paved with adverbs."

What about you?  Who is your favorite author?  Did he/she influence your writing?

Thanks for stopping by,

~Tricia

Blogging schedule

I have to admit that this blogging class has been, and continues to be, very informative and helpful.  My assignment today is to create a blog schedule.  I don't know why, but I never even considered I should have a blog schedule.  Yet, it makes so much sense.  And it is already helping me come up with ideas for blogging.  That's the idea, right? Right!

My blog schedule will be that on Mondays I will tackle a specific subject.  It may be a gremlin attack, or comments about my favorite subject ... the dreaded adverbs.  Remember what Stephen King says:  "The road to hell is paved with adverbs."  Whenever I mention adverbs in my classes, the participants groan. Really, they groan out loud.  So that will be Mondays.

On Wednesdays, I will post prompts and first lines.  This will provide an opportunity for you (yes, you) to take off on a writing spree.  I will also post a question, along with my thoughts about the question. My hope is that you will respond to the question as well. Should be fun!

And on Fridays, I want to post an interview with a writer.  And when I don't have any interviews, I'll cover a how-to subject.  Fridays feel a little iffy for me if I don't have an interview, so I will work hard to make sure I have one.

Okay, what do you think of my schedule?  I'm liking it :)

~Tricia