I started a course today called “Beginners Guide to Getting Published” via UT’s Ed2Go system, where I recently finished a beginner’s PHP and MySQL course. This class is supposed to teach me the ins and outs of the publishing industry, where to get started, what terms I need to be familiar with, how to keep my work protected and when I need an agent and such.

While I didn’t expect this course to actually involve any creative writing assignments, today’s first lesson included one, so I thought it made for good blog content. Here’s the assignment:

“A good way to jump-start your writing process and inspire new writing ideas is to complete a writing exercise such as this one. Write a paragraph that uses all three of the following words: summer, trees, and ocean. By using certain words, you are forcing your brain to think of writing ideas. This type of exercise can help you get ideas in directions you may not have thought of before.”

And my paragraph looks like this:

I couldn’t hear the words she said as she looked up at me through the clear waters of the gulf, though I made them up in my head. Silly girl, thinking one can be audible while speaking from 6 inches under water! Ha! “Why are you doing this?” I imagine her saying, “My summer was supposed to be filled with ice cream and friends and swimming in the ocean with my boyfriend!” And while I say nothing in response, my expression as the final bubbles of life pop above her face says “If you had just stayed tied to the tree, little one.”

Enjoy today’s haiku:

I am not a pro
web designer, but I am
much better than him…