What cryptic cryptids creep along the crevices of your cranium? Today the prompts will be focusing on this fun new anthology zine called Mothman Was Here: Tales of the Uncanny, edited by William Woolfitt and published by the good folks at Tenpenny Books in Chattanooga, TN. I’m fortunate enough to have my piece “It Will Be Different with the Skunk Ape” (originally published in the now defunct Gingerbread House) included alongside work by a lot of wonderful people I admire, such as Kari Gunter-Seymour, Katie Manning, Lesley Wheeler, Mary B. Moore and many, many others. Cryptids are animals/creatures/beings, such as Bigfoot, Mothman, and La Llorona, that have never been proven to exist, but we all know they do. Let’s use the idea of a cryptid for our inspiration in today’s writing!
1) Set a timer for 10 minutes. Freewrite, editor voice turned completely off, about some cryptid you heard about as a child. Who told you? How old were you? Were you sure they were real or were you skeptical? Let your brain go wherever it wants to. Nothing is off topic here. Don’t remember hearing about any cryptids as a child? Write about something that gave you a creepy feeling as a child.
2) Set a timer for 10 minutes. Freewrite, editor voice turned completely off, about something that makes your skin crawl just a little bit now as an adult. Something that feels just a little bit off, but not so off that you’re full on frightened of it. Something you’re unsure of and on your guard, but not running away. Take this to mean whatever you want. Just write for the full ten minutes and don’t judge yourself, just write.
3) Set the timer for 10 minutes. Now to en-rhythm! You’ll read a poem aloud for 10 minutes. You will probably have to repeat the poem, perhaps multiple times. Just keep reading, let the rhythm wash over you and get in your brain. I’m going to suggest Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market because it’s a fave, even though goblins aren’t really cryptids so-to-speak. If you want to dance for your en-rhythming, try this parody of YMCA by Studio Bunny about Mothman. It’s short, so you’ll have to repeat it about 9 or 10 times to make the full 10 minutes, but it’s fun. Enjoy!
4) Set the timer for 10 minutes. Now to draft! Write a poem, short story, or essay about whatever’s on your mind after all that freewriting and en-rhythming. Can’t think of anything? Maybe write a poem from the perspective of a cryptid looking in your window while you’re getting ready for bed at night. What? I can’t be the only one who worries about that. Actually, I mainly worry about werewolves looking in because of that one scene in Cycle of the Werewolf by Stephen King that I read way, way, way too young.
And there you go! You have a draft of a new poem, short story, or essay that you can start to revise this weekend, next week, or maybe ten years from now when you randomly find the file on your computer and realize the draft was a lot better than you thought!
Thanks for letting me stop by!