Author commentary on stories featured on my Freely Written podcast in March 2024: Under Where and Cake.
At the end of each month, I’ll shed some light on my writing adventures.
If you’re new to Freely Written, this podcast offers very short stories written from a chosen prompt with no planning and very little editing. These stories are an exercise in letting go of perfection and embracing spontaneous creativity. You may even be inspired to write a story of your own!
Episodes are released every other Tuesday and are around 10 minutes long. Listen with your favorite podcast app or from the links below!
Ep. 110 – Under Where – March 5, 2024
Listen first to avoid spoilers! Find the story here: Under Where
I was very tired when I wrote this story. Meaning I was in the midst of a stretch of insomnia that lasted most of March. And lack of sleep really gets to me. It makes my brain all wobbly and nonsensical. Admittedly, that isn’t a far leap from the normal state of my brain. However, it is a noticeable increase in silliness.
That silliness is apparent in both the prompt/title and the story itself. Unfortunately, I can’t be sure how I came up with the prompt for this one. I have a vague memory of Barenaked Ladies’ Pinch Me running through my head. If I hadn’t been so tired, I might have chosen “pinch me” as a prompt and written a leprechaun story about not wearing green. Since it was close to St. Patrick’s Day. Instead, I latched onto these lyrics: I could hide out under there. I just made you say underwear. And “under where” became my prompt.
By that logic, you might think the fairy angle came in because of their fanciful link to leprechauns. But, no. I didn’t even think of that leprechaun/St. Patrick’s Day link until I sat down to write this summary. At least, not consciously. Was it subconscious? Who knows! Obviously, this is a very silly story. As always, it was written without a plan, and that is more apparent that usual since it didn’t really come together as well as I would have liked.
Anyway, this story is a good example of free writing your way through a shaky idea. Remember, your results don’t have to be perfect when you’re free writing. The goal is to have fun with it and let your imagination run wild!
Ep. 111 – Cake – March 19, 2024
Listen first to avoid spoilers! Find the story here: Cake
When I write a Freely Written story that doesn’t quite come together (like with Under Where), I often feel some pressure to make the next one more of a proper story. Not this time! My insomnia streak was still going strong, and I apparently didn’t have it in me to stick to any kind of story structure. So, I leaned into the nonsense and went for a stream of consciousness ramble.
As I said in the episode, the prompt came from a sentence that floated through my mind when I first woke up: I want to sleep on a giant chocolate cake. That’s a weird sentence to confront first thing in the morning with no lingering dream to give it context. Luckily, weird can be fun in a story.
Cake isn’t one of my stronger Freely Written stories, yet I do like the idea of it. As I wrote, a narrator emerged who is quirky and distracted, yet likely a good employee. Why judge performance based on rambling thoughts during a boring meeting? We all have our quirky daydreams, right? Right…?
I rarely go for first person, stream of consciousness writing. Yet, I did go that route with my second novel, To the Left of Death, and am proud of the results. It works with some stories. Did it work in this ramble about cake? I don’t know, but there’s a glimmer of something I like in this one.
Fortunately, my insomnia has begun to resolve and that may (hopefully) lead to more coherent stories in April. In the meantime, you can sift through past Freely Written stories and listen to episodes in any order. When you find some favorites, please share them with your friends!
Have a suggestion for a future writing prompt? Let me know! If your prompt is chosen, I will give you credit in the episode.
Until next time, try a little free writing of your own. Let go of any planning and see where your imagination takes you!