Plain Writing

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Chapter one

Derek Gillette

Advice is great, but advice on its own won’t make you a better writer. We become better writers by writing and it’s always easier to write when we’re inspired. To that end, a creative prompt using an ordinary item.

chapter one | an exercise in reading a book that has not been written

Below you’ll find a sample first chapter from a book that has not yet been written. Read the chapter and then follow the prompt.

Some big book title

Chapter one

“Right now we are all bound by time. Held to it. No one can speed up a single second nor slow one down. Time is fixed for us. One day it won't be. One day in the future,” he chuckled to himself at the use of a time-based word to describe this, “time will not exist.”

Kai had heard Pongo detail all of this out before and every time he got lost at the word bound. "Who uses that word anymore?" Kai thought. "Not me." It was usually enough for Kai to nod politely and give a coy act of astonishment and then Pongo would be on his way, looking for his next victim to bind for a few minutes as he told the same story over again.

But today Kai didn't feel quite right. Something irked him, he was a little unsettled. And things that he normally would leave alone, he felt he must scratch. "So what do you call this time-free zone then?" holding up his hands to mimic air quotes around "time-free," and making sure Pongo knew this was a mocking question and not one he was actually asking out of genuine interest.

"Call it? Why eternity of course." Pongo seemed confident to let that simple truth sit without any further explanation, which of course bothered Kai even more.

"Eternity?" That was enough to send Kai scampering away with his head full of a mix of annoyance and curiosity. For now, Kai went back to his original train of thought, "Who uses words like this anymore? Not me."

Calling out from the ever-increasing distance, Pongo shouted, "You can't outrun time, Kai!"

—

Today’s task: Add to this story. What comes next? What questions do you have that are left unanswered? Where do you think this story should go? Is this a book that should be written?

Inspire someone else — share this page with a friend or colleague.

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