Thursday, May 20, 2010

The Freedom of Silly Super Shorts

Aaah, the freedom of super silly shorts, or is that silly super shorts, or silly super sagas . . . hmm, have to nail that name someday.

Anyway, on a day when writing seems to be painfully hard for one of my daughters, I try everything I can to make it fun, possible, and full of laughter. Today, after reading a story that I wrote in sixth grade, "The Pencil's Adventure," I challenged my daughters to write a silly story of their own. It could include an inanimate object, animals that talked, a silly super power, or a silly super star.

Then, to be the kind of writing teacher I want to be, I did the exercise too.

So, if you are stuck like my daughters were this morning, try writing a super silly short. There's nothing to worry about, no audience to please other than yourself, and the point is to get laughter, or at least a knee slap or a smirk.

Here's mine for today (written in less than 10 minutes):

Cluck Gable’s Secret Identity Revealed!
By Tyrean Martinson

SuperChicken, A.K.A. Cluck Gable, liked to fly with his special powers, soaring above the clouds. Normal chickens, like his alter ego Cluck Gable, were grounded by their fatty feathery bodies and stubby wings.
One day as SuperChicken swooped toward his favorite pecking ground, Sally, a young farm girl, looked up and caught him in the act.
“Flying Chickens,” Sally screeched, and then asked, “Will pigs be next?”
SuperChicken knew his secret identity had been revealed. He had to act fast. Lowering himself to hover at eye level with Sally, he leveled his super-psychic-powered gaze at her. Twin beams of purple hypnotic light flashed between them, and then he quickly landed at her feet, and started pecking at the ground.
Sally shook her head, and looked down at where he clucked plaintively at the grass.
“Oh, there you are, Cluck Gable,” she said, “I’ll get some extra feed for you.”
As she ran for the barn, a pig in the pen nearby snorted, and then spoke.
“You almost blew our cover, featherhead,” he said.
“Calm down, Pork Star,” said SuperChicken, “I saved our cover, and we can save the world again tomorrow. Sally will never know.”

The End.

5 comments:

Karen Lange said...

This is fun, and a great idea:) I think most any kind of different writing can help us stay creative and get refreshed.

Laurel Garver said...

Fun idea to get the juices flowing! I love freewriting and often use my train commute to scribble fake journal entries or "what if...?" scenarios. They help a ton with characterization.

BTW, I have a little gift for you on my blog.

Tyrean Martinson said...

Thanks Laurel!!!
I need to work on those fake journal entries for characterization. Somehow my sidekicks/secondary characters have a tendency to be way more fun and intriguing than my MCs. Maybe I just need to write sillier stories and have serious sidekicks, instead of serious stories with silly/intriguing sidekicks.

Angie said...

Hahaha. What a fun story. I think I'll give my kids the same challenge.

Jill Kemerer said...

It's refreshing to let our writing take us in silly directions! Thanks for this!