Writing Exercise 6 - The Element of Wonder

Apply a sense of wonder to something small and ordinary. Describe it using those cool point-of-view tools that evoke wonder in the reader.

Writing Excuses 11.06: The Element of Wonder [Link]

It's been a long time since I've posted one of the exercises from Writing Excuses, probably because I like the prompts better since they entail a story behind it, while many of the exercises I've done are descriptions or improving a character's personality. They are usually shorter than a prompt-story and most of all, I thought that they might be boring.

But what the hell, that's just me (probably).

The exercise for today was to describe something ordinary and it...extraordinary, due to point of view. It could be zooming in like a camera and show dynamic angles or maybe just a change in thought perspective. They were really hard to write. It's easy to evoke wonder in a fantasy-setting with dragons, magic and what-not. But an ordinary item?

I'm not sure how it worked out, but here are three items I described!

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[Item 1]

The transparent, green, plastic seal, covering the frail white tube of ink. You can see the inner workings of the oblong writing tool, except for the lower part that is covered in a darker shade of teal, made of another heavier type of plastic material. The tip is contracted, waiting to be unleashed on a paper or a notebook. No design, or logotype showing, only the clear green plastic and a darker shade on the bottom.

You can hold it easily in one hand. Applying the wrong force breaks it. A delicate tool after all. But use it the right way and you will convey concepts, feelings and new worlds.

[Item 2]

The thing that struck me first was the daunting thickness. Each page so thin, but adding them all together made formed it into the size of a brick. Although a pleasant looking one. The cover in shades of white, red and black forming stylized letters written, an image of an army preparing for battle. It asks to be picked up, promising you a new story, a new world, a new culture. It promises you an adventure.

[Item 3]

I always wonder if staring down a trash bin can represent staring down into the abyss. The things we don’t like or have any use of, those are the things that should be at the bottom of a trash can. But it can only hold so much. The garbage piles on, increases and floods out. If you watch from above, it feels like these nasty things reach closer to you, inching forward, approaching you. Is that what it feels like to stare into the abyss? The things that you don’t want to feel, or think about, those things coming closer to you, to your mind, to your soul?

I had to try. The thought tickled my mind, I stared down into the orange trash can. It was empty of waste, only a plastic husk. I dropped down some gum, some skins from a fruit and a few napkins. The bottom of the orange husk was now filled. And it felt like the pile of waste got closer to me. A tingle down my spine. I had to empty the trash can.

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Thank you for reading!