Audacity

Audacity –

It takes a certain audacity to start a Blog about writing.

I do love that word, “audacity”. It implies a certain verve a certain risk taking, a certain pushing of the limits. Of course if pushed to the limit or coming from prejudice or anger it can be destructive, but I like its energy. It would make a great writing prompt: List the last three times that you felt that you were being “audacious”. Pick one and write about how it worked out. Was it successful or disastrous? How did you end up feeling? How did it change people’s feelings toward you? Was it worth it?

Anyway, last night I was reading a great book on writing, “Discovering the Writer Within – 40 days to more imaginative writing” written by Bruce Ballenger and Barry Lane and published by Writer’s Digest Books in 1989. It has a great easy to read voice and offers a series of great exercises to kick-start one’s writing. Looking through it I wondered how I could add anything to that or the many other excellent books on memoirs or writing in general.
So it takes a certain audacity to start this blog, but I have started and we will just have to see where it will lead. There is the hope that others out there will come along for the ride.

Hate to do a post without another piece of writing so here is not “Fast Fiction” but a sort of “Fast Editorial” about how society or corporations or lawyers can possibly over protect us.

The new car – (267 Words)

The soft thud of the door seals out the cold and noise of the garage. Turning the key, twenty seven icons light up on the dashboard saying everything is OK. A few like the “Vehicle Dynamics Control” light are a mystery. There were fifty nine pages in the manual for “Instruments and Controls” yet to be studied, but it is good to see all are OK. The seatbelt warning beeped for six seconds and stopped (info on that takes sixty one pages in the manual). Trying out the “Multi-information display” I found there were a clock, odometers, and indicators for driving range on remaining fuel, journey time, outside temperature, fuel and average fuel consumption and trip meters. I had managed to turn the key without the advantage of thirty one pages on “Keys and Doors”. There wasn’t a heater, but a “Climate Control System” (thirteen pages), but a little fiddling and it seemed to work. There was a fifty page section on “Starting and Operating” covering things like “Child restraint systems” and “Head restraint adjustment” and “Tired and sleepy”, but I had decided to just go for it. I started to back out of the garage and there was a thump. I leap out to find I had run over a package left by FEDEX, a birthday present for my daughter. But that was not mentioned by the nineteen pages on “In Case of Emergency”. The SOB’s, I thought they had everything covered. They even Fabreezed out the new car smell. Those control freaks. Back in the car the seat belt warning is beeping again. Those bastards!

OK, so that is one person’s point of view, feel free to comment with yours.