Touching Base: The Color and The Map

Hello, friends.  Thanks for all your comments and emails about last week's Freewrite Friday exercise.  I thought I'd share some of my own color exercise (part of the writing and one of the photos) with you.  

If you feel like sharing any of your Freewrite Friday work here on the blog, please feel free to send it to me.  Beneath the color exercise you'll find a couple of photos of the map exercise.  Thanks, Karen and Polly, for letting me share them!

Excerpt from Gigi's Color Exercise

The hiss of steam pulls you back from a daze.  There's the rattle of bone china, the cracked saucer unsteady in your hand, the paper napkins machine-stamped with daisies, the cream and sugar cubes, dry vanilla biscuits, and all that chatter to endure.  You stare at the women's teeth as they smile and take tiny bites.  One woman--you've been told she's your great aunt--dips the corner of her crustless sandwich into her cup once, twice before she tastes it.  Her movements are as measured and precise as the pearls around her neck.  Winter sunlight slants through the lace curtains.  Outside is snow and ice and the thrill of a long, slippery hill, but here in the house there's the tick of the clock, its moon face mocking you as your great aunt's pale parchment hands pour each lady a second cup.

Maps

Here are maps by Polly and Karen.  I've loved hearing about and seeing some of the maps people have made!  As you can see from these very different examples, there's no one way to do this exercise, which is part of why I love it.  Whatever will lead you into a rich writing session is what you're looking for.  I haven't read Karen's exercise, but I did get a peek at Polly's, and I was amazed by how richly detailed it was.  I wonder if she'll let us see some of it here on the blog.  :)  No pressure!  I just loved what you wrote. 

Polly's Map

Karen's Map

Looking forward to Friday.  I'll have a very straightforward exercise designed to get your pen moving and your heart pumping.