On Monday, I read Wordsmith.org’s introduction to this week’s theme. The first line begins, “The German language’s affinity for sesquipedalians….” Ouch.
Tuesday, the word realpolitik popped up in my inbox. I started to sweat.
These exercises are difficult for a variety of reasons. One, the words that come across the Wordsmith radar are rarely used in colloquial speech (the bright side of that being I have a little more flexibility to play with Wordsmith’s choices). Two, I’m always on a time crunch on Wednesdays. The longer it takes me to get a post out, the closer I get to publishing the piece before its time. And, three, I fight my inner editor all day long, pushing away quick-fire insults that usually end with “You’re not up to this. Why don’t you just skip it this week?”
I always have to remind myself: writing is about taking risks.
This morning, I woke up to:
zeitgeist. noun. The defining spirit of a particular period: the general culture, political, intellectual, and moral climate of an era.
Anytime I see or hear politics, culture, and morality in one sentence, the mood in the air shifts. Zeitgeist is a mouthful of a word to take and mold into a quick write, especially on a light, warm, and sunny Wednesday morning.
So, today, after I stared at the word and thought…absolutely nothing, I resorted to free association and wrote out a list:
zeitgeist: “spirit of a particular period”
- High School
- Sorority
- Retirement
- Prison
- The Handmaid’s Tale
- The Shawshank Redemption
- Footloose
- A closed community
One line came to mind three times while I brainstormed, so I scratched it into my journal before it slipped away: I had only been gone for three weeks.
I let that be the first line of my story.
Continue reading “Camaraderie, whether you want it or not.”
