First, What WordFrolic Is Not
- A bunch of the usual prompts to get you writing when you’re blocked
- A competition
- A tureen of boiling hot tofu stew
WordFrolic IS an opportunity to connect with the things and people that make it really fun to write: the simple love of words and their power when you put them in a particular order that no one else thought of before, the power to elicit laughter, tears, anger, quiet contemplation and the whole range of human emotions. It’s a chance to shed some light on the little gems that might otherwise get stuck in the back of a notebook somewhere. There are no editors, no workshops, no prizes, and no maximum or minimum word counts.
How It Works
- Each week, a word of the week will be posted.
- You, yes you, will write something about or including that word. It can be the start of a story, a sonnet, a terrible pun, a couple lines of dialogue, a haiku, a joke, a comic strip, whatever you like. It can be serious, funny, sad, abstract, or ridiculous.
- You, yes you, will paste your response into the comments (or link to an image).
- You, yes you, are welcomed and encouraged to comment on other posts. Just be nice, and remember that this isn’t a workshop*, this is just for fun!
The Rules
- You absolutely, positively do not need to be a professional writer, just some one who loves words. (But if you really want to stir up a group of writers sometime, go to a writers’ forum and ask what qualifies someone as a professional writer. And then have opinions about it.)
- Be nice in your comments. The golden rule applies.
- Try to keep it under 500 words.
- You can submit anonymously, but if you’ve got a blog, why not link to it?
- All comments are moderated. Please have patience!
What You Get
- A (loosely) structured opportunity to play with words and enjoy other writers.
- Fun! And maybe an idea for a larger work, but that isn’t really the goal. The goal is FUN!
Why WordFrolic?
Opportunities for visual artists to play seem to abound -the web, is, after all, a visual medium- but the same kinds of opportunities for writers are few and far between. There are lots of lists of writing prompts out there (and those can be extremely helpful in getting the gears turning), but there is very little dedicated to the simple joy of wordplay. I was inspired by sites like Illustration Friday for visual artists, and jealous of my artist friends who are able to participate in these communities. So, I decided to create my own. Hi!
*For the record, I do think workshops are fun, but a different kind of fun.
