Greetings from Maine

I just received my first fan mail from a blog reader! To say I was confused was an understatement. Yet OVERJOYED at the same time.

I had to think—who do I know in Maine? I host quite a few travelers through couchsurfing—who did I recently meet who was traveling onto Maine (in the winter!)? No one. Then I turned the card over and read the words “I love your blog.”

I think Lynne might be referring to some posts I put up a few weeks back that encouraged readers to sit down and write a postcard. Often the bigger picture can be overwhelming. Sometimes we need to trick ourselves into writing. All we have to do is fill this one tiny space. 

Lately I’ve been talking about Fifty-Word Stories (bite size fiction everyday). The back of a postcard is perfect for limiting yourself to 50 words. The front of the card can actually serve as inspiration. If the idea of story is overwhelming—(how can one have a beginning, middle and end when working with only 50 words???)—try thinking of the 50 words as a prose haiku. 

Here was a 50-word prose poem rejected by Fifty-Word Stories—I have several more to try out with them, but until then:

Nighttime By the Tennis Courts

Like zombies, at dusk the raccoons climb out of the boulders by the lake and lurk around the tennis courts. Perched atop the roof of the field house, they watch the players in the dark with their neon eyes. Later, the coons will eat buns out of the garbage cans. 50