Something Useful for 2014 - Exercise No. 3

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Today, I returned to my creative writing studies through an Open University course offered via Future Learn. The course is Start Writing Fiction and already the interaction between instructors and class mates is inspiring me.

The first exercise has provided me with a wonderful writing prompt so I thought I'd share it with you. It has two parts:
  1. Write a paragraph that includes one fact and three fictions, then
  2. Reverse that - three facts and one fiction.

What I found most interesting about this was that it made me think. How do I use facts to create fiction? These are my two paragraphs.
  1. Morning, with its too soon light and traffic buzz, dragged her from her sleep. Her husband murmured something that only made sense to him, warm in the embrace of his dreams. She dressed, pulling on her clothes from the day before and crept onto the landing. The twins were silent. The dog, a piebald mutt, tilted his head at her. It was time for their run.
  2. The rain persisted, dampening not only her spirit but her jeans and boots. The piebald mutt that bounced at her side, travelled with his mouth open, tongue falling to one side. Just half an hour more and it would be time to rouse the children for school. What joys would they throw at her in their struggles to stay in bed this morning?

Can you guess the facts from the fiction? Try it for yourself - what facts and fictions can you meld together?

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