Date:         Fri, 5 Apr 1996 11:05:13 EST
From: "tink...tink...tink" <mbarker@MIT.EDU>
Subject:      EXERCISE: Right in the Palm of My Hand
Comments: To: "leaky faucet? no, just brain drain..." <writers@mitvma.mit.edu>

Step 1.  Pick one of the following 12 emotions.  You may use two dice
if you like.

   1.  sadness  2. distress  3.  relief  4.  joy
   5.  hate  6. love 7.  fear  8. anticipation
   9.  anger  10.  guilt  11.  gratitude  12. pride

(yes, variations, thesaurus strolling, and similar attempts to
delineate or arrive at finer precision in your toils are all
acceptable--just get your emotion selected, okay?)

Step 2.  Here is the basic beginning.  Please elaborate at your pleasure.

The elf/troll/angel/devil/being of light/monstrous mutation
strolls/hops/flies/pops in with a puff of sulphur/transports down in
sparkles/drips into being before you.  They reach out a something
and...  spin/drop/one finger touches lightly/a horny nail nudges/out
of nowhere creates/slimily vomits it out before you.

Step 3.  The pile/nugget/piece/lump/other word at your description
that has been delivered to you IS your emotion, turned into reality.

        1.  What does it look like?  Show us...
        2.  What does it sound like?  Make us hear it!
        3.  What does it smell/taste/feel like?  Make us cringe...

Step 4, 5, and so forth--what does having this concrete emotion do to
(or for?) you?  Why did you want it so much?  What did getting it cost
(uh-oh, what did the little dwarf want for the service?  did you
really want to pay that, and was it worth it)?

For the one-sentence starter crew:

        "I got it for you," my visitor said, and dropped it in my
palm.

[in case you're not sure, you can use this sentence as a beginning
point.  Go on from there until you come to an end.  Revise, polish,
and decide what you want to do with what you have just wrot.]

let's write again, like we did before...
tink