A Starter for You from the January, 1921 National Geographic

          One of my favorite writing exercises is to take a piece of writing I like, clip a piece of it, and try to continue writing in that author’s style. I also love making something nonfiction into fiction. The selection I’ll ask you to try this with today comes from “The Dream Ship,” a January, 1921 National Geographic article by Ralph Stock, where he describes how he, his sister and several buddies, with limited navigational knowledge, set out to explore the Galapagos islands in a fixer-upper ship:

FACING AN UNKNOWN DANGER

“Come and take a look at this,” whispered Steve, so as not to wake Peter in the opposite bunk.

“This” proved to be a solid wal of mist, towering over the ship like a precipice. The trade wind had fallen to a stark calm, and the Dream Ship lay wallowing on an oily swell. A young moon rode clear overhead, and myriads of stars glared down at us; yet still this ominous gray wall lay fair in our path.

“It ought not to be land,” said Steve, “but I don’t like the look of it.”

Neither did I.

We stood side by side, straining our eyes into the murk. A soft barking, for al the world like that of a very old dog, sounded somewhere to port. Splashes, as of giant bodies striking the water, accompanied by flashes of phosphorescent light, came at intervals from all sides and presently the faint lap of water reached our ears.

“Great Mother of Mike!” breathed Steve, “we’re alongside something.”

At that moment, and as though impelled by some silent mechanism, the pall of mist lifted, revealing. . .

Try this:

          I encourage you to do two things today. The first, complete the scene above any way you wish. Notice, I’ve chosen the passage carefully. If you wanted to write a paranormal tale, a ghost story, an adventure, or the beginning of a horror novel, all are possible, and plenty more. The second is to take a careful look at the publications YOU read and pull a passage that would create a lovely cliffhanger like this. Then give it a go, and let me know!

Coming tomorrow: another starter to keep you exploring the wonder of words!