This must be what it’s like to leave this world and plummet toward another, to sleep, to die, to migrate to a land so foreign that even the seasons change places.
Metaphortography Promptsare free visual and verbal writing prompts for inspiration and reflection. This is a biweekly Monday section of Aimee Liu’s MFA Lore. Our Wednesday section is Writer In The World, a curated collection of essays on the writing life by acclaimed MFA faculty and alumni. MFA Coreessays on the craft and business of creative writing will drop each Saturday. Receive some or all of these newsletters by subscribing now:
CUSP
On the brink of the present, falling between now and then, the earth dissolves beneath my feet, the sky hauls my heart inside out. Autumn and spring turn cartwheels, neither old nor young but both. This must be what Alice felt tumbling through her looking glass into the known unknown. All the familiar shapes and colors, leaves and branches, water and clouds, becoming strangers to me now. This must be what it’s like to leave this world and plummet toward another, to sleep, to die, to migrate to a land so foreign that even the seasons change places. That I no longer know my place, my direction, myself.
c: a fixed point on a mathematical curve at which a point tracing the curve would exactly reverse its direction of motion
d: an ornamental pointed projection formed by or arising from the intersection of two arcs or foils:
e (1): a point on the grinding surface of a tooth
(2): a fold or flap of a cardiac valve
Here is your writing prompt:
As you contemplate the image above, identify a moment of major change for you or your character. Now take a step back to the hours or moments just before that change occurred — to the cusp of change. Settle into that feeling of imminence, of uncertainty, of inevitable newness, and write about that state of being:
What do you know about what’s coming?
What do you feel about what’s coming?
What will you do about what’s coming?
What are you about to lose?
What are you about to gain?
What associations come up for you —does this anticipation remind you of any other times in your life, any other changes, sensations, or metaphors?
How do your expectations, hopes, and fears in this moment compare with the actual change that awaits you?
What does this view of yourself “on the cusp” reveal about the person you’re about to become?
Save the Dates!
Friday, April 3 at 11 am PT
Well Published: Author+Agent Jenna Satterthwaite
I’m pleased to invite you to my next Well Published, Live! with Jenna Satterthwaite . We’ll be chatting about her life and work as both author and agent! Please RSVP and tune in live using this link:
All paid subscribers are welcome as we discuss the thorny issues bedeviling our collective writing life. Consider this online space your Loreate Salon.Please RSVP in the chat using this link:
Becoming a member of the Take 5 MFA Lore community will entitle you to the same level of writing mentorship that I gave advisees over my 15 years on Goddard’s MFA faculty. Benefits of a Premium Subscription to MFA Lore include:
My written feedback on both your query and up to 5 pages (1250 words) of creative work, plus an optional follow-up phone call. Your“Take 5 Packet Letter”will highlight both the Strengths and the Opportunities in your work, helping you determine whether it’s time to “press send” to agents or to reorient your revision.
My monthly zoom writing workshop, just for Premium Take 5 Loreates.
Full access to paid posts and MFA Lore archives, and all other benefits of a paid subscription.
