Happy Friday everyone; did you miss me on Wednesday?  The days have been both jammed pack and dragging on here in the Stay At Home Writing Castle.

I’m fortunate enough to still be working during the pandemic–my job being both essential and transferable from office to home–but things are definitely different (and not just the lack of real live co-workers to within my line of sight).  I don’t know about anyone else, but when I’m working from home, the work day just seems to go on and on and on.  I find myself working 12-hour days, not because I’m being required to, but because there are no cues to remind me that it’s time to transition from work to home.

I’m working on that.  I take a walk around my local park every evening at seven, which should be a cue to wrap things up, but I always manage to thing of something during that time that I just need to quickly check on.

I’m sure you can guess what happens next.  Hours later I look up and realize that it’s almost tomorrow.  I have a feeling that just about the time I figure out how to balance work and non-work, it will be time to return to the office.  There have already been rumblings about what post-pandemic life will look like in the office, and on the (extremely) rare occasions I need to stop by my physical office, there are temperature checks, masks, and one-person-per-elevator social distancing rules in place.

Still, things could be worse, especially now that I got my delivery of toilet paper from the local office supply store (go figure!).  In hindsight, I picked the wrong year to stop stocking my pantry with months worth of supplies.

Now that my paper-goods cabinet is stocked for the duration, I think it’s time to turn my efforts toward more creative pursuits.  I’ve been having fun playing along with our Friday sprints (though often not until Wednesdays), so after my post-work walk around the block later this evening I’m going to see what I can to with today’s writing prompt and random words.

Care to join me?

For those of you working away on a story (whether a first draft or a polished version on its way to publication), if you’re not feeling random, we’d love to hear a bit – whether it’s a scene, a paragraph, or even a phrase that you are especially pleased with and would like to share.

If you don’t have a story in progress, or just want to work on something new, I hope either today’s random words or writing prompt will catch your creative fancy.

Ready?

What if: “Your character found something they’d been searching for?

Feel free to interpret the “What if” any way you choose (or ignore it completely) and include any (or all) of the following random words:

horse         charming      needle             dissolve

amber       eerie              commercial     ego

night         sawdust        bulletin            land

clock         delicious       harlot              ambidextrous

I look forward to seeing your stories in the comments.  If you’re not feeling in the writing mood today, or don’t have time, feel free to post suggestions you might have for future “what-if” prompts.  Ideas are always welcome.

Happy writing to all!