Can you believe summer is over already?  At least that’s what the calendar says.  The weather report begs to differ.  It definitely still feels like weather for shorts, bare feet, and a refreshing beverage.

Anyway, Happy Friday and Happy “National Punctuation Day” (if you’re reading this on September 24th).  Punctuation seems like a good thing for writers to celebrate.  You can completely change the meaning of a sentence by just playing with the punctuation.

National Punctuation Day commemorates all punctuation on September 24th. A period, a comma, a semicolon, a question mark and an exclamation point are examples of some of the punctuation used in writing. They separate sentences and their elements to clarify meaning.  Without them, meaning would be lost or up for interpretation.

I found a website that had a variety of suggestions for how to celebrate the day.  My favorite is:

“Determine which of your contracts for insurance, warranties, or service have a misplaced comma that might be to your benefit.”

If punctuation is not your area of interest, it’s also “National Cherries Jubilee Day”.  If you decide to give that a try, just be careful not to set the house on fire when setting the brandy aflame.

That would totally ruin dessert.

I’ll be spending the day at work and, if all goes well, seeing if I can get the paint sprayer that has been stored in the garage for decades to work.  I’m hoping for success, since house-painting with a roller is a very slow process.

Or maybe I’ll just read the new book that just popped up in my library queue.  Whatever I wind up doing, I’ll make sure to take a break and give today’s writing prompt and random words a try.

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?

Prompt:   Unexpected Consequences

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

jump              fright                ambulance        everyone

vixen              action               fistfight            drama

collide           guideline           drink                color

haywire         commando        lemon              believer

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 writing prompts.  Ideas are always welcome.

Happy writing to all!