I am taking a course in short story writing with Joyce Carol Oates on Masterclass. One afternoon, I poked around on her Substack and came across a post called What I like. What I like is her creativity in writing it, so I borrowed the idea and exercised my own creative muscles by penning (or tapping it out, as it were) something similar of my own.
I like . . .
Frothed milk in strong coffee. Caramel drizzle. “You can’t always get what you want.” Britbox / Masterpiece. Solitude. The Imitation of Christ. Smooth stones / Prayer beads. Pineapple on pizza / podcasts on road trips. Stephen King. Madeleine L’Engle. Pedicures and painted toes. Floats. The Velvet Room. “Early to bed and early to rise.” Hot tea / ice water. Yorkshire Terriers. Desiderata. Black licorice. Potato chips. Christ Pantocrator. Handel’s Messiah. Blue. My Kindle. Tulips / Hyacinths / Lilacs. Cream cheese. Goats. Libraries / Coffeeshops. Macro photography. Testator silens / Silencium. Wide open prairie. Warm wind. Combines. Survivor. M. Scott Peck / Stephen Covey. Eucharist. Liturgy. Mystery. It’s a Wonderful Life. Butter tarts / butter buns. “All may, some should, none must.” Sunrise. Nessum Dorma. The first tomato of the season. The Lord’s Prayer / Prayer of Saint Francis. Cotyledons. Chess. Lisa Jewel / Shari Lapena. Grace. Black and white photographs. Early mornings. The written word. Orzo. “The only way out is through.” Bare walls. A new bar of soap. Ludovico Einaudi / Choir of King’s College, Cambridge. The Shack. Henri Nouwen. Moleskine notebooks. Nulla dies sine linea. Plain pasta. Deep conversation. Contemplation / Meditation.
What do you like? Why not try this exercise yourself? It’s great fun.
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