Day 3 - You're in a courtyard

I gave myself 10 minutes today. I set the timer, my ball
point pen ready, notebook ready, I had eaten and now I was ready to go.
Anticipation brewed for the moment to open the book and see my topic of the
day. I had just come from a brisk walk on the icy sidewalks around our
neighborhood. The morning felt right – ready for action.

Now the moment arrived, my topic is “You’re in a courtyard”

Yeah! Now what? My fingers flowed and the blue ink filled
the page. The ink glided over and over into one line that appeared to look like
ripples in a creek. Once the timed sounded and my fingers relaxed, a story had
been created about a girl standing in a frozen courtyard, dripping with
icicles, wondering if she should dig up a gun. Her thoughts were halted by
steps outside the courtyard coming in. She knew someone was there for her. And
that is ten minutes.

Now, I question my character. Who is she? Why did she bury a
gun and why does she know someone is there for her?

This practice took on a feel of a story and lead to a
character creation.

It is amazing to me how a few words can create a story, an
image so clear that there is a backstory and a future of a character in only
ten minutes.