Jump to content
The Pen is Mightier than the Sword

'The 500 Race'


Yui-chan

Recommended Posts

At the request of Ayshela and Peredhil, and because it can be a good exercise, here is the list of topics that were created for the '500-Race' of speed paintings over at Sijun. I think it'd be a wonderful exercise for writers who are interested to adopt this list for an exercise in freewriting. There are two goals in an exercise like this.

 

First, it should be quick and free, without an overabundance of planning and thought, so give yourself no more than 30 minutes per topic. Of course, you can shorten that amount of time if you plan on only writing a few paragraphs for each.

 

Second, and most importantly, try to focus on getting a unique literary image from the words. For example, think about what else 'mountain goat' might describe other than the furry, horned quadraped that your mind first thought up. Two people writing on the same topic should not be writing about the same thing.

 

Finally, and this is my own personal input into the writing adaptation of the exercise, I highly recommend that you make an effort to write in different styles as you go through. Rotate between first-person, second-person and third-person perspectives. Vary the tone from narrative to descriptive to persuasive. Use formal language once, colloquialisms the next time, and then slide into an archaic tone. Heck, I even suggest that you should feel free to pop between prose and poetry whenever you get the urge. This is a chance to stretch your horizons without the pressure of having to write something 'good'! Just write.

 

Best of luck, Pennites. :)

 

~Yui

 

Disclaimer: I didn't write this list, and some of the people who did ... well, you'd have to know them to understand their sick and twisted minds. <_ i think the worst in there are some drug references but beauty about those is that it really easy to turn a nickname for into something else. you can skip or change topics feel inappropriate distasteful.>

 

The 500-race

(that actually goes to 636) :blink:

1. mountain goat

2. solar eclipse

3. partly collapsed building

4. Rocks

5. trees

6. trees planted in rocks

7. tv

8. cars

9. trucks

10. people dancing

11. people running

12. people riding horses

13. horses riding in a trailer

14. trailers carrying logs of wood

15. logs on fire

16. fire burning behind a mountain

17. a mountain with snow

18. a mountain with a waterfall

19. a waterfall with burning logs falling off

20. a waterfall crashing on the rocks below

22. a sink with water overflowing

23. fish swiming

24. people swiming

25. elephants swiming

26. anphibians coming out of water

27. lizards eating eggs

28. eggs hatching

29. egg.

30. cubes. spheres..

31. prymids(icantspell)

32. king tut

33. a sunset

34. a sunrise

35. a clouded sun

36. a freeway

37. a street

38. a city

39. a city in the distance

40. a distant planet

41. a shipwrek

42. a oilspill

43. a beach

44. a beach with oilspill

45. kids playing at a beach

46. boats

47. big boats

48. small boats

49. a birds eye view of people

50. peoples view of a bird

51. a penguin

52. an artic city

53. a humid city

54. a dry city

55. a flooded city

56. a person crying

57. a person falling

58. a woman looking in a mirror

59. a fat guy looking in a mirror

60. a torn cloth

61. Jar of marbles

62. Flying

63. Scene from the zoo

64. homeless man

65. business man

66. baseball player

67. James Bond

68. flowers

69. running for your life

70. a carpenter's drawer

71. crowd attending a speech

72. band on stage

73. waterfall

74. old ruins

75. sunken ship underwater

76. bar brawl

77. haunted wood

78. old factory

79. a cello player practicing

80. man or woman in bathtub

81. manager of a big company

82. a lighthouse

83. car race

84. scene under a bridge

85. ninja training dojo

86. young girl reading a book

87. farmer at work

88. captain in submarine

89. running man

90. musketeer swordplay scene

91. motorcycle driver

92. Old woman with cat

93. small woodhouse near a lake

94. charging knights on horse

95. policeman

96. Family looking at stars

98. burning house

99. forgotten temple in jungle

100. settlers w/ wagons

101. japanese garden

102. large dead spider on a highway

103. mountain of unwashed dishes

104. sword stuck in a tree trunk

105. empty corner

106. flock of small birds chasing a big bird

107. hanged barbie-doll

108. cat sleeping in a boat

109. ugly dog in a empty garage

110. exploded beer can

111. space ship beaming up a moose at night

112. Rubik's cube with some parts fallen off

113. overflowing fountain on a stone floor

114. dried fish head

115. sad gardener in a cape

116. terrified geek reading a newspaper

117. radio host making funny noises

118. bartender reaching for a shotgun

119. soldier with an umbrella

120. santa claus jumping of a cliff

121. priest digging a foxhole

122. Ballet Midgets.

123. Ballet midgets with mullets.

124. Mullets.

125. Bestiality.

126. Whiskey.

127. Radiation.

128. Naked chicks

129. Failure.

130. Hairy Greek guys.

131. Hairy Gay Guys.

132. Hairy Gay Greek Guys.

133. Hairy Gay Greek Women. (oi.)

134. Chicks with d#$%@.

135. The Houston 620.

136. Sex Court with Judge Julie.

137. Judge Judy.

138. Bull from Night Court.

139. The episode of Night Court that had Wile E. Coyote and The Roadrunner.

140. The episode of Who's The Boss where Tony sees Angela in the shower.

141. The crazy opening sequence of The Cosby Show.

142. Mr. T.

143. Pee Wee Herman's dual appeal.

144. The fact that the Golden Girls were in no way Golden. And hardly Girls, at that.

145. My pants.

146. Rasta dudes.

147. Ganja.

148. a pot

149. what a dope!

150. big, ugly weeds

151. Bud.

152. Doobies.

153. Reefer.

154. Goofball.

155. Smack.

156. Other fun drugs euphamisms.

157. The pure goodness of Maxim.

158. Stippers.

159. Exploitation.

160. Satanic bands that aren't really Satanic.

161. Death metal.

162. Synth-pop.

163. Christian music laced with Satanic messages.

164. The Who.

165. Dylan Thomas.

166. Poetry.

167. NAMBLA

168. Hot Bosnian chicks who are, unfortunately, heroin addicts.

169. 69ing.

170. Lesbians with mullets.

171. Two dragons in combat

172. Steamy alien jungle

173. Chinese woman combing her hair

174. A godess

175. Close up of two mouths kissing

176. Buddhist monk in orange robe

177. A scene from your dream last night

188. The Eiffel tower at night

179. A strange miniature creature crawling out of a filled wineglass.

180. Night forest with trees limbs like reaching arms.

181. A shrunken head in a container of Chinese food takeout.

182. Log cabin in the snow (outside view)

183. Log cabin in the snow (inside view)

184. George W. Bush purchasing a 3 Billion dollar military airplane.

185. A Robotic Dog.

186. A levitating buisnessman.

187. A coin, with an engraving of yourself on it

188. A person being used as a table.

189. your favorite color at the moment

190. kraken - the ship-eating giant squid

191. unicorn

192. vast corn field

193. rhinoceros & hippopotamus standing in mud

194. violin player on stage

195. green anaconda

196. potatoes growing out of the fridge (it ain't pretty, i'm telling you)

197. helicopter swarm

198. dark side of the moon

199. ice hockey goalie

200. tool shed

201. village built on treetops

202. hot dog with loads of mustard

203. north pole

204. shaman wearing wolf skin & magical items

205. bee nest

206. axe-wielding ghost

207. bottle half-buried in sand

208. car mechanic

209. fuel station

210. birthday cake

211. your nation's flag

212. castle ruins

213. meteorite crater

214. rope bridge

215. church

216. green house

217. police officer

218. girl juggling oranges

219. bank vault

220. frozen zeppelin

221. cat chasing mouse

222. wooden airplane

223. living sketchbook

224. old lady smoking

225. fisherman reeling a shoe

226. apple tree growing skulls instead

227. monorail

228. cemetery

229. clown

230. A computer showing The Blue Screen of Death

231. Darth Maul

232. A Coke bottle

233. A hot-dog

234. An ancient book

235. A snowman

236. A melted snowman

237. Mars

238. A rusty old carwreck

239. A sunken galleon

240. A submarine (under water, of course!)

241. Earth in 500 years

242. A Cro Magnon-man

243. Godzilla eating Barney

244. An umber hulk (Dungeons and dragons)

245. A dragon!!

246. The marine from Starcraft

247. Helena Christensen

248. A man taking a bicycle-ride

249. A man taking a bicycle

250. The number "250"

251. destroyed outpost on Pluto (sci-fi)

252. electric chair

253. underwater scene of a Statue of Liberty

254. badly struck (twisted) nails in a two-by-four

255. police car crushed under a massive letter 'W'

256. mushroom cloud

257. burning 'z'-shaped tetris block

258. Jesus wearing a Nike's t-shirt

259. An owl.

260. A close-up of a redwood deck.

261. Godzilla.

262. A gecko.

263. A rose stone.

264. Cow-themed coffee cup filled with color pencils.

265. an octopus.

266. Master of the Universe...

267. Winnie the Pooh.

268. a pair of Elvis' sunglasses

269. Wine Glass

270. The moon close up

271. a skeleton

272. various anatomy hands feet eyes body =)

273. cruise ship

274. a bed

275. couche or sofa

276. rug

278. curtains

279. volcano

280. 7 wonders of the world..

281. clouds

282. paint a song

283. A plate of Sushi

284. Waking up in the summer morning

286. A beautiful corpse

286. Playing piano in the dark

287. Sunken city of R'lyeh

288. Nightclub scene

289. Astral traveling (Out of Body Experience)

300. Permian landscape

301. A 3-legged rhino

302. Siamese twins joined at the head

303. the back of a old woman's wrinkly neck

304. medievil torture devices(ie: iron maidens,etc...)

305. A man with his hands nailed to his knees, tied to a chair about to fall out of a moving van on a rainy night

306. old DiVinci style contraptions

307. paint a group of boring objects.

308. paint something you see everyday

309. paint a party scene

310. paint something delicious

311. cut-up pieces of fruit

312. plate with food on it

313. package of candy

314. set a table with afternoon light hitting it

315. closeup of a flower

316. imaginary flowers

317. dried flowers

318. a bunch of objects that are the same color

319. complementary colors

320. a variety of round objects.

321. dynamic triangle composition

322. a still life with three or fewer objects

323. combine mechanical and organic elements

324. animal, vegetable and mineral

325. objects that represent a season of the year.

326. three objects from your childhood

327. objects that make you laugh

328. the shadows cast by a machine

329. a weird musical instrument

330. a family member

331. a crowd of people

332. a figure by candlelight

333. an animal in human costume

334. a season of the year

335. a landscape view with no specific details

336. early morning fog

337. the pattern of a city skyline or series of rooftops

338. an architectural detail

339. a sidewalk scene with loose strokes to create movement

340. a sign on a building

341. colors you never use.

342. a figure from below.

343. the dead

344. draw yousrelf being 66 years old

345. your dreamhouse

346. a happy graveyard

347. Bert and Earnie

348. View out side your window

349. SOme kind scifi fat man

350. YOur fear

351. Ballet

352. Foreign country scene

353. Lava Lamps

354. Twilight zone

355. YOur dream Hamburger

356. Medical Illustration

357. Fat Kun Fu ninja

358. Michael Jackson

359. A MOUTH full of braces

360. A starship exploding

361. Closeup of the helmet of a lost spacetraveler.

362. A sieged planet

363. A solar eclipse

364. A monk in meditation

365. A broken sword on cloth

366. A tired but happy man

367. An alien

368. A two headed alien

369. Scientist working on a chemical experiment

370. An army on a hill

371. A droid army

372. A gun and a flower

373. A person eating

374. A ship sailing through a storm

375. The same ship after the storm

376. Entrance to Valhala

377. Roman market

378. Greek comedy

379. Sight from the tower of a castle

380. A captain of a starship

381. A spaceport

382. A shuttle

383. A satellite

384. A photographer

385. A fashion designer

386. A post apocalyptic church

387. A passenger's view of the spaceship he's travelling in.

388. Asterix village

389. A white dragon

390. A fighter launching a missile

391. A person playing with his/her dog

392. A person playing with his/her cat

393. Some nuns with rocketlauncher

394. When the moon gets between the sun and the earth.

395. a secret agent

396. mars colony

397. caravan in sandstorm

398. typical street in chicago 1930

399. rainy night in tokyo

400. prehistoric landscape w/ dinosaurs

401. a roman centurio

402. a high tech car

403. time machine w/ pilot

404. a family of mutants

405. wood of giant meat eating plants

406. landscape 'after the bomb'

407. astronauts in space shuttle

408. gorillas in jungle

409. haunted castle

410. orpheus walking down to hades

411. people waiting in a room

412. opera house w/ people

413. a shark

414. nest of spiders

415. old books, candle and skull

416. lord of the underworld

417. jellyfish

418. a scene from the olympic summer games

419. strange plant on an alien planet

420. factory robot assembling artficial humans

421. cloning device

422. desert landscape w/ tents

423. old dirty jeep

424. rocket taking off

425. really evil face

426. WW2 dogfight over britain

427. a fancy hotel room

428. king and queen on throne

429. gothic cathedral

430. chair made out of bones

431. inside of a parking house

432. classic horror movie scene

433. 60's pub w/ people

434. couple kissing

435. zeppelin over mountains

436. chemical laboratory w/ scientists

437. a big library

438. marvel hero fighting super villain

439. a scarred face

450. old train

451. scene from american civil war

452. submarine fighting w/ giant squid

453. titanic hitting ice berg

454. scene under the bed

455. a plate of food

456. giant commerce building

457. 'when worlds collide'

458. oldtimer w/ driver

459. a modern jetplane taking off

460. inside a airport

461. high heel shoe

462. politican at election

463. boxer training

464. big dogs casing a child

465. swarm of fishes

466. old guitar

467. keys on a table

468. stylish lamp

469. freak

470. something cute and wooly

471. something evil and horny

472. prisoner fleeing from jail

473. city under artillery fire

474. bodybuilder

475. scene from a fashion show

476. old sick man in hospital bed

477. 3 heroes

478. train bridge over a river

479. landscape in asia

480. woman making her make up infront of a mirror

481. irish pub

482. pile of torn dolls

483. scene in the severs

484. mountain w/ snow

485. lizard on stone

486. space station near sun

487. rock climber

488. someone totally unimportant

489. inside of the heart

490. old man cutting grass

491. really dirty kitchen

492. futuristic tank w/ soldiers

493. ship being repaired

494. glass of water

495. chinese wall

496. realistic alien spaceship

497. mafia meeting

498. self portrait

499. pirate ship

500. llama

501. gasmasked fellow

502. some cosmonauts

503. Mech

504. Cthulu

505. Azathoth

506. Yog-sothoth

507.A bullfight (una corrida de toros)...

508.A mayan piramid.

509: A lagoon

510: 510 mph

511: "AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

512: reflections in the mist

513: an overgrown (with vegetation)civilization

514: drifting

515: the race before dark

516. Lesbians with MULLETS!

517 : oops !

518 : barbarian organ player and his monkey (maybe its not the good word ...)

519 : a mime (mime marceau)

520 : laurel and hardy

521 : x-files

522 : the sixties

523 : genesis

524 : heaven

525: a deaf dog.

526: a rock on steroids.

527: a sea urchin in a schoolbus escaping police forces in the Nevada desert.

528.a guy jumpnig off a building on a busy street

529.hannibal

530.a primary school athletics carnival race

531.skateboarder in mid air trick

532.godzilla and that.. ape thing

533."A Typo Personified"

534."Burning Igloo"

535."A Sheep with Magical Powers(who seeks cheese at the dead of night)"

536: City of Atlantis

537: Satyr

538: Broken Statue

539: Modern day techology in the future (monitor in a junk yard or your cell phone broken and rusty, etc..)

540: Cerberus

541: Woman painting her toenails red

542: The perfect gem

543: Monkey scratching it's head

544: A. Buttle in bed with a mullet-headed lesbian (note: this is the best suggestion ever - LSE)

545: Jezebel - the real Jezebel, not me

546: Cat tails at the edge of a still pond

547: Tornado

548: Blind date from hell

549: Remake of one of your first (and worst) digital paintings

550: A hobbit

551: Child dragging their parent through an amusement park

552: Pack of wolves

553: The hand of a demon holding onto something

554: Necromancer

555: Disfunctional robot

556: Pegasus done without the traditional bird-like (feathered) wings.

557: Medusa

558: Giraffe at a watering hole

559: Circus freak

590: Your favorite character - book, movie, game, whatever

591: Pin-up girl

592: Alien temple

593: A pickle

594: War

595: Pandora's box

596: A bundle of silk crumpled up on the floor

597: Your astrological sign

598: A sacred place

599: Adventurers around a campfire

600: Rapunzel

601: A road that leads to nowhere

602: Take 3 or more of the themes listed and combine them into one image (list which ones you picked)

603: A woman with two much make-up on

604: A road-side fruit stand

605: If "you are what you eat" then what would you look like?

606: Coffee

607: Hypnotist

608: A spell being cast

609: A polar bear drawing back a bow

610: A jester

611: Shape-shifter

612: Candle light

613: Masquerade ball

614: A nerd

615: Bruce Lee

616: A magical amulet

617: A quill, a bottle of ink and a scroll on a desk

618: A conductor

619: In the woods with a flashlight

620: Pixie

621: A crazy person

622: Harpy

623: Chimera

624: Lightning

625: An unlikely superhero

625: Field of wild flowers

626: Dusty typewriter

627: A chef

628: A kiss

629: Sleeping Beauty

630: An alien being intravenously fed a glowling green ooze

631: Palm trees

632: Greek ruins

633: A faerie in someone's hand

634: Excalibur

635: Aphrodite/Venus

636: A pair of shoes/boots/sandals/whatever

Link to comment
Share on other sites

YAY!!!

thank you very much, Yui!

i agree, there's some strange stuff in there (lol). There's also enough extras that anything which simply doesn't work for you can be easily sidestepped in favor of another option which does, and still come up with a respectable number of free-writes.

(sad but true, i'd have a much easier time writing about the drug references than i would about the TV shows i never watch.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...