Typescript posts a new challenge each Wednesday to encourage creativity and inspire conversation. Feel free to talk about the challenge or share your writing results in the comments section below by leaving an excerpt and/or a link to your own site or blog.

The spark of inspiration can be found anywhere you choose to look. From a title of a song to a sketch found on a napkin, from an overheard conversation to a jumble of words, these stories are waiting to be discovered and told.

Who knew that a jumble of words could provide such inspiration? That such a combination could spark creativity, begin a story? Two months ago, I discovered well over 300 spam comments infiltrating my blog folder, containing strings of words that attempted to sell the latest dietary supplement with links to unknown sites. However, after skimming through these, I discovered that, upon a closer reading, there was really a sense of poetry in the combination of words, hidden inspiration in what seemed to be an incoherent passage.

What emerged was the Wednesday Writing Challenge: Word Play, where writers had a bit of fun and let their imaginations wander, sparking creativity, igniting something magical…

After a second round of this particular challenge with Word Play II, we’re back for another try. What inspiration will you find this time?

One of the most fascinating aspects of writing is the ability to manipulate words and language to convey your intended meaning. Words have so many meanings within their own definitions, and coupling them with others can produce something not entirely expected but altogether magical. There are a thousand ways to describe an object, person, or place, and so, too, are there thousands of stories just waiting to be plucked out of the imagination and put to paper. Sometimes all we need to create that initial spark of inspiration is a word (or three)…

Challenge: Use one of the following couplings of words to create a new story or poem
(Note: many of these have had minor alterations to make a little bit more sense):

That represents breath

Distance from errors

Named the sometimes hostile

Fetch some light streamed

Mind every watch

Swore the roses

Faded photograph had preserved

Courtly adieu slowed

She held ash

The misfortune stream

Cornered animal turn sympathetic

Better they are strangers

Bring the wind

Their two further doubts

The whole business was unlikely

After dinner dining

Mentioned seeing and crowds

Sometimes worked live musician

Charms promises for history

Recognize the recognized

She has his expression

What interesting combinations of words can you add to the fold?