January 22, 2025

Writing practice: do an opening soliloquy from the perspective of the cat, in the style of Richard III

CAT

At birth I was the last, the runt, the frail,

Too quick removed

I hide amid the brush and feed on scraps

Discarded by the kennel, once my home

[no. let’s break this down. the first image is his being a breeched birth, as though he didn’t want to leave his mother’s nurture. just start with that, then keep redoing that one image using better metaphor]

My littermates all dove head first in life,

While I turned tail as to predict my lot.

[whatever, it’s a start even though it’s pretty bad. but now i have something to start with. keep working only on this one image, cutting, shaping, honing like a sculpture]

And I, most deep enwombed, the last to leave

[keep trying]