Photo Story Prompt: Building the B-25 Bomber

Write whatever comes to you--short or long, fiction or truth.


We'd love to see what you come up with! Post your story in a comment below, or e-mail it to photostory@indigoediting.com.

Feel free to comment on each other's stories and just generally enjoy the process of playing with the written word and the world it creates.

Happy writing!

Photo: "Part of the cowling for one of the motors for a B-25 bomber is assembled in the engine department of North American [Aviation, Inc.]'s Inglewood, Calif., plant" by Palmer, Alfred T., photographer.
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Reproduction Number LC-USW36-453.

Editorial Tip of the Week: Those Ambiguous Compounds

Writers and editors alike dread one thing perhaps more than any other. Compound terms play the part of Scrooge in a writer's attempt for perfectly crafted sentences. No one wants the embarrassment of hyphenating two terms when it's unnecessary, or forgetting a hyphen when it's called for. To understand compound terms and how to approach them in writing, Chicago suggests going to the dictionary to see how terms are listed. It is also helpful to first know some definitions and the differences between compound terms.

Open compounds are spelled as two words (such as high school), hyphenated compounds are spelled with one or more hyphens (mass-produced), and closed or solid compounds are spelled as a single word (notebook). "With frequent use, open or hyphenated compounds tend to become closed (online to on-line or on line)."

Knowing when to hyphenate, if at all, can be tricky and tedious. Chicago has a rather lengthy guide to hyphenation; however, this guide illustrates general patterns, rather than hard-and-fast rules. So, with that freedom also comes lots of responsibility to choose the best type of compound term. In general, compound terms should be expressed logically and for enhanced readability, but many times hyphens are also used purely due to tradition.

No need to bog you down with a long list of rules for using and not using hyphens; the rules are not that clear. I'd rather hand you over to my trusty friends with all the answers, Webster and Chicago. But a golden rule in using hyphens is to question the readability and clarity of a compound term with or without a hyphen. If the meaning of a term is ambiguous without a hyphen (like the difference between recreation and re-creation), then don't hesitate to add the extra punctuation.

Spotlighted Literary Events

Dec. 5th, 2 pm: Introduction of Lawrence Halprin's Where the Revolution Began, with live music and a screening of the documentary The City Dance of Lawrence and Anna Halprin. Portland's Ziba Design, 1044 NW 9th Ave.

Dec. 5th, 5 pm: Writer's Block mixer on curing "blinking cursor paralysis" led by authors Carolyn J. Rose and Mike Nettleton. Hosted at Cover to Cover Books, 1817 Main Street, Vancouver, WA.

Dec. 6th, 12-4 pm: Celebrate Oregon authors with the 42nd Annual Holiday Cheer. Features Sarah Baker Munro, Brian Booth, George Byron Wright, and dozens more, at the Oregon History Museum.

Dec. 7th, 7 pm: Local author Tommy Gaffney releases his second collection of poems and stories, entitled Whiskey Days, with a reading and concert (accompanied by Splashdown) at the Alberta Street Public House (1036 NE Alberta).

Dec. 9th, 7 pm: Poetry reading by Scot Siegel, part of the 3rd season of the Milwaukie Poetry Series, at The Pond House, 2215 SE Harrison.

Photo Story Response: Central Park

Fit for a King (or Queen, Rather)
By Laura Daye

Last time I was in Central Park, it was March, and very cold. The sky was white and threatening the full five days. I neglected to bring a scarf, which I really regretted. I was in a disintegrating relationship; five+ years and I was bored and decided to throw it away. I was staying in a hostel on Amsterdam with my boyfriend and three other friends; two of the friends were part of a couple. Even though we were staying in a dormitory of bunkbeds, the two friends that were a “couple” shared a little top bunk made for one person. I didn’t even bother to climb into my then-boyfriend’s bunk. I had no interest. I wanted space. I was cold as the New York sky.

I have photos from that trip. I was in Central Park with my boyfriend and the one accompanying friend who wasn’t part of a couple. We wandered around, and took photos of each other sitting in a throne-like seat built into a castle-like building that housed specimens of the park’s history.

The single friend is no longer a friend; I saw her a couple of years ago, and what I thought was going to be a fun reunion ended up being an outing with five other snotty, bitchy people I had never met before who threw me dirty looks and refused to engage in conversation with me. Each one, part of a couple, possessively grabbing their downtrodden boyfriends at lame Dragonfish, sipping neon-hued cocktails or water (because they seemed to anal-retentive to actually let loose with a little alcohol), thinking they’re the height of maturity. Yeah, whatever. I have no patience for that bullshit.

The then-boyfriend I trod down in New York, in Central Park, in the hostel, in the financial district, on Madison Avenue, at the Indian restaurant, is now a best friend. He is a specimen of my past, but an integral part of my present. We don’t place each other on pedestals or thrones anymore: we know all of our bad sides (and good).

And the friends that were part of a couple in New York? Long since broken up, on to the umpteenth boyfriend or girlfriend, in one case possibly THE girlfriend to last through all forthcoming seasons. I hope, I hope! I’m not entirely a pessimist, you see.

The day after we all returned to Portland, a big snowstorm hit New York. Central Park, and the city at large were coated in white. The airport shut down. Everyone was stuck. But we made it home.


This story was written in response to this photo story prompt. Please check this website every Wednesday for new prompts. We'd love to see what you come up with! Post your story in a comment on the post for the prompt, or e-mail it to photostory@indigoediting.com.

Photo Story Prompt: G. Washington's Teeth

Write whatever comes to you--short or long, fiction or truth.


We'd love to see what you come up with! Post your story in a comment below, or e-mail it to photostory@indigoediting.com.

Feel free to comment on each other's stories and just generally enjoy the process of playing with the written word and the world it creates.

Happy writing!

Photo: "G. Washington's Teeth" of the George Grantham Bain Collection.
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Reproduction Number LC-B2-2241-4.