For some of us, blogging is personal. Others are trying to educate or entertain; many more are hybrids. Yet we’re…
For some of us, blogging is personal. Others are trying to educate or entertain; many more are hybrids. Yet we’re all storytellers. Creative Writing Challenges help you to push your writing boundaries, show off your blogging chops, and, hopefully, spark more post ideas.
To participate, tag your post with DPchallenge or leave a link to it in the comments. (It would also be great if you could link to this post to encourage people to take part – the more the merrier!) Please be sure your post has been specifically written in response to this challenge. We’ll keep an eye on the tag and highlight some of our favorite posts on Freshly Pressed on Friday.
Every city, every culture, and every religion has iconic symbols that embody its essence. For New York, it may be the Empire State Building, Katz’s Deli, or those ubiquitous I ♥ New York t-shirts. For rock and roll fans, it may be leather jackets, vinyl records, or some oversized headphones to capture every bit of musical glory. Either way, certain items take on the persona and symbolism of particular cultures and places in our lives.
On a recent trip, I snapped this photo of the Obelisco de Buenos Aires. While it looks quite a bit like the Washington Monument in Washington, DC, an icon in and of itself, the Obelisco is a symbol of Buenos Aires, along with tango and the Casa Rosada. Coupled with the surrounding architecture, this photo will automatically scream Argentina to me any time I look at it.
For this week’s challenge, we want you to snap a photo of something that is iconic to you. It can be a local pizza joint in your town that is unlike any other and conjures up memories of home whenever you’re away. It can be a photograph of a religious statue that’s been handed down from generations in your family that symbolizes your beliefs. Or it can even be a picture of your favorite pair of shoes that you wear nearly every day and has come to personify your personal style.
Then, pull some inspiration from our previous “1,000 Words” challenges and write a story using your picture. Of course, you can give us the real story behind your icon, but if you’re itching for a more creative challenge, try these ideas on for size:
- Make up a legend about the origin of your icon of choice
- If your photo is of a place or monument, tell a story with your symbol as the setting
- Revisit your icon as an archeologist 500 years in the future, and try to discern its significance
- Personify your symbol and tell its story from its own perspective
We’re wrapping up our Phoneography Month, so put your newfound tips to the test and take your own picture to accompany your post. However, if you’re not able to capture your own photo this week, don’t forget to check out Krista’s fantastic tips for finding and attributing Creative Commons photos.
Love this challenge! I’m sure many of our contributors will want to participate! Thanks!
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I already know what i’m going to write about. Love this topic!
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OMG Erica this is too funny! Just over the weekend we have launched a blog on WordPress to help to raise attention and finds for a semester of high school aboard a tall ship. Bethany’s inspiration and where she got the travel bug was from a driving tour of Alberta (our home) and all the unusual big things… ummm ICONS.
Just last night she put up a series of entries of all of them. Mostly I just wanted to point out the coincidence but if it drives the interest and sends more people perhaps it will help us with our crowdfunding efforts… too funny!
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Reblogged this on poet120911.
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Here is an icon representing childhood (and bipolar disorder)!
http://brokenlightcollective.wordpress.com/2013/04/01/the-bipolar-ride/
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Reblogged this on Love. Life..
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All about my love affair with my Dr Martens boots, iconic and alternative! http://willeke73.wordpress.com/2013/04/01/wordpress-weekly-writing-challenge-iconic/
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Here’s my entry
http://wp.me/p2ddEF-zV
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http://kkline922.wordpress.com/2013/04/01/weekly-writing-challenge-iconic/
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I took a photo of a illustrated picture of an iconic George Fox (founder of Quakers) quote and wrote a poem about it. Here it is: http://practicalmysticmusings.wordpress.com/2013/03/31/be-still-and-cool/
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I took a photo of the Idaho State Capitol Dome and wrote about what it has meant to me throughout my life http://onlythebestofintentions@wordpress.com/2013/04/01
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Seems fun! (:
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Here’s my entry http://hajelpitan.com/2013/04/01/the-lekki-ikoyi-bridge/ . It’s about the new icon in Lagos, Nigeria. I wish it were a brighter and happier story… Read and leave me feedback, thanks.
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Hi Prisca, I am interested why you comment to Erica was ‘negative things’ I am not having a go just interested.
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Strange how life comes full circle
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Here’s my entry for the week – http://mihirkamat.wordpress.com/2013/04/02/the-scent-of-freedom/
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It’s realy nice to have such a wanderful challenge.
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Super excited for this challenge! I’ll have my entry up soon!
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My kind of iconic … in a sad way 🙂
http://roobo69.wordpress.com/2013/04/02/iconic-ironic-now-that-you-mention-it/
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I took a picture of my dad on a beach of an island where I spent many vacations throughout my life. It is iconic to me but probably boring to most people so I created a legend about the photo instead: http://jcckeith.blogspot.com/2013/04/dp-challenge-legend-of-shale.html
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Home for Christmas – http://lumar1298yahoo.com/2013/04/02/weekly-writing-challenge-iconic/
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Icons it is:
http://irvent.wordpress.com/2013/04/01/weekly-writing-challenge-iconic/
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Here’s my link
http://hometogo232.wordpress.com/2013/04/02/dp-weekly-writing-challenge-iconic/
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The tall white building is the Martial Law Authority amulet. It symbolizes keeping Martial Law Authority contained.
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I hope you like it:
http://teepee12.com/2013/04/01/woodstove/
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http://artisthippiecalichic.wordpress.com/2013/04/01/iconic/
Los Angeles… it’s iconic, but to me it’s just ‘home’.
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A day in the life of an icon…
http://tuckedintoacorner.wordpress.com/2013/04/02/wordpress-weekly-writing-challenge-iconic/
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Iconic places for me are those that hold memories.
http://thinkbigmuch.wordpress.com/2013/04/01/on-iconic-locations/
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Same here as memories are the most precious thing which we cherish the most.
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The perfect challenge for my post 🙂
http://mindblur.wordpress.com/2013/03/24/maldives-as-a-brand-as-an-iconic-symbol/
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Reblogged this on Sophie and commented:
I face this quite often.
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Fantastic write up, my dear. What’s iconic to you may not be iconic to me but I will try to snap what’s Iconic to me and post it for others to see.
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