Welcome to Paris Underground

Update, August 2016:

Yes, this is still alive. Yes, you can still be a part of it.

Welcome to Paris Underground, a place for creative writers to celebrate each other's work. This isn't for tourists. This isn't for your cameras and your maps. This isn't for your travel journal. This is for your journal. This is for the commuters who ride the tracks daily. This is for those who didn't take the time to glance at the Eiffel Tower today because they were too busy reading the paper.

Here's to the forgotten ones.

A backstory:

Paris Underground is a creative writing blog designed for previous Lone Peak High School Creative Writing students, and anyone else. It's not curated by Mr. Nelson or affiliated with LPHS. 

Recently, the amount of creative writing bloggers who are, for whatever the reason, not in the official class, has sky rocketed. This has left an odd gap between student and blogger. Previously, there were little enough blogger's who fell into this gap that there was an "Other Writers" section on the official blog. Then, #Summer Blogs went live in May 2014, for all students who wanted to keep writing out of class, and was surprisingly flooded with graduated students. It was originally supposed to go offline at the start of the 14'-15' school year, but due to the overwhelming amount of writers, it had to stay live to accommodate them, turned into a life boat.

Paris Underground is the solution.

How it works:

• You create a blog and write stuff. It appears on the left and updates chronologically.
• Nobody picks favorites. There's no "Top Writers" or "Popular Posts". It's up to you to explore this world.
• Publicly sharing your name and identity is not required. It’s totally up to you. Both have pros and cons. You can use your previous pen name or blog if you have one.
• Paris Underground is designed to keep you writing. Only the 25 most recent blogs are featured on the writer's list. A full list of writers can be found here.
• Paris Underground is not curated by Mr. Nelson, or affiliated with Lone Peak High School. This is the product of Solstice Everston's imagination.
• Don't drown in these logistics. Relax and write your heart out, whatever it may contain. The rest doesn't really matter.

That being said, click below to sign up. (There's no deadline.)

Count me in, Solstice.

Prompt - Ones and Zeros

This week's prompt is based off of this clip.



Are you a one or a zero? Do something different with this. Be better.

Prompt - Real vs Fake

Alright, alright. It's been a few weeks since the last prompt. Sorry. But Underground isn't going anywhere, and here's a new prompt.

This week's prompt is a debate of what's real and what's fake. About authenticity and why we all want it.

The idea is contrast. Have fun, dinner is at ripoff McDonald's.

Prompt - Space Walk

Write about space. About being alone. About the silence. About the chaos. About the curiosity.



Maybe go on a moonwalk, or spin out of control. Or just float.

Prompt - Recycled Words

This week, we're recycling words. The idea is to pull random phrases from the internet until you have a coherent sentence. Take screen shots. Copy and paste. Do what you want.

You already do this everyday without knowing. It's just tad more literal this time.

Prompt - Hearts and Homes

This week, we're going for a classic but beautiful metaphor:

Your heart is a home.

But what kind of home is it?
How are the shutters holding up? It was pretty stormy last month.

Stay safe kids, don't be a hotel.

Prompt - What Will Your Verse Be

Write about your verse. Not about the logistics but about the raw emotions.



Maybe I'm taking this too literally. Please, prove me wrong. We all need to be wrong every once in a while.

Prompt - Voice Over

For this week's prompt, you'll need to watch a freaking awesome short film.



Voice Over is a metaphor about feeling close to death during the most important moments of our lives. Write about a moment in your life, with out-of-this-world examples.

Have fun, don't drown, dinner is at 7.

Prompt - Paris Syndrome

This week's prompt is to write about your own version of Paris Syndrome. It's time to be honest: Paris isn't what we thought it was, and that's not a bad thing.

But what is it to you? What is it really?

Prompt - Application

Fill out an application. For a job, for a lifestyle, for a lover. Do what everyone does on resumes: lie a little; build yourself up.

Or even write someone's response to your application. I don't know. Have fun and steal feel stuff.

Blogger Shoutout - Auburn Crane (Hannah Smith)

Each week a randomly selected a Paris Underground writer gets a shoutout on the blog.  Let's bombard them with comments and make them feel like they're in Disney land or something.

This week's shoutout goes to Auburn Crane, and her blog, A Corner of the Universe.

Hannah's writing is very sincere, the design of her blog accurately articulating its name: it feels like a reading nook. A digital reading nook.

Check it out here.

Prompt - Time Capsule

This week's prompt is to write a time capsule. About who you are now and who you aren't and who you think you're going to be. Then, read it however many years from now.

If you think about it too much, you're almost time traveling. But not really.

Prompt - One More Thing

This week's prompt is to write one more thing. To say everything you should've been saying all along. This is your last chance. This is your moment.

The curtains are about to close. The sun is kissing the mountains. Be real and forget about tomorrow.

This prompt is so frickn' vauge I'm just gonna pretend people actually write about these.

Prompt - Oscars Acceptance Speech

It's June. I have no idea why we're doing this now.

This week's prompt is to write an Oscars acceptance speech. With one condition: when you're rich and famous and accepting an actual award at the actual Academy Awards, you actually have to read it.

Screw the walk out music, just keep going.

Prompt - Voicemail

Write about your voicemail. What it sounds like, what it says, where you were.

Just don't be too intimidating.

Prompt - Coffee Tables

Write about what's on your coffee table in your living room. I don't care if you don't have one, make it up.

What books are there? Anything else? #metephor

Blogger Shoutout - Blue

Each week a randomly selected a Paris Underground writer gets a shoutout on the blog. Let's bombard them with comments and make them feel like they're in Disney land or something.

This week's shoutout goes to Blue, and her blog, Sincerely.

Blue's writing is unapologetically unique. It's beautiful and creative. There's nothing else like it.

Check it out here.

Prompt - Hello There

We just wrote about goodbyes. Now lets try saying hello.

People say hello. Computers say hello. Now it's your turn. What do you have to say?

Blogger Shoutout - Peyton Sawyer

Each week a randomly selected a Paris Underground writer gets a shoutout on the blog. Let's bombard them with comments and make them feel like they found a penny on the street or something.

This week's shoutout goes to Peyton Sawyer.

Peyton's posts are wonderfully metaphorical, containing deeper meanings that we can all understand.

Check it out here.

Prompt - Goodbyes

Write about goodbyes. About what we've left behind and what we should remember.

Maybe there's some goodbyes we should forget, too.