Drabble Classics - Paradise Lost by John Milton

Nearly a decade ago I wrote a lot more than I do currently and that included Drabbles. Drabbles are a short form of writing (typically fiction) of precisely 100 words not including the title. They are typically self-enclosed stories so they should be able to be read on their own. Still, I also created varied series (I really must finish The Imp series at some stage as he was an excellent character and so much fun to write. So much so that he's tattooed on my arm :-) The ending also wasn't too far away. If you want to discover who the Imp is then pay a visit here - http://thecultofme.blogspot.com/p/tales-of-imp.html), but even in a series, the individual drabble should tell a story of its own. 

Not only are drabbles a lot of fun and a quick way to blast out a story idea, but they are also an effective method for improving the brevity of your writing and improving your range of vocabulary. With this in mind, I created themed series that encouraged this development. One of those series was Drabble Classics and here I took a classic piece of literature and tried to fit it into a drabble. Naturally with my love of Paradise Lost, I decided to have a go with mixed success at the time. I think the rewrite is better, and the first drabble I've completed in years but you can judge the result for yourself.

Before we get to the drabble I also decided to create an illustration for it using Midjourney. I struggled a bit with this one for two main reasons. The first is that as this image would be a stand-alone I could try something in a different style. Here I lacked the method or vocabulary to accurately describe what I wanted. To a great extent, I ended up with many random iterations to edge closer to the vision.

More frustrating was Midjourney's ever-expanding list of banned words. I had noticed this previously, especially when creating horror-themed and darker-in-tone images. When it hampers trying to create Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden then I think it's gone too far! I do understand the reason for them, but it seems an inelegant way to tackle the issue of exploitative, pornographic or abusive imagery.  My top issue remains the difficulty in placing objects and subjects in the scene but the ridiculous selection of banned words has shot into my top[ three - so much so that I may have to cancel my subscription and look at an alternative solution.

Complaints aside I am still fairly happy with the end result although there's a certain irony here that I had to perform some manual edits as the generated source image was too sexually suggestive :-)

Adam and Eve depart from the Garden of Eden, no longer even able
to witness the splendour of the Earthly Paradise

Paradise Lost

Lucifer’s pride fomented rebellion and the Messiah’s might drove the rebels from Heaven. Remade as Satan, his pride undiminished, he plotted vengeance and declared to rule in Hell rather serve in Heaven.

From eternal night Satan entered the light of arboreal creation. With admiring hatred, Satan plotted against God’s favourites while clad in their innocence and Heavenly love they tended their splendid garden. 

With a serpent’s guile, Satan flattered Eve and she tasted the forbidden fruit. Despairing Adam consummated his wife’s original sin. Their disobedience expelled them from Eden their generations awaited the Messiah’s coming to return their paradise lost.

You can find drabbles based on other literary classics here:

http://thecultofme.blogspot.com/p/drabble-classics.html