What is a riff?

What is a riff, you might ask? Well according to the Oxford Dictionary it is:

– A short repeated phrase in popular music and jazz, typically used as an introduction or refrain in a song.

OR

– A monologue or spoken improvisation, especially a humorous one, on a particular subject.

In this case, it is more akin to the second definition rather than the first (my musical skills are not exactly what I would call skills). More clearly for this instance, a riff is a 15 minute freestyle writing exercise based around an image as inspiration. The writing is unedited outside that 15 minute window (and is usually not edited at all, save for typo corrections … since, you know, they get that red squiggly indicator as a reminder to me that my spelling skills are also not exactly what would be called skills).

Anyway, 15 minutes of freestyle writing based around an image. That’s the short and sweet. That’s not to say that the image is a direct giveaway to what the riff is about, just that it was the inspiration to the random synaptic firing sequence that followed and spilled out onto the screen. Some may be short (and could have been under 15 minutes of writing) while others may be longer (though still limited to 15 minutes).

You’ll also notice that I am not titling the riffs. Well, I guess technically I am, but it is really just the word “riff” followed by a six digit string of the date of creation. If you have have an idea for a title, post it in the comments. I’m curious to see what folks come up with.

Take a look, comment if you want, or not if you don’t. Though if you do write I will read … seems only fair since you will have read what I wrote (I hope). Enjoy. 🙂