Category: Prompts

Write about a view from a window.

Perhaps the view from your kitchen window.

Or your living room window.

Or the view from a public place.

Just Write!

Let’s play with clichés.

It goes like this:

I’ll write some clichés with missing words.

You get to fill in the missing words. It’s sort of like Mad Libs.

For example:

More than one way to skin a cat becomes: More than one way to [verb] a [noun].

Ready? There are no wrong answers!

1. It’s [verb ending in “ing”] [noun] and [noun]
2. You can’t [verb] a [noun] by its [noun]
3. The [noun] [verb] always [adjective or noun] on the other [noun]
4. [Verb] your [noun] right
5. It’s an uphill [noun]
6. [Verb] between the [plural noun]
7. A [noun] is only as [verb] as its weakest [noun]
8. A [noun] and his [noun] are soon [verb, past tense]
9. A [noun] of a different [noun]
10.  A [noun] of a [number] [verb] begins with the first [verb]

Whatever responses you came up are fine. Can you use any of your re-imagined cliches in your writing?

Clichés used:

1. It’s raining cats and dogs
2. You can’t judge a book by its cover
3. The grass is always greener on the other side
4. Play your cards right
5. It’s an uphill battle
6. Read between the lines
7. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link
8. A fool and his money are soon parted
9. a horse of a different color
10. A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step

Definition of cliché

A cliché is a tired, stale phrase or idiom that, because of overuse, has lost its impact. What was once a fresh way of looking at something has become a weak prop for writing that feels unimaginative and dull. Clichés are what you write when you don’t have the energy or inspiration to think of a new way to express an idea.

More clichés. (scroll down)

Prompt inspired from the Sept/Oct 2022 issue of Poets & Writers magazine.

In works of fiction, we think of “characters.”

When writing memoir, we think “real people.”

Let’s experiment with writing about real people as if they were characters in fiction.

Think of someone you know that you would like to spend some time writing about.

You can also do this for your fiction characters, if you are working on a fiction project.

Make a three-column list.

Column 1 What I know

Column 2 How I know it

Column 3 How to show it

Column 1 Write one or two-word descriptions about someone.

Column 2 How you know these characteristics.

For example, if the person is described as cheap, you might write, “contributes only $20, no matter his actual share, at a group dinner.”

Column 3 Jot down short notes on how you might show these characteristics

In the case of the cheap friend, “brings his teabag to use at restaurants.”

Connecting The Dots

How is this character, or how are these details, connected to you?

These connections are what make life meaningful and make your stories interesting.

These stories can also be about never connecting or missed connections.

Idea excerpted from  The Writer magazine, June 2005,  “Frank Talk About Writing Your Memoir,” by Sol Stein

#justwrite #amwriting #iamawriter

Write about an invention that fascinates you.

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What is important at this stage of your life?

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Today’s writing prompt has three parts.

~ I wish I had . . . write for 7 minutes

~ I wish I could . . . write for 7 minutes

~ Write as if you had accomplished what you wish you had or wish you could. What would that look like?

Think about something you read recently.

It could be a book, a poem, an article, a letter . . . something you read and remember.

What did you like about this reading?

What didn’t you like?

What made it memorable?

#justwrite #iamawriter #amwriting

“She turns off her flashlight and listens to the waves, which sound to her like the earth itself breathing.” —“love anthony,” by Lisa Genova, pg. 246

“As ocean surface waves approach shore, they get taller and break, forming the foamy, bubbly surface called surf.” —Google Search

Writing Prompt: Image of waves lapping on shore or the quotes.

What popped into your mind when you saw this image?

Or, what did you think after you read the first quote?

Your reaction after you read the second quote.

How do you feel when you see and hear waves on the beach?

Write whatever you want. Just Write!