Category: Prompts

  • Hope . . . Prompt #201

    HopeToday’s writing prompt is inspired by Ron Salisbury’s poem “The Ride Southbound.” When the writing prompt is a poem, you can write about the title, a line or a word. You can also write about Hope. Just write whatever comes up for you.

    The Ride Southbound by Ron Salisbury

    When I jerked open the cab door, Hope was sitting in the back seat,

    Prada dark glasses and lip gloss.  This is mine, she said,

    but we can share until 34th street. What’s at 34th street? I asked.

    Just a sale at Macys.  The driver put my two-suiter in the trunk

    and the extra bag on the front seat, I climbed in with my briefcase

    and umbrella.  Is it gonna rain? she asked.  You never know,

    I answered.  What’s with all the bags? It’s been a long trip.

    You need all that stuff?  Most of it, at least I thought I did.

    The traffic on 7th Avenue slowed then didn’t, other cabs

    cut us off, it was noisy, complicated, but we were there

    in no time at all.  Haven’t we met before? I asked.  Probably,

    she said.  I meet a lot of people.  Did we like each other?

    Hard to say, she answered.  She leaned over and tapped

    on the window behind the cabbie.  This is where I get off.

    Good luck wherever you’re going. Standing on the sidewalk,

    holding the door open, she said, Look at this, and hiked

    her skirt to show me a small purple birth mark on her thigh.

    I can’t always be perfect.

    Ron Salisbury is the author of the recently published Miss Desert Inn. He writes and studies in San Diego State University’s Master of Fine Arts program, Creative Writing.

    Marlene C

  • Suicide Doors . . . Prompt #200

    Today’s writing prompt is a poem by Ron Salisbury. You can write on the theme of the poem or the mood. You can use a line or a word for the writing prompt. Ready? Read and write. Just write, without  worrying how your writing will sound.

    Suicide Doors

    Don’t put that in a poem, she said.

    What? Don’t put what I said in a poem.

    We talk and a week later I find what I said

    in one of your poems. What’s the matter

    with that? He’ll find out. He doesn’t read

    poems. His friends will tell him. His friends

    don’t read poems. Just don’t put me in your poems.

    How about I make it in the 1960’s

    and it happens in my 1951 Merc with suicide

    doors, I got a D.A. haircut, smell of Bay Rum

    and your angora sweater comes off on my sport coat.

    Then what happens. Well, we could be in love.

    We already are. I mean the crazy 60’s love

    before birth control pills and we both smoke

    and sneak bourbon from your father’s liquor cabinet

    and try to figure out how to get some Trojans

    because they’re not in every grocery store

    and you have to ask the druggist for them

    because they’re kept behind the counter

    like cigarettes are now and because

    he knows everyone in town, it’ll get around

    so we drive all the way to Dexter on Saturday

    night and I’ll try to be cool and see if

    I can buy some and if I can’t we’ll take

    our chances anyways. Do we do it in the

    back seat? Yeah, the Merc had a giant

    back seat. And you won’t use any thing

    I said in the poem. Sure. Ok, but

    bring a blanket and you have to go slow

    and give me time to hang my sweater

    over the seat so it won’t get ruined.

    Ron SalisburyRon Salisbury, author of Miss Desert Inn, (Main Street Rag Publications) lives in San Diego, CA, where he continues to publish, write and study in San Diego State University’s Master of Fine Arts program, Creative writing. Publications and awards include: Eclipse, The Cape Reader, Serving House Journal, Alaska Quarterly Review, Spitball, Soundings East, The Briar Cliff Review, Hiram Poetry Review, A Year in Ink, etc; Semi Finalist for the Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize – 2012, Finalist for the ABZ First Book Contest – 2014, First Runner-up for the Brittingham and Pollak Prize in Poetry – 2014, Winner of Main Street Rag’s 2015 Poetry Prize.

    Marlene C

  • What is a good life? . . . Prompt #199

    What makes up a good life?

    What are the ingredients for a good life? If you could combine essential ingredients to produce a good life, what would those ingredients be? Is there a secret ingredient?

    If there was a recipe for a good life, would people embrace it? Would they conform or rebel or ???

    If you were going to stitch qualities for a good life into a quilt, what bits and pieces would you need? What would the final piece look like?

    Is this even a fair or answerable question? Are there too many variables to consider?

    Charlie BrownIf you could create, cajole, conjure, form, shape a good life, would you? What would it look like. . . that good life many people strive for.

    Today’s writing prompt: What do you think a good life is all about?

     

     

    Marlene C

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  • Spooktacular or . . . ??? Prompt #199

    Halloween blog hop

    Smallest ghostJoin the festivities. Click on Halloween Blog Hop. Scroll down, click on a blogger’s name and you will be transported into a new dimension.

    WRITING PROMPT:

    Spooktacular or Spectacular or Meh . . . What was Halloween like for you as a child? Did you go trick-or-treating? Costumes: Homemade or store bought? Bag to hold goodies: Pillowcase, plastic bag, plastic pumpkin, or ???

    Halloween GhostYou can also write from your fictional character’s point of view.

    Writing Prompt: Describe your childhood Halloween.

    OR: Describe a perfect All Hallow’s Eve.

     

     

    Marlene C

  • Scary movie . . . Prompt #198

    Count DraculaToday’s Write Spot Blog prompt:  Write about a movie that scared the bejeebers out of you. If you are writing fiction, what movie frightened your fictional character?

    There are lots of writing prompts on The Write Spot Blog, 198 to be exact.  Choose one and  just write!

    Marlene C

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  • An apology. . . Prompt #197

    Who do you want — or need — to apologize to?

    Or maybe it’s a “thing” you need — or want — to apologize about.

    Write an apology note, something you never need to send nor give to anyone.

    Write it for yourself, to cleanse your palate, to lift the burden from your shoulders, to start from a new beginning.

    I'm sorry red heartPrompt: Write a note of apology.

     

     

    Marlene C

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  • Something borrowed or loaned. Prompt #196

    Write about something you have borrowed or loaned.

                        bicycle wooden mallet                        Scrabble Dictionary

    Photos of bicycle and mallet by Jeff Cullen. (Click on Jeff Cullen to see his Fotolio photos)

    Marlene C

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  • Winner! Winner! Chicken Dinner. Prompt #195

    AwardWriting Prompt: Tell about an award or a prize you won.

    You can write about what really happened, or write as if your fictional character won a prize.

    Marlene C

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  • Essential Wound Prompt #194

    Write From The Heart by Hal Zina Bennett is one of my all-time favorite books on writing.

    The following is an excerpt from Write From The Heart.

    “I am convinced that every essential wound, by its very nature, has the potential for opening each of us up to the full potential of our very soul. I do not mean to be Pollyannaish about it, either. It’s not a matter of the universe providing us with the challenges we supposedly need for our spiritual growth. I tend to believe in the universe’s ‘benign indifference,’ as Camus once put it, and that God is something like a courageous and loving parent who gives us all we can take in, then lets us go on to live our lives the best we know how. I think that must have been what Joseph Campbell was talking about, too . . . ‘the world is a match for us and we’re a match for the world. And where it seems most challenging lies the greatest invitation to find deeper and greater powers in ourselves.’

    Our own perceptions of the world, the inner vision of what we think life is about, gets challenged in every essential wound. Our true creativity comes about when we think life is about, get challenged in every essential wound. Our true creativity comes about when we start trying to sort all that out, asking what the wound mirrors back to us, what it tells us about ourselves, what we need to let go of, and what we need to learn to embrace. When we do that, we take ourselves out of the role of victim. We see that there’s an alternative to the way we ordinarily look upon our grievances — that we can literally mine even our worst errors for the treasures they contain. When we look at our wounds in this way, we invariable discover turning points, breakthroughs that carry us beyond the limits of everyday thinking. And we can go forth to tell the stories that are truly important to tell, that reveal the hidden truths of our lives and the lives of others, thus building spiritual bridges between our own consciousness and theirs.

    write from the heartThe essential wound is a particular kind of experience that happens off and on throughout our lives and goes to the very core of our being. These wounds are important to writers for the same reasons that peak experiences are — they are the resources that lend authenticity to our writing. Essential wounds have an added element in that they reveal our humanness. They reveal that we each create our own inner worlds, mental models of the way we believe things should be. The wound occurs when something happens to reveal the difference between how you see the world and the way the world really is. You may feel shattered, hurt, disappointed, or depressed, but if you keep your eyes open those moments can lead to dramatic revelations.”

    Prompt: Write about an essential wound.

    Marlene C

  • The Zipper . . . Prompt #193

    “When we seek closure, we reach out to the zipper. it keeps us warm, prevents things from falling out of purses and lets us cram way too much into our suitcases. When it gets stuck, so do we. Without it, life would be filled with the endless ennui of buttoning and snapping.” — Helen Anders

    Today’s writing prompt:  ZipperZip it

    Marlene C

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