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The Healing Power of Images Prompt #139
Today’s prompt is inspired from Poetic Medicine by John Fox, “The Healing Power of Images.”
“A morning glory at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of books” — Walt Whitman“Images are drawn from sensory experience and help us to feel what the writer or speaker is communicating. Whitman is more satisfied by the morning glory because it is real and alive, it communicates something to him about reality that is particular, clean and unmistakable. Images offer us direct experience. They can show themselves to us through any of the senses.”
Think about the house you grew up in, or where you spent most of your childhood. Or, if you want to write from your fictional character’s point of view. . . picture a place where the protagonist spends a lot of time.
Now, think about routes you routinely took . . . to school. . . or the library. . . a store . . . or playgroundTravel back in time, or to your imaginary place, and see the sights and scenery. If you are working on fiction. . . use this prompt to visualize your story’s setting.
Zoom out like an owl and observe the activity below. Perch on a rooftop or a pole or a high wire.Let’s have the owl observe something on your daily route, or your character’s. A place that evokes a strong memory for you.
Take a moment and picture this place. . . an intersection, in front of a store, a front yard, a back yard, an untamed place or a place filled with human or animal activity . . . a familiar place, either from real life, or make it real with your imagination.
Zoom down, get closer to the action. Perch where you can clearly see details of the place you have selected.
Prompt: Describe as precisely as you can, the images and direct sensations you see, hear, feel, intuit, smell.
Use sensory detail: Smell, sound, taste, touch, visual: a vendor’s food cart, sewer sour milk smell, wind chimes, brakes screeching, popcorn, hot dogs, brittle wood on telephone pole, dirt, yard ornament, cigarette butts.
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My tribe. Prompt #138
Today’s writing prompt is inspired from Your Mythic Journey by Sam Keen and Anne Valley-Fox.
“Pre-modern people didn’t think of themselves as individuals — they were members of a tribe as well as of a family. Ancient philosophers knew that human dignity begins with ‘We are a people, therefore I am.’ Modern people are tribal too but we call our tribes by different names — churches, corporations, states, nations. Each of us was nurtured within and shaped by several corporate bodies, voluntary organizations and professional corporations that molded our values and behavior — schools, athletic teams businesses, clubs, temples, and local, national, and international governments.”Prompt: I am from . . .
Note from Marlene: You can write from your personal experience, or write from your fiction character’s point of view. You may have written on this prompt previously. It’s a good one that can be used repeatedly, new things may come up, or clarification about an event may surprise you. Remember: Just write, no editing as you write, no judging, no critiquing. Just write!
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Do you Haiku? Prompt #137
Haiku is one of the most important forms of traditional Japanese poetry. Haiku is a 17-syllable verse form consisting of three metrical units of 5, 7, and 5 syllables.Another definition:
“Haiku (俳句 high-koo) are short poems that use sensory language to capture a feeling or image. They are often inspired by an element of nature, a moment of beauty, or another poignant experience. Haiku poetry was originally developed by Japanese poets, and the form was adopted (and adapted) by virtually every modern language, including our own. The secret to writing great haiku is to be observant and appreciate nature.” — Wikihow-Write-a-Poem
Haiku by Penelope La Montagne:
Pruned vines stand in rows
those charred Venus de Milos
posing with mustard
Penelope La Montagne (1948-2018), author of River Shoes by Running Wolf Press and Jigsaw Heart by Finishing Line Press, was a Poet Laureate of Healdsburg.
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Things that are meaningful to you . . . Prompt #136
Write whatever comes up for you. No judging, no criticizing yourself!
Have fun with this prompt! Let yourself go. Be silly. Be creative. Be humorous. Be serious. Just write!Make a list of things that are meaningful to you, starting with the letter “A” . . . then go through the alphabet to the letter z. Write one sentence, or a few words, why this is meaningful to you. For example:
A – A deck of cards – playing gin rummy and hearts
B – Balloon game in the old living room
C – Crafts – glitter glue, making things with the kids
continue to the end of the alphabet
W – Wizard puppet
X – X-rays that saved my life
Y – “Y” always reminds of watching the Micky Mouse Club. “Why? Because we like you!”
Z – Zebra in orthodontist’s office
~ Now you have a list of things you can write about! Anytime you want to write and need an idea, look at your list and Just Write!
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Own up to it. Prompt #135
Write about a time you swallowed your pride and admitted to something you did that you regret. . . or a time you wish you had spoken up.You did it, now feel free to own up to it. . . . you don’t have to actually tell anyone what you did or didn’t do . . . just write about it here and now.
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Special object to give. Prompt #134
Walk through your house, apartment, garage, barn . . . look at your knick-knacks, trinkets, souvenirs, keepsakes, treasures. . . pick one item to pass on to someone, perhaps a grandchild, or great-grandchild, or a beloved friend. Write about a special object you want to give to someone in the future.You can respond to this prompt as your fictional character would respond, or write as if you are going to give this item to someone.
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What does your character want? What gets in the way? Prompt #133
Your character could be fictional or a real person.
Kurt Vonnegut says to “make your character want something.” There are several ways to go about this.
Have your character do something unexpected . . . something that surprises everyone and weave in a problem.
You can put your conservative character in an improv situation where he/she has to rap or act in a scene.
Your male character might find himself on stage, learning how to hula or belly dance.
Your female character might find herself in a lumberjack contest.
Have your wild character volunteer to help with bingo in an assisted facility.
Have your character do something unusual.
Remember these are freewrites, where you write freely for 12 to 15 minutes. This doesn’t mean you have to use these character vignettes in your novel, essay or memoir. Have fun playing around with characters.
Have fun making your character uncomfortable, make him or her squirm. Worms on a fishing pole come to mind.
Now, here’s how to really get into the heart of your character:
What does your character want? What gets in the way?
For prompts on character development, take a look at:
Character development, discovering characters, prompt #132
Flesh out your character, prompt #131
Other character’s point of view, prompt #109
Grow your characters, prompt #48
Just Write!
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Character development – discovering characters. Prompt #132
For this two-part prompt, we’re going to develop a character, either fictional or based on reality (especially if you are writing memoir).
How do writers develop characters? How do you get to know your character beyond their looks, their desires and where they went to school?
Step One: Give your character a hobby or an interesting job. The more unusual, the better. Bee-keeping? Needlepoint for a man. Bucking horses, art aficionado, chemist, skywriter, laundromat manager, tornado chaser. You can look up unusual jobs that pay well by clicking here, such as: Cruise ship entertainer, ice cream taster, human statue, hot dog vender, dog groomer, personal shopper, funeral director.
Sketch how your character might spend an hour of their work day, or hobby time: gathering honey, purchase yarn and patterns, ranch and corrals, visits to art galleries and museums, mixing potions in the basement. You might paint a picture what an hour of their job looks like: what do they see, who do they interact with, what do they think while working.
Spend some time with this before going to the next step.
Step Two: Interview your character as a journalist would. Stymied? Look at interviews in magazines, newspaper articles or look online and see what others have done.
You can interview your character from Prompt #131, or create a new character.
We’ll continue with character development with the next prompt.
Skywriting photo by Breana Marie
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Flesh out your characters. Prompt #131
You can use this prompt for fleshing out your fictional characters or for characters in your memoir.
In works of fiction, we think of characters. When writing memoir, we think real people. But, when you write about real people, they become characters in a story.
With this prompt, you can create character profiles for the real people in your life and for your fictional characters.
Prompt: Make a three-column list. Label the first column “What I know,” the second, “How I know it” and the third, “How I show it.”
First column – create a list with one or two-word descriptions about the character. Second column – write down how you know the particular characteristics.
For example, if the person is known to be cheap, in column 2, you could write, “brings own teabags to restaurants.” Or, “carefully saves paper bags for lunch, been using the same bag for six months.”
Third column, How I Show It: Jot down short notes about how you might convey the characteristics to a reader. In the case of the cheap friend who brings his teabag to restaurants, you might write, “Scene: character pulls out several teabags from jacket pocket, just before entering restaurant.”
Your turn: Bring your characters by showing vivid details about their everyday habits.
This prompt was inspired from The Writer magazine, June 2005, “Frank Talk About Writing Your Memoir,” by Sol Stein
