The Write Spot Blog by Marlene Cullen

Category: Prompts

  • After Retirement . . . Prompt #592

    After Retirement By Ron Salisbury
    What were you thinking Eunice asked
    as the fireman who had strapped me
    to his back brought me down from
    the eucalyptus on the engine ladder.
    It seem like such a good idea, just
    nail little boards to the tree and keep
    climbing. The canopy of things up there,
    a complete universe, distance like future.
    Thinking was something I usually did.
    Then one day stopped. Idea doesn’t have
    boundaries, besides, I had these little boards
    left over from the fence.

    Note from Marlene: When the prompt is a poem, you can write on the mood or the theme of the poem, a line, or a word. Just Write!

    You are welcome to comment on my Writers Forum Facebook Page.

    Ron Salisbury

    “Since the seventh grade, all I’ve ever wanted to be is a poet. It is a great honor to be chosen as San Diego’s first Poet Laureate. This appointment will empower me to represent the dynamic San Diego I love and promote. It will allow me to teach and encourage poetry to an even higher presence than I already do. I want to give back to the city that adopted me, share my poetry with its people and share San Diego with the world.”

  • Pastiche . . . Prompt #591

    Today’s writing prompt is not the usual 15-20 minute freewrite. Instead, it’s a bit more challenging and will take time to pursue.

    When you are ready for the challenge . . . Create a pastiche.

    “Pastiche (pronounced pass-TEESH) is a creative work that imitates another author or genre. It’s a way of paying respect, or honor, to great works of the past. Pastiche differs from parody in that pastiche isn’t making fun of the works it imitates – however, the tone of pastiche is often humorous.”

    Examples of Pastiche

    The TV show 30 Rock is about a television studio, so there are plenty of opportunities for pastiche. In various episodes, the show mimics classic shows like “The Brady Bunch” or “Seinfeld” and major television events like the Olympics. From the tone of the show, it’s clear that these imitations come from a place of irreverent love, so they fall into the category of pastiche rather than parody.

    Pastiche is common in music, as musicians try out new styles in order to keep their sound from getting stale.

    An example is Queen’s “Thing Called Love” (a pastiche of Elvis Presley).

    Hip-hop frequently employs a broad pastiche of jazz, blues, and R&B sounds.

    Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill films are a simultaneous pastiche of two genres: westerns and kung fu movies.

    The Purpose of Pastiche

    The main purpose of using pastiche is to celebrate great works, or genres that a given show, movie, or story does not actually belong to.

    A secondary purpose of pastiche can be to create variety. In a show like “The Simpsons,” the writers and animators use pastiche to shake up the look and feel of the show.

    Examples of Pastiche 

    Allen Ginsburg’s “Howl” is a pastiche of “Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman. By employing Whitman’s poetic form, Ginsburg hoped to speak to his generation in the same way Whitman did to his.

    Much of Amy Winehouse’s music is a pastiche of classic soul and R&B. The instruments, rhythms, and the sound of her voice all sound highly reminiscent of music from the 1950s and 60s – even her hair was modeled on the styles that were popular in that generation. 

    Tips for Writing a Pastiche:

    Study the original work

    Restructure the original work

    Infuse your own meaning

    Prompt: Use a well-known story from a book, TV show, movie, play, libretto, opera, or a song . . . And write a pastiche.

  • Cool Desserts . . . Prompt #590

    July is National Ice Cream Month

    Write about a memorable ice cream or cool dessert.

    Or write about interesting or unusual ice cream desserts.

    Wicked Slush

    Dave and Julie Pokorny have created a destination experience in Petaluma, CA with their unique Wicked Slush.

    Soft serve with a twist.

    “Back East, it was Carvel. The creamiest, dreamiest, tallest, most improbable tower of soft serve ice cream, covered in chocolate magic shell. Remember?

    You had to crack through the shell to get to the goodness inside.

    Well, in Petaluma, we have Wicked. Creamy, dreamy, towering swirls of soft serve ice cream, made from local, organic Straus Family Creamery Dairy. Now imagine this in not only chocolate or vanilla, but in any one of 26 different flavors! And that magic shell? How about 6 different flavors? How about this concoction sitting in a crunchy sweet waffle cone? Yep. That’s how we roll at Wicked.”

    Thanks to Robert Cullen who let me know that July is National Ice Cream Month.

  • Too dangerous . . . Prompt #589

    Writing Prompt: It’s much too dangerous to talk about . . .

  • An idyllic afternoon . . . Prompt #588

    Photo by Angeline Revitt

    I have the good fortune of belonging to a Facebook Group called Hygge Life. A group that posts phenomenal photos and all positive comments.

    Recently, someone posted photos of her inspirational garden in Essex Coast, UK, with this invitation:

    “Hygge friends! Come take a little stroll with me to my favourite corner of the garden! We can sit a while and sip on our tea/coffee/tissane and gaze at the craziness of our raised veggie beds, the beginnings of the sweet pea pyramid, the formal and wild flowers and listen and watch as the busy white bottomed bees gather pollen! We can stay a while and chit chat about all things Hygge or . . . just listen, smell, and look at the wonder of Mother Nature. Come join me!”

    Writing Prompt: Imagine being in this garden, sitting at the blue table, across from a friend. What would you chat about? Or, what would your fictional characters talk about?

    Maybe you are alone in this luxurious spot. If you could take the time to sit by yourself, what would you contemplate?

    Me? I’m imagining a new friend on the Essex Coast. We’ve just met and have so many things in common that we talk for hours. Lunch leads to afternoon tea which leads to an evening meal, watching the sun pass over her garden. I breathe in the luxurious scent of her garden and listen to the cadence of her voice, enjoying the lilt of her speech. A blissful afternoon.

    Another writing prompt: If you had all the time in the world, what would you like to do?

    Be bold! Be brave! Go deep with your writing. Be honest! Be authentic! Just like this Hygge Life FB post . . . be open to a Hygge daydreaming moment.

    Other prompts about Hygge:

    Hygge. Prompt #569

    I’ll say a little prayer for you . . . Prompt #574

    Photo by Angeline Revitt

  • Carry on . . . Prompt #587

    Writing Prompt: Carry on.

    Sometimes a word or a phrase enters my mind and I think “that would be a good prompt.”

    That’s what happened for today’s prompt. But then I wondered, why did this phrase pop into my head. What have I been thinking about?

    In the July 2021 issue (page 51), Sonoma County Gazette book reviewer Diane McCurdy compared the genesis of The Write Spot: Musings and Ravings From a Pandemic Year with Giovanni Boccaccio’s The Decameron:

    “In the 14th century when the plague, the black death, was ravaging through the cities of Italy, a writer and a group of friends fled Florence to the caves above the city and to alleviate boredom in what was one of the first sheltering in place locales, they told stories. Giovanni Boccaccio recorded those stories in what became a classic, The Decameron.”

    I didn’t know about this, never heard of it. How brilliant of Diane to relate this to the inspiration for Musings.

    She got it right, “Adversity frequently fosters creativity . . . This little book [Musings] is a highly artistic presentation. Something we really need right now as we emerge from the abyss.”

    A friend researched and found this excerpt about the Florence exodus, written by Joan Acocella in the Nov. 3, 2013 issue of The New Yorker.

    “In the morning and in the evening, they will take walks, sing songs, and eat exquisite meals, with fine wines, golden and red. In between, they will sit together, and each will tell a story on a theme set for the day: generosity, magnanimity, cleverness, etc. They will stay together for two weeks. Two days must be devoted to personal obligations, and two to religious duties. That leaves ten days. Ten tales times ten days: at the end, they will have a hundred stories. That collection, with various introductions and commentaries, is the Decameron.” 

    Writing Prompt: Carry on.

    Or: Write whatever pops into your head.

    Just Write!

  • Chance Encounters . . . Prompt #586

    Writing Prompt:

    Chance encounters . . . what are the chances?

  • If you could . . . Prompt #585

    Photo by Ginger Hamilton, Florence, Italy

    If you could be anywhere in the world, where would you like to be right now?

    What would you be doing?

  • Belong. Prompt #584

    The characters in the Broadway show and the movie, In The Heights, chase their dreams and ask: “Where do I belong?”

    West Side Story is also about finding one’s place, illustrated in the song “Somewhere:”

    Someday, somewhere
    We’ll find a new way of living
    We’ll find a way of forgiving
    Somewhere

    There’s a place for us
    Somewhere a place for us
    Peace and quiet and open air
    Wait for us somewhere

    Prompt:

    Write about a time you felt out of place.

    A place where you didn’t belong, but there you were.

    What did you do? What did you feel?

    Have you found Your Place?

  • Baba Yetu . . . Prompt #583

    “Baba Yetu” sung in Swahili by the Stellenbosch University Choir.

    The Prompt: Listen to this amazing choir. Then write whatever comes up for you.

    Or: Write about a musical experience.

    Or: Write about connections.