The Write Spot Blog by Marlene Cullen

Category: Prompts

  • What money can’t buy . . . Prompt #372

       Write about what money can’t buy.

  • I like the sound of . . . Prompt #371

    I like the sound of . . .

    Write about the sounds you like.

    Or, write about sounds you don’t like.

  • If that one thing didn’t happen . . . Prompt #370

    Write about how different your life . . . or your fictional character’s life would be . .  . if that one thing didn’t happen.

     

     

  • Smell of childhood . . . Prompt #369

    The smell of childhood. Write about smells from your childhood, or smells from your alter ego’s childhood. 

    I immediately think of food:  Fresh peaches, just picked strawberries with that earthy smell, piping hot chicken potpie fresh from the oven, just-baked chocolate chip cookies, hot buttery popcorn, s’mores = toasted marshmallows, melted chocolate, crisp graham crackers. Yum!

    Outdoor smells: Freshly mown grass, river, diesel, ocean, fog, smog, campfire, burning leaves, snow.

     

        

  • Alter Ego. . . Prompt #368

    Describe your alter ego: Looks, personality quirks, how does he/she come across?

    For example, if she/he were speaking on a stage, what would people think of her/him?

    What did he/she like to do as a child?

                                                                                

     

  • Did you get an allowance? Prompt #367

    When you were a child, did you get an allowance? How much? What did you do with it?

    If you didn’t get an allowance, how do you feel about that?

  • What era do you identify with? Prompt #366

    What time period, or era, do you identify with?

    Write what your life would be like if you lived then.

    About the photo: This is a photo of my mother in her tap dance costume, taken in 1945. Those are envelopes and letters she wrote to her mother, circa 1943. The rest of the items are explained in the recently released The Write Spot to Jumpstart Your Writing: Connections. Available at Amazon.

    Photo taken by Breana Marie.

  • Rewriting is writing. Prompt #365

    Writing is playing with words and ideas. Writing is rewriting. Sometimes writing is . . . just writing.

    Today’s writing prompts are about looking at stories through a different lens or from another point of view.

    Rewrite a fairy tale. Change character details, change where story takes place, change the outcome. Reframe the bad guy into a good guy. Give the protagonist electrifying faults.

    Or rewrite a folk tale. Switch characters, revolve story around a different moral compass, set the scene in the future.

    Or reframe a family story. Write a familiar family story from a different point of view.

    Just Write!

    Photo by Christina Gleason

     

     

  • Character Building and Setting Scene. Prompt #364

    Set the Scene: Location, Timeframe, Characters

    Location: Pick one: cruise ship, theme park, bar, parlor, or a location of your choice

    Timeframe: Current, Past (what year?), Future (what year?)

    Develop Characters

    Character #1:
    Name:
    Nickname:
    Personality trait most proud of:
    How did character get this trait?
    What do people least like about character?
    What habit would character like to change?
    If someone looked in character’s bathroom garbage right now, what would they find:
    What scent does character like the most, and what does it remind him/her of?
    What scares the character?

    Character #2:
    Answer the same questions for Character #2.

    Writing Prompt: Use the following words in a conversation between these two characters.

    The last time –  How dare you –  Explode –  Blame – Fire –  Party –  Light –  Dark – Attitude –  Box –  Present –  Water

    Photo by Christina Gleason

  • Set the scene. . . Prompt #363

     

    Today’s prompt is a photo. 

    Write whatever comes up for you.