When using the freewrite style of writing . . . write freely with no worries about the end result. The editor that sits on your shoulder, the inner critic. . . out the door. Give ’em the boot. Not invited to this party. It’s not about the writing . . . it’s about the process. The process of letting go. Trust yourself. Go with your imagination. Go with what’s on your mind. Today’s writing prompt: I stand on the edge of . . .
Category: Prompts
How to write fiction based on fact. Prompt #41
Part Two of how to write fiction based on fact. Part One is Prompt #40. Alla Crone-Hayden began one of her first historical novels with this opening line: On the cold Sunday of January 9, 1905, the pallid sun hung over the rooftops of St. Petersburg trying to burn its way through a thin layer of clouds. The weather matches the mood of character, of story. Perhaps draws you in. Maybe you want to know more . . . does the sun succeed in burning through? Second sentence: By two o’clock in the afternoon the dull light had done little to warm the thousands of people milling in the streets. The second sentence answers the unasked question about the sun. Notice the word choices: cold, pallid sun, thin, dull light . . . words match the mood or tone of the day/event. Alla used weather to match the narrator’s…
Make a list of pivotal events. . . Prompt #40
Today’s Prompt is Part 1 of 2. Part 2 is “How to Write Fact Based on Fiction,” Prompt #41. Part 1 Make a list of pivotal events in your life. Those times when, at night, you were not the same person you were in the morning. By day’s end, you were a different person. Just write a list. When you are finished writing the list: take something from your list and write the details . . . as you remember them. You can be as detailed, or as general as you want to be. Write about an event that altered your life: all the gritty details. . . be as honest and as genuine as you can. Bleed onto the page. Part 2 will be the next prompt post.
A strong feeling . . . Prompt #39
Today’s writing prompt: Write about a strong feeling or attachment you had when you were young.
Play with anaphoras. Prompt #38
Anaphora: Repetition of a word or expression at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, sentences, or verses especially for rhetorical or poetic effect. For example: Abraham Lincoln’s speech, “We cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground.” — Merriam-Webster online dictionary. When Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous 1963 March on Washington speech, he repeated the phrase “I have a dream” at the beginning of his sentences. Prompt: Using Lincoln’s speech or King’s speech as inspiration, incorporate anaphora in your next story, poem or essay. Repeat a statement or idea that drives home the core message of your narrative. — except from January 2014, The Writer magazine.
Focusing the camera. . . Prompt #37
Write about an incident that happened between you and another person from your point of view. Write for about 20 minutes. Move the camera lens, focusing on the other person, write about this same incident from the other person’s point of view.
What happened, from your point of view. . . Prompt #36
Today’s writing prompt was inspired from the January 2003 issue of The Writer magazine, ”On Writing Personal Essays,” by Barbra Abercrombie. Make a list of issues and experiences, important and trivial in your life right now. What frustrated you in the past month? What made you laugh or cry? What made you lose your temper? What was the worst thing that happened? The best? The most disturbing and weird? Write: Choose one thing from your list and write about it. Write whatever comes to mind. Write what you would really like to say to the other people involved. Write what happened from your point of view.
Fantasize for a moment. . . Prompt #35
Fantasize for a moment. Money is no object. Time and place are no object. Give yourself an imaginary gift. What would it be?
Twelve years old . . . Prompt #34
Write about your favorite thing to do when you were twelve years old. You can respond from your personal experience, or answer as your fictional character would answer.
What surprises me . . . Prompt #33
What surprises me . . .