Prompt One
Make a list of things that surprised or astonished you or made you feel uncomfortable. Something from a long time ago or recently.
Just a list for now.
Prompt Two
Using your list, make a list of emotions you felt either during what you experienced or emotions you felt today or are feeling right now.
For example: Fear, anger, surprise, annoyance, joy, angst, acceptance
Prompt Three
A metaphor compares two unlike things to show a relationship without using “like” or “as.” Metaphors imply that one thing is another.
Examples of metaphors:
Chaos is a friend of mine. —Bob Dylan
You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog, cryin’ all the time. —Elvis Presley
Darling, I’m a nightmare dressed like a daydream. —Taylor Swift
My heart, a church where no one prays. Lonely pews and smudged stained glass. The Forever Workshop
Writing Prompt: Choose an emotion from your list.
Write what happened that caused these emotions.
Use sensory detail.
Sight. Sound. Touch. Taste. Smell.
Use metaphors.
Just Write!
Prompt Four Hyperbole
Use hyperbole to describe an emotion. You can expand upon something you have written or use a new topic to write about.
Hyperbole is exaggeration to the extreme.
No one is going to judge you nor your writing. So you can exaggerate as much as you want.
Cry me a river
Enough food to feed an army
He has the memory of an elephant
I could sleep for a week
I died of embarrassment
I had to walk to the ends of the Earth to find it
It’s a jungle out there
It’s so hot, you could fry an egg on the sidewalk
Writing Prompt:
Choose something from your list. Write what happened as if you are telling a gullible listener.
Or:
Expand upon one of the above hyperbole examples.
Or:
Write whatever is popping up in your head.
Idea for this prompt inspired from The Forever Workshop.
The story of Pinocchio, as metaphor:
Gepetto, a woodcarver, prays that a puppet he carved could become a real boy. According to Phil Romo, a “real boy” is a metaphor for being an autonomous individual, not bound to ideologies or to existing institutions. “To think for yourself . . . Don’t be bound to the strings you are born into.”
The Blue Fairy grants life to Geppetto’s puppet. This is a metaphor for human birth, the ‘miracle of life.’
Excerpted from “Life is a Beautiful Ride” by Phil Romo.
Future writing: Choose something from one of your lists and Just Write!
