“It was a Saturday morning and clouds were gathering . . .” Finish the sentence and then keep writing. See where this takes you.
Nobody writes a perfect first draft — Jonathan Maberry
“More often ‘writer’s block’ is a result of writers trying too hard to write a perfect novel in the first draft. Nobody — no-freaking-body — writes a perfect first draft.” says Jonathan Maberry, multiple Bram Stoker awards winner, author of 18 novels, including Joe Ledger thriller series, 30 non-fiction books, 1200 feature articles, 3,000 columns and writes projects for Marvel Comics. — “Jonathan Mayberry: How I Write” by Larry Atkins, The Writer magazine, October 2013
Writing and Improv – Prompt #14
Today’s prompt inspired by Leigh Anne Jasheway, “Improv/e your writing” in the Nov/Dec issue of Writer’s Digest magazine. Talking about writing and improv: “Write a short description of something physical a person would do — say Stanley tapped his foot while making occasional clicking sounds with his tongue.” Your turn: Conjure a character, an action and go from there. . . don’t worry about where your writing will take you, be open to where this can go. Prompt: Character and action
Birthday – Prompt #13
My Baby Blog is one month old today. Time to celebrate! I’m doing the Happy Dance! Prompt: Write about a birthday you loved or one you hated.
Write until creative function takes over. — Amor Towles
“I almost never start with inspiration. If you start to write a scene or an idea, if you can stick at that for 20 minutes, eventually you can get lost in the process and the creative function takes over. The imagination suddenly kicks in. You almost have to dive in and start to work, and eventually, if you get in the groove, you can flourish. — Amor Towles, author of Rules of Civility, interview by Hillary Casavant, November 2013 issue of The Writer magazine.
Physical location and action to describe emotional state – Prompt #12
“Setting says something about character, says Rhodes,” in “Location Location” by Elfrieda Abbe, October 2013 issue of The Writer magazine. David Rhodes, author of Driftless and Jewelweed, goes on to say, “A person walking along an empty beach is thinking deeply. . . If a couple sits at a high place overlooking an open valley, they are in love and the future of that love extends before them. A character running through the forest is happy; one lying down is sick or sad. These associations are not hard-fixed symbols, but rather associative colorings that come to life in that split second between emergent images and first thoughts. In stories, such descriptive asides can be used to add depth to the passions and to suggest both strong and ambiguous states of mind.” Prompt: Put yourself, or your fictional character, in a emotional frame of mind. Write, using physical location and action…
Favorite place from childhood – Prompt #11
Picture a house you grew up in. If you grew up in more than one house, just choose one. It doesn’t matter which one. Stand back from the house, across the street, or across a yard, and look at your house. Notice the size, shape and color of your house. Walk a little closer. What do you see? Take a look around. Perhaps you notice some trees, or plants, a yard or a fence. Perhaps a sidewalk. Look at the side of the house that you usually first walked into. Maybe a front door, or a side door, or a back door. Walk towards that door. Open the door and step inside. Take a look around. Even though it may have been awhile, this room is so familiar. Walk towards your favorite room in the house. If you don’t have a favorite room in this house, go to your favorite…
Stephen King’s advice to his son.
” Finish the book. Finish the book, regardless of how bad it is. You can make it better in a rewrite.” — Joe Hill, son of Stephen and Tabitha King, best writing advice his parents gave him, July/August 2013 Writers Digest Magazine.
Remember when you . . . Prompt #10
The current issue of Writer’s Digest magazine (Nov/Dec 2013) is filled with inspirational prompt ideas. Here’s one, “Start with the statement ‘Remember when you . . . ‘ and dream up something unusual to fill in the blank.” Or, you can write about something that really happened. Prompt: Remember when you . . .
What if . . . Prompt #9
Take any situation from real life, reel life, or from fiction and change the story. Start out with “What if . . . ” and go from there. What if you hadn’t taken that job, moved to that city? What if you had gone a different route? What if Dorothy didn’t follow the yellow brick road? What if the top of the Empire State Building was closed that evening? Change your story to what could have happened. Change the ending to a well-known movie or book or poem. Use your imagination. Go wild. Be quirky. Write freely. Prompt: What if . . .