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Poem from character sketch . . . Prompt #628

| mcullen

Prompt #1 Think about someone important in your life. Someone who made an impact on you. Write a list or a few paragraphs of events in this person’s life. It could be milestones or simple everyday things. Prompt #2 Turn what you just wrote into a poem with these suggestions: Make this a numbered poem. Each stanza gets a number. Each stanza is four lines. Each stanza represents a chunk of time in the person’s life, perhaps by decade. Example: 1. Love child Tossed around Whose arms held her? Who comforted her? 2. Showing off Late for work Three times Not a charm Thank you to Susan Furness who suggested this prompt at Recovery Writing of Idaho, organized by Norma Jaeger. Image from “The Write Spot to Jumpstart Your Writing: Connections.” #justwrite #iamawriter #freewrites

Rollick Magazine

| mcullen

Rollick Magazine is committed to championing new literary voices and is open to unsolicited submissions of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. “We are specifically interested in publishing contemporary literature, thought, and opinion about popular culture, society, and everything on the periphery. We are passionate about representing all types of voices and seek to offer a home to those who might be otherwise marginalised or underrepresented.” Submission Information #amwriting #justwrite #iamawriter

Help might be where you least expect it. Just ask.

| mcullen

Excerpted from “Where Do You Hang Your Hammock?: Finding Peace of Mind While You Write, Publish, and Promote Your Book” by Bella Mahaya Carter. When you’re out there promoting your book, you’ll have to ask for all sorts of things. This might feel hard. You may make up stories, such as I don’t want to “bother” people or be a nuisance. You may feel as if you have no right to ask for what you want. You may even feel, deep down, as if there’s something wrong with asking. Of course, nobody likes rejection, either. We don’t want to hear the word “no.” But how people respond has more to do with them than with you. If you can blow by the nos, you’ll pick up enough yeses along the way. So don’t let that stop you. Those stories running through your head, that make asking for what you want seem unsavory, doesn’t mean…

Character idiosyncrasies . . . Prompt #554

| mcullen|2 Comments

How do writers develop characters? How do writers get to know their characters beyond their looks, their desires, and where they went to school? For this prompt, you can write about your main character, a supporting character, or you can write about someone you know. If you are writing about something that really happened, you can use that incident and those involved as your characters. When you write about real people, they become “characters” in your story. Here’s how it works: Interview your fictional character as a journalist would, but not at the age they are in your story. If they are older, interview a younger version of your character. If your character is young, imagine what he or she might be like as an older person. For your real-life person, have an actual interview, if you can.  If not, imagine what they were like as a child, a pre-teen,…

Ouch. Prompt #434

| mcullen

Write about someone in your life who is consistently critical of you or what you do, and this could be yourself. I recently read a Facebook post by Prince Ea about the four letter word that ends all arguments: Ouch. Suggestion: As you write on this prompt, think of what words and actions hurt and add “ouch” to your writing. Frame your situation as experiences that had an “ouch” factor. Next, write what you wish you had said, or could have said, to lessen the hurt. Next, write a love letter to yourself. List your strengths, your qualities, your capabilities that make you uniquely you. Be generous with yourself. You deserve it.

Freewrites: develop character, plot, setting, mood Prompt #228

| mcullen

What kinds of writing prompts do you want? Let me know and I’ll try to create prompts that will inspire writing. Freewrites are a way to organize your thoughts, gather information, create characters, develop plot, set the scene, make discoveries, and more! What have you discovered while freely writing? Share your thoughts, ideas, creations, inspirations here, on The Write Spot Blog. Today’s writing prompts are oldies but goodies. Character Development Develop Character, Prompt #4 Your Character Has a Secret #7 Grow Your Characters #48 Location Location, or place as character #8 A place where you find satisfaction #25 A room from your childhood #62 Plot/Conflict/Problem The trouble started when . . . #3 What happened here?. . . #23 The problem . . . #50 Memoir How to Write A Memoir Favorite Place from Childhood #11 Best gift #28 What games did you play? #32 Write about a time you…

By Grace by Arletta Dawdy

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By Grace – Reviewed by Marlene Cullen Extraordinary writing by Arletta Dawdy who must have done a ton of research for this entertaining story containing so much factual detail I feel as if I took this trip alongside heroine Grace Pelham. Arletta tells a compelling story in the best story-teller tradition. I was mesmerized and couldn’t wait to find out what happens next. Arletta holds up her end of the author-reader bargain, taking me out of my world and into the world of Grace Pelham, filled with intriguing characters, gorgeous landscape, creativity and human scoundrels as well as kindness. Arletta brings these fully dimensional characters to life in her unique way. Her writing is absolutely exquisite and dazzling. I’m not the only one who finds Arletta’s writing creative and delightful. From the back cover: “A good book also has characters that intrigue and change and in the midst of the…

When you set the mask aside . . . Prompt #171

| mcullen|7 Comments

From Write From the Heart by Hal Zina Bennett, one of my all-time favorite books. During a trip to Disneyland, a priest became fascinated with the costumed figure of Mickey Mouse. Every time Father Sean turned around, there was Mickey Mouse shaking hands with people, talking with kids, keeping everyone’s spirits up. And Father Sean began asking himself, “I wonder who that person is under that costume? What are they like at the end of the day, when they take off their Mickey Mouse suit?” Instead of being who we really can be, we take on masks like the Good Little Girl, or we become the Black Sheep of the Family or the Rebel. Early on, we learn that if we are to be loved and cared for we’d better buckle under and be what is safe for us to be.  Prompt: Who or what is the character deep inside…