Write about your childhood bedroom.
Tag: freewrites
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That’s puzzling! Prompt #141
Today’s prompt: A piece of the puzzle.
Write whatever comes up for you!Save in a word document. Post on The Write Spot Blog. Let’s see what you come up with for this prompt. Just Write!
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What? Prompt #140
Fill in the blank, then keep writing: WHAT?
What the __________?
What is ___________?
What is the ________?
What if ___________?
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My tribe. Prompt #138
Today’s writing prompt is inspired from Your Mythic Journey by Sam Keen and Anne Valley-Fox.
“Pre-modern people didn’t think of themselves as individuals — they were members of a tribe as well as of a family. Ancient philosophers knew that human dignity begins with ‘We are a people, therefore I am.’ Modern people are tribal too but we call our tribes by different names — churches, corporations, states, nations. Each of us was nurtured within and shaped by several corporate bodies, voluntary organizations and professional corporations that molded our values and behavior — schools, athletic teams businesses, clubs, temples, and local, national, and international governments.”Prompt: I am from . . .
Note from Marlene: You can write from your personal experience, or write from your fiction character’s point of view. You may have written on this prompt previously. It’s a good one that can be used repeatedly, new things may come up, or clarification about an event may surprise you. Remember: Just write, no editing as you write, no judging, no critiquing. Just write!
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Things that are meaningful to you . . . Prompt #136
Write whatever comes up for you. No judging, no criticizing yourself!
Have fun with this prompt! Let yourself go. Be silly. Be creative. Be humorous. Be serious. Just write!Make a list of things that are meaningful to you, starting with the letter “A” . . . then go through the alphabet to the letter z. Write one sentence, or a few words, why this is meaningful to you. For example:
A – A deck of cards – playing gin rummy and hearts
B – Balloon game in the old living room
C – Crafts – glitter glue, making things with the kids
continue to the end of the alphabet
W – Wizard puppet
X – X-rays that saved my life
Y – “Y” always reminds of watching the Micky Mouse Club. “Why? Because we like you!”
Z – Zebra in orthodontist’s office
~ Now you have a list of things you can write about! Anytime you want to write and need an idea, look at your list and Just Write!
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Failure is necessary to find “wondrous and magical moments”
“A rough draft is inherently an experiment, or, rather, a series of experiments. each novel, each piece of writing, is a new thing with different possibilities that demand to be explored. Many of these experiments will fail, but failure is necessary to find those wondrous and magical moments of success.” — “More Ideas Faster, Writing With Abandon” by Grant Faulkner, Jan/Feb 215 Poets & Writers magazine.
Grant Faulkner is: Executive Director of National Novel Writing Month, co-founder of 100 Word Story, writer, tap dancer, alchemist, contortionist, numbskull, preacher. Click here to read more about Grant Faulkner.Note from Marlene: Click here for ideas of what to write about. Choose a writing prompt, set your timer for 12-15 minutes and Just Write!
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Own up to it. Prompt #135
Write about a time you swallowed your pride and admitted to something you did that you regret. . . or a time you wish you had spoken up.You did it, now feel free to own up to it. . . . you don’t have to actually tell anyone what you did or didn’t do . . . just write about it here and now.
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Special object to give. Prompt #134
Walk through your house, apartment, garage, barn . . . look at your knick-knacks, trinkets, souvenirs, keepsakes, treasures. . . pick one item to pass on to someone, perhaps a grandchild, or great-grandchild, or a beloved friend. Write about a special object you want to give to someone in the future.You can respond to this prompt as your fictional character would respond, or write as if you are going to give this item to someone.
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Roseanne Cash—feeling alive when immersed in her work
” . . . [my] profession, like anyone’s, requires constant innovation if it is to remain fresh. I feel alive when I’m immersed in my work—when I’m fully employed, as Leonard Cohen says, as a songwriter, ‘You have to keep cracking yourself open or you become a parody of yourself. ‘” —Roseanne Cash in an interview by Geoffrey Himes, “The Long Way Home, Smithsonian, November 2014
Note from Marlene: How about you? What keeps you immersed in your work? If your writing has hit the doldrums, how about mixing it up? If you usually write memoir, try fiction. If you are a fiction writer, try poetry. If you want ideas for freewrites, click here for writing prompts.
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Character development – discovering characters. Prompt #132
For this two-part prompt, we’re going to develop a character, either fictional or based on reality (especially if you are writing memoir).
How do writers develop characters? How do you get to know your character beyond their looks, their desires and where they went to school?
Step One: Give your character a hobby or an interesting job. The more unusual, the better. Bee-keeping? Needlepoint for a man. Bucking horses, art aficionado, chemist, skywriter, laundromat manager, tornado chaser. You can look up unusual jobs that pay well by clicking here, such as: Cruise ship entertainer, ice cream taster, human statue, hot dog vender, dog groomer, personal shopper, funeral director.
Sketch how your character might spend an hour of their work day, or hobby time: gathering honey, purchase yarn and patterns, ranch and corrals, visits to art galleries and museums, mixing potions in the basement. You might paint a picture what an hour of their job looks like: what do they see, who do they interact with, what do they think while working.
Spend some time with this before going to the next step.
Step Two: Interview your character as a journalist would. Stymied? Look at interviews in magazines, newspaper articles or look online and see what others have done.
You can interview your character from Prompt #131, or create a new character.
We’ll continue with character development with the next prompt.
Skywriting photo by Breana Marie