You can use photos as writing prompts. Choose one of your photos, or a photo you remember and write about it. First, look at the photo (if you can). Write all the details that you see. Write about what happened before and after the photo was taken. Write about your feelings connected with this photo. Photos might remind you about activities, important occasions and details that you may have forgotten. Did Great-grandpa always wear a hat? What was his first car? Where did he work? Siblings. What did Grandma think as her son went off to war? What did his sisters think? Did they send him off with special remembrances from home? Did they listen to every radio broadcast about the war? Did they watch events play out on television? Are there any letters from that era? Grandma’s graduation day photo doesn’t look like today’s graduation photos. What were Grandma’s plans…
Tag: just write
Something good that came from . . . Prompt #205
Today’s writing prompt: Something good that came from something bad. Set your timer for 15-20 minutes. Write. Don’t think. Just write. Okay, you might have to think a little before writing on this prompt. Once you choose a topic. . . then . . . write without thinking. No editing, no censoring. You can destroy your writing later, if you want. For now . . . just write.
What challenged you as a . . . Prompt #203
Today’s writing prompt: What challenged you as a fifteen-year-old? When the prompt is a number or an age, you can adjust to whatever calls to you. For example, with this prompt you can write about what was challenging when you were thirteen, or fourteen, or sixteen. The exact age doesn’t matter. I chose fifteen because that is a pivotal year for some people. Marlene, Tonga Room, Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco, Junior Prom, 1965.
How to be a better writer
Many of us want to learn how to be better writers. The answer is very simple: WRITE. Write some more. Keep writing. It’s true! The more you write, the better writer you will become. Here are some things you can do to improve your writing. READ. Read whatever you like to read. Read the genre you are writing in. Read other genres. BE SPECIFIC. ’57 Bel Air Chevy, not car. Sycamore, not tree. Foxtrot, not dance. USE STRONG VERBS. Keep a list of strong verbs in your writer’s toolbox for easy reference. Resources for strong verbs Thesaurus in any format: Paper, on your computer, internet. Books: Vex, Hex, Smash, Smooch: Let Verbs Power Your Writing by Constance Hale. Strong Verbs Strong Voice by Ann Everett Websites: Tip Sheet Using Strong Verbs and Writing Tips: Use Active, Precise Verbs WRITING MAGAZINES often have article to improve writing: Writer’s Digest, The Writer,…
What’s under your bed? Prompt #202
Today’s prompt: Write about the monsters under your bed. Oh, you don’t have any monsters under your bed? Well then, what’s in your closet?
Scary movie . . . Prompt #198
Today’s Write Spot Blog prompt: Write about a movie that scared the bejeebers out of you. If you are writing fiction, what movie frightened your fictional character? There are lots of writing prompts on The Write Spot Blog, 198 to be exact. Choose one and just write!
An apology. . . Prompt #197
Who do you want — or need — to apologize to? Or maybe it’s a “thing” you need — or want — to apologize about. Write an apology note, something you never need to send nor give to anyone. Write it for yourself, to cleanse your palate, to lift the burden from your shoulders, to start from a new beginning. Prompt: Write a note of apology.
Guest Blogger Pat Tyler: About writing, a writer, and freewrite workshops
Guest Blogger Pat Tyler: About writing, a writer, and freewriting workshops For me, writing is like a shot in the arm. When I write alone, my mind becomes infused with new ideas. When I write with others, I’m included in a circle of writers who inspire me, enlighten me, challenge me, beckon me to take up the gauntlet, put on the gloves, step away from the ropes, dance my strategic dance of words, and punch my critic until he stays down at the count of ten, knocked out by my knuckle-punch of powerful, gutsy words. In recent years I became interested in publishing, but I soon learned that it’s not publishing that makes a writer – it’s writing that makes a writer. It may sound over-simplified, but I know this for sure: it’s the physical act of placing pen to paper and refusing to remove it until blood seeps from…
Something borrowed or loaned. Prompt #196
Write about something you have borrowed or loaned. Photos of bicycle and mallet by Jeff Cullen. (Click on Jeff Cullen to see his Fotolio photos)
Winner! Winner! Chicken Dinner. Prompt #195
Writing Prompt: Tell about an award or a prize you won. You can write about what really happened, or write as if your fictional character won a prize.