The best way to respond to a writing prompt is to just write. You can set a timer for 12 or 15 minutes. Twenty minutes, if you have that much time to write. The length of time isn’t important. The important part is to let go of your inhibitions, your fears and your worries. Just write. Today’s writing prompt: No matter how hard I tried . . .
Tag: The Write Spot Blog
The thing that bugged me . . . Prompt #315
Today’s Prompt: The thing that bugged me. Set your timer for 15 minutes. Write whatever comes up for you. Just write!
Use emotions in your writing.
“Readers covet an emotional experience above all else. When you write scenes, use all the methods you can to help your readers feel the emotions you want them to have—sadness, anger, confusion, mistrust, love, lust, envy, greed and so on. If you want readers to hate your character, show him being despicable to someone who doesn’t deserve his wrath or to someone he supposedly loves. The more you draw readers in to the emotional experience, the more they will engage, and the more likely they’ll want to read your next book.” Excerpted from the September 2016 issue of Writer’s Digest magazine There are over 300 prompts on The Write Spot Blog. Choose one and practice incorporating emotions in your writing. For example: Physical gestures can reveal emotions . . . Prompt # 211 Just write!
Best or favorite gift, or . . . ??? Prompt #310
There are tacky gifts, insulting gifts, selfish gifts the giver secretly wants, cheap gifts and re-gifted gifts. But some gifts are transcendent. Have you ever received such a perfect gift? One that amazed you with its imagination? Perhaps it was a gift that completely touched your heart, changed your life, or opened a new world. Maybe it was a gift so dear you held on to it for a lifetime. What was it and why was it so special to you? Prompt: Your best gift or your all-time favorite gift.
Create a vignette. Prompt #308
Many of us have vignettes, little stories of things that happened, that we could write about: Events or situations that enlightened, inspired, or changed us. All are memorable and could be written. But why? Why should you write these stories? “All humans understand and use story on an intuitive level. It’s our most effective teaching tool. It’s how we understand our world, ourselves and each other. It’s how we make and deepen our connections. It’s how we draw meaning from experience.” — Deb Norton, “Story Structure, Simplified,” WritersDigest, February 2017 What if there was a recipe for this type of writing like there is for voodoo doughnuts? “Learning when to throw the flour, proper handling of a rolling pin, the intricacies of an old fashion, the ‘flip,’ and countless other tricks of the trade were now in the hands, minds, and notebooks of Cat Daddy and Tres.” Voodoo Doughnut Recipe…
Figuring out the important thing
“Writing essays is like therapy because you’re figuring out: What was the important thing in that incident? ” — Etgar Keret Keret, an “acclaimed Israeli writer . . . known for his unique and distinctive writing style” began writing essays after the birth of his son. “. . . because I’m sensitive about family issues. . . It never stops me from writing it, but it might stop me from publishing it.” He wrote personal essays to “have a literary tombstone” for his father. He is able to create work that is “moving and deeply affecting in only a few pages.” Excerpted from the February 2017 issue of The Writer magazine. Your turn: No pressure to write the next great American novel, just write what you know, what you experience. Write about your trip to the grocery store where you observed an act of kindness or had a weird encounter….
Despair and broken promises. Prompt #306
You might know that I facilitate Jumpstart writing workshops. One day, a participant read her freewrite which contained the phrase, “Despair and broken promises.” I immediately thought that would make a great writing prompt. What do you think? And that reminds me, during this season of many deaths, if you need to write a condolence note and are stymied about what to write, take a look at “The Condolence Note – What to Write.” You might get some ideas. Today’s writing prompt: Despair and broken promises. Post your writing on The Write Spot Blog and I’ll offer commentary . . . always positive.
Nostalgia and writing
When responding to a writing prompt, you are completely free to write the absolute truth, with no worries about what anyone will think. You are also free to write fiction. You have the freedom to write whatever you want . . . these writings are called freewrites. There are over 300 prompts on The Write Spot Blog. You can choose one at any time and just write. Sometimes our writing takes us to memories from our childhood, a very powerful place that is important and so intoxicating. From Writers Dreaming, by Naomi Epel, chapter by James W. Hall: “One of the things that I’ve discovered through reading a lot of best-sellers, studying a lot of popular fiction for courses that I’ve given at the university, is that there are certain recurrent, mythic qualities in books that we could consider, from an elitist academic viewpoint, to be pulp or low-life, mass-market…
What do you cherish? Prompt #303
Today’s Writing Prompt: What do you cherish?
Difficult Time Part 1 Prompt # 298
Write about a difficult time . . . something that happened to you or something you witnessed that made your stomach churn. Perhaps a crisis, or an argument, a disagreement. Write about an event that got you hot under the collar. Write as if you were a reporter narrating the facts. This happened and then that happened. See your story and tell it. How to write without adding trauma.