Fill in the blank, then keep writing: WHAT? What the __________? What is ___________? What is the ________? What if ___________?
Tag: The Write Spot Blog
The Healing Power of Images Prompt #139
Today’s prompt is inspired from Poetic Medicine by John Fox, “The Healing Power of Images.” “A morning glory at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of books” — Walt Whitman “Images are drawn from sensory experience and help us to feel what the writer or speaker is communicating. Whitman is more satisfied by the morning glory because it is real and alive, it communicates something to him about reality that is particular, clean and unmistakable. Images offer us direct experience. They can show themselves to us through any of the senses.” Think about the house you grew up in, or where you spent most of your childhood. Or, if you want to write from your fictional character’s point of view. . . picture a place where the protagonist spends a lot of time. Now, think about routes you routinely took . . . to school. . . or…
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…
The Past – from different perspectives.
The following is inspired by Your Mythic Journey by Sam Keen and Anne Valley-Fox. Chapter 4, “The Past” It’s Still Happening. “We love the present tense. Be here now. Yesterday is gone and best forgotten: our tradition is to have no tradition. We aren’t Europeans buried in ancient tombs and cathedrals and medieval ruins. We were born yesterday and we will be young forever. Over thirty is over the bridge. Age embarrasses us; remembrance is a function of senility. We exile the aged to Sun City leper colonies so they won’t impair our illusion of endless summer. But history is not so easily dismissed. Repressed memories, national or personal won’t stay down. To be alive is to have a past. Our only choice is whether we will repress or re-create the past. Childhood may be distant, but it is never quite lost; as full-grown men and women we carry tiny…
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…
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!
What does your character want? What gets in the way? Prompt #133
We’ve been working on character development on The Write Spot Blog. Your character could be fictional, based on a real person or someone in your memoir. Kurt Vonnegut says to “make your character want something.” There are several ways to go about this. Have your character do something unexpected . . . something that surprises everyone and weave in a problem. You can put your conservative character in an improv situation where he/she has to rap or act in a scene. Your male character might find himself on stage, learning how to hula or belly dance. Your female character might find herself in a lumberjack contest. Have your wild character volunteer to help with bingo in an assisted facility. Have your character do something unusual. Remember these are freewrites, where you write freely for 12 to 15 minutes. This doesn’t mean you have to use these character vignettes in your…
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…
Flesh out your characters. Prompt #131
You can use this prompt for fleshing out your fictional characters or for characters in your memoir. In works of fiction, we think of characters. When writing memoir, we think real people. But, when you write about real people, they become characters in a story. With this prompt, you can create character profiles for the real people in your life and for your fictional characters. Prompt: Make a three-column list. Label the first column “What I know,” the second, “How I know it” and the third, “How I show it.” First column – create a list with one or two-word descriptions about the character. Second column – write down how you know the particular characteristics. For example, if the person is known to be cheap, in column 2, you could write, “brings own teabags to restaurants.” Or, “carefully saves paper bags for lunch, been using the same bag for six…
Guest Blogger Clara Rosemarda – writing with depth and clarity
Guest Blogger Clara Rosemarda reveals how to write with depth and clarity. Clara writes: Many years ago I took voice lessons from a master teacher. He worked with people who believed they were tone deaf. I was one of those people. My voice seemed flat as the ground I walked on, and I was too embarrassed to sing unless I was in a group large enough to swallow the sound of my voice. My teacher, robust and powerful, sat opposite me on the floor of his music studio. With full-bodied fingers born to make music he plucked the strings of his tambura going up and down the scale. Then he sounded a note and had me repeat it. At first I couldn’t reproduce the exact sound, but after a few tries and great concentration, I was able to. He told me I had a good voice which was a surprise…