If you, or your fictional character, could learn a foreign language, what would it be and why? Or: Write about your experience with learning another language.
Tag: Writing freely. Just write. Writing Prompts. The Write Spot Blog.
What makes you smile? Prompt #537
What is the one thing that makes you smile every time you think about it or him/her/them? Every time you remember this, you smile. Every time.
Moving Day. Prompt #536
Moving Day. Write about a moving experience.
Is “Go Big or Go Home” Right for You?
Guest Blogger P.A. Cornell explores measuring success with writing . . . when can you call yourself a writer? Not so long ago I was speaking with someone about how much I’m enjoying being a short fiction writer. I was trying to convey all the great opportunities that short fiction can offer: variety in setting and characters, finding your voice, etc. They kept nodding, but I could tell my words weren’t really penetrating, and when I finished, they said, “Okay…but why think so small? You’re working on a novel, right? I mean, go big or go home is where it’s at!” Is it though? In our society we tend to equate success with tangible things like fame and income, and this does have some validity, but is this the right measure of success for all of us? When it comes to writing, there are some very specific…
Telling Your Truth
“Telling your truths—the difficult ones and the joyful ones and all the ones between—is a big part of what makes for good writing. It is also what brings you pleasure in the process of writing. Most people who create and tend a garden don’t spend time on their knees pulling weeds just for the perfect end result—the gorgeous display of flowers that others will exclaim over. They pore over gardening books, order bulbs, water a sickly shrub, arrange the flagstones to make a pleasing path, all because they enjoy the doing of it. So, too, it should be with your writing. You want to see your writing grow, to find your daily work absorbing, to discover you can do better on the page than you could three years ago. None of this will happen if you shy away from the truth. The rewards that you seek are the rewards that…
What energizes you? Prompt #531
What motivates you to get out of bed in the morning?What do you look forward to? What energizes you?
When I was in 7th grade . . . Prompt #528
When I was in the seventh grade . . . Fill in the rest . . . what happened when you were in seventh grade?
What have you been thinking about? Prompt #526
What have you been thinking about lately? I’ve been thinking about hair. The following is an excerpt from My Generation magazine, Sept-Oct 2001. “You can’t say hair without muttering a bitter, Ha! Hair is the Achilles’ heel atop our skulls: the curse of baldness, the pathos of the comb-over, the futility of the hairpiece. The double cross of auburn, chestnut, raven locks—your crowning glory—suddenly blanching the color of steel wool. Curly hair that won’t straighten, straight hair that won’t curl. The heartbreak of the impermanent wave, the bungled dye jobs, split ends, dandruff. Every head of hair in the civilized world is shackled to a monthly treadmill of maintenance, overhaul and gardening, hostage to the grooming industry and its literal clip joints. You could buy a new Ferrari with the money you shell out over a lifetime for the upkeep of that mat of third-rate fur.” Prompt: Hair Or: What…
I liked to . . . Prompt #525
Be the kid you once were. What did you like to do when you were 4 or 5 years old? Or 12 years old? Remember that time of joy or angst. Scroll back in your memory bank . . . . write about a memorable time from your childhood. Or write about something you liked to do over and over again. Prompt: I liked to . . . Or: I remember . . .
Mapping The Journey . . . Prompt #524
Stories are about characters desiring something and the things that prevent them from getting what they want. This is true for both fiction and memoir. Another word for desire is yearning, suggesting the deepest level of desire. Characters have problems and yearnings. Do they overcome them? What obstacles get in the way? Answering these questions results in story-telling. Writing Prompts as a guide, or a map, leading the way to telling the narrator’s story: Interview yourself or your fictional character, by answering these questions: How did you get started in your line of work? How did you become interested in your hobby? What did you desire at age 18? What did you desire at age 25? What do you desire now?