Readers want to see the action and feel emotions. Readers want to be transported into other worlds. In a way, we want magical things to happen when we read: to be carried away, transformed. Writers can achieve these seemingly wondrous events by using sensory detail in writing. When including sensory detail, think of body parts: eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and some add a sixth sense: mind. Verbs that describe the senses: see/sight, hear/sound/auditory, smell, taste, feel/touch, intuit. The sixth sense can be described as telepathy, intuition, perception, imagination. . . those traits that use the mind to create and understand. Some people believe the sixth sense is the ability to problem solve; using our minds to read and interpret signals, to pick up or sense energy. You can access any of these sensory details in your writers tool kit to create vivid and memorable writing. For the next few…
Tag: writing prompt
Awards . . . Prompt #174
You can write on this prompt from your point of view or from someone else’s point of view. You can also write as your fictional character would respond. Write about an award you have received. Perhaps a certificate, a leather/letter jacket in high school, lapel pins, crowns, diplomas, trophies. Is there an award you didn’t receive and thought you should have? Did your fictional character deserve an award and didn’t get it? How did he/she respond? Writing Prompt: Awards
One Year From Now . . . Prompt #173
Today’s writing prompt: One year from now . . Write whatever pops up for you. No thinking, no judging, no editor on shoulder . . . just write!
Baby shoes for sale. Never worn.
“Baby shoes for sale. Never worn.” Hemingway wrote this six-word tale that has become the ultimate short, short-story. The reader can fill in the blanks. I wonder how many variations of a theme these few words have inspired. Grant Faulkner honed his skills to write short, 100-word essays and writes in the August 2015 issue of The Writer magazine: “A flash writer has to paint characters in deft brushstrokes, with the keenest of images in such limited space. Shorts require immediacy; they’re a flicker of light in the darkness, a prick, a thunderclap . . . Paring down my writing and focusing on what goes unsaid and unexplained help me build suspense.” Faulkner says, about Hemingway’s six-word story, “The story moves by implication– the empty space around those few words invite the reader to fill them, transforming the reader into a co-author.” If this type of writing appeals to you,…
More random words Prompt #173
What can you write, using these words: whisper, eternity, soar, frantic, thousand, chain, live, lie Post your freewrite on The Write Spot Blog.
Favorite summer activity. Prompt #172
What is your favorite summer activity? You can write about what you like to do now or a favorite activity when you were younger. If you are writing fiction, what does your fictional character like to do in the summer? Writing Prompt: Favorite thing to do in the summer.
How to write without adding trauma.
This week we’ll discuss how to write the hard stuff without experiencing trauma while you write. Notes and guidelines Whenever a writing prompt is suggested, feel free to write whatever you want. You never have to stay with the prompt. Don’t stop and think, just follow your mind and write wherever it takes you. What’s on your mind is more important than the suggested prompt. Keep writing, don’t cross out, don’t erase, don’t stop and think . . . keep your pen moving. If you get stuck: Rewrite the prompt. Literally, write the prompt and see where that takes you. Or write, “What I really want to say.” And go from there. If you don’t like where you’re going, start over. Start over by rewriting the prompt. Or just start writing about something different. When we have an emotional situation, we tend to replay it in our minds. Perhaps we…
What I like and don’t like . . . Prompt #169
I facilitate writing workshops in Petaluma, CA called Jumpstart. We use prompts to spark our imagination. For this type of free-writing, you can respond from your personal experience or from someone else’s personal experience. You can write as your fictional character would respond to the prompt. You can use these prompts to get deeper into your fictional character’s mind. The idea for this prompt is inspired by the poem, “What I Like and Don’t Like,” by Philip Schultz.
Freedom . . . Prompt #166
You can use the prompts on The Write Spot Blog to write about your personal experiences, or experiences that others have had, or to write fiction. If you are working with a fictional character, respond to the prompt as your fictional character would. Don’t have a fictional character? Maybe now is the time to create one. You can take actual events from your life and fictionalize them. Your fictional character could be based on an actual person, or a combination of many people. Today’s Writing Prompt: FREEDOM
Have you been wanting to write?
Have you been wanting to write? Perhaps this is the summer for your writing. How about this. . . let’s all (me, too) take the month of July to write 15-20 minutes a day. If you have more time, write longer. But let’s commit to a minimum of 15-20 minutes every day. What to write about? Whatever is on your mind. Need some ideas . . . some prompts to get started? Click on Prompts . . . Choose a prompt. Set your timer and Just Write! Ready? Set? Let’s go. Photo by Kent Sorensen