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National Day of . . . Prompt #361
Imagine a conversation between two people of different backgrounds talking about March 13, National Day of . . .Explain National Day [choose one from the list below] as if these two people were talking in person, over the phone, or via emails. They could be friends. Or perhaps they have never met in person.
Look for the twist in red below.
National Elephant Day – Thailand
Coconut Torte Day – Australia
National Good Samaritan Day – United States. A day for unselfish actions to help those in need and to celebrate kindness.
National Earmuff Day – United States, in honor of the 1873 invention of earmuffs. At the age of fifteen, Chester Greenwood of Farmington, Maine was credited for inventing the winter wear out of necessity—his ears were cold.
National K9 Veterans Day – United States
A lot of things changed after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. Oil, leather and rubber were rationed. Men were drafted. Women rolled up their sleeves and built war supplies. And dogs were called to duty. During the first World War, the United States took notice of the European use of canines as sentries, message carriers and several other functions.
National Open an Umbrella Indoors Day There is a superstition that opening umbrellas indoors will bring bad luck. National Open an Umbrella Indoors Day encourages you to do just that and note if you have any bad luck.
Here’s the twist: Use foreign phrases in your writing, such as:
Amber fluid = beer
Ankle biter = small child
Bikkie = biscuit (also “it cost big bikkies” – it was expensive)
Billy = teapot
Bonnet = car hood
Boot = car trunk
Brolly = umbrella
Cooker = stove
Drink with the flies = to drink alone
Dummy = pacifier
Holiday = vacation
Jumper = sweater
Lift = elevator
Mobile = cell phone
Nappy = diaper
Nick = steal
Ring = call
Rubber = eraser
Tap = faucet
Trainers = sneakers
Ready! Set! Just Write!
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Childhood ritual when you were sick. Prompt #359
Write about a childhood ritual when you were sick. If there were no childhood rituals when sick, what would you have liked to happen? How would you have wanted to be treated when sick as a child?
Or write about a time you were sick.Or write about any ritual from your childhood.
You can write about what really happened, or make something up.
You can answer from your fictional character’s point of view.
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Your First Job . . . Prompt #358
Write about your first job, or a job you had as a teenager.
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A time you felt free to be you . . . Prompt #355
Write about a time you had no worries . . .
a play-filled time . . .
a time you felt free to be you.
Does this scene look familiar? You know where it’s from if you’ve been to Maria’s Out West Garage in Petaluma, California.
Hi, Maria. 🙂
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Wrong Number . . . Prompt #354
Today’s writing prompt:
Wrong Number.
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If you could invent something . . . Prompt #353
If you could invent something to make your life easier, what would it be?
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Favorite time of year. Prompt #351
Spring. Summer. Autumn. Winter.
In-between seasons.
Write about your favorite time of year.
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“At the Ice Rink” by Alison Luterman . . . Prompt #349
Today’s writing prompt is a poem by Alison Luterman. When the prompt is a poem, you can write on the theme or the mood of the poem. Or use a stanza, a line, or a word to inspire your writing. Just Write!
At the Ice Rink
I came here to fail
and to fall
but not so well
as that man careening over the ice
sliding into the wall
as if into second base
shambling up, grinning, like a great bear,
and taking off again,saying, over his shoulder,
“You’ve got it backwards.
Learn to fall first,
then skate.”I end up clinging
barnacle-like to the sides,
inching around the perimeter like a caterpillar.
Wall-hugger. Nothing has changed since I was eight
and my parents paid for skating lessons
in hopes I would become more balanced.Now as then I am wobbling, terrified,
feet frozen like blocks of wood at the ankles.
Not loose-limbed and easy like Hilary
who rides the ice like a North wind scouring the plains,
nor deft and graceful like Ruth
picking up her feet and kick-gliding
in time to the ’70’s pop muzak.But what can we do
when fear throws its rustiest pickaxe
dead ahead in our path?Mince. Inch. Stumble. Pray
for the grace to fall
and not be rescued, pray for the scramble-upfor the liberating laughter that knowsit is not in our control.
There is the center, gleaming like a fish-eye.
Little girls spin on it, twirling their bright skirts.
It shines under its white scars like a destiny.—Alison Luterman As a child, I used to creep onto the stairs when my parents had guests over and eavesdrop on the grown-ups. A creak of the stairs would invariably give away my position and I’d be chased back to bed, only to reappear at the next opportunity, hiding and listening. I wanted to be where the interesting conversations were happening. I still want that. Only now the conversations happen all over the country, all over the world, with friends, friends of friends, and complete strangers. Our stories rub up against each other and expand and change in ways I could never have imagined when I was young, and they now include rocks, weeds, fruit trees, cats, stars, and myths from all over the world, as well as all kinds of people.
