Write about a time you were late.
Write about something it’s too late for.
Something you wish you would have said, but now it’s too late.
Something you wish you would have done, but now it’s too late.
Or is it?
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The Last Waltz
The Last Waltz
By Kathy Guthormsen
There’s nothing quite like waltzing through the kitchen with a refrigerator and a mop, sweeping and gliding through pooling water to get your heart pumping in the morning.
The refrigerator had been sick. First came a fever that caused all the food – and it was full of food because the kids were visiting – to thaw and warm. Then it exhaled and released the freon from its pipes. That was last week, before the fridge doctor came to try to revive it. This morning, it gasped its last breath, lost control of its plumbing and poured water onto the floor. Hence the waltz.
I summoned my inner Wonder Woman and wrestled the thing out of its cubby. It did not want to move from its bed, but I wasn’t going to take NO for an answer. I managed to turn off the water before grabbing an armful of towels and the mop and asking the fridge to dance. We sloshed and twirled and I mopped and wiped. Now, the forlorn and lifeless fridge is sitting in the middle of the kitchen waiting for the appliance morgue van to take it away.
I hadn’t even had my second cup of coffee yet.
A new fridge is coming this afternoon.
Growing up in Skagit Valley, Washington with its verdant farmland gave Kathy Guthormsen an appreciation for the promise and beauty of nature’s bounty. The Cascade and Olympic mountain ranges and old growth forests offered the magic of things unseen and fostered her fertile imagination.
Kathy’s writing has been published several times on The Write Spot Blog and in four The Write Spot anthologies.
Her Halloween story, “Come, Calls the Demon” won first place in the Petaluma Argus Courier’s Halloween Story Contest in October2020.
Her book, The Story of Jazz and Vihar, is available from your local bookseller.
When she isn’t writing, Kathy volunteers at the Bird Rescue Center in Santa Rosa, California, working with and presenting resident raptors as part of their education and outreach program. Walking around with a hawk or an owl on her fist is one of her favorite pastimes.
Kathy lives in northern California with her husband, one psychotic cat, a small flock of demanding chickens, and a pond full of peaceful koi. She maintains a blog, Kathy G. Space, where she occasionally posts essays, short stories, and fairy tales.
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On my next birthday . . . Prompt #862
On my next birthday, I will be (___) years old.
It’s a big deal, because . . .
It’s not a big deal, because . . .
If neither money nor health/mobility were issues, here’s how I would celebrate my birthday . . .
At my age, my parents . . . . or my grandparents . . .
Just Write!
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Hero’s or Heroine’s Journey . . . Prompt #861
Brief definition: A hero or heroine goes on an adventure, is victorious, and is transformed.
This can be fiction or memoir.
Examples:
Dorothy in Wizard of Oz
Kerrin in Amoran, recently published by Debra Koehler
If you were to write a story of your life, or a real person’s life, or your fictional character life as a hero’s or heroine’s journey, what would the lowlights be?
The highlights?
What obstacle did you or your character overcome?
Write a scene where there is a conflict: Someone wants something. There is an obstacle.
Does the character get what they want?
Prompt: Write a scene involving a conflict or overcoming an obstacle.
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Walk In Your Character’s Shoes . . . Prompt #860
Writing Prompt: Use a situation from real life.
Or: Make up something that could have happened with either a real person or a fictional character.
Prepare to write:
Get into the head of the character, real or fictional, that you want to write about. This could be a younger version of yourself.
See that character.
Notice their skin. Is it youthful? Smooth? Wrinkly? Sagging?
Notice their hair: Color, style, neat, messy
Look into their eyes, notice the main color, the subtle colors. Do their eyes look tired? Energetic? Hopeful? Hopeless?
How do they sound? Clear voice? Raspy? Slow talker? Fast talker?
What type of personality are they?
Usually happy?
Cheerful?
Grumpy?
Modest?
Full of themselves?
How does that person walk?
How do they move?
Become that person, that character. It could be a younger you.
Walk around as if you are the person you are going to write about.
Pantomime an action, or activity, the character might do.
Fully embody that person.
Walk around for about 3 minutes.
As you walk, imagine you are the character you have in mind.
Feel that character in your body.
After walking, write about what you just experienced.
Then, write a conversation or an interaction from real life or imagination, with the character you just inhabited.
Possible sentence starts:
You always . . .
I hate it when you . . .
I love when you . . .Why didn’t you . . .
Remember when . . .
I thought . . . and then I learned . . .
In my mind, the trouble started when . . .
This exercise was inspired by author and writing teacher B. Lynn Goodwin.
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A December Memory . . . Prompt #859
Writing Prompt:
Write a December memory.
#justwrite #iamawriter #iamwriting
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Hard to do . . . Prompt #857
Prompt 1
Make a list of things that are hard for you to do.
Prompt 2
Write about one of those things that are hard, and yet you do it anyway.
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Your Path to Success
Excerpt from an excellent post by Dan Blank:
“As a writer, it can be difficult to find a clear path that leads you to your goals.” “One of my biggest concerns is that someone has a vision for what they want to write and create, and they justify giving it up. That it’s too hard to publish, so they don’t. That they receive too many rejections, so they give up. That they read marketing is impossible nowadays, so they stop trying.” You don’t have to struggle alone. Dan Blank has answers. “We struggle alone. We succeed together.” The Creative Shift by Dan Blank, November 7, 2025 -
As writers, we’re often . . .
“As writers, we’re often trained to seek momentum—significant events, turning moments, the big emotional payoff. Especially in memoir, there’s pressure to magnify the trauma or spin a grand arc of triumph. But when I sat down to write, what called to me weren’t the headlines. It was the folds in between.” — Mary Monoky, “What Stillness Taught Me About Story,” August 6, 2025, The Brevity Blog
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Misconception . . . Prompt #856
Write about something someone thinks about you, but it’s not true.
A misconception.
Just Write!