Have fun with clichés . . . Prompt #690

  • Have fun with clichés . . . Prompt #690

    Let’s play with clichés.

    It goes like this:

    I’ll write some clichés with missing words.

    You get to fill in the missing words. It’s sort of like Mad Libs.

    For example:

    More than one way to skin a cat becomes: More than one way to [verb] a [noun].

    Ready? There are no wrong answers!

    1. It’s [verb ending in “ing”] [noun] and [noun]
    2. You can’t [verb] a [noun] by its [noun]
    3. The [noun] [verb] always [adjective or noun] on the other [noun]
    4. [Verb] your [noun] right
    5. It’s an uphill [noun]
    6. [Verb] between the [plural noun]
    7. A [noun] is only as [verb] as its weakest [noun]
    8. A [noun] and his [noun] are soon [verb, past tense]
    9. A [noun] of a different [noun]
    10.  A [noun] of a [number] [verb] begins with the first [verb]

    Whatever responses you came up are fine. Can you use any of your re-imagined cliches in your writing?

    Clichés used:

    1. It’s raining cats and dogs
    2. You can’t judge a book by its cover
    3. The grass is always greener on the other side
    4. Play your cards right
    5. It’s an uphill battle
    6. Read between the lines
    7. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link
    8. A fool and his money are soon parted
    9. a horse of a different color
    10. A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step

    Definition of cliché

    A cliché is a tired, stale phrase or idiom that, because of overuse, has lost its impact. What was once a fresh way of looking at something has become a weak prop for writing that feels unimaginative and dull. Clichés are what you write when you don’t have the energy or inspiration to think of a new way to express an idea.

    More clichés. (scroll down)

    Prompt inspired from the Sept/Oct 2022 issue of Poets & Writers magazine.

    Marlene C

  • The Stories We Tell

    “Jo [Gaines] shares how the process of writing her new book led her to see more clearly the fullness of her story: Every piece, worthy. Every chapter, a bridge. Every moment that shaped her, brought to the surface.” Winter 2022, Magnolia magazine

    “I ended up discovering a lot in my story: clarity, healing, deeper truths I didn’t know I could get to. But mostly, these pages brought me back to myself, back to those tender little moments I thought I’d lost. In writing down my story, I had the chance to relive some of the very best chapters of my life.” —Joanna Gaines, Winter 2022 issue of Magnolia magazine.

    Your turn: Books like Joanna’s as well as The Write Spot books might help you write your stories, and like Jo, you might find clarity and healing, remembering what you have forgotten.

    “The Stories We Tell: Every Piece of Your Story Matters” by Joanna Gaines and all The Write Spot books are available from your local bookseller and from Amazon.

    Marlene C

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  • 50-Word Stories

    “A 50-word story is a piece of fiction written in exactly 50 words. That doesn’t mean ‘roughly’ 50 words; it doesn’t mean ‘as close to 50 words as possible’; it doesn’t mean 50 words or fewer. It means exactly 50 words.

    As with any other form of fiction, a 50-word story should have a beginning and an end, a plot and character development (even if they are only implied), and a theme, meaning, or purpose of some sort. Many 50-word stories are built around twists or climactic moments.

    50WS posts two reader-submitted stories every weekday. To submit your stories for possible publication, see the Submissions page.”

    Marlene C

  • Print Dreams

    Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page.

    Print Dreams

    By DSBriggs

    Back in the day when I was a teen, I wanted to be a writer. I picked out my pen name, Kelly Brione.

    I began to dress as a writer. My image, based on a Stanford University guide, was to dress in black tights, a gray skirt, and a pink fluffy sweater over a black leotard.

    I had plans to write the Great American Novel, even though I did not have a clue how to do that. 

    I talked enough about being a writer that my Dad purchased a Smith-Corona portable typewriter for me. It had Elite type rather than the larger Pica type. Elite was the size of type that newspapers used for writing news stories in columns.

    I dreamed about being a columnist like Herb Caen or Erma Bombeck. 

    One thing about writing is that I have always loved libraries.

    Back in the day when libraries were stocked with books and magazines, tables and chairs for studying space and enforced quiet. So different today, with cases of CDs, DVDs, media, and computers in place of  drawers filled with index cards that let you finger thru author, title or subject cards.

    There are, of course, still books, but stacked in tall narrow aisles. So narrow in fact that a person with a backpack cannot turn around. If two people are in the aisle, one has to back up so the other may squeeze by. 

    Back in the day when aisles were wider, a girl could sit on the floor and read a chapter or two before deciding whether to check the book out. The library limit was two books and two weeks before it was overdue.  

    Back in the days of my late teens I had a summer internship at the local paper that published only on Wednesdays. I got to write features. That was really fun and some were even published. 

    However, when the Sports Reporter was sent to Alaska to cover our hometown’s quest for the Little League World Championship,  I was assigned to cover the local sports desk. I never had to go to a game but would wait for the scores to be phoned in to write up before midnight deadline.

    What I remember most was struggling to come up with forty different ways to say beaten or defeated. That was probably the most colorful coverage of weekly scores the readers ever had. Despite having been published, I was not offered a job at the end of my internship.

    So in the fall I went onto college to start my major in Journalism. The required English classes killed my interest in writing. I was not interested in why a comma was placed where it was. Line by line analysis of Cotton Mathers’ 17th century sermons extinguished my dream of becoming a writer.

    So I switched to Social Science, a major for people who didn’t know what they wanted when their dream became a nightmare.

    I stopped writing. 

    As a side note, I recovered my  love of writing.

    DSBriggs began writing again by journaling. It was, however, Marlene Cullen’s introduction to prompt writing thru Jumpstart that reignited DSBriggs love of writing just for the sake of writing.

    Dreams of being published were realized when her work was included in The Write Spot Anthologies: Discoveries, Possibilities and Path To Healing.

    DSBriggs still lives near a library in Northern California. 

    Marlene C

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  • Connecting The Dots . . . Prompt #689

    In works of fiction, we think of “characters.”

    When writing memoir, we think “real people.”

    Let’s experiment with writing about real people as if they were characters in fiction.

    Think of someone you know that you would like to spend some time writing about.

    You can also do this for your fiction characters, if you are working on a fiction project.

    Make a three-column list.

    Column 1 What I know

    Column 2 How I know it

    Column 3 How to show it

    Column 1 Write one or two-word descriptions about someone.

    Column 2 How you know these characteristics.

    For example, if the person is described as cheap, you might write, “contributes only $20, no matter his actual share, at a group dinner.”

    Column 3 Jot down short notes on how you might show these characteristics

    In the case of the cheap friend, “brings his teabag to use at restaurants.”

    Connecting The Dots

    How is this character, or how are these details, connected to you?

    These connections are what make life meaningful and make your stories interesting.

    These stories can also be about never connecting or missed connections.

    Idea excerpted from  The Writer magazine, June 2005,  “Frank Talk About Writing Your Memoir,” by Sol Stein

    #justwrite #amwriting #iamawriter

    Marlene C

  • Invention . . . Prompt #688

    a close up shot of a green paper clip
    Photo by Kindel Media on Pexels.com

    Write about an invention that fascinates you.

    #justwrite #amwriting #iamawriter

    Marlene C

  • At this stage . . . Prompt #686

    What is important at this stage of your life?

    #justwrite #iamwriting #iamawriter

    Marlene C

  • I wish I had . . . I wish I could . . . Prompt #687

    Today’s writing prompt has three parts.

    ~ I wish I had . . . write for 7 minutes

    ~ I wish I could . . . write for 7 minutes

    ~ Write as if you had accomplished what you wish you had or wish you could. What would that look like?

    Marlene C

  • Memorable . . . Prompt #684

    Think about something you read recently.

    It could be a book, a poem, an article, a letter . . . something you read and remember.

    What did you like about this reading?

    What didn’t you like?

    What made it memorable?

    #justwrite #iamawriter #amwriting

    Marlene C

  • Listen. Watch. See. Prompt #683

    “She turns off her flashlight and listens to the waves, which sound to her like the earth itself breathing.” —“love anthony,” by Lisa Genova, pg. 246

    “As ocean surface waves approach shore, they get taller and break, forming the foamy, bubbly surface called surf.” —Google Search

    Writing Prompt: Image of waves lapping on shore or the quotes.

    What popped into your mind when you saw this image?

    Or, what did you think after you read the first quote?

    Your reaction after you read the second quote.

    How do you feel when you see and hear waves on the beach?

    Write whatever you want. Just Write!

    Marlene C