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 . . .
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?
Write about the farthest you have traveled.
Or
Write about the time you were farthest from home.
Or
Tell about a time you missed your plane, train, bus, gondola, cab ride.
Now that you are of a “certain age,” you know a thing or two.
What do you know now that you didn’t used to know?
Writing prompt: The last piece of the puzzle.
You know what to do . . . Just write!
We know what we know.
What’s more interesting:
~ What don’t you know?
~ What are you confused about?
“At the time it seemed very important. That’s the funny thing about arguments. Now, I can’t even remember what it was all about.”
Quote by Dr. Chilton in the movie, Pollyanna.
Writing prompt: Write about an argument or a disagreement.
After you have written all you want on this subject, put on your screenplay hat. Write this same scene from the point of view of the other person involved in the argument or disagreement.
This prompt is inspired by an interview with Lin-Manuel Miranda, an American composer, lyricist, actor, singer, rapper, producer, and playwright. He composed music for Moana, and starred in Mary Poppins. He is possibly best known for creating and starring in the Broadway play, Hamilton.
He is the author of Gmorning, Gnight!: Little Pep Talks for Me & You which came from his Tweets.
Jonny Sun said to Lin, “You should make these tweet comments into a book.”
Lin replied, “Why would I write a book when you can get this free?”
Sun, the person who became the illustrator for the book, answered, “Because people like to hold things.”
Lin’s tweets came from asking himself, “What do I need to hear right now?”
Prompt: What do you need to hear right now?
Write about:
~ A performance you were in, or a performance your fictional character was in.
Or:
~ A live performance you will always remember.
