Sometimes writing prompts are complex:
Physical location and action to describe emotional state – Prompt #12
And: Location, or place as a character – Prompt #8
And: Imagine you are invited. . . Prompt #64
Sometimes writing prompts are simple, like today’s writing prompt: Yesterday . . .
Don’t over think. Just write!
Prompt: Yesterday . . .
The last Just Write post talked about writing a messy first draft.
Ready to start that messy project?
Or continue with something you are working on.
Here is a writing prompts to start the messy project:
Writing Prompt: Imagine you (or your fictional character) received a greeting card in the mail. It can be from someone you know or a character you create.
It can be from a celebrity.
It can be sent to the wrong address.
What does the card say?
How does the narrator react when reading the card?
What happens next?
Just Write!
Strangers do it. Neighbors do it. Friends do it. We all do it.
Talk about the weather.
Now, write about it.
Write about how weather affects you.
What is your favorite type of weather?
Does weather play a small or large role in your life? How? Why?
Write about weather.
Me? I like rain, as long as I don’t have to be out in it.
Photo: View from my front porch on a lovely rainy day.
Write about a scar. Could be a scar you have. A scar you have seen. A scar on Mother Earth. Could be an emotional scar.
Write about a scar from someone else’s point of view . . . someone who caused the accident, caused the scar, was bewitched or repelled by the scar.
Or write from the point of view of the scar.
Today’s guest blogger is Nancy Julien Kopp. Her blog, Writer Granny’s World features tips and treats about writing.
Her brilliant August 20, 2019 post (excerpt below) focused on how to use action with dialogue.
Fingers flying across keyboard, Marlene types, “On with the show, Nancy.”
I see writers putting action after dialogue. That’s backwards.
A. “Stop that!” Sally slapped his hand from her arm.
B. Sally slapped his hand from her arm. “Stop that!”
C. “Stop that!” Sally said. Sally slapped his hand from her arm.
Which is the best? The worst?
I think B is best.
And C is the worst.
In B, we see the action, then hear the words that go with it.
In A, would Sally say the words, then slap his hand away?
Note from Marlene: This would be a “delayed reaction.” Sally says “Stop that.” THEN slaps his hand away. In real life, of course, it would happen at the same time.
Although it’s hard to show action and dialogue that happens simultaneously, I think B does that.
Your mind sees the action in Example B, then absorbs the words.
And C? Adding the tag is unnecessary as the action tells you who is speaking.
Another example but this time adding feeling (or thought) prior to the action and dialogue. It’s called the FAD Principle. Feeling-Action-Dialogue
“Susan knew Mary would take the biggest piece of cake. She stepped between her friend and the table full of cake slices. ‘I’ll take this one.’”
“Susan knew Mary would take the biggest piece of cake. (Feeling/thought) She stepped between her friend and the table full of cake slices. (Action) ‘I’ll take this one.’” (Dialogue)
The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing features the FAD principle: Action should be shown first.
It seems more logical that Susan would step in front of the table before she speaks.
Even if you don’t have the Feeling part in the dialogue, just the Action and Dialogue, put the action first, then the spoken words.
Why? For clarity.
Develop the habit of using the action prior to the dialogue. We aren’t always going to have the Feeling included, but if you do, remember FAD.
Feeling-Action-Dialogue
In “The Art of Fiction,” John Gardener describes “the fictional dream.” This is when the author has described a scene so viscerally, the reader can see, feel, hear, taste, or smell what’s going on in the scene. Sensory detail is important in writing, but how to achieve it?
Practice!
Try this:
Study an object for ten minutes. It can be something you are wearing, an item on your desk or on a kitchen shelf. It can be something you use every day or a special item put away to keep it safe. You can describe the glass flower decoration above.
Notice the details of the object — the shape and texture. Explore the pieces that make up the whole. Hold or touch the item. Notice the texture, the heft. How does it feel? Does it have a smell? Look at the object from all angles.
After ten minutes, write a description of the item so thorough that a reader can imagine, see, feel, smell this object.
Next, if appropriate, write about a memory associated with this object.
That’s it. This is great practice for writing details that enrich your stories with visceral elements.
Balance is a tricky act.
Like a pie crust, balance is sometimes tender and light, and sometimes fails.
Sometimes we find balance. Then we totter. Then we regain balance. And totter again. And find balance once more.
Write about finding balance.
You can use any of these phrases for your writing prompt or use the image. Isn’t this a beautiful pie crust topping? Not something I made. But something I would enjoy eating!
When the flame flickers and goes out, sometimes the simplest thing is to let it go, other times just re-light it.
You know what to do with these writing prompts, right? Don’t overthink them. Just write!
You can’t move forward from a stuck place.
Let go of perceptions.
Acceptance.
If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.
What matters?
Learn to let go.
Ideas on how to use freewrites: