“The voyage is part of the fun,” he said with a grin.
You have two choices: write using narrative only, or, dialogue.
Write one page (or longer if your mind goes wild) and end with a surprise.
Weekly prompts are displayed here
“The voyage is part of the fun,” he said with a grin.
You have two choices: write using narrative only, or, dialogue.
Write one page (or longer if your mind goes wild) and end with a surprise.
Where is your writing place?
All writers need a place. As Virginia Woolf famously wrote, “A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.” She ultimately found that the room she created specifically to write did not entirely do the trick. She often contemplated and wrote outdoors. She imagined stories while walking the quadrangles of Oxford or strolling through a garden. But the quote in part has come to signify the importance of a solitary place to write. In fact, I know writers who thrive on writing in busy coffee shops that are the antithesis of quiet sinecures of contemplation. They create their own solitude within an impenetrable shell of concentration. I am entirely too distracted in that setting by people-watching and eavesdropping. Each to their own I say. Personally, I like to write while sitting on my patio in the quiet of early morning with only birds as my background chorus. I also have a room of my own. When I close the door, the muse cannot escape; it is trapped in the struggle of my creative tug-of-war. To quote Mrs. Woolf again, “a lock on the door means the power to think for oneself”. In my room, I have a desk. My desk once belonged to my mother and I treasure its history. My desk is cluttered, unlike its life with my mother. When I think of writing, especially if I plan a long period dedicated to that pursuit, I think of my desk. It is my place. PROMPT: Write a short essay on your writing place, your desk – whether it be in a room of your own, in the kitchen, at a library table, a notebook on your lap – wherever. What does it mean to you? Our writers’ group will each write about their desk in our blog posts next week.
Try writing from the perspective of a building, a boat, or a tree. Let them describe
as a first-person narrator the things that go on around them. What have they
witnessed in their history? Have they witnessed emotional moments that have long-
since passed, etc.?
Imagine that you change your outgoing message each day on your voicemail. Make up messages for each day of the week. Each can be as long or short as you like.
It’s 1925 and you are shopping in a dime store.
Describe the people and write their dialogue to one another.
You are on a train in a private compartment traveling from London to Portsmouth, England. You have settled in, the train begins to move when suddenly a stranger enters quickly and shuts the door and says, “_____________________________”.
P.S. You are not allowed to say, “Bond, James Bond.” You will be amazed at how a story can open up with a first few words.
November 10, 2022
The day starts normally. You are following your routine. You look at your email messages and see one that says:
You are not who they think you are.
Do you know who the sender is? Do you know what they’re talking about? Is the message the beginning of a search for you? Are you completely in the dark? Is the cryptic message something you were dreading? What is your reaction?
You have a concern about the condition of water use in your area. Write an editorial for the newspaper. Let it be no longer than two short paragraphs.
The beauty of a quick prompt, a ‘get-go’ idea, is that before you know it, you are sliding right into a writing about yourself, someone, or something. Look at your paintings and photographs on the walls or on a side table. Do you have a favorite? What about magnets affixed to your refrigerator? What are they? Why do you like them? What do they represent?
Flight of Fancy
Imagine you are relaxing in a hammock under a shade tree. A bird flies overhead and drops a tightly rolled piece of paper containing twenty words onto your lap. What is the message? What do you do?