Olio of Prompts III
A "Dear John" Letter
You have a favorite character, be it an historical or contemporary, literature, television, or movie one. Write them a letter (even if, as in the case of a real person) and tell them you like them and they're, if not your favorite, then one of your favorite characters. Antiheroes that you love works, too. Go with the first one that springs to mind.
In a way, that's like analyzing why his or her characterization or persona works for you. If there are things you don't like about the character, list them too, it's like a character analysis. It's almost like a fan letter, but it's a letter, so you can ask them how their family or friends are, how the invention or adventure or life in general is coming along, is Auntie May still working on the farm or has her arthritis worsened...
Yes, comic book characters count, too. Many of them become movie characters anyway, so... LOL.
Pooped Promptress Goes Goth: Funereal Flavor
We all deal with death, in one form or another.
I myself have lost a father, an uncle, two
grandfathers, two grandmothers, two cats... Not to
mention other things. A television dies, a computer
dies... Even, so it has been said, getting a divorce
is like dealing with death. In a way, it is: it's
the death of a life together and the beginning of a
life apart. (Except for my ex, since it was the
beginning of his engagement and subsequent
marriage, LOL)
Anyway, talk about dealing with the death of a loved
one, be they formerly animate or formerly and
currently inanimate. I know that a funeral for a
computer sounds silly, but you could have a lot of
fun writing it as a dark and somber piece--unless
you really and truly did lose a computer that you
dearly loved.
Sometimes, writing about and dealing with death
reflects how we live our lives. Happy writing!
evol tsol
Have you ever lost a love, particularly a great one?
I'm not necessarily talking romance novel-type love
here: the 'lost love' could be a person, yes, but it
could also be a place or thing. A cat lover who
develops a severe, life-threatening allergy to cats
that just will not respond to medication (same with
any pet), someone who loves gambling but has been
blacklisted and banned from all the gambling houses
in Nevada and New Jersey, a person for whom smoking
provides their greatest joy and comfort in life but
lives in a nonsmoking building, works in a
nonsmoking environment AND develops an allergy to
cigarettes (or worse yet, a chocolate lover who....
*sigh* Good thing I'm not allergic to it, LOL). A
stuffed animal that you were so attached and
devoted to that just disappeared one day (your
parents never told you that they threw it out)...
What is the greatest love, the greatest passion in
your life? What if that object d'amour were taken
from you?
Yes, prohibition counts too. ;-)
(I think that for me, it would be writing or
television. They already cancelled Port Charles. *
sniff* Thank ghu for reruns!)
PROMPT response: Synopsis
I've enclosed a few links to synopsis writing here;
there have been a few schools of thought on writing
novel synopses, and it is commonly accepted that you
write them in third person, present tense, so it's like
the action is happening here and now.
Some synopses may read like short stories. They start
with a key phrase or question, something to catch an
editor's eye, then lists your main character(s) and
gives a bare-bones framework of the main plot. Just sit
down for five minutes and write something liek a
synopsis. Let's say, for the sake of argument, that
you write it something like:
Can someone write a novel synopsis in five minutes:
Joe Blow from Idaho
An honest fellow from Hoboken (though with that name,
folks always teased him and he always hated it) has
five minutes to write the synopsis for a novel, but
he's never tried to write anything before in his life.
By day (even if he's on the graveyard shift), he's a
grocery store clerk.
The phone rings and Joe picks it up. It's a call from
his ex-wife and his kids are being held hostage at
K-Mart by some guy who's asking for a rocket to take
him to Mars or something, she's ot quite sure (Say
her name is Jane Doe, when they were married it was
Jane Doe Blow and may have been part of what led to
their divorce)....
Anyway, I think you get the idea. You think of the
basic story that you want to tell, then come up with
a crisis. Joe can have an average of three tries to
resolve the crisis, but it can be anywhere from two
to five, each crisis a bit more intense then the
previous one. The final crisis is what we call
the "black moment" or major point in the story.
I came up with that one just off the top of my head,
maybe being partway silly. Whether or not you plan to
write a book, see if you can write a synopsis for a
book that you might like to write, or something that
you might like to read (if not write). Have a little
fun with it.
LINKS:
Five Steps To Writing A Synopsis (by Vivian Teresa Beck)
The five basic building blocks to writing a synopsis.
http://www.vivianbeck.com/writing/tips/five_steps.htm
How do I write a book synopsis?
Writing a synopsis is sometimes harder than writing a book. Here are
some tips to writing a synopsis that sells.
http://il.essortment.com/synopsiswriteb_rqmx.htm
Lecture Three - Synopsis Overview
Generally, a short, 2-3 page synopsis is included with your query
letter. If the publisher likes this submission, the editor will
request a longer proposal, generally the first three chapters of
your work and sometimes a long, 10-15 page synopsis. As always, this
can vary from house to house so please follow the guidelines/request
of your target publisher.
http://www.canby.com/buzz/syn_lecture_three.htm
Mastering the Dreaded Synopsis - Condensing Your Novel (by Lee
Masterson)
Writing a synopsis is one of the most daunting chores a writer must
face. After spending months lovingly crafting a complex plot,
realizing and nurturing a cast of characters and painstakingly
selecting the right prose for descriptions, how do you then
summarize your masterpiece in just 2 or 3 pages?
http://www.fictionfactor.com/articles/synopsis.html
Outlining Your Script or Story by Thomas B. Sawyer
A synopsis is generally defined as a one-to-four page narrative
description of what happens in your story, told with some sizzle,
since it will likely be used as a selling tool –- to entice an
agent, publisher or producer to take a look at your manuscript.
http://www.writersstore.com/article.php?articles_id=105
WRITING THE SYNOPSIS (FOR FICTION) -- Farris Literary Agency, Inc.
The idea is to simply tell your entire story, from start to finish,
as briefly and succinctly as you can.
http://www.farrisliterary.com/tips%20for%20writers.htm#Synopsis
Writing The Dreaded Synopsis by Carolyn Jewel
http://www.carolynjewel.com/craft/synopsis.shtml
87
From: "Elizabeth Anne Ensley"
Date: Sun May 9, 2004 7:10am
Subject: PROMPT: Prompt
How many words can you get from the word prompt, aside
from romp and prom? Maybe you could write about a romp
at a prom (John, that might not be so hard for you,
knowing what you've told me of yours LOL). Maybe a
virtual prom (pROM?) or a prompt at a virtual prom
(pROMP). Heck, 'morphine' came to my mind, and that
only uses some of the same letters. ;-)
Take five minutes to get as many words as you can,
either from it of anything that comes to mind like my
getting that morphine for some weird reason. Use it
to spark something you can write about--maybe you're
reminded of an event from your own senior prom (I
never had one myself, so I don't). Maybe it happens
to one of your characters.
The most important thing here (and I always stress
htis, don't I?) is to have fun with it, see what you
come up with--even maybe a tribble prom or a lizard
prom, or... or even not a prom at all. ;-)
Subject: imPROMPtu: Ingenuous Response
Here's an extra, since I didn't think I'd be on today: create a
writing prompt.
Why am I asking you to create a writing prompt? Well, don't we all
have some problem area or areas in our writing that give us
problems? Your exercise could reflect that and suggest writing it--
an exercise in thinking outside the box. You know you need to work
on some aspect of your writing: if you were you, how would you
suggest working on it? *grin*
: i m P T O M P T u : Jotting something down
On one Y-list, we had a discussion about jotting something down on
paper when you have an idea. Something about "Boy meets Martian, boy
loses Martian..." Something along those lines. My own jots concern
character plotlines, usually.
This mission, should you choose to accept it *grin*L
1. Today, jot down the "something meets something" or some such
outline. It can just be an arbitrary thing, like "dog meets cat" or
some such, along those lines, I suppose that would be the basic
sketch of an idea.
2. Take a look at the very basic outline you did, and just label it
the elements in it. Give the characters names and some arbitrary
quirks, like "sings in the rain, shower, whatever", drinks coffee
black, enjoys peace, quiet, solitude... If you have two characters,
gfive them each at least one opposite quirk, like noise versus
quiet, party animal versus lone wolf.
3. Write something about a conflict between these two characters
involving the quirks.
You can have any variation of this story. "Man Versus Machine"
essentially makes the machine a character, and "man versus Nature"
personifies nature, like a hurricane, rain, sunshine, earthquake...
You get the idea. I think the earthquake thing might involve more of
a novel outline than a shorter piece, but that’s okay. A story about
sibling rivalry works, too, including the ever-waging Battle For The
Remote.
Sometimes, personality differences lead to conflict, and therein
lies the story. Have some fun with it, and I'll see y'all on Monday.
imPROMPTu: Hunger pangs.
How do you feel when you're really, really hungry? What are the
physical sensations you experience? Does it make your stomach move
around inside and feel as if you have an alien trapped inside,
waiting to tear through the lining and flesh to the world outside?
Does your stomach demand food, perhaps loud enough to be heard
several blocks away? Is your mind focused on the hunger, or can you
pay attention to other things? Does your focus waver from subject to
subject because the tummy keeps distracting you?
Describe a physical hunger. If that stumps you, there are other
types of appetites. I just thought of the food kind because I
haven't had any breakfast yet. *grin*
imPROMPTu: A Day in the Life...
Have you ever read a story where at its beginning the protagonist
woke and at the end they nodded off to sleep? Daily life isn't a
story unless something truly unusual, strange, horrific--different--
happens to the protagonist. A car accident, extraterrestrial
kidnapping and subsequent escape or adaptation to the alien society,
revelation of some kind (divorce, religious/antireligious. free
lunch when you usually didn't have one and what are they up to, and
so forth).
What can you cook up, if you began by letting your protagonist open
their eyes? Where would the day carry them?
Subject: InPROMPTu: Lost
This can relate to late, being lost. There's lost time, lost money,
lost child, lost inspiration, lost status, lost memory (amnesia or
Alzheimer's or even *shudder* a Senior Moment). There are lost
goals, dreams, life, death (like in "Meet Joe Black" or "Death
Takes A Holiday" or even a story about Death having amnesia, so that
would kind of be the LOST lost or the lost LOST), the lost (spilt
*sic*) milk or salt, derailed trains of thought... A missing
Christian could even be referred to as the "lost found" (if you have
ever heard the hymn Amazing Grace you might get that one LOL).
Something's lost. It could be something very important to you, which
would be tragedy; something you THOUGHT was important but you
realize that it's really not, but only after it's lost: something
that's not important to you, but that you find out was really
important ("for want of a nail..."); or else it could be something
that you don't really care about and don't really need, but every
darn thing that oyu see or hear around that particular time reminds
you of it (which borders on comedic lost). there are quite a few
things oyu could do with it, trying to tail an invisible man, even.
At any rate, whether you've lost your direction, your car keys, your
mind... I think you could get a story or sixteen out of it.
Please excuse me. I need to go get a cup of coffee before I start
writing. Enjoy!
Subject: Impromptu Prompt: Overdrive?
"I'm late! I'm late! For a very important date!"
I know, I've only seen the video, haven't read the book yet--but
sometimes you're just late due to circumstances beyond your control.
However, if your character is late, it could lead them straight into
an adventure or story, a string of circumstances which alters their
path. Can you think of any good examples of this in fiction, poetry
or real life?
Good, bad, or indifferent--tardiness happens, as do things
associated with it. At times, it could be advantageous...
Subject: Prompt for 29 April 2004: The Road Not Taken
Do you ever wonder what your life would be like if you had done that
instead of this? What about the opera singer who wanted to sell ice
cream from a truck when he was a child, perhaps because the ice
cream truck made him so happy when it came and for some reason his
life is miserable in the present day. The policeman who wanted to be
a fireman, the housewife who wanted to dance ballet... Heck, we all
have a 'what if', like me moving to Pennsylvania on the spur of the
moment in 1983 and getting married instead of going to Stony Brook
to study astronomy.
For yourself, for your character, think of the road not taken. Where
do you think that either you or your character would be today, if
you had taken that other road? You probably know at least a little
something that you could even extrapolate from your present day life
(like me and my poor eyesight, ROTFLMAO). There would have been
obstacles, of course, but have some fun thinking of ways that
perhaps you could have overcome them--or what you may have ended up
doing, if you started out on that other road and found that for one
reason or another, you couldn't travel that initial path and had to
choose, perhaps, a similar one.
Subject: Writing Prompt for Wednesday 28 April 2003: Reading
Reading might seem like a strange writer's prompt; however, you
might be surprised at the idea you can get from reading newspapers
or magazines, even from books. I'm not talking about plagiarism
here, but "what if". Even if I haven't worked with one particular
what-if scenario yet, the guy who barricaded himself and his family
in the closet and they committed mass suicide because they thought
it was the end of the world (doomsday scenario), even others, there
are so many what if factors involved with something like that. For
example, if someone in that family, that this was all in their head
and the world as they thought they knew it did come to an end and
the epilogue reveals that they lived in an alien society and this
world was all in their mind (of course, you'd have to foreshadow
this in snippets and scenes throughout the story). You could do
something silly, like the person they thought was their father, was
really an emcee in disguise for some show like "you bet your life"
(which could go either way, life or death). Maybe it would be that
the while thing was a reality TV show and they had to find a way to
save the extras, costars and bit players, not to mention the show's
star, without giving away the plot or scenario to the clueless star.
There are more scenarios that you could construct with such a
snippet. The point is reading, and letting your imagination decide
which idea you'd clip, copy or otherwise save and put in your ideas
file, the 'easy bake over' of the imagination, or whatever, and
cogitate and ponder. Perhaps a story would suggest itself right
away, perhaps it has potential and doesn't become an idea overnight.
The point of it is, you're gathering fodder for your writing,
whether or not you write an article, poem or story.
Good hunting!
Subject: Writing Prompt for Tuesday 04/27/04
As usual, a day late and a dollar short. ;-) No excuses,
even if I did go to the doctor's yesterday, then fell
asleep on the couch. Today will be busy, too. *sigh*
Anyway. have you ever tried writing a scene and found
that you were stuck, because you couldn't figure out
where you wanted to take it? I just had a scene outlined
with a creature (magical) studying half-understood human
books and speech because she was impressed with the human
who, ten years earlier, had helped to form a peace and an
agreement between her race and another one. She was going
to be visited by another of her species, one who disdained
books or anything else human; and while he wasn't going to
try to do anything now, because she's been accepted by a
previous leader and is useful only in one aspect to the
current leader of her folk, she knows that given half the
chance, he or any other member of her race would destroy
these borrowed tomes. It took me a couple of days to figure
out that before she does what the new leader wants, she
would come back and wrap these books There aren't many of
them at a time, since she's always worried about the
possibility that her folk might try to destroy them) that she
would pack and take them with her quickly when she's ordered
by the leader to deliver a message to the other species most
of whom aren't too keen on humans either, despite their
leader and a few others who have engaged in a study of
humans and even a mutually beneficial alliance, seeing as
one human is living among them and has even helped quite
a few of them), about an alliance and war against the humans.
It occurred to me that these books and her responsibility
towards the borrowed tomes and returning them would be
foremost in her mind. (The human language, thanks to several
factors became a language of commerce between the two diverse
species, and she’s the only one of her race who bothered to
attempt to study the language).
Anyway, when it occurred to me that the books were important
enough to her that she would go bundle them up so she could
return them to her human friend who is living among the ogres
and warn him of what the leader plans--war against humans.
It took a while to find a key element to start writing this
particular scene (set, actually, since it will involve more
than one scene).It's just as well, too; she might be a minor
player in the scheme of things, but she moved up from third
level helper (no VP) to second level (minor story arc and
viewpoint--the works). That's not what they call it in the
writing manuals, that's just what I call it--second- and
third-level characters. First level are the main characters--
protagonist, antagonist. They haven't called it that in the
writing manuals I've seen (yet).
You have something you're stuck on, right? I think we all do,
at one point or another: but look through what you do have,
what you want in the scene, poem, whatever, some common
element, something that you have clearly indicated is
important to your character. Perhaps you can use that
object or element as a crux for your scene? Failing that,
think about what's most important to you. What if your house
or apartment was on fire and you could take only one thing
with you. What is the most important thing to you? What
would you take with you to escape the fire? Why would you
take it? What is its value to you? I know it's a hard
decision for anyone to make; I made it simple for my
character since by their nature these folk have few or
no physical possessions. I guess it's figuring out what's
most important in life to an individual. If you're stuck
with a scene, though, something like this might help.
Writing Prompts List Extra: Writing Exercises
My bad, I know that I'm not very good sometimes, maintaining this
list and posting writing exercises. BTW, you all are also welcome to
post them too. ;-)
http://freelancewrite.about.com/c/ec/9.htm
What's that link? Why, it's for a daily 15 minute writing
exercise/prompt list type thingie that comes to your inbox.
Just in case y' all were interested...
Subject: Writing Prompt for Fri 23 April 2004: Writing Goals
http://www.writefromhome.com/writingtradearticles/320.htm
I began with a link to something called 'Writing From Home" or
some such. I just viewed it. It's an article (one of many) about
setting writing goals.
You all know by now that I'm pretty bad at that, myself. *grin* I
want to post a writing exercise here every day, but it's not easy--
two people using one computer, for instance (my daughter and me, and
so much for the DSL that AT&T does not offer out here yet. *sigh* I
mean, we could have gone wireless...)
Since it's Friday, I've tried to get these exercises to hold you for
the weekend, so it's the perfect opportunity to take fifteen minutes
to a half hour a day (or five minutes here and there on the toilet
or cooking dinner or even during the commercial breaks for American
Idol or something) to reflect on your writing goals. Where are you
in your writing, and where do you want to go with it? Do you just
keep a journal? Are you writing short stories for yourself, or to
submit them to a market ? Pro, semi-pro, 4theluv, what? Poetry? Are
you writing a novel? (I know that I'm working on one, and I've tried
to set a goal of one full scene per day, but it's a little hard to
get started when you're bogged down in detail. I have one scene that
takes place in a solar and I finished it yesterday, but it didn't
read the right way so I had to go back and find my notes so I could
sketch a bit more detail into it. Luckily, I don't have to do that
for all my writing LOL).
The major point of goal setting is to say you're going to do
something, and then just do it. You need to allow for flexibility in
the schedule, and you need realistic goals. For instance, say that
you have fifteen minutes to write something one day, twenty minutes
the next, forty-five on another day, and so forth. I think that with
the goal setting, you want to say that you will write for at least
fifteen minutes a day, which means that if you have a little more
time, you'll write for a little bit longer.
Think about your writing goals over the weekend, then take five
minutes on Monday at some point to write them down. They don't have
to be detailed plans, because you want to be able to read them
quickly, perhaps each morning while you're dressing for the day, The
important thing here is to set realistic goals, ones that you can
adhere to, that you can follow without looking at it, shaking your
head, and saying "That's too hard right now, I'll do it tomorrow"
only tomorrow stretches on towards infinity and it never gets done.
Granted, goal setting works for more things then writing--but htis
is a writing prompts list. However, if any part of this helps with
another aspect of your life, feel free to adapt, that's the
creativity of the human spirit. ;-)
Subject: Writing Prompt for Thu Apr 22, 2004 8:28 am: In The News...
You're aware of the news, right?
A mouse with two female parents, no male involvement, and no
cloning. That kind of thing can give rise to a lot of idea, like
the reactions of the mice (anthropomorphism), a human’s reaction to
it, alien reaction...
You're people, so you know how people think about it. Try to
free write a gut reaction to this or another news story, your choice,
your call. it might prove interesting...
Subject: Prompt for Fri Apr 16, 2004: Extreme Measures
I finally opened a forward from my sister Rose. I am not fond of
forwarding email, because it leads to unnecessary e-box clutter:
however, this one was innovative enough to make it part of today's
writing prompt. This is the forwarded email:
In a message dated 4/4/2004 12:42:04 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
PuttPutt5 writes:
An elderly man in Phoenix calls his son in New York and says, "I
hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I
are divorcing. Forty-five years of misery is enough." "Pop, what are
you talking about?" the son screams. We can't stand the sight of
each other any longer," the old man says. "We're sick of each
other, and I'm sick of talking about this, so you call your sister
in Chicago and tell her," and he hangs up. Frantic, the son calls
his sister, who explodes on the phone, "Like heck they're getting
divorced," she shouts, "I'll take care of this." She calls her
father immediately and screams at the old man, "You are NOT getting
divorced! Don't do a single thing until I get there. I'm calling my
brother back, and we'll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don't do
a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?" and hangs up. The old man hangs up his
phone and turns to his wife. "Okay," he says "They're coming for
Passover and paying their own airfares."
Silly, yes, but it worked within the context of the flash. It's a
story in and of itself, as well as a joke with a punch line, or
payoff.
This leads to the prompt. Has your character ever gone to such
extreme measures to accomplish something like the father did in this
piece? Would he or she? Try to think of something, some goal to be
accomplished, and then think of the zaniest resolution that your
character could apply to it.
Write on!
Subject: Prompt for Thu Apr 15, 2004 10:43 am: Chaos
What is the most chaotic scenario you can imagine for your
character? Are they space adventurers, afraid of spiders, on a
planet with intelligent and rational arachnid societies, perhaps as
ambassadors for the human race? Is it something as simple as 'for
want of a nail...'? Have some fun with it, whether or not you play
off your character's fears or un-preparedness--and if it involves
some aspect of the character's persona, so much the better.
(With luck, I'll post more regularly again--finally, a local access
number! LOL!)
Yet Another Irregular Writing Prompt
Again, apologies. We're moving this week, signing the lease tomorrow,
enrolling Terror in a new school and all that rot. AT&T will not turn on the
telephone until Tuesday (if they actually do turn it on, that is), so I might not get
to post another prompt for a little while. I still want to check on DSL too,
which would mean we could have a household wireless network and I would not
have to worry about begging computer time from my daughter any more. ;-)
There are many types of moves: changes in residence, school, emotional
state, from culture to culture, country to country. There are moves or shifts in
attitude, circumstance, or thought. Why not write a piece about a particular
move of your own, or of your character? (I refuse to think about a bowel
"move"-ment, but sometimes they can have a serious and profound effect too--or
some such. This time, I'm thinking about when my brother in law passed or moved a
gallstone while he was in the hospital. The little bugger had been vexing him and
they were getting him ready for surgery to remove it; but when it moved out of
his system, that meant he didn't need them to cut him open and take it out.
=})
: Today's Writing Prompt: Time
Hi! I'm not going to make any excuses and just state the facts. The phone
company turned off my telephone 10 days before they should have (on the fifth,
rather than the 15th, which was the day we were supposed to move, which also
meant that we lost the first apartment we were supposed to move to), and we're
moving one week from today. We've packed some things, but there never seems to
be enough time to get packing, writing, or sometimes even breathing done. ;-)
How do you. how does your character, cope with a time crunch? This goes for the
times that they have to make split-second decisions, too.
They do say that 'timing is everything', after all....
Subject: Writing Prompts for The Weekend
It seems I'm going to be all weekend, so I'm going to post three
short prompts and I hope that's okay. My sister is coming out for the weekend and
she didn't give us permission to use the computer inside the house. She's the
executor, so...
1. We all manage to get specific idea for characters sometimes, and from the
oddest sources. For example, in one story still in the process of generation,
I have a character that I had originally intended to kill off towards the end
of the novel. I looked for a good-sounding, descriptive word in the
dictionary, and settled on sepulchre, which is a type of tomb. I thought it would be a
little too silly to give a character that sort of name, so I altered it to
Sepelio. He's not a primary character, but a secondary one who plays a helper role
(albeit an important one) to another character. The way the character
developed, he's not going to die after all, but the name remains the same be
cause it sounds good, doesn't it? You may have an idea for a character type
but lack a name for him or her; if you have an idea from a personality trait or
from an intended destiny, take this opportunity to look in the dictionary for
some basic naming ideas. You don't have to restrict the words to English. Do
a little exploring before you decide on a name and on whether or not to alter
the word for your designs. How do you see this person? How tall, hair color,
habits, hobbies and interests, background, these kinds of things can be
important enough to play a role in their characterization. With luck, it shouldn't
take too long; you already had a specific characterization goal in mind while
naming the character.
2. Take the character that you created and write a scene with them in it.
Maybe you can have them in a coffee shop with some character or person that you,
yourself, have always wanted to meet. Keeping the persona of your character in
mind, and writing the other character or person in what you interpret as his
or her character, perhaps you can have them talking about who's going to pick
up the check, or some other dilemma. Pick a specific goal for the scene and
keep that in mind while you're writing it. Is your character hiring, or for
hire? Will someone excuse themselves to go to the bathroom and bail on the bill?
Would they fight each other, armed or unarmed, and the loser pay the bill? Will
they decide to split the bill? Will they both skip out before paying the bill?
Will they agree to meet on another occasion? You decide what the beginning and
the end of that scene will be, and on who your viewpoint character is, and
just write it straight through. Don't worry about making 'misteaks' in spelling,
since you're the only one reading it. ;-) Just report on it the way you see
it happening from your viewpoint character's perspective.
3. Write the same scene, only from the other character's perspective. Don't
worry about referring to the other scene to get facts in order, just write the
same basic thing straight through from the other character's viewpoint. (Yes,
this can be done in stanzas and lines too.) You can compare the two versions
afterwards and see how each one looks to you, perhaps which one you like
better.
The important thing there is the act of writing, but the process may give you
ideas for a story or three. Have fun with it, and don't be afraid to play
with it.
Subject: Prompt for 4 March 2004: Diary of a Madman/woman
This can be written either from your own perspective or the angle of your
character. Lots of things drive us a bit crazy. What do you think would drive you
or your character off thje deep end? Just for fun, write it up; you never
know when some part of it may be helpful, one day.
Subject: Random Prompt for Wednesday 3 March 2003: Plot & Character
Maybe I'll get better about posting prompts once we're finished moving. ;-)
Speaking of moving... Transitions in a character's life can be important when
it comes to writing a short story or novel; for the former, the character's
transition can be the tale. Whether it's a new job, a move, an abrupt
transition from one plane of existence to the next, put your character through a major
change. Whatever it is, I leave to you. Bring forward a member of the Spanish
Inquisition to the 21st century, possibly a church. Differences in language,
even though they might both speak the same basic one, could lead to some
confusion because of alterations in context and connotation. Even more confusing
might be a samurai from 500 years ago brought forth to present day Manhattan or
a Wall Street broker sent back to feudal Japan. Then again, could you
imagine one of the pilgrims having to deal with telemarketers? How would one react
to the 'magic' of a telephone or a television? There are other transitions
oyu could try, not just time-traveling ones. I've put them forth as major
examples of transitions. It could be as subtle as a petal or two falling from a
wilted flower (with or without a person pondering it who may have suffered loss in
his or her own life and trying to deal with it). It could be just about
anything. I'll let you decide, since you'd be the author. Liz.
Subject: Writing Prompt for Saturday 21 February 2004: Imagery
What we write can be inspired by physical surroundings. What we perceive is
often shadowed or colored by our mood. A dark room can seem like heaven or
hell, depending on the way you feel at the time.
I'm assuming that you have a story that you're working on--if you don't then
just grab a piece of paper and write something. ;-)
First, decide on a mood. How does your character feel, what is your
character's emotional state? If you don't have a location for the scene picked out or
anything, then you can use your kitchen or whatever passes for it. If you're
angry or upset, how do things look to you? What do you notice? If you're
confused, befuddled, bewildered... Pick a feeling, then try to place yourself in that
feeling and write things the way that your character would see them. More
goes into this then you think: this is where some of your character's interests
come into play. If they like to paint in their spare time they may use painting
analogies. If they write poetry, then poetic imagery. If they like racing
cars... Well, you get the general idea.
This isn't just a good way to display character, but also to describe
surroundings in your story. It's a way of interacting with your environment.
Subject: Prompt for Friday 20 February 2004: Fun and Games?
This, I can't help--it was on THE PARASITORIUM, another Yahoo list I belong
to, and they were having a discussion of a book of a collection of short
stories. Apparently, from what I gather, the book is either by Stephen King, or it
begins and ends with Stephen King. A story in it (or the book itself) is called
999, though the book is 666 pages. I mentioned that 999 was supposedly the
beast's intelligence (666 being the Beast), and someone said that 668 was the
neighbor of the beast. Of course, someone else mentioned that 669 was the number
for the Beast's sex life....
Other than beastly jokes, pick one of your favorite (or least favorite)
topics nd see how many jokes you can generate which relate to it: and remember, 333
is the Beast's scion, LOL.
Subject: Prompt for Thursday 19 February 2004: Once Upon A Time...
Write a parody of a fairy tale. Take, for instance, the
three bears, where you could have (after the main action of the story) the
woodcutter in Little Red Riding Hood hauled into court for stalking Little Red
Riding Hood, or having Goldilocks prosecuted for breaking and entering or for
trespassing. You can even tweak fairy tales by combining them, like mixing
Princess and the Pea with Sleeping Beauty.
Above all, try to have fun with it. Maybe there's even a twist on a fairy
tale that you would have liked to have seen, or an urban legend that you would
like to shuffle around a bit.
Subject: Prompt for Tuesday 17 February 2004
First, remember--it's only one month until St Patrick's Day. ;-)
Speaking of snakes, that's going to be the prompt today. Snakes Have fun with
it, it's open to several hundred interpretations, from erotic to catatonic.
There was a movie by that title. Medusa had snakes for hair. Plumbers use what
they call a snake to unclog a toilet. We call a conniver of some sort a
"snake in the grass". There are so many different interpretations of the word
snake, a lot more than I can list in this one email, so decide on something to
write, and have fun with it.
Subject: Writing Prompt for Monday 16 February 2004: What Is A Story?
Well, maybe the prompt title is a little misleading: it should be "What is a
story that you would like to tell". I want you to sit down and write a
paragraph with five sentences.
In the first sentence, I want you to write down who the story is about--the
name and the goal (want) of your protagonist. (Subsequent to this will be the
list of characteristics--who this person is, what they look like, how they act,
mannerisms, but that will be at your own leisure]).
In the second sentence, you need to consider the first obstacle. In the
third, a worse obstacle, perhaps even the worst obstacle for your protagonist to
overcome. In the fourth, think of a way they can overcome this obstacle.
The fifth sentence is the denouement, or the outcome of your protagonist's
success or failure in the course of this venture.
This is the most basic of outlines. The story itself can be written as either
poem or prose (Hi, John!). In a lot of writing books, they recommend three
obstacles; but in flash fiction, you can get away with the minimum in order to
serve your purpose (in this case, just writing something).
Since I mentioned that a lot of this is done with flash fiction, here's a
link to a diagram/website, Writing Flash Fiction Using Bubble Diagrams. A lot of
flash, or five minute, or postcard, or whatever you want to call it fiction
can turn into books in the long run, even a series of books. Trust me, I
know--I'm still working on one that began as a 500-word flash for one writer's group.
I've finally decided where and when the darn story’s supposed to start, I
already have to many notes and the like on it. *grin*. I have a 5000 word story
that began its life as a 450 word 'flash', too.
Flash fiction is a good tool for outlining a larger work, but the outline in
its most basic form gives a hard diagram for the storyline that you van work
with. The five sentence thing in itself is flexible enough to give you a firm
foundation to build on, and it's easy to write or type it to an index card and
put it by your computer for reference while you write, to remind yourself of
your writing goal for a specific story, whether short or novel length.
Subject: Writing Prompt for 15 February 2004: The Aftermath
Hi there! It's time for post-Valentine's stress syndrome prompts. Write something about 'the morning after', whether it's romantic or otherwise. Usually I'd say 'the morning after' something terrible, but if you're not in the mood, then make it a happy scene, just so long as you 'write on'.
You have a favorite character, be it an historical or contemporary, literature, television, or movie one. Write them a letter (even if, as in the case of a real person) and tell them you like them and they're, if not your favorite, then one of your favorite characters. Antiheroes that you love works, too. Go with the first one that springs to mind.
In a way, that's like analyzing why his or her characterization or persona works for you. If there are things you don't like about the character, list them too, it's like a character analysis. It's almost like a fan letter, but it's a letter, so you can ask them how their family or friends are, how the invention or adventure or life in general is coming along, is Auntie May still working on the farm or has her arthritis worsened...
Yes, comic book characters count, too. Many of them become movie characters anyway, so... LOL.
Pooped Promptress Goes Goth: Funereal Flavor
We all deal with death, in one form or another.
I myself have lost a father, an uncle, two
grandfathers, two grandmothers, two cats... Not to
mention other things. A television dies, a computer
dies... Even, so it has been said, getting a divorce
is like dealing with death. In a way, it is: it's
the death of a life together and the beginning of a
life apart. (Except for my ex, since it was the
beginning of his engagement and subsequent
marriage, LOL)
Anyway, talk about dealing with the death of a loved
one, be they formerly animate or formerly and
currently inanimate. I know that a funeral for a
computer sounds silly, but you could have a lot of
fun writing it as a dark and somber piece--unless
you really and truly did lose a computer that you
dearly loved.
Sometimes, writing about and dealing with death
reflects how we live our lives. Happy writing!
evol tsol
Have you ever lost a love, particularly a great one?
I'm not necessarily talking romance novel-type love
here: the 'lost love' could be a person, yes, but it
could also be a place or thing. A cat lover who
develops a severe, life-threatening allergy to cats
that just will not respond to medication (same with
any pet), someone who loves gambling but has been
blacklisted and banned from all the gambling houses
in Nevada and New Jersey, a person for whom smoking
provides their greatest joy and comfort in life but
lives in a nonsmoking building, works in a
nonsmoking environment AND develops an allergy to
cigarettes (or worse yet, a chocolate lover who....
*sigh* Good thing I'm not allergic to it, LOL). A
stuffed animal that you were so attached and
devoted to that just disappeared one day (your
parents never told you that they threw it out)...
What is the greatest love, the greatest passion in
your life? What if that object d'amour were taken
from you?
Yes, prohibition counts too. ;-)
(I think that for me, it would be writing or
television. They already cancelled Port Charles. *
sniff* Thank ghu for reruns!)
PROMPT response: Synopsis
I've enclosed a few links to synopsis writing here;
there have been a few schools of thought on writing
novel synopses, and it is commonly accepted that you
write them in third person, present tense, so it's like
the action is happening here and now.
Some synopses may read like short stories. They start
with a key phrase or question, something to catch an
editor's eye, then lists your main character(s) and
gives a bare-bones framework of the main plot. Just sit
down for five minutes and write something liek a
synopsis. Let's say, for the sake of argument, that
you write it something like:
Can someone write a novel synopsis in five minutes:
Joe Blow from Idaho
An honest fellow from Hoboken (though with that name,
folks always teased him and he always hated it) has
five minutes to write the synopsis for a novel, but
he's never tried to write anything before in his life.
By day (even if he's on the graveyard shift), he's a
grocery store clerk.
The phone rings and Joe picks it up. It's a call from
his ex-wife and his kids are being held hostage at
K-Mart by some guy who's asking for a rocket to take
him to Mars or something, she's ot quite sure (Say
her name is Jane Doe, when they were married it was
Jane Doe Blow and may have been part of what led to
their divorce)....
Anyway, I think you get the idea. You think of the
basic story that you want to tell, then come up with
a crisis. Joe can have an average of three tries to
resolve the crisis, but it can be anywhere from two
to five, each crisis a bit more intense then the
previous one. The final crisis is what we call
the "black moment" or major point in the story.
I came up with that one just off the top of my head,
maybe being partway silly. Whether or not you plan to
write a book, see if you can write a synopsis for a
book that you might like to write, or something that
you might like to read (if not write). Have a little
fun with it.
LINKS:
Five Steps To Writing A Synopsis (by Vivian Teresa Beck)
The five basic building blocks to writing a synopsis.
http://www.vivianbeck.com/writing/tips/five_steps.htm
How do I write a book synopsis?
Writing a synopsis is sometimes harder than writing a book. Here are
some tips to writing a synopsis that sells.
http://il.essortment.com/synopsiswriteb_rqmx.htm
Lecture Three - Synopsis Overview
Generally, a short, 2-3 page synopsis is included with your query
letter. If the publisher likes this submission, the editor will
request a longer proposal, generally the first three chapters of
your work and sometimes a long, 10-15 page synopsis. As always, this
can vary from house to house so please follow the guidelines/request
of your target publisher.
http://www.canby.com/buzz/syn_lecture_three.htm
Mastering the Dreaded Synopsis - Condensing Your Novel (by Lee
Masterson)
Writing a synopsis is one of the most daunting chores a writer must
face. After spending months lovingly crafting a complex plot,
realizing and nurturing a cast of characters and painstakingly
selecting the right prose for descriptions, how do you then
summarize your masterpiece in just 2 or 3 pages?
http://www.fictionfactor.com/articles/synopsis.html
Outlining Your Script or Story by Thomas B. Sawyer
A synopsis is generally defined as a one-to-four page narrative
description of what happens in your story, told with some sizzle,
since it will likely be used as a selling tool –- to entice an
agent, publisher or producer to take a look at your manuscript.
http://www.writersstore.com/article.php?articles_id=105
WRITING THE SYNOPSIS (FOR FICTION) -- Farris Literary Agency, Inc.
The idea is to simply tell your entire story, from start to finish,
as briefly and succinctly as you can.
http://www.farrisliterary.com/tips%20for%20writers.htm#Synopsis
Writing The Dreaded Synopsis by Carolyn Jewel
http://www.carolynjewel.com/craft/synopsis.shtml
87
From: "Elizabeth Anne Ensley"
Date: Sun May 9, 2004 7:10am
Subject: PROMPT: Prompt
How many words can you get from the word prompt, aside
from romp and prom? Maybe you could write about a romp
at a prom (John, that might not be so hard for you,
knowing what you've told me of yours LOL). Maybe a
virtual prom (pROM?) or a prompt at a virtual prom
(pROMP). Heck, 'morphine' came to my mind, and that
only uses some of the same letters. ;-)
Take five minutes to get as many words as you can,
either from it of anything that comes to mind like my
getting that morphine for some weird reason. Use it
to spark something you can write about--maybe you're
reminded of an event from your own senior prom (I
never had one myself, so I don't). Maybe it happens
to one of your characters.
The most important thing here (and I always stress
htis, don't I?) is to have fun with it, see what you
come up with--even maybe a tribble prom or a lizard
prom, or... or even not a prom at all. ;-)
Subject: imPROMPtu: Ingenuous Response
Here's an extra, since I didn't think I'd be on today: create a
writing prompt.
Why am I asking you to create a writing prompt? Well, don't we all
have some problem area or areas in our writing that give us
problems? Your exercise could reflect that and suggest writing it--
an exercise in thinking outside the box. You know you need to work
on some aspect of your writing: if you were you, how would you
suggest working on it? *grin*
: i m P T O M P T u : Jotting something down
On one Y-list, we had a discussion about jotting something down on
paper when you have an idea. Something about "Boy meets Martian, boy
loses Martian..." Something along those lines. My own jots concern
character plotlines, usually.
This mission, should you choose to accept it *grin*L
1. Today, jot down the "something meets something" or some such
outline. It can just be an arbitrary thing, like "dog meets cat" or
some such, along those lines, I suppose that would be the basic
sketch of an idea.
2. Take a look at the very basic outline you did, and just label it
the elements in it. Give the characters names and some arbitrary
quirks, like "sings in the rain, shower, whatever", drinks coffee
black, enjoys peace, quiet, solitude... If you have two characters,
gfive them each at least one opposite quirk, like noise versus
quiet, party animal versus lone wolf.
3. Write something about a conflict between these two characters
involving the quirks.
You can have any variation of this story. "Man Versus Machine"
essentially makes the machine a character, and "man versus Nature"
personifies nature, like a hurricane, rain, sunshine, earthquake...
You get the idea. I think the earthquake thing might involve more of
a novel outline than a shorter piece, but that’s okay. A story about
sibling rivalry works, too, including the ever-waging Battle For The
Remote.
Sometimes, personality differences lead to conflict, and therein
lies the story. Have some fun with it, and I'll see y'all on Monday.
imPROMPTu: Hunger pangs.
How do you feel when you're really, really hungry? What are the
physical sensations you experience? Does it make your stomach move
around inside and feel as if you have an alien trapped inside,
waiting to tear through the lining and flesh to the world outside?
Does your stomach demand food, perhaps loud enough to be heard
several blocks away? Is your mind focused on the hunger, or can you
pay attention to other things? Does your focus waver from subject to
subject because the tummy keeps distracting you?
Describe a physical hunger. If that stumps you, there are other
types of appetites. I just thought of the food kind because I
haven't had any breakfast yet. *grin*
imPROMPTu: A Day in the Life...
Have you ever read a story where at its beginning the protagonist
woke and at the end they nodded off to sleep? Daily life isn't a
story unless something truly unusual, strange, horrific--different--
happens to the protagonist. A car accident, extraterrestrial
kidnapping and subsequent escape or adaptation to the alien society,
revelation of some kind (divorce, religious/antireligious. free
lunch when you usually didn't have one and what are they up to, and
so forth).
What can you cook up, if you began by letting your protagonist open
their eyes? Where would the day carry them?
Subject: InPROMPTu: Lost
This can relate to late, being lost. There's lost time, lost money,
lost child, lost inspiration, lost status, lost memory (amnesia or
Alzheimer's or even *shudder* a Senior Moment). There are lost
goals, dreams, life, death (like in "Meet Joe Black" or "Death
Takes A Holiday" or even a story about Death having amnesia, so that
would kind of be the LOST lost or the lost LOST), the lost (spilt
*sic*) milk or salt, derailed trains of thought... A missing
Christian could even be referred to as the "lost found" (if you have
ever heard the hymn Amazing Grace you might get that one LOL).
Something's lost. It could be something very important to you, which
would be tragedy; something you THOUGHT was important but you
realize that it's really not, but only after it's lost: something
that's not important to you, but that you find out was really
important ("for want of a nail..."); or else it could be something
that you don't really care about and don't really need, but every
darn thing that oyu see or hear around that particular time reminds
you of it (which borders on comedic lost). there are quite a few
things oyu could do with it, trying to tail an invisible man, even.
At any rate, whether you've lost your direction, your car keys, your
mind... I think you could get a story or sixteen out of it.
Please excuse me. I need to go get a cup of coffee before I start
writing. Enjoy!
Subject: Impromptu Prompt: Overdrive?
"I'm late! I'm late! For a very important date!"
I know, I've only seen the video, haven't read the book yet--but
sometimes you're just late due to circumstances beyond your control.
However, if your character is late, it could lead them straight into
an adventure or story, a string of circumstances which alters their
path. Can you think of any good examples of this in fiction, poetry
or real life?
Good, bad, or indifferent--tardiness happens, as do things
associated with it. At times, it could be advantageous...
Subject: Prompt for 29 April 2004: The Road Not Taken
Do you ever wonder what your life would be like if you had done that
instead of this? What about the opera singer who wanted to sell ice
cream from a truck when he was a child, perhaps because the ice
cream truck made him so happy when it came and for some reason his
life is miserable in the present day. The policeman who wanted to be
a fireman, the housewife who wanted to dance ballet... Heck, we all
have a 'what if', like me moving to Pennsylvania on the spur of the
moment in 1983 and getting married instead of going to Stony Brook
to study astronomy.
For yourself, for your character, think of the road not taken. Where
do you think that either you or your character would be today, if
you had taken that other road? You probably know at least a little
something that you could even extrapolate from your present day life
(like me and my poor eyesight, ROTFLMAO). There would have been
obstacles, of course, but have some fun thinking of ways that
perhaps you could have overcome them--or what you may have ended up
doing, if you started out on that other road and found that for one
reason or another, you couldn't travel that initial path and had to
choose, perhaps, a similar one.
Subject: Writing Prompt for Wednesday 28 April 2003: Reading
Reading might seem like a strange writer's prompt; however, you
might be surprised at the idea you can get from reading newspapers
or magazines, even from books. I'm not talking about plagiarism
here, but "what if". Even if I haven't worked with one particular
what-if scenario yet, the guy who barricaded himself and his family
in the closet and they committed mass suicide because they thought
it was the end of the world (doomsday scenario), even others, there
are so many what if factors involved with something like that. For
example, if someone in that family, that this was all in their head
and the world as they thought they knew it did come to an end and
the epilogue reveals that they lived in an alien society and this
world was all in their mind (of course, you'd have to foreshadow
this in snippets and scenes throughout the story). You could do
something silly, like the person they thought was their father, was
really an emcee in disguise for some show like "you bet your life"
(which could go either way, life or death). Maybe it would be that
the while thing was a reality TV show and they had to find a way to
save the extras, costars and bit players, not to mention the show's
star, without giving away the plot or scenario to the clueless star.
There are more scenarios that you could construct with such a
snippet. The point is reading, and letting your imagination decide
which idea you'd clip, copy or otherwise save and put in your ideas
file, the 'easy bake over' of the imagination, or whatever, and
cogitate and ponder. Perhaps a story would suggest itself right
away, perhaps it has potential and doesn't become an idea overnight.
The point of it is, you're gathering fodder for your writing,
whether or not you write an article, poem or story.
Good hunting!
Subject: Writing Prompt for Tuesday 04/27/04
As usual, a day late and a dollar short. ;-) No excuses,
even if I did go to the doctor's yesterday, then fell
asleep on the couch. Today will be busy, too. *sigh*
Anyway. have you ever tried writing a scene and found
that you were stuck, because you couldn't figure out
where you wanted to take it? I just had a scene outlined
with a creature (magical) studying half-understood human
books and speech because she was impressed with the human
who, ten years earlier, had helped to form a peace and an
agreement between her race and another one. She was going
to be visited by another of her species, one who disdained
books or anything else human; and while he wasn't going to
try to do anything now, because she's been accepted by a
previous leader and is useful only in one aspect to the
current leader of her folk, she knows that given half the
chance, he or any other member of her race would destroy
these borrowed tomes. It took me a couple of days to figure
out that before she does what the new leader wants, she
would come back and wrap these books There aren't many of
them at a time, since she's always worried about the
possibility that her folk might try to destroy them) that she
would pack and take them with her quickly when she's ordered
by the leader to deliver a message to the other species most
of whom aren't too keen on humans either, despite their
leader and a few others who have engaged in a study of
humans and even a mutually beneficial alliance, seeing as
one human is living among them and has even helped quite
a few of them), about an alliance and war against the humans.
It occurred to me that these books and her responsibility
towards the borrowed tomes and returning them would be
foremost in her mind. (The human language, thanks to several
factors became a language of commerce between the two diverse
species, and she’s the only one of her race who bothered to
attempt to study the language).
Anyway, when it occurred to me that the books were important
enough to her that she would go bundle them up so she could
return them to her human friend who is living among the ogres
and warn him of what the leader plans--war against humans.
It took a while to find a key element to start writing this
particular scene (set, actually, since it will involve more
than one scene).It's just as well, too; she might be a minor
player in the scheme of things, but she moved up from third
level helper (no VP) to second level (minor story arc and
viewpoint--the works). That's not what they call it in the
writing manuals, that's just what I call it--second- and
third-level characters. First level are the main characters--
protagonist, antagonist. They haven't called it that in the
writing manuals I've seen (yet).
You have something you're stuck on, right? I think we all do,
at one point or another: but look through what you do have,
what you want in the scene, poem, whatever, some common
element, something that you have clearly indicated is
important to your character. Perhaps you can use that
object or element as a crux for your scene? Failing that,
think about what's most important to you. What if your house
or apartment was on fire and you could take only one thing
with you. What is the most important thing to you? What
would you take with you to escape the fire? Why would you
take it? What is its value to you? I know it's a hard
decision for anyone to make; I made it simple for my
character since by their nature these folk have few or
no physical possessions. I guess it's figuring out what's
most important in life to an individual. If you're stuck
with a scene, though, something like this might help.
Writing Prompts List Extra: Writing Exercises
My bad, I know that I'm not very good sometimes, maintaining this
list and posting writing exercises. BTW, you all are also welcome to
post them too. ;-)
http://freelancewrite.about.com/c/ec/9.htm
What's that link? Why, it's for a daily 15 minute writing
exercise/prompt list type thingie that comes to your inbox.
Just in case y' all were interested...
Subject: Writing Prompt for Fri 23 April 2004: Writing Goals
http://www.writefromhome.com/writingtradearticles/320.htm
I began with a link to something called 'Writing From Home" or
some such. I just viewed it. It's an article (one of many) about
setting writing goals.
You all know by now that I'm pretty bad at that, myself. *grin* I
want to post a writing exercise here every day, but it's not easy--
two people using one computer, for instance (my daughter and me, and
so much for the DSL that AT&T does not offer out here yet. *sigh* I
mean, we could have gone wireless...)
Since it's Friday, I've tried to get these exercises to hold you for
the weekend, so it's the perfect opportunity to take fifteen minutes
to a half hour a day (or five minutes here and there on the toilet
or cooking dinner or even during the commercial breaks for American
Idol or something) to reflect on your writing goals. Where are you
in your writing, and where do you want to go with it? Do you just
keep a journal? Are you writing short stories for yourself, or to
submit them to a market ? Pro, semi-pro, 4theluv, what? Poetry? Are
you writing a novel? (I know that I'm working on one, and I've tried
to set a goal of one full scene per day, but it's a little hard to
get started when you're bogged down in detail. I have one scene that
takes place in a solar and I finished it yesterday, but it didn't
read the right way so I had to go back and find my notes so I could
sketch a bit more detail into it. Luckily, I don't have to do that
for all my writing LOL).
The major point of goal setting is to say you're going to do
something, and then just do it. You need to allow for flexibility in
the schedule, and you need realistic goals. For instance, say that
you have fifteen minutes to write something one day, twenty minutes
the next, forty-five on another day, and so forth. I think that with
the goal setting, you want to say that you will write for at least
fifteen minutes a day, which means that if you have a little more
time, you'll write for a little bit longer.
Think about your writing goals over the weekend, then take five
minutes on Monday at some point to write them down. They don't have
to be detailed plans, because you want to be able to read them
quickly, perhaps each morning while you're dressing for the day, The
important thing here is to set realistic goals, ones that you can
adhere to, that you can follow without looking at it, shaking your
head, and saying "That's too hard right now, I'll do it tomorrow"
only tomorrow stretches on towards infinity and it never gets done.
Granted, goal setting works for more things then writing--but htis
is a writing prompts list. However, if any part of this helps with
another aspect of your life, feel free to adapt, that's the
creativity of the human spirit. ;-)
Subject: Writing Prompt for Thu Apr 22, 2004 8:28 am: In The News...
You're aware of the news, right?
A mouse with two female parents, no male involvement, and no
cloning. That kind of thing can give rise to a lot of idea, like
the reactions of the mice (anthropomorphism), a human’s reaction to
it, alien reaction...
You're people, so you know how people think about it. Try to
free write a gut reaction to this or another news story, your choice,
your call. it might prove interesting...
Subject: Prompt for Fri Apr 16, 2004: Extreme Measures
I finally opened a forward from my sister Rose. I am not fond of
forwarding email, because it leads to unnecessary e-box clutter:
however, this one was innovative enough to make it part of today's
writing prompt. This is the forwarded email:
In a message dated 4/4/2004 12:42:04 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
PuttPutt5 writes:
An elderly man in Phoenix calls his son in New York and says, "I
hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I
are divorcing. Forty-five years of misery is enough." "Pop, what are
you talking about?" the son screams. We can't stand the sight of
each other any longer," the old man says. "We're sick of each
other, and I'm sick of talking about this, so you call your sister
in Chicago and tell her," and he hangs up. Frantic, the son calls
his sister, who explodes on the phone, "Like heck they're getting
divorced," she shouts, "I'll take care of this." She calls her
father immediately and screams at the old man, "You are NOT getting
divorced! Don't do a single thing until I get there. I'm calling my
brother back, and we'll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don't do
a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?" and hangs up. The old man hangs up his
phone and turns to his wife. "Okay," he says "They're coming for
Passover and paying their own airfares."
Silly, yes, but it worked within the context of the flash. It's a
story in and of itself, as well as a joke with a punch line, or
payoff.
This leads to the prompt. Has your character ever gone to such
extreme measures to accomplish something like the father did in this
piece? Would he or she? Try to think of something, some goal to be
accomplished, and then think of the zaniest resolution that your
character could apply to it.
Write on!
Subject: Prompt for Thu Apr 15, 2004 10:43 am: Chaos
What is the most chaotic scenario you can imagine for your
character? Are they space adventurers, afraid of spiders, on a
planet with intelligent and rational arachnid societies, perhaps as
ambassadors for the human race? Is it something as simple as 'for
want of a nail...'? Have some fun with it, whether or not you play
off your character's fears or un-preparedness--and if it involves
some aspect of the character's persona, so much the better.
(With luck, I'll post more regularly again--finally, a local access
number! LOL!)
Yet Another Irregular Writing Prompt
Again, apologies. We're moving this week, signing the lease tomorrow,
enrolling Terror in a new school and all that rot. AT&T will not turn on the
telephone until Tuesday (if they actually do turn it on, that is), so I might not get
to post another prompt for a little while. I still want to check on DSL too,
which would mean we could have a household wireless network and I would not
have to worry about begging computer time from my daughter any more. ;-)
There are many types of moves: changes in residence, school, emotional
state, from culture to culture, country to country. There are moves or shifts in
attitude, circumstance, or thought. Why not write a piece about a particular
move of your own, or of your character? (I refuse to think about a bowel
"move"-ment, but sometimes they can have a serious and profound effect too--or
some such. This time, I'm thinking about when my brother in law passed or moved a
gallstone while he was in the hospital. The little bugger had been vexing him and
they were getting him ready for surgery to remove it; but when it moved out of
his system, that meant he didn't need them to cut him open and take it out.
=})
: Today's Writing Prompt: Time
Hi! I'm not going to make any excuses and just state the facts. The phone
company turned off my telephone 10 days before they should have (on the fifth,
rather than the 15th, which was the day we were supposed to move, which also
meant that we lost the first apartment we were supposed to move to), and we're
moving one week from today. We've packed some things, but there never seems to
be enough time to get packing, writing, or sometimes even breathing done. ;-)
How do you. how does your character, cope with a time crunch? This goes for the
times that they have to make split-second decisions, too.
They do say that 'timing is everything', after all....
Subject: Writing Prompts for The Weekend
It seems I'm going to be all weekend, so I'm going to post three
short prompts and I hope that's okay. My sister is coming out for the weekend and
she didn't give us permission to use the computer inside the house. She's the
executor, so...
1. We all manage to get specific idea for characters sometimes, and from the
oddest sources. For example, in one story still in the process of generation,
I have a character that I had originally intended to kill off towards the end
of the novel. I looked for a good-sounding, descriptive word in the
dictionary, and settled on sepulchre, which is a type of tomb. I thought it would be a
little too silly to give a character that sort of name, so I altered it to
Sepelio. He's not a primary character, but a secondary one who plays a helper role
(albeit an important one) to another character. The way the character
developed, he's not going to die after all, but the name remains the same be
cause it sounds good, doesn't it? You may have an idea for a character type
but lack a name for him or her; if you have an idea from a personality trait or
from an intended destiny, take this opportunity to look in the dictionary for
some basic naming ideas. You don't have to restrict the words to English. Do
a little exploring before you decide on a name and on whether or not to alter
the word for your designs. How do you see this person? How tall, hair color,
habits, hobbies and interests, background, these kinds of things can be
important enough to play a role in their characterization. With luck, it shouldn't
take too long; you already had a specific characterization goal in mind while
naming the character.
2. Take the character that you created and write a scene with them in it.
Maybe you can have them in a coffee shop with some character or person that you,
yourself, have always wanted to meet. Keeping the persona of your character in
mind, and writing the other character or person in what you interpret as his
or her character, perhaps you can have them talking about who's going to pick
up the check, or some other dilemma. Pick a specific goal for the scene and
keep that in mind while you're writing it. Is your character hiring, or for
hire? Will someone excuse themselves to go to the bathroom and bail on the bill?
Would they fight each other, armed or unarmed, and the loser pay the bill? Will
they decide to split the bill? Will they both skip out before paying the bill?
Will they agree to meet on another occasion? You decide what the beginning and
the end of that scene will be, and on who your viewpoint character is, and
just write it straight through. Don't worry about making 'misteaks' in spelling,
since you're the only one reading it. ;-) Just report on it the way you see
it happening from your viewpoint character's perspective.
3. Write the same scene, only from the other character's perspective. Don't
worry about referring to the other scene to get facts in order, just write the
same basic thing straight through from the other character's viewpoint. (Yes,
this can be done in stanzas and lines too.) You can compare the two versions
afterwards and see how each one looks to you, perhaps which one you like
better.
The important thing there is the act of writing, but the process may give you
ideas for a story or three. Have fun with it, and don't be afraid to play
with it.
Subject: Prompt for 4 March 2004: Diary of a Madman/woman
This can be written either from your own perspective or the angle of your
character. Lots of things drive us a bit crazy. What do you think would drive you
or your character off thje deep end? Just for fun, write it up; you never
know when some part of it may be helpful, one day.
Subject: Random Prompt for Wednesday 3 March 2003: Plot & Character
Maybe I'll get better about posting prompts once we're finished moving. ;-)
Speaking of moving... Transitions in a character's life can be important when
it comes to writing a short story or novel; for the former, the character's
transition can be the tale. Whether it's a new job, a move, an abrupt
transition from one plane of existence to the next, put your character through a major
change. Whatever it is, I leave to you. Bring forward a member of the Spanish
Inquisition to the 21st century, possibly a church. Differences in language,
even though they might both speak the same basic one, could lead to some
confusion because of alterations in context and connotation. Even more confusing
might be a samurai from 500 years ago brought forth to present day Manhattan or
a Wall Street broker sent back to feudal Japan. Then again, could you
imagine one of the pilgrims having to deal with telemarketers? How would one react
to the 'magic' of a telephone or a television? There are other transitions
oyu could try, not just time-traveling ones. I've put them forth as major
examples of transitions. It could be as subtle as a petal or two falling from a
wilted flower (with or without a person pondering it who may have suffered loss in
his or her own life and trying to deal with it). It could be just about
anything. I'll let you decide, since you'd be the author. Liz.
Subject: Writing Prompt for Saturday 21 February 2004: Imagery
What we write can be inspired by physical surroundings. What we perceive is
often shadowed or colored by our mood. A dark room can seem like heaven or
hell, depending on the way you feel at the time.
I'm assuming that you have a story that you're working on--if you don't then
just grab a piece of paper and write something. ;-)
First, decide on a mood. How does your character feel, what is your
character's emotional state? If you don't have a location for the scene picked out or
anything, then you can use your kitchen or whatever passes for it. If you're
angry or upset, how do things look to you? What do you notice? If you're
confused, befuddled, bewildered... Pick a feeling, then try to place yourself in that
feeling and write things the way that your character would see them. More
goes into this then you think: this is where some of your character's interests
come into play. If they like to paint in their spare time they may use painting
analogies. If they write poetry, then poetic imagery. If they like racing
cars... Well, you get the general idea.
This isn't just a good way to display character, but also to describe
surroundings in your story. It's a way of interacting with your environment.
Subject: Prompt for Friday 20 February 2004: Fun and Games?
This, I can't help--it was on THE PARASITORIUM, another Yahoo list I belong
to, and they were having a discussion of a book of a collection of short
stories. Apparently, from what I gather, the book is either by Stephen King, or it
begins and ends with Stephen King. A story in it (or the book itself) is called
999, though the book is 666 pages. I mentioned that 999 was supposedly the
beast's intelligence (666 being the Beast), and someone said that 668 was the
neighbor of the beast. Of course, someone else mentioned that 669 was the number
for the Beast's sex life....
Other than beastly jokes, pick one of your favorite (or least favorite)
topics nd see how many jokes you can generate which relate to it: and remember, 333
is the Beast's scion, LOL.
Subject: Prompt for Thursday 19 February 2004: Once Upon A Time...
Write a parody of a fairy tale. Take, for instance, the
three bears, where you could have (after the main action of the story) the
woodcutter in Little Red Riding Hood hauled into court for stalking Little Red
Riding Hood, or having Goldilocks prosecuted for breaking and entering or for
trespassing. You can even tweak fairy tales by combining them, like mixing
Princess and the Pea with Sleeping Beauty.
Above all, try to have fun with it. Maybe there's even a twist on a fairy
tale that you would have liked to have seen, or an urban legend that you would
like to shuffle around a bit.
Subject: Prompt for Tuesday 17 February 2004
First, remember--it's only one month until St Patrick's Day. ;-)
Speaking of snakes, that's going to be the prompt today. Snakes Have fun with
it, it's open to several hundred interpretations, from erotic to catatonic.
There was a movie by that title. Medusa had snakes for hair. Plumbers use what
they call a snake to unclog a toilet. We call a conniver of some sort a
"snake in the grass". There are so many different interpretations of the word
snake, a lot more than I can list in this one email, so decide on something to
write, and have fun with it.
Subject: Writing Prompt for Monday 16 February 2004: What Is A Story?
Well, maybe the prompt title is a little misleading: it should be "What is a
story that you would like to tell". I want you to sit down and write a
paragraph with five sentences.
In the first sentence, I want you to write down who the story is about--the
name and the goal (want) of your protagonist. (Subsequent to this will be the
list of characteristics--who this person is, what they look like, how they act,
mannerisms, but that will be at your own leisure]).
In the second sentence, you need to consider the first obstacle. In the
third, a worse obstacle, perhaps even the worst obstacle for your protagonist to
overcome. In the fourth, think of a way they can overcome this obstacle.
The fifth sentence is the denouement, or the outcome of your protagonist's
success or failure in the course of this venture.
This is the most basic of outlines. The story itself can be written as either
poem or prose (Hi, John!). In a lot of writing books, they recommend three
obstacles; but in flash fiction, you can get away with the minimum in order to
serve your purpose (in this case, just writing something).
Since I mentioned that a lot of this is done with flash fiction, here's a
link to a diagram/website, Writing Flash Fiction Using Bubble Diagrams. A lot of
flash, or five minute, or postcard, or whatever you want to call it fiction
can turn into books in the long run, even a series of books. Trust me, I
know--I'm still working on one that began as a 500-word flash for one writer's group.
I've finally decided where and when the darn story’s supposed to start, I
already have to many notes and the like on it. *grin*. I have a 5000 word story
that began its life as a 450 word 'flash', too.
Flash fiction is a good tool for outlining a larger work, but the outline in
its most basic form gives a hard diagram for the storyline that you van work
with. The five sentence thing in itself is flexible enough to give you a firm
foundation to build on, and it's easy to write or type it to an index card and
put it by your computer for reference while you write, to remind yourself of
your writing goal for a specific story, whether short or novel length.
Subject: Writing Prompt for 15 February 2004: The Aftermath
Hi there! It's time for post-Valentine's stress syndrome prompts. Write something about 'the morning after', whether it's romantic or otherwise. Usually I'd say 'the morning after' something terrible, but if you're not in the mood, then make it a happy scene, just so long as you 'write on'.
posted by Liz | 2:21 PM
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