Olio of Prompts V

  BLOCKED!
You have a situation in mind, but you can't figure out how to get it written?

Does it seem a bit sad and trite? Perhaps it would liven up if you put an element of chaos into what you're writing.

For what I'm writing for National Novel Writing Month, I added a cat to add a type of animal sidekick. This shows some of the characterization for my protagonist. I had the cat offer a rat it had caught for the stew. The protagonist took it in stride, of course--you can't really belong to a cat without knowing some of its eccentricities.

It turns out that I also added several plot points. The rats have turned into agents for my antagonist.

Try adding a random element into what you're writing--animal, mineral, or vegetable. It can add interest, help display character (showing versus telling) and might even enhance your plot.


♥ Writing Prompts Grab Bag

Tuesday:
♥ "Describe yourself through the eyes of someone (real or imagined) of the opposite sex who either loves you or hates you."
(from Cybernetic Engines Writing Prompt Generator
.

Wednesday:
♥ "How often did you wear it? Write about a piece of clothing that was important to you at some time in your life."
* Original WritingFix Prompt
Generator*

Thursday:
"Are there any family heirlooms in your possession? Tell about them and how you came to acquire them."
Imagination Prompt

Friday:
"A Found Poem is created from words or short phrases found in published pieces of writing. We've created an on-line example, using an article about Mark Twain from an encyclopedia. Click the three buttons to create a practice Found Poem on-line...then find your own articles and create Found Poems out of them. Click here to try."
Left-Brained Poetry Prompts

Saturday:
"My favorite childhood memory is..."
Write On! Prompt Generator

Sunday:
Story ideas: The First Words.
Your story starts with the words:
It wasn't a smile, so much as...
Feath's Bookcase .


♥ Writing Prompt for 24 October 2005: The Appointment

Write something about a doctor's appointment. Does anything interesting happen? Do they have to drag a patient in to an appointment, kicking and screaming?

Have fun!

And remember, only seven more days to Hallowe'en, and eight (well, seven and four hours) until the start of National Novel Writing Month


♥ Writer's Prompt for 23 October 2005

I'm borrowing a page from the LiveJournal community musemuggers archives, located here at feath.com. I don't think that Feath will mind our borrowing it for a little while. There are generators on her site as well, for writing prompts and genreless stories, that folks are welcome to use.


♥ Writing Prompt: The Infamous Reluctant Spammer

How many pieces of spam have you received in your email over the past
week? I've received more then I care to think about: though this week
there seems to be a run on pharmaceuticals, rather than erection sets.

Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to write a
sympathetic story about a reluctant spammer who hates spam, but has
been driven into the industry for financial reasons. Perhaps a
cultured, refined, educated gentleman (or lady) who, on one hand, has
to resort to spamming in order to make a living; but on the other
hand, detests both spam and spammers.

The typographical errors--accident or intent--I leave to your literary purpose.


♥ From "The Prompts Collection"

This will be my second year with naNoWriMo (I managed to eke through 50,106 words last year) and http://www.livejournal.com/community/nanowarmup/ posted something for "More Character Dev" today:

List 15 simple pleasures. Pick one and write about it.

That's from the generator located at
http://prompts.diary-x.com/journal.cgi?entry=20051010cr and might be a good way to explore your main character(s).



♥ Inspired by the Fantasy Dares topic on the NaNoWriMo.org boards

The writing prompt for today is:

"You want fries with that?"

Relevant posting is above the Bozo Button dare.


♥ Writing Prompt: Panda Research

Yes, I received a piece of spam for a web research/opinion thing called "Panda Research". I had never heard of it before, but I did think that it was someone conducting research on pandas.

In the anime _Ranma 1/2_ there was a character (Ranma's grandfather) who turned into a panda each time he was splashed with cold water. A warm bath or water would of course return him to his normal form.

You could even have a researcher dressed in a panda suit, a la anime.

There are several ways that this could be interpreted. What does "Panda Research" mean to you, and can you build a vignette or a story around it?



♥ Writing Prompt (rising from my unovened sense of humor)

A dark and stormy knight...


♥ And the prompt for today is:

PERFECT MATCH.

I saw that for a piece of spam I screened and deleted from the writer's library. I think it was from a dating service, but I did not check to see if that was the case.

There are many different kinds of matches. One is, of course, with the dating services. Then there are marriage broekrs, another type of matchmaknig for those seeking the "perfect match". If you smoke then you sometimes use matches in place of lighters: and don't get me started on socks, my daughter seems to enjoy wearing pairs so mismatched that they give me a headache.

There are many more applications of this phrase as well. What does "a perfect match" mean to you?



♥ And the prompt for today is:

Write an encyclopedia/zoological entry for the species centaur. Be as
logical and honest as you can, adopting the perspective on a cantaur's
reality. How do they deal with stones in their hooves? How do you think they
sleep?


♥ Today's Prompt:

*perspicacious alacrity of **pulchritude*

--

♥ Crossed Realities

Write a scene or poem where an auto mechanic meets a wizard or witch.

The wizard or witch could be in for broomstick repair, only they end up in
the wrong shop. Te auto mechanic's car breaks down on the road. She or he
does not have the right tools on-hand to effect repairs (the car might be a
loaner, they might be on their way from one palce to another) and so has to
go into a repair shop run by a witch or a wizard.



♥ Non-Verbal Communications

Your prompt today is not only an exercise in characterization but also one in scene generation.

Write about two people having a discussion. One lies, the other is truthful;. What do you think their body language would read like?

You can use more people if you like, but those are the two major players.


♥ Writer's Prompt: I Am Going To Be Evil Today.

I Googled for erymology sites and I'll share the pain with you.

Etymology, you see, deals with word origins. So today's writing prompt is to look up the origins of a word and then write a story around it.

The word I used was "Caravan". I went to Etymology Online and looked it up. You don't have to use the word that I did, but there might be one that's been tasking you for a day or so. Look up the origins of the word. See what sparks from it.

I don't think you'll regret the results.


♥ Today's Prompt: In Vast Emptiness There Is Nothing Holy writers_libr...

I rejected a piece of spam from the library. I did spend a bit of time
looking for an online translator and ran across this free online
translator.
The simple Chinese had the most coherent translation . I edited it to try to
make a bit more English-friendly. Er, how do I know it was spam? Because
there was notation on English on it, saying that the mail was sent because
"U" (meaning the library) was a member of that list.

Well, the writer's library on Yahoo is not a member of the list. If the
person in charge of the spambot had done homework, they would have realized
that the message would not have showed up anyway since the library is set to
text only with no attachments permitted.

Still, the translated and transliterated message seemed as if it would make
for a good writer's prompt. There are several solid images in it. And so,
with little adieu, I present to you the Chiangnan village spam.

#

He knows the Chiangnan village; it's crisscrossing paths between fields. The
alleys bend in circles, the vertical ones difficult enough to recognize in
the daytime, much less in the dark night. He walks the narrow paths, several
times in the field, until both of his feet are muddy.

To afterwards follow into woods, underfoot bumpy, cruel ground.

He is anxious wants to cry, "Daddy, daddy! Mother, mother!" In the calm
night people breathing, several breaths like owl's cries.

The owl once listened. The owl most loved the crowing cock. When it was
killed, the owl soaked the dead cock with its tears. Good taught the owl to
count with difficulty. Nevertheless, the owl does not live its cries; it
lives in the bough that extends. It raises.

He does not dare to move, his heart thump-thump-jumps.

Nothing more happens. He crosses a channel and then sits, finally closing
his eyes, and soon falls asleep.

#

While Googling this I ran across a site for Shao Lin History,
which is where I found the quotation in the subject field. It seemed an
intriguing enough writer's prompt: and there a reasons for most everything
in life, so I was meant to use it for a writer's prompt. ;-) At least, from
a certain point of view.



♥ Today's Prompt

No good effort goes unpunished. ;-)

--

♥ [writesparks lite] Aren't you tired of staring at a blank page writers_libr...


7 Writing Muse Kickers to Fill Up That Blank Page
by Shery Ma Belle Arrieta-Russ


Nothing is more daunting for any writer than having to stare at a blank
sheet of paper.

When we stare at a blank sheet of paper, we often think, "What am I
going to write?" A few minutes later, it becomes, "Oh my goodness, I
can't think of anything to write!" And several minutes later, it turns
into something like, "Write, dangnabit! Write! Write! WRITE!"

Some writers call this writer's block. But I call it the
"Writing-Muse-Needs-A-Kick" syndrome.

And that's exactly what we're going to do with your writing muse gone
truant. We're going to kick her back into gear so you can fill up that
blank page.

Here are 7 writing muse kickers for you to try right now:

1. First Line: Begin a story with "There was once a chance I didn't
take..."

2. Cliche Starter: Weave a story or poem around the cliche, "keep your
powder dry."

3. Power of Metaphor: What does "a string of laughter" make you think of?

4. Proverb Mix: "Beauty breaks the camel's back."

5. Story Words: Use the words "pianist, pencil, high-rise building,
running shoes" in a story.

6. What If? Story: What if you're going to write a story about
betrayal, with a young man as the main character and a locket as the
key object? Set your story on a ranch.

7. Quick Prompt: Write about what you'd say to an uninvited guest.


(c) 2003-2004 Shery Ma Belle Arrieta-Russ

(In case you have a site or e-zine and you wish to use my article,
don't forget to include my resource box.)

=> My resource box: <=

Shery is the creator of WriteSparks! - a software that
generates over 10 *million* Story Sparkers for Writers.
Download WriteSparks! Lite for fr*e - http://writesparks.com
----------


♥ Today's Prompt: First Person, Present Tense

Write an argument. It can be an argument with one's self or with someone or something else. Put your self into the character's head, or write an argument that you might have. the only thing is, it has to be written like it's happening here and now.

Ah, yes - could you imagine arguing with your dog over a walk, if you have one? ;-)



♥ Internal and External Conflicts in Fiction

Plotting Inside and Out.

This is something to think about, something interesting to ponder. The internal versus the external life. The article is on the Long Ridge Writer's Group site. The article is called *

Plotting Inside and Out

Creating Internal and External Conflicts in Fiction

by Mary Rosenblum
*and I thought that you folks might find it interesting.

It's applicable toward scenes too. we have the external events and then we
have the internal reactions to the events. One good example of this I can
think of is Star Wars, episodes 4-6. The story is delineated so that we can
see Luke's internal as well as external journey. He starts off after his
uncle Owen and Aunt Beru are killed wanting revenge, which is his motivation
for beginning Jedi training. The story is as much about the way this
internal position changes (from wanting to fight the Empire to just wanting
to bring his father back to the Light Side) which, incidentally, means the
destruction of the Emperor as an incidental event, a deed accomplished by
his father Anakin, who dies from the attempt. The changes occur over the
movies, from having no family to learning about first his father in movie
two and then his sister in movie three. He's no longer the solitary, tragic
figure from the fist movie who came back to find his family killed by the
stormtroopers.

We can see the external plots too, the destruction of the first Death Star
in movie one, Jedi training (the means) in movie two, drawbacks and
accomplishments along the way.

That's why I like the Star Wars movies. It's a clear story arc, even with
all its faults. There may be formula, but parts of it are not exactly
predictable. This did not necessarily have to follow that, especially at the
end. Star Wars 1-3 didn't have that "feel" to them that 4-6 had, that sense
of completeness that left me satisfied at the end.

Do you have a scene written? Is there some way you can incorporate an
internal reaction/goal as a counterpoint to the external events? The results
might prove rather interesting.




♥ The Juorney writers_libr...


I know it's been very sporadic, but I have been trying to come up with
writing prompts and get computer access to post them.

One interesting exercise is starting from the end of a story and working our
way toward the beginning to see how everything was set up: effect and cause.
If the hero kills the dragon, then how does he kill it? What does he kill it
with? How did h obtain the object that he kills the dragon with? What does
he have to go through to get it? How did he know what he would need to kill
the dragon? Why does he want to kill the dragon in the first place?

All of the above, together, can be reversed to provide an outline for a
story. The story itself can be told in either narrative or poetic form.

Chances are that you've been thinking about stories for a while. Write the
ending of the story. Then think about your hero gets to the end. You don't
have to write the rest of it unless you want to: the important thing here is
thinking about how you could get to the beginning from the end, what would
work, what doesn't work, in the journey.


Enjoy!



♥ After Myriad Computer Problems, Here Are Some Prompts writers_libr...

I'm working on a book right now and it opens with the death of a
character. This is all part of the plot, the "loaded gun". But to set
everything up, you start with an intro scene, the set up to the event, then
move on to the event itself, and the scenes after that are the ones where
your protagonist deals with the event.

This can be written as a story or as a poem. William Shakespeare wrote much
in ballad form, and you can tell a story in poetic form, some of the best
poems work that way too.

The beginning, or "status quo" is the prologue, the calm before the storm,
the event leading up to The Change. Chance is necessary in fiction because
it sets the story in motion: but a few brush strokes to illustrate life
before the change underscores the importance of that change. It's a
technique that's not used in every story, but it can be used to good
advantage, mostly in novellas and novels, but sometimes in shorter works
(one example of the shorter work is Robert Sheckley's story "Pandora's Box
-- Open With Care" from the September 2000 issue of Fantasy & Science
Fiction).

Every writer seems to have some change in mind. What do you think might
happen before the change, as if to highlight and underscore the effects of
the change?



♥ Writing Prompt for the Day

Choose a picture at random. It can be a photograph or a drawing. Based on how s/he is dressed, the expression on their face,any number of things, invent a character summary for them. Name, rank and serial number - er, age, occupation, hobbies and pastimes, that sort of thing. Biography Info for Main Characters at writing-life.com lists questions and other data for a character bio. Have a bit of fun with it and see how it all comes out.


♥ Writing Prompt: Ambiguity


Shed Fat.

That was the subject line of a piece of spam that I deleted. My first
reaction? "I didn't know that sheds could get fat".

Today's e-mail is in such use that spam is a common problem, but there are
some that just hit a giggle button or elicit some other reacting from the
victim - er, recipient, and it is not necessarily the one that the sender
wants to convey.

Your writing prompt for today is to write a silly or ambiguous spam header.


♥ What would you get if you...

We all have our favorite kinds of animals. We all have our favorite kinds
of foods. What do you think that you would get if you combined them? In the
case of the elephant, so the joke goes, we would get either peanut butter
that never forgets or an elephant that sticks to the roof of your mouth.
Personally? I am rather fond of sushi and cats, so would I get a finicky
fish or a furry flounder?
For that matter, what would you get if you crossed an owl and a treacle tart...



♥ Today's Prompt

| Heir Conditioner |



♥ Horoscope Prompt?

I just checked my horoscope on MSN.com. I thought it would make a good
writing prompt.

As none of you know, I am a Virgo (not that I take horoscopes seriously).
Here is the horoscope for today.

Initiate a deep and meaningful conversation with someone you have lost touch
with over the years. It could be that a long and ugly point of contention is
on the brink of resolution. All you need to do now, dear Virgo, is to make
the first move. There is a great deal of heart-felt loving energy in the air
that will help aid you in fostering a sensitive, loving approach. Find a
connection with someone that you didn't know was there before.

For "someone you have lost touch with over they years" you can substitute
your protagonist, or any other character that you need to flesh out. As a
writer you do need a connection to your characters in order to write about
them, or else they come out a bit flat.

And poets, never fret - you can have this conversation with yourself in
prose form too. All of us have some small, buried bit that we are not proud
of, even if it might not seem like much of an issue to another person.
--

♥ It's all in how you see things.

http://www.csicop.org/sb/9912/i-files.html

Other than carnival oddities or illusions, write about something in your
everyday life, taking the perspective that it is like a carnival oddity or
illusion.



♥ Today's Prompt: Alternate History


*Alternate History by The Writers Store Team
Write an alternate history of a significant moment in your life. Think about what could have been if one key moment had been different.

This can apply to your character's history as well. It can be the road not taken, the alternate steps, the "what if?" scenario.




♥ Communication Between Author & Character

One good method for generating ideas and plain old writing is that of the character letter. I have posted three links to this email that I hope will help. Have your character write a letter, either to you or else to another character. What would they say in the letter?
**
A letter game
*(scroll down the page to find the details on it)
*Letter game
The Wonderful World Of Ghost Letters