(I apologize for the long break. The prompts are back now!)
"The beautiful thing about losing your mind is that you don't need to have a direction."
Challenge: Write this with an unusual metaphor.
Tip: Focus on voice. Imagine how the narrator would sound as they tell the story. Think about the inflection, the way they would speak, the words they would use. Are they cynical? Optimistic? Unsure? Reliable? Picture the narrator speaking, imagine the way they say the words, and write as a person would speak. Most importantly: don't confuse your voice with the narrator's voice.
Ready. Set. Continue.
Monday, October 7, 2013
Monday, July 29, 2013
Day 53
Write a story of what love's all about.
Challenge: Write a love song.
Tip: Do NOT be cliché. If you've read the same story or scenario over and over, don't write it and add to the pile. Be different. Be daring.
Ready. Set. Love.
Challenge: Write a love song.
Tip: Do NOT be cliché. If you've read the same story or scenario over and over, don't write it and add to the pile. Be different. Be daring.
Ready. Set. Love.
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Day 52
You're giving up everything and starting over.
Challenge: Do something daringly different.
Tip: Use your imagination and creativity. This may sound remedial, but many people lose sight of what's outside the box. Take a few steps where you've never gone before and explore your imagination.
Ready. Set. Restart.
Challenge: Do something daringly different.
Tip: Use your imagination and creativity. This may sound remedial, but many people lose sight of what's outside the box. Take a few steps where you've never gone before and explore your imagination.
Ready. Set. Restart.
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
***Note***
I apologize but I will be taking a small break from writing daily prompts. They will resume Saturday, July 27th. In the meantime, keep writing!
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Day 51
Take a drive (literally or just in the story) and write about what's on the way.
Challenge: Tell it entirely in flashbacks.
Tip: Context is incredibly important in building a backdrop. A familiar road should seem familiar with memories and the like while a new one should seem uncertain. If there's a store that's a common hangout or avoided territory, why? As you write, fill in the gaps and pieces to create a realistic place.
Ready. Set. Drive.
Challenge: Tell it entirely in flashbacks.
Tip: Context is incredibly important in building a backdrop. A familiar road should seem familiar with memories and the like while a new one should seem uncertain. If there's a store that's a common hangout or avoided territory, why? As you write, fill in the gaps and pieces to create a realistic place.
Ready. Set. Drive.
Friday, July 19, 2013
Day 50
50 days! In 50 words, say more than you can say in 500.
Challenge: Write a letter to someone saying whatever you need to say.
Tip: More words does not make a piece automatically better. If you're unsure whether something is necessary or not, it isn't.
Ready. Set. Limit.
Challenge: Write a letter to someone saying whatever you need to say.
Tip: More words does not make a piece automatically better. If you're unsure whether something is necessary or not, it isn't.
Ready. Set. Limit.
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Day 49
Leave every inhibition, fear, and façade away from the story. Just write. Whatever you're holding back, let it out.
Challenge: Don't edit as you write.
Tip: Do this at least once a week and whenever you're bothered by something. At first, you may feel heavy or weary, but after a bit you'll feel wonderful and refreshed.
Ready. Set. Catharsis.
Challenge: Don't edit as you write.
Tip: Do this at least once a week and whenever you're bothered by something. At first, you may feel heavy or weary, but after a bit you'll feel wonderful and refreshed.
Ready. Set. Catharsis.
Day 48
Lay in the grass, close your eyes, and feel everything around you. Describe.
Challenge: Tell an entire story - detailed description and all - in under 400 words.
Tip: As you notice your surroundings, write it out in your head. The best parts will stick and the rest will be filled in as you write.
Ready. Set. Feel.
Challenge: Tell an entire story - detailed description and all - in under 400 words.
Tip: As you notice your surroundings, write it out in your head. The best parts will stick and the rest will be filled in as you write.
Ready. Set. Feel.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Day 47
Where do the telephone wires lead?
This may seem like a stupid or obvious question, but look at everything and everyone the telephone wires connect. Then wonder, where do the telephone wires lead?
Challenge: Use the wires as a symbol.
Tip: Describe everything. From the feel of the air to the ground beneath a character's feet. If it helps the picture, write it.
Ready. Set. Explore.
This may seem like a stupid or obvious question, but look at everything and everyone the telephone wires connect. Then wonder, where do the telephone wires lead?
Challenge: Use the wires as a symbol.
Tip: Describe everything. From the feel of the air to the ground beneath a character's feet. If it helps the picture, write it.
Ready. Set. Explore.
Day 46
"Just take me out to pasture and leave me for natural selection..."
Continue.
Challenge: Write an allegory.
Tip: Establish a voice and style and maintain it through the piece. Whether it's witty or serious, sarcastic or melodramatic.
Ready. Set. Continue.
Continue.
Challenge: Write an allegory.
Tip: Establish a voice and style and maintain it through the piece. Whether it's witty or serious, sarcastic or melodramatic.
Ready. Set. Continue.
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Day 45
Go to the ends of the earth. For something. For someone. For anything.
Challenge: Go farther.
Tip: You should feel everything you put into your writing. The more something feels, the more it's real.
Ready. Set. Travel.
Challenge: Go farther.
Tip: You should feel everything you put into your writing. The more something feels, the more it's real.
Ready. Set. Travel.
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Day 44
Play the part of a struggling addict. There's only one thing you want, but you know you can't have it.
Challenge: Write out of your comfort zone. Completely change up the form and style. If you're normally witty, be serious. If you're normally dramatic, be whimsical. There should be a significant difference.
Tip: Put yourself in the place of an addict. Close your eyes and imagine the painful feeling of not getting what you need.
Ready. Set. Imagine.
Challenge: Write out of your comfort zone. Completely change up the form and style. If you're normally witty, be serious. If you're normally dramatic, be whimsical. There should be a significant difference.
Tip: Put yourself in the place of an addict. Close your eyes and imagine the painful feeling of not getting what you need.
Ready. Set. Imagine.
Friday, July 12, 2013
Day 43
Technology. Is it bringing us down, or holding us up?
Challenge: Write a dystopian short story about what technology's doing to society.
Tip: Sometimes, your own writing gives you the chills or frightens you a bit. That's okay. In fact, the more emotionally effected you are by the writing, the more your audience will be.
Ready. Set. Imagine.
Challenge: Write a dystopian short story about what technology's doing to society.
Tip: Sometimes, your own writing gives you the chills or frightens you a bit. That's okay. In fact, the more emotionally effected you are by the writing, the more your audience will be.
Ready. Set. Imagine.
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Day 42
Sometimes, things aren't just things. They're memories, relics of what was. They hold information that would otherwise be lost. Write about a thing that's more than a thing.
Challenge: Write a story where the thing is almost a character in itself.
Tip: Draw the reader in. Start with a line that brings about questions and catches someone's eye. My personal favorite is to start with a five or six word sentence as its own paragraph and then go into further detail. Find what catchy starts work for you.
Ready. Set. Unravel.
Challenge: Write a story where the thing is almost a character in itself.
Tip: Draw the reader in. Start with a line that brings about questions and catches someone's eye. My personal favorite is to start with a five or six word sentence as its own paragraph and then go into further detail. Find what catchy starts work for you.
Ready. Set. Unravel.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Day 41
Write the perfect summer ballad.
Challenge: Try writing a tanka. It's a bit like a haiku. There are five lines of varying syllables: first - 5, second - 7, third - 5, fourth - 7, fifth - 7. (5/7/5/7/7)
Tip: If you're having trouble with inspiration, find pictures of what you're writing about. Print some out and post them around your writing area. Listen to songs that spark a relevant memory or feeling. Surround yourself with things that bring along the feeling you need.
Ready. Set. Summertime.
Challenge: Try writing a tanka. It's a bit like a haiku. There are five lines of varying syllables: first - 5, second - 7, third - 5, fourth - 7, fifth - 7. (5/7/5/7/7)
Tip: If you're having trouble with inspiration, find pictures of what you're writing about. Print some out and post them around your writing area. Listen to songs that spark a relevant memory or feeling. Surround yourself with things that bring along the feeling you need.
Ready. Set. Summertime.
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Day 40
What's the most wonderful age to be? Why? What's it like? Try your hand at poetry today.
Challenge: Use a negative experience to express why that age is wonderful.
Tip: Poems can tell stories or solely express an image/feeling. But often, there are unintended stories within the words that the readers fashion for themselves. Make sure the work is relatable to whoever sits down to read it.
Ready. Set. Wonder.
Challenge: Use a negative experience to express why that age is wonderful.
Tip: Poems can tell stories or solely express an image/feeling. But often, there are unintended stories within the words that the readers fashion for themselves. Make sure the work is relatable to whoever sits down to read it.
Ready. Set. Wonder.
Monday, July 8, 2013
Day 39
"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle." -Ian Maclaren
Challenge: Write a satire with this quote in mind, possibly satirizing it using war.
Tip: Know the background of everyone and everything that pops into a story - whether it's a person or place. The tidbit of information may not make it into the piece if it's not necessary to the plot, but you should understand it to better understand your story.
Ready. Set. Explore.
Challenge: Write a satire with this quote in mind, possibly satirizing it using war.
Tip: Know the background of everyone and everything that pops into a story - whether it's a person or place. The tidbit of information may not make it into the piece if it's not necessary to the plot, but you should understand it to better understand your story.
Ready. Set. Explore.
Day 38
Rewrite the past.
Challenge: Look into the butterfly effect and write a story based around that idea.
Tip: Think about every aspect and detail of a story. If a character decides to run around the block in the middle of the night, why? If a character's upset or euphoric, what habits might that character have that show that specific emotion? In the case of this prompt, think of every possible aspect of the change - large scale, small scale, mid scale. What'd change? What'd be the same?
Ready. Set. Rewind.
Challenge: Look into the butterfly effect and write a story based around that idea.
Tip: Think about every aspect and detail of a story. If a character decides to run around the block in the middle of the night, why? If a character's upset or euphoric, what habits might that character have that show that specific emotion? In the case of this prompt, think of every possible aspect of the change - large scale, small scale, mid scale. What'd change? What'd be the same?
Ready. Set. Rewind.
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Day 37
A bit depressing but, how would the world around you be different if you had died yesterday?
Challenge: Add this perspective into a current story you have.
Tip: This doesn't have to be a story, it can be a reflection or an essay. Find some thoughts that you have on the matter and string them together, playing with the form.
Ready. Set. Imagine.
Challenge: Add this perspective into a current story you have.
Tip: This doesn't have to be a story, it can be a reflection or an essay. Find some thoughts that you have on the matter and string them together, playing with the form.
Ready. Set. Imagine.
Friday, July 5, 2013
Day 36
What's the cost of freedom?
Challenge: Write a historically accurate piece about a revolution of some sort. It can be current or from a long while ago.
Tip: Look into real life stories. Whether it's a personal story, one from a friend, one from a memoir, or an account that you find from a source. Look around you and see the real life stories. There's inspiration in reality.
Ready. Set. Explore.
Challenge: Write a historically accurate piece about a revolution of some sort. It can be current or from a long while ago.
Tip: Look into real life stories. Whether it's a personal story, one from a friend, one from a memoir, or an account that you find from a source. Look around you and see the real life stories. There's inspiration in reality.
Ready. Set. Explore.
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