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.
Showing posts with label Prompts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Prompts. Show all posts
Thursday, July 18, 2013
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.
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.
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Day 35
We're saying our daily affirmations and looking on the brightside. Today, we're writing optimistically!
Challenge: Write about optimism in the middle of a storm.
Tip: Think of happiness and how it can shine in spite of darkness. Look at everything around you and let go of everything negative. You can't write something you're not feeling.
Ready. Set. Smile
Challenge: Write about optimism in the middle of a storm.
Tip: Think of happiness and how it can shine in spite of darkness. Look at everything around you and let go of everything negative. You can't write something you're not feeling.
Ready. Set. Smile
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Day 34
Listen to Afraid by The Neighbourhood. Listen to the lyrics, sense the feeling of the song and write something based on the song.
Challenge: Write a science fiction/fantasy piece.
Tip: Read through the lyrics as you listen. Stories can be extracted from anything around you. In the lyrics of a song, there are often lines that trigger something that will make you want to write. Find that, pinpoint exactly what it is that you want to write and then write it.
Ready. Set. Listen.
Challenge: Write a science fiction/fantasy piece.
Tip: Read through the lyrics as you listen. Stories can be extracted from anything around you. In the lyrics of a song, there are often lines that trigger something that will make you want to write. Find that, pinpoint exactly what it is that you want to write and then write it.
Ready. Set. Listen.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Day 33
Be fearless. Write what you're afraid to admit.
Challenge: Write it in a Haiku or a series of two or three Haikus (First line: 5 syllables; Second line: 7 Syllables; third line: 5 syllables) It's often difficult to write a good haiku that captures something as perfectly as a poem in whatever form you prefer.
Tip: If it makes you uncomfortable, don't read what you write after you finish. Don't write it to be published or be on display, write it to practice flowing your words together with emotion and honesty. If you want, rip it up or delete it when your finished. It can also be wonderful catharsis.
Ready. Set. Don't fear.
Challenge: Write it in a Haiku or a series of two or three Haikus (First line: 5 syllables; Second line: 7 Syllables; third line: 5 syllables) It's often difficult to write a good haiku that captures something as perfectly as a poem in whatever form you prefer.
Tip: If it makes you uncomfortable, don't read what you write after you finish. Don't write it to be published or be on display, write it to practice flowing your words together with emotion and honesty. If you want, rip it up or delete it when your finished. It can also be wonderful catharsis.
Ready. Set. Don't fear.
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Day 32
What's on your bucket list? Write about something on your list, whether you've done it or not. Be imaginative, be fearless, be alive.
Challenge: Use the word vivacious.
Tip: Don't be cliché. And, if you're going to be cliché, do it with a twist. Don't write the million and sixth story about skydiving unless you have something new to bring to the story. Don't talk about YOLO-ing (I apologize for using that phrase) or Carpe Diem unless you have a fresh insight on it. If you're story is just like everything else, it can't be distinctive. Be different; be distinguishable.
Ready. Set. Live.
Challenge: Use the word vivacious.
Tip: Don't be cliché. And, if you're going to be cliché, do it with a twist. Don't write the million and sixth story about skydiving unless you have something new to bring to the story. Don't talk about YOLO-ing (I apologize for using that phrase) or Carpe Diem unless you have a fresh insight on it. If you're story is just like everything else, it can't be distinctive. Be different; be distinguishable.
Ready. Set. Live.
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Day 31
Quick! Write down the first fifteen words that come to mind.
With those words, make a poem. Start each line or stanza with a word and connect them with images, metaphors, and words.
Challenge: Write a sonnet using your list of words. Since sonnets only have fourteen lines, you can cross a word out. Good luck!
Tip: Find the connection between the words. There's always a way to connect a series of words, so enlighten your creative side and find it. Once you do, just write. If it doesn't work out quite right at first, go back and switch some things around.
Ready. Set. Brainstorm.
With those words, make a poem. Start each line or stanza with a word and connect them with images, metaphors, and words.
Challenge: Write a sonnet using your list of words. Since sonnets only have fourteen lines, you can cross a word out. Good luck!
Tip: Find the connection between the words. There's always a way to connect a series of words, so enlighten your creative side and find it. Once you do, just write. If it doesn't work out quite right at first, go back and switch some things around.
Ready. Set. Brainstorm.
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Day 28
"I was afraid of gunshots until I heard more fireworks than guns. My irrational phobia of fireworks was the first of many..."
Begin a story with this line.
Challenge: Write about a character's phobias but let the main story be something other than his/hers fears. Ex: The story's based around his/hers fears but it's actually telling the tale of his/hers insecurities about life. Be creative!
Tip: Write the middle of a story first. When you understand the premise, go back and write the beginning. Whenever you're confident on the ending, write that. If the first thing you write is page 5 and the last thing you write is somewhere in the middle and you're able to put together a full story, it's more likely to be cohesive.
Ready. Set. Continue.
Begin a story with this line.
Challenge: Write about a character's phobias but let the main story be something other than his/hers fears. Ex: The story's based around his/hers fears but it's actually telling the tale of his/hers insecurities about life. Be creative!
Tip: Write the middle of a story first. When you understand the premise, go back and write the beginning. Whenever you're confident on the ending, write that. If the first thing you write is page 5 and the last thing you write is somewhere in the middle and you're able to put together a full story, it's more likely to be cohesive.
Ready. Set. Continue.
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Day 27
"I cannot be awake for nothing looks to me as it did before, or else I am awake for the first time, and all before has been a mean sleep" ~ Walt Whitman
Challenge: Write a piece that has the same general meaning as this quote, but don't use the sleep/waking metaphor.
Tip: When writing prose, have a voice that's unique to the character/narrator. No two pieces should sound the same. To make sure you have an accurate voice, think about how the character is and match a voice to that. If they're sporadic, maybe their story is all over the place and not completely focused. If they're bitter, maybe their story is very sarcastic and snide. Play around with the voice until it fits the character.
Ready. Set. Unravel.
Challenge: Write a piece that has the same general meaning as this quote, but don't use the sleep/waking metaphor.
Tip: When writing prose, have a voice that's unique to the character/narrator. No two pieces should sound the same. To make sure you have an accurate voice, think about how the character is and match a voice to that. If they're sporadic, maybe their story is all over the place and not completely focused. If they're bitter, maybe their story is very sarcastic and snide. Play around with the voice until it fits the character.
Ready. Set. Unravel.
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