merlins beard Posted May 29, 2019 Posted May 29, 2019 Hi everyone It's been a while. A long, long time actually, since I've even been on the forums. I haven't written anything non-academic in a very long time, but I really want to get back into it, so I've found a list of 30 prompts that I really like, and I want to spend June 2019 writing one short story or poem a day. I'll be challenging myself to do this and I thought I'd post the prompts here in case someone wants to join me. How do you get back into writing after taking breaks? How do you approach writing for prompts? If you're joining me in writing the prompts, I'd love to hear how you're going and read some of your creative outbursts 30 Prompts in the Spoiler Tag, feel free to use and adapt as you want it's a very diverse list, so picking just your favourites is totally cool, too. Spoiler Day 1 A stranger stops your character in the street, says his/her name, and tells him/her "be in the lobby of the Palace Hotel at midnight." Before your character can ask any questions, the stranger has hurried away... Day 2 Write a story that includes: a tombstone, a first kiss, a kitten and a butterfly collection... Day 3 Think of two very different people you know. Invent a character who combines the characteristics of both of them. Then put this character into a stressful situation. Day 4 Your character has a date but decides not to show up. Your character believes he or she has a very good reason for his decision. But your character's date is furious and decides to make your character sorry... Day 5 Write about a character whose world is dying. The actual earth is sick and killing all the plants and probably life as they know it. Day 6 Write about how magic is the norm. Some excel at it, some are only okay, and others are against it completely, despite being able to use it. Your main character is the latter. Day 7 Write a stroy that includes: a new boyfriend, an anonymous letter, and some terrible advice... Day 8 Write a fantasy story about a character who wakes up every day feeling the same thing: that something in their life is just…missing. When they realize their frequent nightmares are actually memories, it all becomes clear. Day 9 Write a story about how, due to climate change, wildfires have engulfed the large majority of living land. Your character is one of many attempting to board a ship set for a new in-ocean settlement. The problem? That settlement doesn’t actually exist. Day 10 Your character is a compulsive liar, unable to stop themselves from spinning tales that make them the envy of everyone around them. Then they wake up one day to discover that their lies have all come true… Day 11 Write about a character who finds an odd-looking egg in the forest. When they take it home, they never could have predicted what was inside it. Day 12 Imagine a house. Draw a quick floorplan of the house on a piece of paper. Who do you think lives in this house? Imagine the house’s residents. Now, add a secret room to your floorplan. What’s in the room? Why is it secret? You decide. Someone is about to discover the secret room. What happens? Write the story. Day 13 A waft of something flowery washes over your main character as they jog down the street. They turn and follow the scent to someone dancing in the middle of the street to no music while reading a book. Day 14 Reading minds might seem like an advantage in the dating world. But when your character can hear every single thought someone has about them, it quickly reduces their chances at finding love. Day 15 Your character comes home one evening, and is startled to find a stranger in his/her kitchen. "I know you must be wondering who I am and what I'm doing in your house," the stranger says, "and I promise that I'll explain everything. But, first, there's something I need you to do..." Day 16 Write about what happens when your very particular character meets the least likely person to ever be a good match for them. Day 17 A new town, a new job, a new life. Your character moved away to start over and become someone they’ve always wanted to be. The problem? They just can’t seem to stop killing people. Day 18 Write a story that includes: a family argument, a 17th-floor balcony, and an unforgettable perfume.. Day 19 Write about how the painting that’s been in your character’s home for over 50 years starts screaming. Day 20 Your character opens an old sketchbook to try their hand at it again after years of being too busy with their corporate job. When they open it, their half-finished pieces are completed…and it wasn’t their doing. Day 21 Your character’s people believe a certain boulder is sacred. It’s the heart of their civilization and religion. One day the town wakes to find it pulverized, reduced to nothing but dust and sand. Day 22 The lure of a mysterious person will never get old. Their dark hat, sly smirk, and inquisitive eyes pull your main character in…until they can’t get out. Day 23 “Well…you never asked.” Day 24 They say you can't judge a book by its cover. But some book covers attract and fascinate. Browse Amazon, or look on your bookshelves and choose a book you haven't read that has a cover you really like. Now, you’re going to borrow it. Write a story of your own that would go with that cover... Day 25 You are casually walking down a deserted road when you fall into an open man-hole. Day 26 Write the ending of a mystery story. Then write the beginning. Day 27 You get to heaven only to find that the judgement is entirely based on how many promises you’ve broken. Day 28 Today, try telling your story out loud. Speak into a recording device (there is probably an app on your cell phone). Then play back what you said and write it down. You can revise and edit later if you want. Do the words flow more easily when you are talking instead of writing? If you don't have a recording device, do this exercise anyway, but stop after a few minutes to write down what you've just said... If you want, begin your story with this first line: Someone, or something, was watching… Day 29 Your character gets trapped in an elevator with someone he or she is afraid of (you decide why)… Day 30 In the nineteenth century, there’s a thriving trade in stolen archeological artifacts. Write a story from the perspective of an annoyed, minimum-wage employee whose job is traveling back in time to obtain otherwise unobtainable artifacts, then has to bring them back to the present (the 1800s, that is) and artificially age them before they will sell.
merlins beard Posted June 1, 2019 Author Posted June 1, 2019 Day 1 is over, and it was quite the challenge at first. We were out for most of the day, and when we got home I was tired and sore from exercise and really didn't feel like writing. But I loved the first prompt so much, so I told myself: just 10 minutes. See how it goes. So i curled up in bed with a notepad and a very large duvet (it's winter here) and I wrote. 2 hours later, I posted a story (link will follow once it's validated). Honestly, i felt like flying, like I'd forgotten I had wings for over two years and just rediscovered them last night. I'm sure the story is rusty and strange and nowhere near perfect, but just endulgeing my imagination and letting it run free was such a rush, and I can't wait to do it again today. This thread isn't going to become a writing journal, I won't post every day, but I felt so strongly about this that i needed to tell you all about it. If anyone else is looking to get back into writing and wants a writing buddy, or to talk about it, or to also try these prompts, let me know.
merlins beard Posted June 4, 2019 Author Posted June 4, 2019 Hi. I have news. I have the first short story posted now. Here you can find my attempts to find my way back to the written word, the struggle to keep my fictional stories free of the kind of language required in academic writing
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