writing prompts

August 2013 Writing Prompts

The end of the storm
The end of the storm

Wow! August already. And you know what? That’s okay. I had a busy July and got a lot of writing done–including some for which I’m getting paid! I’m looking forward to another month of writing, some during a family vacation, and some definitely next week to accommodate a couple of late (and thankfully short) assignments. I love sending out invoices before I go on vacation!

In my last blog I talked about getting the sequel to The Dragon’s Pearl  finished–and I did! I finished it last Saturday, but because of other writing tasks on my plate, I haven’t looked at it since. Today I printed it out, and I’m looking forward to my first, sticky-note run through. I love editing and revising!

Here are some prompts to get you writing in August.

1. Use one, some or all of these words in a story or poem.

  • jar, paperweight, cloth, key, white, grip
  • flashlight, stone, shelf, mark, camera, run

2. See where these opening sentences lead your imagination.

  • Mrs. Winthrop was peeking out of her window again.
  • Inside the apartment, the air smelled of cigarettes–and death.
  • Ducan raised his hands and tossed a ball of light into the darkness.
  • The last person I expected to see here was Luke
  • I always saw more clearly after dark.

3. Maybe these titles will suggest a story.

For the Record, Time’s Key, Heart and Hope, The Long Climb, Circles, First Vision, Silver Stars

4. Write a description of your favourite place. How does it look? Smell? What do you eat there? Describe the tastes. What do you hear? What’s the pace of this place? Does it inspire activity or do you just kick back? When you look back at your writing, does the pace of your writing match the pace of the location? Are your sentences long, and slow-moving or are they short and full of energy and action?

Hope your August gets off to a creative start!

Friday Wrap-Up and July 2013 Writing Prompts

A Tagxedo view of my website.
A Tagxedo view of my website.

It’s a long weekend here, and I don’t expect to be spending a lot of time with the laptop, so I thought I’d publish the July prompts a bit early.

The week’s been full of interviews for articles, very hot weather, lots of errands, and a draft of a short story for middle readers. Looking back there was a lot of sitting in front of a fan with a cold drink, too. We’re looking forward to a barbeque with family on the weekend, and maybe a game of golf, along with celebrating my mom’s 85th birthday. She gets teased that the main reason she immigrated to Canada was to get a holiday on her birthday.

Hope those of you who have some special holidays and events over the coming week have a fabulous time with family and friends.

Here are the July prompts.

1. Use one, some or all of the following words in a story, scene or poem:

Coffee, star, pen, match, envy
Park, window, fear, strand, frame

2. Try one of these sentences to begin a story.

a) Mud bubbled and spat.
b) Matt fell against the bars.
c) “Table for thirteen, please.”
d) Our call ended with a bang.
e) I loved flying.
f) Pat straightened another picture frame.

3. See what scenes these lines of dialogue suggest to you.

Do all dragons breathe fire?
Not all.
What about this one?

Why do you suppose we’re all here?
I only know what I’ve been told.
And what’s that?
Don’t ask questions.

The hard drive crashed.
I warned you.

It’s not like it is on TV is it?
Not much is, kid.

That’s not how you do that.
And you know better?
Yes.
Show me.

4. Create a story to go with one of these titles: Peter Piper Picked Me, Left Over, Wheel of Misfortune, On the Shelf, Search and Rescue, Call Me Never, Book Room, Full Plate, Brush-Off, Keeping Casey.

5. Do you ever want to write down your dreams so you can remember them, or are they the kind of dreams that you want to forget as soon as possible? How does your character feel about his or her dreams? Describe a nightmare that your character might have. Think about what that nightmare says about your character and his or her past or present.

Have a great weekend!

A Good Walk/Book Spoiled

I photographed these irises while on the golf course on Saturday. It was the one sunny day when we could actually be outdoors out of a long stretch of rainy and cool, breezy days. The flowers also distracted me from my first golf game of the year, which is filled with moments of great hope (sinking a chip and a very long put and a few great drives) balanced by the realities of my actual level of play (3-putt anyone?) Golf is just that kind of game, and, in my case, it always makes sure that I come back by letting me play like I know what I’m doing on the last hole.

Mark Twain is credited with saying that “Golf is a good walk spoiled.” But apparently that’s not likely. Here’s the scoop from Quote Investigator:

“In 1904 the saying was attributed to a popular novelist named Harry Leon Wilson who used a cleverly expanded version of the jape. Wilson employed a rhetorical device called reversibility to augment the humor [HW1]: Some of his friends have been trying to induce him to play golf, but he refused. He makes the following unique definition of golf:  ‘Golf has too much walking to be a good game, and just enough game to spoil a good walk.'”

Writing has as many challenges as a golf game. The equipment often needs improving, you need to practise, you need to experiment and try new techniques to succeed, you need patience, and mental and physical discipline, and it can take a long time to get to the level that makes you feel confident when you approach that first tee. But like golf can spoil a good walk, can writing spoil a good read? As a writer, how do you approach your reading? Does a good book get spoiled because you are busy analyzing how the author built the plot, or developed characters, or used symbolism or theme? Or can you put your writing brain on hold and just enjoy reading?

I’m lucky enough that I can still be swept away by story and enjoy a good book. But … there are times that being a writer can make me very critical of a novel. And that can be good. As I try to figure out what isn’t working for me in a particular story, I can store that as a cautionary piece of advice when I start to edit my own work. I’d love to know when you turn off or turn on your writer’s brain when you’re reading. Are their books that you would suggest to be read with the writer’s brain on because they have good writing lessons to teach?

Love to hear from you.

Friday Wrap-Up

Yay for Friday! I had a lot of fun this week writing a story for the SCBWI mash-up. The plan is for an author to write 500 words based on a four word prompt and an illustrator to create a drawing based on the same four words. Neither knows what the other is doing. This weekend they get put together, and we get to see how it all turned out. I’ll post the link as soon as it’s ready, so you can see the final result. This week’s words: Brascoe, Television news anchor, treehouse, T-Rex.

Peonies - My favourite June flower
Peonies – My favourite June flower

It’s funny how some writing prompts work and other don’t–well, for me anyways. I love prompts in which random words are thrown together, and you have to create a story or a scene from them. I like working with stray bits of dialogue, too. I wrote 65,000-word historical romance based on three words that I drew from a basket during one of my own writing classes. That kind of prompt requires my puzzle brain, trying to figure something out with just a few clues. It probably has to do with my love of mysteries, the books on codes and secret messages that I used to check out of the library when I was in my Nancy Drew phase, and the fact that I still like to do crossword puzzles and Sudoku.

What kind of writing prompts work for you? Do you like random words or sentences or do you prefer the ones that demand a deeply personal response? Why do you think you prefer one kind of prompt over another. I actually hope that you’re one of the lucky ones that has so many ideas in your head for stories or poems that you don’t need a prompt. If that’s you, celebrate!!

I create writing prompts every month. I ‘d love to know what prompts you’re looking for, so I can include them in my first-of-the-month-writing-prompt post.

Have a great weekend!

Friday Wrap-Up

Begonias and Something with Purple Flowers. My only planting of annuals.
Begonias and Something with Purple Flowers. My only planting of annuals.

This has been a busy chore-filled week. I am so not a gardener and our house is on a lot that presents a lot of challenges. A lot of my work seems to be done on a 45 degree slope. I’m strictly into low maintenance, but my mom, who has an apartment downstairs, is a force to be reckoned with in the spring, and plants keep coming home with her for me to dig in somewhere. What started out as just a little corner for her to putter in has grown this year by more than a dozen various plants and small shrubs and threatens to keep growing. I always cringe a little when she gazes over the back yard and says, “You know. I’ve just been thinking … ” You see, I’m a big fan of goutweed, hostas and day lilies to keep the weeds down, but her tastes are considerably more refined. I mean, she actually plants annuals! This is her happy time of year, so I keep digging holes where she tells me and trimming things that she says need trimming, and try to think positively of the calories that I’m burning, and the glass of wine that I’ll have earned by the end of the day.

On the writing side, I made a bit more progress at the end of the week and will be finishing a short story draft today that I started on Wednesday. Up until then, I was totally stymied by misgivings about whether I should rewrite a major project or just keep going ahead with the sequel. Should I change a project from third person to first? And then I realized I had started my mystery novel all wrong. And then … well, you get the idea. Shudder. Indecision is a real creativity killer, and there are times when I am nearly buried in it. Climbing out is a grim process, but I do, finally, get above ground again and back to the keyboard. Whew.

I’ve gathered a few months of writing starters and added them under the Writing Prompts tab today, and updated my list of publishing options for teen writers under the Where to Get Published tab. You can tell that I’ve also played around with the look of the site again. Sorry about that.

Have a great Friday and hope you have a relaxing and creative weekend ahead.

Thanks for Dropping By!

Wordpress map of visitorsJust want to say thanks to all those who come from all over the world to visit my site every day. I’m thrilled that you find some of the resources here useful. I’d love to know more about you, what you teach or write, and how you use the resources here. Please leave a comment and say “Hi.”

For those who go to the Writing Prompts tab a lot, I’ll be uploading some new prompts by the end of the week to give you something new to work/play with.

Below is a list of the countries that visited the site in the last 30 days. Welcome! I’m so glad you dropped by.

United States 664
Canada 112
United Kingdom 108
Australia 87
New Zealand 42
France 20
India 16
Ireland 10
Philippines 7
Sri Lanka 6
Republic of Korea 5
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Spain 5
Belgium 5
Pakistan 5
Thailand 5
Argentina 5
Mexico 5
Indonesia 4
Germany 4
Singapore 4
United Arab Emirates 4
Bangladesh 3
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Nigeria 3
South Africa 3
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Trinidad and Tobago 2
Hong Kong 2
Malaysia 2
Peru 2
Brazil 1
Japan 1
Serbia 1
Slovakia 1
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Marshall Islands 1
Afghanistan 1
Austria 1
Jamaica 1
Saint Lucia 1
Romania 1
Hungary 1
Iceland 1
Bahrain 1
Algeria 1
Switzerland 1
Italy 1

Friday Check-In and Kidlit Writing Contest

It’s been an up and down week with my writing. I’ve managed to slog through some pages, but haven’t felt ‘in the groove’ at all. Maybe when this thunderstormy heat wave passes and my propensity for migraines brought on by weird weather patterns is no longer challenged, I’ll get back in gear. Or maybe it’s just a slump, and as usual, things will get better if I just keep showing up. Probably the latter. Speaking of “just showing up” here’s a link to my oft-viewed TED Talk by Elizabeth Gilbert “Your elusive creative genius.” I highly recommend viewing this when the writing is at a standstill. I may be watching it today! Here’s  the TED Talk summary: Elizabeth Gilbert muses on the impossible things we expect from artists and geniuses — and shares the radical idea that, instead of the rare person “being” a genius, all of us “have” a genius. It’s a funny, personal and surprisingly moving talk.

The following link to Kristi Holl’s Blog “Warning: Do You Know Where You Are?” takes a different slant on reaching your goals.

Here’s an excerpt:

“No matter what type of map you use (Google map, MapQuest, GPS or the old-fashioned paper kind), you first have to know where you are right now. Knowing your destination won’t help one iota if you don’t know your present location.

And why don’t we writers know where we are at this moment? Are we lost? Not really. More like deluded. We deceive ourselves about our true locations at the present time. (I do it too. We all do it.) And that’s one big reason why our “maps” don’t work and don’t get us to our destinations.”

I have soooo been there–and, no doubt, will be there again.

Finally, here is a link and some information about a kidlit writing contest, deadline July.

Current Contest at Children’s Writer: Kindergarten Story: Exploration!

http://www.thechildrenswriter.com/af627/

Specifications: Fiction about exploration for kindergarteners, up to 150 words. The story should be appropriate to children 5 to 7 learning to read on their own. The theme of exploration could be set at home, down the block, at school, on vacation, in books: Use your imagination! The story should be fun, colorful, use well-targeted words, and have special interest for the age group. Do not write too high for this readership. Know what a five- or seven-year-old can and cannot read. Originality and the overall quality of writing will also be considered. Publishability is the ultimate criterion.

Entries must be received by July 12, 2013. The first contest entry is free to Children’s Writer subscribers who include their account number on page one of their manuscript. All others pay an entry fee of $15, which includes an 8-month subscription. Winners will be announced in the October 2013 issue. Prizes: $500 for first place plus publication in Children’s Writer, $250 for second place, and $100 for third, fourth, and fifth places.

The contest rules are important. Please read them carefully.

Love to know what you think of the TED Talk or Kristi’s blog, or if you’re thinking of entering the contest. Have a great weekend!

My Favourite Books About Writing

Some wonderful books have been written by writers about writing and here are a few standbys that I wouldn’t be without.

If you don’t already have it, make sure you own a copy of Strunk and White’s Elements of Style. This little book is a concise guide to clear, uncluttered prose. According to Stephen King, “Strunk and White offer the best tools (and the best rules) you could hope for, describing them simply and clearly.”

 And that leads me to Stephen King. His book, On Writing: A memoir of the craft is a funny, moving, and unromantic look at his childhood, early struggles to get published, decline into and recovery from drug and alcohol abuse, and surviving a nearly-deadly collision with a van. Aside from King’s colourful insights into writing and his writing life, it is hard to find a more succinct description of the necessary techniques of the writer’s craft than in the section of this book titled “Toolbox.” You have to love a writer who declares, “Writing is magic, as much the water of life as any other creative art. The water is free. So drink. Drink and be filled up.”

Another favourite of mine is Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. Combining autobiography with writing advice, this book reaches the reader with a brilliant combination of serious advice, laugh-out-loud humour, and inspiration. One of Lamott’s writing tools is always at my desk—the one-inch picture frame. Lamott says, “It reminds me that all I have to do is to write down as much as I can see through a one-inch picture frame. This is all I have to bite off for the time being.” When a project of mine becomes overwhelming (and sometimes this can be daily), that picture frame gives me the freedom to write just a little bit. I can deal with that. I know I will write another bit and another–and finish the project. Ask Lamott why writing matters and she will reply, “Because of the spirit. . . .Because of the heart. Writing and reading decrease our sense of isolation. They deepen and widen and expand our sense of life: they feed the soul.” Anne Lamott’s book will feed your writer’s soul.

 Both the Lamott and the King books are sprinkled with some fairly ‘colourful’ language and, if you will find that uncomfortable reading, then here is one more great inspiration. Writing down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg is a book you will want to read with a highlighter in your hand because it is so rich in ‘just right’ statements about writing. Here’s a sample: “Writing…is ninety percent listening. You listen so deeply to the space around you that it fills you and when you write it pours out of you. If you can capture that reality around you, your writing needs nothing else.” Wow.

Of course reading about writing has its place, but the most important thing is the writing. Here are some writing starters from another favourite book of mine, The Pocket Muse: ideas and inspirations for writing by Monica Wood. Full of photographs, quotes, writing tips and ideas, it’s a book I like to open when I need a creative push. Here are a few of her writing starters:

  • “Fill in the blank and then keep going: Until _______________, nothing notable had happened in the town of Madison since the year of its founding.”
  • “Write about a person who wins something she doesn’t want.”
  • “Today’s Horoscope: Somebody close to you will tell your secret.”
  • “Write about trouble resulting from a good deed.”
  • “Write a scene in which the dramatic tension revolves around a misspelling: a road sign, the name on a birthday cake, the directions to a doctor’s office, a word in a spelling bee.”

Sometimes it’s hard to face the empty page or blank screen. Wood has this advice for people reluctant to start a writing project: “Nobody has to see that first draft but you. You can eat it when you’re done.  You can make it into origami animals and decorate a table. You can dunk it in hot water, stir it up, mash it back into pulp. You can build a fire, line a birdcage, stuff a pillow. You can’t do any of this, however, until you write the thing.”  For me, that says it all.

I have one other favourite book, No Plot? No Problem!: A High-velocity, Low-stress Way to Write a Novel in 30 Days by Chris Baty. I’ll write more about that closer to NaNoWriMo time.

Do you have a favourite book that you turn to time and again? I’d love to know what it is and why it is so special to you. Please add a comment and share it with me and my readers.  

Links:

Monica Wood – http://www.monicawood.com/tips.html

Natalie Goldberg – http://www.nataliegoldberg.com/

Stephen King – http://www.stephenking.com/index.html

Anne Lamott – http://www.barclayagency.com/lamott.html

Elements of Style – http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Style-Fourth-William-Strunk/dp/020530902X

Writing Starters – Final Instalment

day 7 photo31-35 Just one prompt today and that’s for NaNoWriMo writers like me who don’t have a plot yet.

 A sure-fire plot plan exists in the steps of the hero’s journey. Documented by scholars such as Joseph Campbell, this pattern has been worked into stories across cultures and millennia. I wrote a fantasy for middle readers several years ago, and when I looked back, I found I had unconsciously followed the pattern almost perfectly. It’s been used in movies as diverse as Star Wars, The Lion King and The Princess Diaries.

Two great books on the subject and how the pattern applies to writing today are: The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers by Christopher Vogler and The Key: How to Write Damn Good Fiction Using the Power of Myth by James N. Frey. Here’s the journey as Vogler describes it. Take your heroes and heroines on the same journey and see what happens.

The Hero’s Journey Outline

The Hero’s Journey is a pattern of narrative identified by the American scholar Joseph Campbell that appears in drama, storytelling, myth, religious ritual, and psychological development.  It describes the typical adventure of the archetype known as The Hero, the person who goes out and achieves great deeds on behalf of the group, tribe, or civilization.

Its stages are:

1.        THE ORDINARY WORLD.  The hero, uneasy, uncomfortable or unaware, is introduced sympathetically so the audience can identify with the situation or dilemma.  The hero is shown against a background of environment, heredity, and personal history.  Some kind of polarity in the hero’s life is pulling in different directions and causing stress.

2.        THE CALL TO ADVENTURE.  Something shakes up the situation, either from external pressures or from something rising up from deep within, so the hero must face the beginnings of change.

3.        REFUSAL OF THE CALL.  The hero feels the fear of the unknown and tries to turn away from the adventure, however briefly.  Alternately, another character may express the uncertainty and danger ahead.

4.        MEETING WITH THE MENTOR.  The hero comes across a seasoned traveler of the worlds who gives him or her training, equipment, or advice that will help on the journey.  Or the hero reaches within to a source of courage and wisdom.

5.        CROSSING THE THRESHOLD.  At the end of Act One, the hero commits to leaving the Ordinary World and entering a new region or condition with unfamiliar rules and values. 

6.        TESTS, ALLIES AND ENEMIES.  The hero is tested and sorts out allegiances in the Special World.

7.        APPROACH.  The hero and newfound allies prepare for the major challenge in the Special world.

8.        THE ORDEAL.  Near the middle of the story, the hero enters a central space in the Special World and confronts death or faces his or her greatest fear.  Out of the moment of death comes a new life.

9.        THE REWARD.  The hero takes possession of the treasure won by facing death.  There may be celebration, but there is also danger of losing the treasure again.

10.      THE ROAD BACK.  About three-fourths of the way through the story, the hero is driven to complete the adventure, leaving the Special World to be sure the treasure is brought home.  Often a chase scene signals the urgency and danger of the mission.

11.     THE RESURRECTION.  At the climax, the hero is severely tested once more on the threshold of home.  He or she is purified by a last sacrifice, another moment of death and rebirth, but on a higher and more complete level.  By the hero’s action, the polarities that were in conflict at the beginning are finally resolved.

12.       RETURN WITH THE ELIXIR.  The hero returns home or continues the journey, bearing some element of the treasure that has the power to transform the world as the hero has been transformed.

Writing Starters Instalment #5

NaNoWriMo is getting closer. Here are 5 more ideas to get the creative juices flowing.

21. Write a first paragraph in which your characters comes into physical contact with someone or something.

22. Think about secrets. Make sure your character has some and imagine the kind of person he or she would trust with those secrets. How could that other person gain that trust? Why might that person betray that trust and tell the secret to someone else?

23. If you have an antique or flea market nearby, look for old postcards and read the messages on the back. Here’s one I found. What story can you imagine lies behind the message? “I suppose you are still in Plaster Rock.  Heard that Frank 1st has left you.  I guess he must be a wanderer.”

24. Brainstorm around the words: flame, table, cover, mask, hollow.

25. Send  your characters on an adventure to a “land far, far away.”  Look through some old issues of National Geographic and imagine how your character would cope in a yurt, or in a market in Marrakesh or in a tent on the side of a mountain?

“If [my characters] were real, they’d hate me by the end of the book.”  Clive Cussler.

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