Prompt: A picture is worth…

… a thousand words?  Visual images can make great spurs to generate material for poetry or fiction.  I’ve put some links here to pictures I find interesting and inspiring; I hope you do, too. 

• Picture #1
• Picture #2
• Picture #3
• Picture #4
• Picture #5
• Picture #6
• Picture #7

Get writing!

Prompt: Good, Evil and Gray

A lot of fiction, especially genre fiction, deals with a conflict between good and evil.  Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and the Harry Potter books are just a few of the more famous examples.

Because it’s done so often, though, the good/evil theme is difficult to write about without moving into the dreaded realm of the cliche.  The most important thing, I think, is to have a good handle on what you believe to be truly good, and what you believe to be really evil.  Without knowing, specifically, what you believe, it’s too easy to fall into the ruts that other writers have dug.   

So, here are some questions to answer when considering good and evil in your writing.

What makes a good person good, and what makes a evil man evil?  Which evils are worse than others? 

Are there things that are good, that under certain circumstances, might become evil?  Evil things that might be good?

When people talk and write about “shades of gray,” what do they mean, precisely?  Is there any such thing as absolute good and absolute evil? 

How much of what you see as good, evil and in-between is a product of your culture and your experiences? 

How might you view the world differently, given a different culture and life?

This is just a starting point, but having a firm idea of what you believe about the nature of good and evil can help you to flesh out your stories, and help you to give voice to your own unique ideas.

Get writing!

Prompt: Dreams

There’s an interesting post at Writer Chick Talks about dreams.  Not the kind that you have at night, but the dreams that you have for your life.  All of us have dreams; we dream about the kind of life we want to live, the things we want to do, the things we want to see, what we want to accomplish and what kind of mark we want to make.  When we’re little, our dreams are big; too often, though, our dreams diminish as we get older and reality weighs us down.

Since dreams are so universal, it’s a rich area for writers of all types to explore.  What kind of dreams did you have for your life when you were a child?  How have they changed as you’ve gotten older?  What is it you most wanted when you were little, and what is it that you want most now?  What is the difference between your goals and your dreams?

This is an interesting characterization exercise, too, if you write fiction; certainly your characters must have dreams.  How do your characters’ dreams for their lives relate to the story they’re in?  How do they influence the way your character behaves?  How do they influence the way your character sees the world?

 Get writing!

Welcome to WritingFix: The Best Place for Interactive Writing Ideas on the Internet

Welcome to WritingFix: The Best Place for Interactive Writing Ideas on the Internet

If you write, this is a truly terrific site to poke around in.

Prompt: Technology

Technology is both a blessing and a hassle. For instance, computer technology lets me communicate quickly and easily with friends who live a continent away; cellular telephone technology ensures that I can always be reached in the case of an emergency; medical technology has kept my husband’s grandmother alive for longer than anyone ever expected her to live. But computers break down; sometimes we don’t want to be reached; sometimes letting things take their natural course instead of interfering with our inventions might be preferable.

We live in such a techno-oriented society that it’s easy to forget how dependent we are upon human inventions. So think today about technology. How do you depend on it? How would you adapt if all, or even one, of our major technologies were to disappear? If you write fiction, consider the same questions for your characters. This can be as simple as a scene in which all of the lights go out, or as dramatic as the ramifications of a global war.

Get writing!

Prompt:Shapeshifting

Many of the world’s religious, spiritual and folk traditions hold a belief in shapeshifters. The range of the shapeshifting belief is wide-ranging; some believe in human beings that can transform themselves into animals, or vice versa; some believe in humans that transform into something non-human (like werewolves); some believe in creatures that can transform themselves into nearly anything they want to be. The list could go on.

Today, write about shapeshifting. If you could become someone or something else, who or what would you be? What would happen if you discovered a shapeshifter? What if that shapeshifter was someone close to you? What does it mean to be a shapeshifter, anyway?

Get writing!

Prompt: Turning Points

Every life has a turning point, a moment in which if you had made a different choice, your life would be wildly different from the one you’re leading now. You might have decided not to go out the night you met the person who is now your spouse at a coffee bar; you might
not have turned down that job years ago at a company that’s now thriving; you might not have decided to take the stairs the day you slipped and tore a ligament in your knee.

Pick one of those turning points today and write about the road not taken. How would your life be different? How would you be different? How would the lives of those around you be different?

If you write fiction, do this for a character. How much of your character’s life rests on one decision?

Get writing!

The Word Box

I love words.  So I clip words that I like from newspapers and magazines, or write them down on little slips of paper.  I collect them in a box; I’ve been using this for some time now, so I’ve built up quite a collection.  Then, when I need a warm-up or something to break through a block, I draw them out, singly or in groups, but always randomly, and I write, using the words that I’ve drawn.

I drew out five today, in case any of you would like to try this.

Today’s words:

• cherry
• sniffle
• eyelash
• whip
• lamppost

You can  use these  in any number of ways:

• Write a poem in which you use all five words.
• Write a short prose piece (flash fiction is probably best, or freewriting) in which you use all five words.
• Write a series of paragraphs that each begin with one of your words.
• Pick one of the words and begin a timed writing with it.
• Free-associate; what do the words remind you of?  What do they have in common?  How are they different?

Those are just a few suggestions; the possibilities really are limitless.

Enjoy!