Author: Terry Connelly

Terry Connelly is a retired high school English teacher. She earned her BA and Single Subject Teaching credential from California State University of the East Bay, in Hayward, California. Her short story "The Visitor" was published in the Noyo River Review after winning first place at the Mendocino Coast Writers Conference in 2019. Another short story, "Swept Sway" is in the CWC Literary Review. She taught for 18 years at Newark Memorial High School in Newark, California. She was gifted to work with both College Prep students and those with learning disabilities.

Weird Hobbies

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Characters need interests outside of the mundane. They can’t just be friends or mentors. Chefs or accountants. They might enjoy hiking, swimming, or reading. Hobbies help define a character by giving something that interests them.

Characters come to life when they have odd quirks. For example, what if they play in a heavy metal band, while presenting themselves as proper office secretaries. What if they collect hairy spiders yet seem to not like being outdoors? What if they are graffiti artists despite seeming to have no artistic talent?

Your task is to write a story in which a person’s hobby or interest contradicts the image they present to the world. Consider dropping them into a situation in which their interest is revealed to the surprise of others.

Have fun with this one.

Revenge

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            Revenge is a powerful motivator. It can inspire someone to commit murder, steal something valuable, or destroy someone’s reputation.

            A person who’s been hurt might not think clearly or rationally. They might contrive ways to hurt the person who hurt them. And the pattern might continue, with one person causing hurt and the other responding equally until something breaks the pattern.

            Your task is to write a story in which revenge plays a starring role.

            Have fun with this one.

Animating Inanimate Objects

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            In cartoons, anything is possible. Dishes can sing, crickets can sew a fancy dress, and mice can cook in a four-star restaurant.

            Vases can repel the addition of flowers they don’t like, cars have personalities that override drivers and televisions can take over houses.

            Your task is to write a story in which an inanimate object assumes a personality and becomes the protagonist. Consider using other inanimate objects as supporting characters, as villains, even as narrators.

            Have fun with this one.

Choosing Fate

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            One way to get started is by making a chart. Use the following one as a guide.

Mood               Genre              Setting                         Character

Cheerful          Romance         Beach                          7-year-old boy

Thoughtful      Horror             City                             60-year-old working artist

Romantic         Sci-Fi               Woods                         28-year-old teacher

Ominous          Mystery           Office Building           90-year-old veteran

Tense               Fantasy            Hospital                       15-year-old athlete

Humorous       Nonfiction       Cruise ship                  47-year-old Activity Director

Select one from each category, but you do not have to work across in a straight line.

            Your task is to write a story using what you have selected.

            Have fun with this one.

Personal Artifact

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Many of us have family treasures buried in drawers or behind things in cabinets. We don’t think about them, perhaps don’t even worry about them because they are far from site, and possibly memory.

Until, for some reason, we dig through the mess. Or if someone asks about the object, or we tell a story about it.

Your task is to write a story in which a personal artifact is found. The character does something with it, or shows it to someone, or sits in front of family and tells the story behind it.

Have fun with this one.

Without a Trace

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Great mysteries employ the disappearing act: someone or something goes missing. Either have to be consequential enough to warrant fear, anxiety, or desperation.

In a child’s story, a favorite stuffed panda might have gone missing. Or a toy truck left out front overnight. Or the new bike, a gift on a birthday. Perhaps instead of an object, it might be the best friend who moves away with promises to stay in touch.

Adult versions should have more importance, such as secret files detailing hidden expenditures, the blueprints for a new supercomputer chip, or an outline for a recently deceased author’s last novel.

The most important element is that it disappears, and no one seems able to find it.

Clues are uncovered that might lead to its whereabouts but also might be herrings distracting searchers away from the hiding spot.

Your task is to write a story in which something of importance disappears and cannot be easily found.

Have fun with this one.

Routine Disrupted

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            We’re creatures of habit. We get up at around the same time, eat the same breakfast, leave for work promptly on the clock, and so on. Routines bring comfort as we know what we are doing, when. Monday through Friday we know how to plan, what to expect, what our needs are.

            Weekends give us flexibility, only if we desire it. Some do the same things every weekend, unless something arises that disrupts that routine. Imagine being invited to a party or to attend a play. You might want to see the play, but are uncomfortable at parties.

            Your task is to write a story in which your character’s routines are interrupted.

            Have fun with this one.

The Search

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            You lost your glasses. Look for them everywhere. Retrace your steps. A friend drops by for a visit. Sees the frantic look on your face. Laughs. Points to the top of your head.

            Let’s make it something more serious, say the memory card from your camera that holds all the photos from your last vacation. You took it out of the camera and left it on the computer desk. Thinking it might get lost (after all, it’s quite small) you put it someplace safe. Then don’t have time to download photos for a couple of weeks. You open the drawer where you keep things, but it’s not there. A frantic search begins, opening drawers, getting rid of junk, but can’t find it. You’re despondent. A week later, looking for something entirely different, you find the memory card in a small, clear bag, in the drawer where you keep important things.

            We lose all kinds of things, some more important than others. The search can be rewarding if we find it right away, but frustrating if we don’t.

            Your task is to write a story in which you have misplaced something or someone extremely important. Write the search, including the emotional ups and downs.

            Have fun with this one.

Description of a Setting

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            Setting is important. It tells the reader where the story takes place. It can control action, especially if the setting is in a challenging area, such as a craggy mountain, a muggy swamp, or a busy city.

            Some authors begin with a detailed description of setting. Pages cover everything from the buzzing of insects to the sound of a river tumbling over rocks. If in a Victorian mansion, the author might describe the heavy furniture and drapes, the gilded pictures hanging on the walls, the curved staircase rising to the second floor.

            However, do so with caution. Today’s readers like action. They want to “see” something happening at the beginning and continue throughout the story.

            Your task is to write a description of a domestic space in 150 words, maximum. Include at least five sensory details that hint at story or action, that suggest history. As the details are exposed, there should be an accompanying emotional weight.

            Have fun with this one.

Lost Clue

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            Imagine sorting through your old things in preparation for a move. You empty drawers and cabinets, closets and attics. You brush the dust off the tops of sagging boxes, rusted trunks and clothes bags hung in the deepest recesses.

            What do you uncover? What do these things mean to you? What do you do with them?

            Your task is to write a story in which your character finds something, long lost, that sparks an important memory.

            Have fun with this one.