Tag: Nonfiction Prompt

Setting Changes Affect Story

On By Terry ConnellyIn prompt, Uncategorized, Writing promptLeave a comment

            You’ve outlined your setting including research into what it was like way back when. If lucky, you visited the cities and are familiar with buildings, streets and plants. Your plot takes the character all over that environment, in and out of predicaments determined by geographical elements.

            Have you taken into consideration how time changes the setting? Does it snow in winter, pour in the spring and roast in the summer? Is there only one season because the story is set on a planet, far, far away? If the setting changes/doesn’t change, how does this affect story?

            A time traveler might have to find clothes if they’re dropped into a winter landscape. Perhaps the desert figures significantly in the story as your character rides a camel over dunes. However, what if the story never changes location: it’s always in the same city, the same house, the same neighborhood? Change still has to take place.

            Your task is to write a story in which significant changes in setting occur that affect plot. Begin by listing those elements that would most likely happen based upon where you’ve chosen to set the scene. For example, during the length of the story will seasons change? Will a catastrophic weather event destroy homes, streets, lives?

            Once you’ve chosen the changes that can logically be incorporated into your story, begin writing. Remember to include details so that readers can “see” the changes both in nature and in terms of how the changes affect your character’s thoughts and actions.

            Have fun with this one.

The Sports Enthusiast

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            Do you know someone who is really passionate and excited about sports? Does she watch anything that pops up on television and follow a variety of teams and players? Would you find him out on the court or field or match or bowling alley whenever he has a spare minute?

            True aficionados would watch anything from bull fighting to golf, from the beginning to the day to the end. All day long scores and statistics fill the house. She sits on the couch with eyes glued to the screen for fear of missing the putt, the finish line, the strike. With bowls of food at hand and a cooler next to the chair, she is prepared for the day.

            Your task is to write a story in which your character is a huge fan of sports. Perhaps it’s an all-consuming love that surpasses time with family and friends. Maybe he has set a goal to visit every professional baseball stadium, soccer match or golf course, even those in other countries.

            Think of the adventures, the disasters, the excitement, the relationships to be told. Your character might have a family that shares the love or feels neglected by the overwhelming amount of time spent glued to the television. Drama enfolds in the form of conflict driven by dialogue and action.

            Have fun with this one.

Story Pacing Affects Plot Development

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            How fast a story unfolds is controlled by pacing. It is what determines the appeal of a story to its varied audience. For example, some readers want lots of events taking place right at the beginning, and to continue throughout the story. Other readers like the intrigue when obstacles and reactions take place over time. Because pacing affects atmosphere and tone, there are times when a period of concentrated action is needed to provide the conflict and tension that makes a story interesting.

            An adventure novel should revolve around a series of action-packed events while a psychological thriller should be gripping as clues arise as characters react to what’s happening.

            How do you control pacing? The length of a given scene is one way. A long scene will slow down how often something important occurs, while a short scene that includes dialogue and action speeds things up. The period of time that elapses within a scene also impacts pace. If the story is long, the characters will age. This is what differentiates an epic from a short story.

            Your task is to write a story employing a fast pace. Make things happen, keep the characters moving, include tension and conflict. Then rewrite the story slowing down the pace. Use lots of narrative sentences. Allow time to pass, second by second, at a measured pace.

            When finished, reread each version, looking to see which pacing technique works best.

            Have fun with this one.

Sappy Love Story

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           Some of us are suckers for a good tear-fest. Even though we know that, at the end, the couple will realize they are deeply in love, our hearts still melt at the closing scene. We’ve followed their trajectory, the ups and downs of their relationship, the friends and family who pull them apart or push them together, and ride the roller coaster of emotions.

            Despite their predictability romance stories are immensely popular. In olden days the characters were heterosexual lily-white uncomplicated people without a criminal past. Today’s readers want people that look, think and feel like them.

            Your task is to write a romance story. When you choose your characters think about what readers are looking for. If you are comfortable with diverse characters, then put them in the lead.

            The characters meet, but is it love at first sight or do complications arise? Readers like the give and take of relationships, so conflict is necessary. Perhaps they share a good moment which is ruined by something stupid said or done.

            Make your story compelling. Draw in your readers with an inciting incident and then hold them spellbound as they wait for that final moment.

            Have fun with this one.

Flora and Fauna in Setting

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            The terms flora and fauna refer to the plants and animals of a particular place at a particular time and are dependent upon the specific region, climate and time period. These environments could be grasslands, redwood forest or savannah.

            Native flora refers to those plants that are to the area. They grow without human help or cultivation. Another category is horticultural flora, plants grown for food or consumption. One example is the giant redwood tree found in Northern California and can range in age from 800 to 1500 years old. A variety of birds and animals life there. 

Another type of plant is found in the deserts of Angola,  one with large leaves that wilt during dry times and swell when there are rains.

            Likewise fauna falls into similar categories. Animals live above and under water, in deserts and in rainforests. They can be tiny creatures like protozoans and large like elephants. They exist in artic tundras and in coral reefs. Specific types of birds must have environments conducive to their life. Same is true for all animals, big and small.

            Your task is to define a setting by its flora and fauna. Make two lists, one for each. If necessary, research what would grow/live in the environment that you are considering. After your list is complete, think of a way that the elements influence story. For example, tusk hunters kill elephants in order to make money to survive. Squirrels remove nuts and fruits from trees before humans can harvest them. Deer eat flowers and leaves.

            Write a story in which flora and fauna play an important role.

            Have fun with this one.

Crimes of Passion

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            How far would you go to get what you want? Would you lie to a friend potentially destroying the relationship? Steal from a store knowing that if you got caught, you could go to jail? Date a married person even though it would end the marriage and destroy a family? Cause the overthrow of a government or CEO of a company?

            When emotions run high people often behave in uncharacteristic ways, putting themselves and others in peril. Acting to satisfy an emotional need could lead to crimes of passion. Doing and saying things that put ourselves and others at risk are caused by obsessions, strong emotional responses that overwhelm rational thinking.

            Your task is to write a story in which your character commits a crime of passion. Begin by creating a profile of your character, recording the things that she’s interested in, things she does, the way she acts. Next choose the one that can be expanded into an obsession, a desire so strong that she will ignore warning signs.

            Narrative is important, but so is dialogue, for through conversations personalities are revealed. Tension through danger drives the story.

            Have fun with this one.

Contested Boundaries

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All throughout the history of our world rulers have lead incursions into neighboring countries, seizing land, and changing boundaries in order to seize valuable natural resources or to gain access to water routes. Often the battles have been fierce with both sides losing hundreds of warriors.

To the victors went the spoils which included family treasures, verdant fields and the virginity of women. All was justified under the loose definition of what constitutes victory.

Close your eyes and imagine what that world must have been like: living in fear, burying valuables in the fields, constantly running and hiding. What story comes to mind?

Your task is to write a story in which one army invades a country.  First decide the setting, which includes place and time. Equip your army with weapons of war and then send them on their way. Will your army be victorious or not? Use narrative to describe the scene and the action, but include dialogue as well so readers can understand how your characters are thinking and feeling.

Gore is okay if that’s what you want to write, but a humiliating defeat is just as terrible without blood and guts.

Have fun with this one.

Significant Objects in Your Life

On By Terry ConnellyIn Uncategorized, Writing prompt1 Comment

When we were growing up someone gave my mom a cookie jar that was in the shape of a monk. We called him Friar Tuck, as in Robin Hood. My mom would store cookies in there, but because it was not airtight, the cookies quickly became stale.

When we moved from Ohio to California in 1964, the jar came with us, one of the few items that made the trip. The jar sat proudly on my parent’s countertop no matter where they lived. When my dad passed away a few years ago, Friar Tuck was still there.

The jar represented all the moves, all the changes in my family’s life. Marriages, grandchildren, moves. Eventually the deaths of both of my parents.

Your task is to think of something that represents your life. It could be an object, a traditional food item, or a journey that the family made together over a period of years.

Perhaps the objects no longer exist, the food no longer prepared and the trip no longer taken, but the memories linger. The memories don’t have to be positive. It could be that every time you think of your sister’s special spaghetti it dredges up images of arguments, hurtful words tossed about like candy.

Write the story behind that object. Allow it to reveal events in your past that add up to a longstanding story about your relationship.

Have fun with this one.