Tag: prompt about an event

Outside Your Window

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

            Try to recall a time when you sat by a window. Normally your neighborhood is fairly quiet. No small children live there and very few cars rush in and out during the day. One family owns a large dog, another had a small, yapping mix breed of some kind.

            On this particular day you’re supposed to be completing a work assignment. Your computer desk just happens to be located by a large window that looks out on the street.

            Something both interesting and unusual is taking place.

            Your task is to write the story. Begin by identifying the characters by age, height, color and length of hair and any other details that might make for a story. Next think about what might be happening. Are there kids playing basketball? A delivery driver trying to turn around? A dog gets loose and is terrifying adults trying to exit their car?

            How do your characters react? Is there screaming or fighting? Is one of the passengers a dog whisperer?

            Write from the perspective of the watcher. To make things interesting, there might be an open window so that words can be heard.

            Have fun with this one.

Café Talk

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            Some people love to sit in a café, nurturing a steaming cup of coffee while talking with friends. Others go alone, but listen to what’s being said.

            When there’s disagreement, things can be really interesting…or embarrassing, depending upon POV.

            Your task is to write a story that takes place in a café. It can be a fancy one situated in an expensive locale. Imagine a busy Parisian street, where lots of people walk by. Or downtown New York City, in the financial district.

            The café could be in a war-torn city, surrounded by ruined buildings or in the heart of the low income part of a major city, a place were homeless sleep on the streets and drug-deals go down.

            Give your protagonist a colorful background, such as being a loan officer at the bank or a farmer who’d just sold her grain. To make things interesting, add an additional character. That way dialogue will help readers see and understand what’s happening.

            Have fun with this one.

Forms of Punishment

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

            Every society, every home, has its own forms of punishment.

            In some homes, naughty kids are sent to timeout while others might be beaten until blood seeps from open wounds. Some kids might be denied privileges while others are locked away in the prison of their bedroom, or in worse case scenarios, in an actual prison somewhere in the home.

            Society might punish offenders with community service or therapy, while others are beheaded or hung to die. Some are tarred and feathered while others have to clean up garbage along interstate highways or on beaches.

            In a fair situation, the punishment fits the crime, but in far too many, prison sentences are too long or too harsh depending upon the color of one’s skin or how much money the family has.

            Your task is to write a story in which punishment takes on a crucial role. You decide if it’s the family that enforces the pain or society. Does the offender continue to live at home or is she detained in a cell? Is the cell in a clean facility, or in a dank dungeon?

            The protagonist can be the victim or the enforcer. What’s important is that your readers feel the suffering, the pain, the humiliation.

            Have fun with this one.

Poisoned Marshmallows

On By Terry ConnellyIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

            Imagine a story in which your protagonist is the victim of a poisoning. And the mode in which the poison was delivered was marshmallows! 

Does she die in the first scene? If so, how do you tell her story? The reasons that someone hated her enough to want her dead would be revealed as the story spins.

Or, perhaps your protagonist is the poisoner. Why would she choose marshmallows and not, say, a bottle of wine? Does the intended victim have a passion for the simple marshmallow?

How does the poisoner make sure the intended victim is the one who consumes the poison, and not some innocent child?

Your task is to tell the story in such a way that readers will be enthralled.

Narrative is important in setting the scene. Dialogue is needed to establish the tense relationship between the victim and the poisoner.

Rely on sensory details. Readers need to see, imagine the taste, smell and touch of the marshmallows. And to watch the suffering of the victim. Is it a quick or slow death?

Have fun with this one.

Do Not Disturb

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            There are times when we want to be left alone. We’re stressed out after a hard day at work or we’re working on a project that demands our complete concentration.

            When someone intrudes, we might get angry, upset, frustrated.

            We wish for the “Do Not Disturb” sign, to post on our computer desk or in our study. That way our kids, spouse, phone callers will leave us alone.

            Your task is to write a story in which your protagonist wants nothing more than to be left alone.

            Give him a task that requires concentration. It could be yardwork, repairing an appliance or tool, writing a report or reading a book.

            Bring in characters who try to break into the solitude, then make sure that the protagonist reacts appropriately. Obviously, there should be serenity at first, the intrusion, and then the feelings of anger or frustration.

            Setting and dialogue are critical here.

            Have fun with this one.

Uninvited Guest

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

            No one likes it when guests crash the party. Even if they are well-behaved, they might bring unwelcome baggage, causing conflict that will ruin the event.

            Try to recall a TV show with such a scenario. If it’s a comedy, then weird and hilarious things will happen, such as drinks being spilled or someone being pushed into the pool.

            If it’s a thriller or drama story, then there might be a murder, a theft, or threats to one and all.

            Your task is to write a story in which a guest(s) appears at an event without an invitation. Setting is important, but more so the emotions displayed by the host(s) are critical.

            The host might try to close the door, keeping that person out. Or she might let the person in, trying to avoid a scene.

            The guest should do something outrageous, like swill several bottles of beer or dump over the punch bowl. Maybe toss something on the BBQ that sets the canopy on fire.

            You want action followed by reaction.

            Have fun with this one.

Winter Storms

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            Some winters are rather mild: little precipitation and temperatures not too extreme.  When it’s like this, we can walk outdoors, work in the garden, go hiking in a nearby park.

            Then there are winters in which there’s nonstop rain, tornadoes, hail and snow that grows deeper by the day.

            It’s frigid indoors and out. Even when bundled up from the tops of our heads to the tips of our toes, we freeze. We put electric blankets on our bed of layer so many blankets that the weight presses down on our stomachs.

            Some days we don’t leave the house. The roads are slick with ice or flooded with still falling rain. Snow is piled up over the tops of cars and streets are impassable. Trees whose roots are loosened by rain, topple over. Winds blow and howl like a banshee.

            Winter storms impact what we can do and how we go about doing it.

            Your task is to write a story in which a storm plays a major role.

            A good place to begin is by narrowing down what type of storm happens. Choose something familiar. If you live in tornado alley, then a tornado might be the first choice. If you are plagued by downed power lines whenever a stiff wind blows, then include that in your story.

            Make the effects extreme in order to build tension.

            Have fun with this one.

Press Release

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

            Something interesting happened just as your character walked in the door. Perhaps a move star tripped over a wrinkled edge of a rug. Maybe a politician kissed a woman, not his wife, in an extremely romantic way. It could be a car accident outside the doors that nearly killed a popular older woman or the elevator that got stuck between floors trapping inside a small boy who’d accidentally strolled inside.

            Because your character is a budding journalist, she seizes the opportunity to write up a press release and deliver it to the local paper’s office. On top of that, she’d had her phone out and managed a few good shots, plus a short video, which she takes to the small TV station in the next town.

            Your task is to write a story in which your protagonist is the one who caught the story. Write up the press release and have her try to get it published somewhere, anywhere.

            As writers, we understand rejection. Perhaps your character doesn’t because everything she wrote for her high school paper got printed.

            You might include her interviews of witnesses, showing the give-and-take as she struggles to get valuable information.

            Have fun with this one.

Camera Shoot

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            Imagine a time when you toted a camera along on a trip. Did anything exciting happen? Did you catch a hawk mid-flight with a mouse in its talons? Did a bear rise up on its back legs or a buffalo wander into the scene? Perhaps a group of tourists balanced precariously on a wall or ledge, trying to get the perfect background shot?

            Think of all the things that could have happened, things that were potentially perilous. There are all kinds of stories to be told, whether real or imagined.

            Your task is to write a scene in which someone is taking pictures and then an accident occurs. The photographer doesn’t have to be the victim, but could be in the right place to capture what went wrong.

            Begin with setting the scene. Does your character go out alone or is he part of a group? Is it a photography club or a bunch of friends?

            Next consider the possible things that could happen. Which one would make for the most interesting story?

            Narration is obviously critical. Dialogue, if your character is not alone, would add depth of detail.

            Have fun with this one.