Misheard Lyrics My dad could never remember all the lyrics to a song, so he infamously made them up. It could be annoying, but also downright funny. Sometimes his version made sense, but often it didn’t. And while he swore before us on a regular basis, when he used those same words in a song, it was often jarring. I’d question myself if I really heard him say that, often convincing myself that, no, he’d never do that, knowing all the time that he had, indeed, cussed. If you listen to the radio on a frequent basis, you’re exposed to hundreds of songs a week. Multiply that by 52, and you’ve now got a whopping 500-plus songs! And, if you’re a station explorer, you might hear even more. Add in the music on television commercials, shows and movies, and the number skyrockets. How can you possibly remember the lyrics to every song you’ve ever heard? Your task is to write a story in which your protagonist frequently changes the words to songs. If she does so intentionally, why? And how do others around her react? Friends might tease, but acquaintances might be cruel in their taunting. Have fun with this one.
Tag: prompt about culture
Rooting Out Evil
Many people believe that evil lies within everyone. Steps have to be taken to chase the evil away. Depending upon the culture and the religious beliefs, the rituals could include the use of herbs, prayer and incantations, changing the mindset, cleansing crystals, and beatings.
If the individual’s beliefs are strong, then the evil will be rooted out. Maybe. Sometimes different spells or remedies are tried, looking for the one that works.
Imagine suffering from an ailment only to find yourself in a darkened room surrounded by chanting, white-robed women who flail you with stiff ropes or sticks. Not only would you suffer physical damage, but you’d be terrified.
Your task is to write a story in which your character is suspected of harboring some form of evil. He seeks various remedies, going from one possibility to another, hoping for relief.
Think about his emotions as he experiences all these different rituals. Imagine how he feels when they are/aren’t successful. Include where he finds the sources, whether from coworkers, friends, doctors or religious leaders.
Have fun with this one.
Food Inspiration
Many key things occur during the preparation or consumption of food.
In a wealthy household, there might be an entire staff working in the kitchen. Scullery maids did the dirty work of cleaning endless amounts of pots and pans. Cooks slaved over wood-burning stoves and ovens, chopped fruits, vegetables and meats, rolled pastries all while issuing commands to those under their watch.
Imagine the conversations that took place. Most likely there was a fair bit of gossip tossed about the family and townspeople alike.
In the dining room circumstances were quite different. Wealthy patrons were waited on by unformed servants. Course after course was served. Conversation might have covered contemporary issues, politics, entertainments and relationships.
Things are very different in the homes of the less wealthy, even today. Instead of maids, the wife does the cooking and cleaning. Kids help out, and in more egalitarian marriages, so do the husbands.
Regardless, topics of conversation might be quite similar.
Your task is to write a story in which the preparation and consumption of food plays an important role. Establish the setting and key characters, then get the action moving. Dialogue is going to be important, so make sure there is enough to allow readers to see what is going on.
Have fun with this one.
The Chef
Some are excellent cooks. They can make something grand out of ordinary things. On the other hand, many can’t cook worth a lick. There are also those in the middle: with the help of recipes, they can put palatable food on the table.
Your protagonist might have secret talents that aren’t revealed in the story, but that influence his actions in some way. For example, he meets friends for lunch at a fancy restaurant. He’s the only one that understands the names and descriptions, surprising everyone. From there perhaps he invites them over for a gourmet dinner.
Or maybe he’s so clueless about the menu that he selects a simple salad, trying to be safe.
Your task is to write a story that involves food in some way. If your character is a marvelous cook, write a scene in which something happens that alters the taste or consistency of the meal. You can do the reverse with the lousy cook: she concocts an entrée that’s the hit of the pot luck.
Description is important, but build tension through dialogue. There must be conflict of some kind, either internal or external, or even both.
Have fun with this one.
Searching for Treasure
Did you ever create a buried treasure map and then lead your friends on a hunt through the neighborhood? What, if anything, did you find?
Thinking back to ancient times, explorers went all over the world looking for elusive treasures to bring back to their countries, for glory for themselves as well as for their kings/queens. Nothing stopped them, not inhabitants of the land nor weather.
They killed with no mercy, took what they wanted, then moved on to begin another quest.
Fantasy stories often revolve around the search for treasure, be it precious stones, mighty gods or hidden castles.
But is there treasure in your house? Imagine digging through a closet and finding something you’d thought lost. Perhaps it reminds you of grandma or a favorite uncle. Maybe it’s an article of clothing that you thought you’d given away. Try to recall how you felt.
Your task is to write a story in which treasure is sought and perhaps found. Capture the emotions as the explorer sets off, the travails of the journey, the conquests made and lost. Use both narrative and dialogue to develop the scene. Take your readers on the search by using sensory details.
Have fun with this one.
A Safe Place to Live
We’ve heard the stories of refugees from war-torn countries who search for a peaceful place to live. They yearn for jobs, food, and relief from fear. They pack what belongings they can carry and walk mile after mile, experiencing countless hardships along the way.
Our hearts go out to them, even when there is little we can do to offer comfort.
What about the refugees living nearby? For example, there are shopping-cart people who push up their baskets and down streets, hoping to find someplace that offers some degree of privacy. Or the homeless man who sleeps leaning against a shopkeeper’s wall in downtown San Francisco. If he’s lucky, he has pieces of cardboard on which to lie and a blanket as cover. He is dirty, ragged and hungry. And often smells so bad that passers-by wrinkle their noses in disgust.
It is easy to write stories in which the characters are comfortable in fancy homes, in tree-lined neighborhoods, with two working parents and new cars in the drive. It is much more challenging to speak for the speechless, to tell their stories with compassion and understanding.
Your task is to choose a refugee and place her in a scene. Give her a voice. Listen to her heart. Interact with her, in some way, either in first person or as an omniscient narrator. Wake up with her in the morning, walk about with her in the day, sleep with her at night. Eat meals with her. Follow her as she searches for a bathroom in which to wash up. Be with her, not as a sympathetic ear, but as an equal. Walk in her shoes, even if just for one day.
Have fun with this one.
Health Issues
Have you noticed that when people of a certain age come together that the bulk of the conversation has something to do with health? High cholesterol, diabetes, vision and hearing, aches and pains and limited mobility. They compare medications and what doctors have said about the various issues.
Often the condition of teeth pops up, with some bragging about a lack of cavities while others bemoan having another tooth removed.
They discuss what types of foods are now prohibited and that they miss or share recipes for low caloric foods.
On and on they go, often circling back to original topics because they forgot what’s been hashed over.
Your characters, when they reach that age, would do the same. Begin by establishing what health issues your characters have. It would be beneficial, for conversations sake, if they didn’t share the same ones. They could have the same doctor, but perhaps it might add complexity if they did not. The same would be true for the medications that they are taken.
Picture what would happen if one character believes his issues are worse, or more important. He trivializes hers, minimizes the severity of her ailments and maybe even contradicts her doctor’s recommendations.
Interesting, tense-filled conversations arise that could lead to the dissolution of the relationship.
Have fun with this one.
Masquerade
People seem to love dressing up in costume and going to parties. If the mask is good enough, even the best of friends can’t identify the wearer. This allows freedoms to say and do things that perhaps the participant would never do.
Some masquerades are quite elaborate. They take place at huge houses or McMansions. There are spiraling staircases, gilded trimmings, caterers about and even an orchestra playing dance tunes. Decorum is maintained according to caste expectations.
During Halloween there are also parties, but they might feature salads made up to look like human insides, games designed to gross out participants, and freaky music echoing off the walls.
Your task is to write a scene in which a masquerade plays a major role. Make things interesting by having something unexpected and untoward happen. Think murder or grand theft. Perhaps an unwanted sexual encounter. Stumbling drunks and flirtatious behavior.
The setting is crucial. Readers want to be drawn in by opulence or the fright-factor. Descriptions of what participants are wearing is also important. When the story gets going, dialogue will make things come alive.
Have fun with this one.
The Old, the Young and the Vulnerable
Imagine a culture in which the old are venerated, then think of one in which they are thrown away. These are very different scenarios. In the first, seniors might live with family where they are cared for, loved and treated with respect and dignity. In the second, seniors are ignored, abandoned and left by the wayside, despite an inability to care for themselves.
Now consider how the very young and the disabled are treated. Are babies nurtured even if they have obvious issues? Are toddlers who are deaf or blind left on a rock in the middle of the forest or is there some system in place to care for them?
What happens when someone is injured and is then permanently disabled? Does the family provide food, shelter and love or leave them behind when they migrate?
Your task is to write a scene in which one of these populations takes on an important role. Don’t tackle all three, however. Choose the one that you feel the most comfortable writing about, perhaps one that you know intimately.
Begin by making a list of possible reactions, both positive and negative. Where will the story start? Choose a point of action designed to establish society’s POV. This might be a tense scene or one of love. It might show someone being abandoned or someone being nurtured.
Dialogue is important so that readers hear how the community thinks. There need not be total agreement between members. For example, someone might want to keep a disabled child, but the cultural rules forbid that to happen. Conflict ensues.
Have fun with this one.
A Different Kind of Vampire
Vampires suck blood out of their victims, right? But what if they didn’t? What would vampires need to stay “alive” then?
Would it be possible for them to enjoy a nice, cold glass of milk? Perhaps with a dollop of chocolate stirred in? Or maybe they’d like hot chocolate with marshmallows mixed in?
Your task is to think of an alternative that changes the vampire narrative. If they don’t need blood, then they won’t drain victims of blood, killing them. They wouldn’t change their victims into vampires either.
Consider what a vampire needs to sustain itself. That means there should be something nutritional about what they consume. That rules our soda unless it’s accompanied by some type of food that provides the vitamins and minerals that vampires need.
Once you’ve settled on a “food”, then create the scene and situation that shows the vampire procuring and enjoying the drink.
Have fun with this one.
Have Fun with This One 