Tag: Relationships

Helping Hand

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

            Everyone needs a little help now and then. Perhaps while driving on the freeway your car gets a flat. Do you change it yourself or call for help?

            You see a senior citizen struggling with two heavy bags. He smiles and you offer to help. The man’s shoulders relax after you’ve relieved him of his burden.

            How we ask for help, how we react when help is given says a lot about us. Imagine the car driver barking into her phone, demanding a tow truck driver drop everything to come to her aid. What if the senior citizen yelled instead of being grateful? How would these reactions change the giver or receiver?

            Your task is to write a story in which a helping hand is needed or offered. Begin with a plausible situation, perhaps something you’ve experienced somewhere along the way.

Identify your protagonist’s personality, which is the key factor in determining how she behaves.

Establish the setting so that readers know where the event is taking place. Put your characters into motion. Use both description and dialogue to bring the story to life.

Have fun with this one.

The Lie

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            Most of us knows someone who lies on a regular basis. He lies about big things and small, at work and at home. He lies to his friends, family and peers at work. He cannot help himself.

            Most of his lies seem minor, but when added together, he becomes an untrustworthy person. If he says he ate at Boudet’s, the most expensive restaurant in town, or that he dated Cheryl a few years back and he dumped her because she smelled. No one believes him, laughs it off, and walks away.

            But when he lies about a job that he didn’t finish, or blames someone for losing his work, those lies affect not just his peers, but his company.

            Your task is to write a story in which a lie impacts a number of people and possibly affects the outcome of a situation. Take into consideration what the liar will do to try to hide the lie so that the truth is never revealed.

            Dialogue is important for readers will want to hear the liar repeating his story over and over. Description is critical for readers need to see, hear and feel the reactions of the liar and those to whom he lies.

            Have fun with this one.

Chance Encounter

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            Some of us are outgoing and enjoy talking to complete strangers. We relish every opportunity to meet others, share stories and seek common ground.

Others of us find such meetings intimidating. We avert our eyes, turn our heads and walk quickly away.

What happens, however, when you run across someone you don’t know when you are alone in a situation that allows for no escape? For example, you’re hiking in a local park, enjoying the view, listening to the birds sing as you walk up and down hills. That is until someone you’ve never seen before comes up from behind or appears on the horizon?

There’s no place for you to go to avoid the individual. Think about what emotions you experience as you go over what limited options you have.

Your task is to write a story in which your character finds herself in such a situation. Begin by establishing the setting and her feelings about being there. Let readers walk along with her, seeing what she sees, hearing what she hears, smelling what she smells and feeling the dirt beneath her feet.

Suddenly the stranger appears. Readers want to know what she experiences at that moment in time.

Assume dialogue takes place. Who initiates it and what do they talk about? When it’s time to continue their separate journeys, how does she feel as the stranger leaves?

Have fun with this one.

Water Cooler Gossip

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            Imagine the scene: a group of employees gathered around the cooler, sipping on ice water, sharing news about everyone that wasn’t in the group. They speak of divorces, poorly behaved children, who’s cheating on who and who’s lost money on the stock market. Then there’s the subject of who isn’t doing their job, who’s spending too much time flirting with the boss, and who’s up for promotion. So much gossip, so little time.

            Change the scenario to a group of parents standing outside the school waiting for their kids to emerge. What stories do they share? Who’s being talked about and why?

            These are the scenes that can make for a juicy story. There’s tension and drama. Dialogue and description. Cattiness and seriousness. So much opportunity waiting to be told.

            Your task is to write the water cooler scene. People it with enough characters to make for a lively discussion, but not too many for you to handle. Make sure that their disparate personalities and interests come forward.

            You might have them focus their energy talking about one individual, making for an easier writing. Or, if you’re feeling brave, allow the conversation to cover a wide variety of topics.

            Have fun with this one.

Pause to Reflect

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Impulsivity can lead someone in the wrong direction, in a relationship, on a job search, or even out on a hike. Imagine a person who, after knowing someone for two minutes, jumps into a serious relationship, only later to discover that the lover is married. Or think of a situation in which an individual believes she heard a piece of scandalous news and then runs to the boss. Or a hiker who takes off without a map, intentionally goes off-trail because he thinks there might be a terrific view just around the boulder, only to become hopelessly lost.

Impulsive behaviors can get a person into serious trouble.

Now consider how different the results would be if, before rushing off, the person paused to reflect. For example, after writing an angry email, what if he put it aside for an hour, thought about it, then deleted it. The outcome would be completely different.

Your task is to write a story in which impulsive behaviors negatively impact your character’s life. Dialogue would be useful here to give readers insight into what your character is thinking. Descriptions are also important to allow readers to understand where the character is.

Have fun with this one.

How Do You Want to Be Remembered?

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            When you have passed, what will you want people to remember about you? What stories should they tell or keep hidden? Most importantly, is there anything you can do now to control the narrative?

            We tend to recall the negatives in our lives. Imagine your friends and family gathered together sharing stories of their interactions with you. Are they going to mention times when you yelled or argued? Caused friction in some way? Or will there be laughter as they reminisce about the birthday cake you made that slithered apart, the dress you made that split apart at the seams, the times you offered helping hands to those less fortunate?

            Your task is to write a story or essay that controls the narrative. Imagine that you have an opportunity to set the record straight, to clear the air about misconceptions that might be attributed to you.

            If it’s uncomfortable to write about yourself, then choose a character who is in a similar situation. He knows that his time is ending and he wants to write down those things that he hopes people will recall after he is gone.

            This is important work.

            Have fun with this one.

The Big Decision

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            You’re most of the way through the novel. The protagonist has struggled over many obstacles and seems to be on the road to success. Suddenly a chasm-sized barrier is in the way. She has two possible choices to make. She can turn around and retrace her steps or find a way across. A decision has to be made that could potentially alter her life.

            What she chooses is determined by the characteristics readers have seen in the individual. A timid person or one with low self-esteem will turn around while the character with tons of self-confidence will plow ahead.

            Your task is to write a scene in which your protagonist is confronted with a choice that would make a huge difference in his life.

            Begin by making a list of possible obstacles. They can be realistic or fantastical, depending upon the type of story that you are writing. Once you have chosen the primary obstacle, add possible solutions. Once again, solutions depend upon the genre you have chosen.

            Your character is proceeding along, the obstacle arises. A choice is made. Make sure that readers will believe the outcomes and that the emotions that your character experiences come through.

            Have fun with this one.

Dear Diary

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            Journal writing has been popular for many, many years. Young girls were often given a diary in order to record their thoughts. They were encouraged to write every day, even if they had little of interest to report.

            Diaries were often padlocked with a tiny key. The girl would hide both the diary and the key in order to prevent parents and siblings from reading their thoughts.

            Diaries became important as a tool for historical research. By reading such records, historians are able to deduce what life was like during times of peace and war, during turbulent and peaceful times.

            Your task is to imagine the diary entries that your protagonist would write. These do not have to be complete stories, but rather figments of time capturing the emotions that the individual experienced. Later on these thoughts might inspire a story, but for now the task is to simply write what the person most likely worried about, dreamt of, feared and yearned for.

            Have fun with this one.

Through a Child’s Eye’s

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            Do you remember the first time you went to a zoo? Drove through a big city? Rode a boat or a train? Going to a movie with a parent or a friend?

            Children experience the world with wide open eyes. The first time they do something it’s as if a miracle occurred. And it’s not just their eyes that show excitement, but their entire bodies.

            Because everything is new, raw, unexpected, children have no basis with which to compare whatever they are seeing. Their brains categorize experiences based upon that which they already know.

            For example, a child has already learned what a ball is, but imagine their awe when looking at a gigantic ball of rubber bands! It defies anything they know and so they examine it carefully, looking to see if it fits into those characteristics that, in their minds, define what makes something a ball.

            Your task is to write a story from a child’s point of view as she confronts a new experience. You must include the feelings of confusion, internal deliberation and awe.

            Have fun with this one.

Letters Written Home

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            Imagine that you’ve been away from home for some time. You miss your childhood home, your family and your friends. You regularly write home, sharing whatever is happening in your life. Most of the time you recount rather boring details, but this time you’ve got something juicy to share.

            Is it something comedic that happened to you or that you witnessed? Did a coworker get caught under the influence or selling drugs? Has someone made a pass at you that ended badly?

Did you accidentally forget to pay for a scarf that you’d draped over your arm?

            There are so many possibilities!

            Your task is to write the letter, telling the strange happenings that either you did or that you witnessed. Try to insert comedy so that readers will get a good chuckle. Things should be bizarre, yet believable. For example, perhaps a tightrope walker crossed from one high-rise to another in a gusty wind. Imagine how the person teeters to stay on the wire. Maybe a gust tears away a piece of clothing which falls in a dramatic way.

            Let your imagination run wild.

            Have fun with this one.