Tag: Writing about feelings

Favorite Activity

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

            Recall a time when you participated in an activity for the first time, only to discover that you truly enjoyed it. Perhaps you liked it so much that you incorporated it into your life. When given a chance, you’d go for a hike, toss out a fishing line, make something from yarn or go bowling.

            These activities enriched your life by adding a texture that was missing. Stories were told based upon your exploits or creations shared that you made with fabric, wood or yarn. Friendships developed among those who shared your interests. Together you went places and did things that perhaps you still recall in vivid detail.

            Your character needs to have a favorite activity. It might not be the driving force of the story, but it’s there in the background. It influences the way she thinks and interacts.

            Your task is to write a story in which your character either discovers an activity that she enjoys or participates in one that she hates. Details are important. Dialogue is needed to bring the character into the activity, for most often we are drawn to new experiences through people in our circle. Bring in the senses and the emotions. Readers will want to be there as your character explores the activity, from beginning to end.

            Have fun with this one.

Spin the Globe

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

            Imagine spinning a globe, dropping your finger on wherever it stops, then declaring that’s your next vacation destination. Hopefully you’re going someplace you’ve always wanted to see. But what if it isn’t?

            Would you pretend that your finger didn’t hit that spot? Choose the one you really wanted? Or stay with the original?

            Now place that globe before your protagonist. Why has she chosen this method for planning a trip? Is she adventurous? Foolhardy? Has she already gone everywhere she’d hoped to be and so is open to new, random choices?

            What does she do if she’s pleased? If she’s disappointed?

            Is this enacted in the privacy of her home or does she make a big production in front of family and friends? Doing so in public allows for tension, dialogue, comradery, and banter.

            Include both description and dialogue, but especially emotions. After all, this requires seeing the emotions flash across her face.

            Have fun with this one.

Unexpected Inheritance

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

            When someone we know dies, the first thought that comes to mind is sorrow. We will miss them if they were close, and possibly regret not knowing them better if they were not. We buy a sympathy card and if possible, attend the funeral services.

            We don’t rub our hands together in anticipation of whatever benefits the estate might give us.

            Or maybe we do.

            What happens when inheriting something is the furthest thing in your mind? And when you find out you are getting a portion of the estate, what goes through your mind?

            Your task is to write a story in which your character is the beneficiary of an unexpected inheritance. It can be as large as a piece of land or as small as a two-dollar bill.

            Make it interesting and perhaps a bit humorous. Let readers see the range of your character’s the reactions, from grief, to shock, to surprise and elation.

            Use both description and dialogue to make for an interesting story.

            Have fun with this one.

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

            After searching for a new shirt, you find one in your size that fits. You carry it to the register, already picturing how wonderful you’ll look wearing it. You hand the clerk your card. It fails to go through.

             The payment is due on your car insurance. You use your credit card. It supposedly has insufficient funds.

            Embarrassed is too mild a word to describe how you feel.

            Your task is to write a story in which your character attempts to spend money using a credit card, but is denied. This story needs to shows the range of emotions that she goes through. There might be disbelief at the beginning, followed by hopefulness. Possibly anger. Frustration. Definitely embarrassment.

            Begin with the setting: place and time. Readers need to be there as he selects the items for purchase or is waiting in line to pay at a service center. The story could take place at a supermarket, car repair shop or insurance office.

            There will be dialogue between your character and whoever is processing the payment.

            Have fun with this one.

The Gift

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

Everyone has received an unusual, and often, unwanted gift. A nonsmoker might be given a gorgeous crystal ashtray or a nondrinker might receive a subscription to an online wine club. For some, these might be cherished and appreciated items, but for others, a bit of a bother.

If you don’t want the gift, what do you do with it? If you know where it came from, you might be able to return it without a receipt. But in the case of the online wine club, you have to find someone who would love a monthly bottle of expensive wine.

Your task is to write a story in which your character receives something he didn’t ask for and definitely doesn’t want. The item can arrive in the mail or be presented in person. Describe the character’s anticipation as she opens the gift, then her reaction when she sees what it is.

Even if the gift comes by mail, include dialogue. He could show it to a friend and have a good laugh about it, or he might call the giver and politely thank them even though it’s a lie.

Make it interesting and funny.

Have fun with this one.

A Sweet Story

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

Around Valentine’s Day advertisements appear in which a beau gives a potential lover a red heart-shaped box of rich chocolates. Candy releases pleasure chemicals into the brain, so it symbolizes the sweet feelings in a relationship. The giver intends to make an impression and imply that their love is durable, lasting a good long time.

Who doesn’t like a bit of sweetness now and then? And if it comes from someone that you care about, it gives a warm, pleasant feeling.

Your task is to write a story in which candy plays an important part. It could begin with the making of chocolate by a chocolatier or the buying of the candy at a store that specializes in expensive chocolates.

Your protagonist can be the maker, the giver or the recipient, whichever you feel the most comfortable writing.

Readers will want some form of tension. It could come in the creation of something new, some recipe that doesn’t work out right at the beginning. Perhaps the giver agonizes over the perfect choice of candy, be it the hearts with imprinted sayings, peanut-butter stuffed chocolates or expensive truffles in a gold-foil wrapped box.

And then there’s the recipient who might now expect or appreciate the gift or the giver!

Narrative description is important, but so is dialogue. The dialogue could contain some humor as well as angst.

Have fun with this one.

The Interview

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

            When needing to fill a job opening, employers interview prospective candidates. They ask about relevant experiences and training, interests and hopes in terms of longevity at the place of business, strengths and weaknesses, in order to gauge how well the individual will fit.

            Imagine that, instead of being interviewed for a job, that your character is being asked personal questions, such favorite food, preferred social activities, types of books read and movies watched and where he likes to spend free time. Such questions delineate personality, and if used to form the character’s perspective, allow readers a deeper understanding as to how a character might react in a given situation.

            The answers might never show up in story, but they could. Perhaps a new play opens, one that she has been looking forward to seeing. She might ask a friend or two to go with her. She might stand in line for tickets. She might get dressed up for a dinner date before the show.

            Your task is to interview your character asking the types of questions that reveal deeper thoughts and interests. Record both questions and responses.

            Write a scene in which the character is presented with an opportunity to participate in a preferred activity. Who does he invite to share it with? How does he invite the person? What happens before, during and after?

            Use a combination of narrative and dialogue. Include some friction so that the story has tension.

            Have fun with this one.

Unfulfilled Desires

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

            Do you remember when you were a child and your birthday was approaching? You anxiously awaited opening presents and not finding the gift you’d hinted about for weeks. You experience a range of emotions, from shock, disappointment and anger. Visualize your face and body as those feelings wash over you.

            Make the stakes higher. A dream position opens up and you believe that you are most qualified for the job. You’ve got more experience in the areas needed than anyone at the company. You’ve got a good relationship with the boss, or so you think, that will make you the number one choice. The problem is that the boss created the position for his nephew.

            Perhaps you’ve been house-hunting and the perfect one appears. You go to the open house and fall in love. You put in a bid, believing that you’re the best qualified since you’ve got a pre-approved loan. What you didn’t know was that everyone was bidding way over the ask price. The person who gets the house offered one million more than the market value.

            In each case unfulfilled desires have the potential to drag the person down a long, dark road.

            Your task is to write a story in which your character yearns for something, believes she is going to get it, then doesn’t. Make the stakes high enough that when things fall apart, the character spins out of control.

            Use both narrative description and dialogue.

            Have fun with this one.

Reality Check

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

A reality check is utilized as a means to clarify or correct a misconception. If properly delivered, it can you makes the individual recognize the truth about a situation, especially by countering any difficulties and challenges that seem to prevent success.

Imagine wanting to lose weight. You research dieting techniques, go shopping for the recommended foods, tell yourself that tomorrow you will begin. Tomorrow comes and for lunch you order an ice cream sundae with the works. By the time you’ve finished it, you’re stuffed and miserable. You tell yourself that you failed, that you are a failure and will always be a failure so there’s no hope.

Taking time to reflect might allow you to see that it was just one slip up and that the rest of the day is open to success. One failure does not doom the plan.

That’s the benefit of a reality check. It helps us to step back and evaluate our performance as just one part of a whole.

Your task is to write a story in which your protagonist needs a hefty reality check. Begin by narrowing down the area that you feel most comfortable writing about. Make the stakes high enough and the desired outcome large enough that the character has to want to succeed so badly that he is willing to work at it. Put the story in motion, then have the character experience a failure and disappointment.

Include both narrative and dialogue.

Have fun with this one. 

Unexpected Results

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

            Imagine going in for blood work like you always do. You’re fairly cavalier because this is something you do on a regular basis. Later that day you get a call from your doctor, explaining that the tests have revealed a change in your health.

            Perhaps you have been working at the same job, for the same pay, for several years.  You have no hope for promotion because it’s a small family-run company and no one is retiring anytime soon. You head into work because it’s the only job around. Your boss calls you into her office.

            You’re a student taking college classes in order to gain knowledge and skills for a particular job. You’ve been preparing for midterms, studying hard every night. When you enter the classroom, you feel confidant that you’ll ace the test. When the professor returns the tests, you get a surprise.

            There are many instances in which we expect a certain outcome and then are shocked when it doesn’t happen. Think of the stories those become!

            Your task is to write a story in which the protagonist desires and expects a certain outcome, but then doesn’t get it. Be sure to include description and dialogue so that emotions come through.

            Have fun with this one.