Tag: writing activity

Skills and Talents

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

            Some of us are artistic and can easily learn a new skill. Painting with oils? No problem. Knitting a sweater? Piece of cake. Cooking a seven course meal for the boss and wife? Maybe a bit more difficult, but still done with pizzazz.

            Perhaps you’re gifted musically and can learn to play any instrument that comes your way. Your singing voice is superb and you can sight-read a new piece of music and get it right the first time. On top of that you compose music in a variety of genres.

            A few of us are good with our hands. We can fix whatever ails a car, tend struggling plants, repair the stove when it refuses to heat and alter the dishwasher so that the waste goes through the garbage disposal.

            Your characters need to have skills and talents that make them special. Begin by listing a wide range of possibilities. If necessary, do a little research into what is needed to succeed at that skill. Imagine when and where your character will display her ability and how others will react when the result is revealed.

            Write a story in which talents play a major role. Description is important, but so is dialogue and action. Not everyone in the story will appreciate the skill. Some might be jealous or turn it into a competition. The final product might be a masterpiece or a complete failure. How the characters behave is important to the story.

            Have fun with this one.

Unexpected Help

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            You’ve got to trim the trees in your yard. The problem is that you are terrified of heights and the job can’t get done without someone climbing a ladder. Or maybe there’s a glitch in your computer that you can’t solve. Perhaps you’re in the midst of a complex project at work and won’t meet the deadline.

            Imagine that someone appears who offers to help, either out of the kindness of his heart or because he was told to do so. With his help, the task is completed satisfactorily.

            Your character might need help at some time during the story. How he asks for and accepts help says a lot about who he is. For example, what if he is gruff and ungrateful? The helper might walk away. On the other hand, what if he offers a free meal in payment?

            Your task is to write a story in which help is needed and provided. How is the need communicated and received, if offered? What kind of person is the helper? Is he rude and disrespectful or patient and kind? Does he humiliate the person needing help or patiently jump in?

            Both description and dialogue is important in this story. Emotions and behavior play key roles. A little tension might make the story more interesting.

            Have fun with this one.

The Best Gift

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            Gift-giving opportunities arise all throughout the year. Children have birthday parties, couples celebrate anniversaries, there are house-warming parties and, of course, Christmas and other such holidays. Sometimes we know the recipient well enough to know what they like, but often we are clueless. We head off to the store looking for inspiration which might not happen.

            What is the best gift you’ve ever given? Was it something that you wanted for yourself or something from a want-list? What was the reaction when the gift was unwrapped? Do you think the person kept the gift or returned it at the soonest opportunity?

            Your character might have to give a gift, or perhaps might be the recipient. How will she react? Will she smile even if the gift is hideous? Will she thank the giver or push the gift aside?

            If she’s the giver, how much effort will she put into finding a gift? Is she the kind of person who buys gift cards or does she search for what the recipient really wants? Does she wrap the gift herself or pay someone to do it for her? Does she buy online or at a store?

            There are so many options here, so many opportunities for a good story.

            Your task is to write a story in which gifts are involved. There can be welcomed gifts, surprise gifts, pleasant gifts or unwelcome gifts. The giver can be aware and thoughtful or callous and unfeeling. The recipient can be grateful or simply accepting.

            Use both narrative description as well as dialogue. Include a little conflict in order to make the story interesting.

            Have fun with this one.

Attitude Toward Medicine

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            For many of us our attitude about going to the doctor’s is influenced by the things our parents said and did as we grew up. A parent who brushed off illnesses and injuries might have taught us to be wary of seeking medical advice. Perhaps we might have done the opposite, running to the doctor over every twitch or tingle.

            If our parents took us to the doctor over and over and over, we might grow up avoiding taking ourselves to a doctor’s office, even when needed. Perhaps we scan the aisles in stores where products are displayed, reading labels and self-diagnosing rather than getting antibiotics that were necessary, herby creating a new problem.

            Your character also has an attitude toward medicine. The person who runs to the doctor over every little ill might be a bit comical while the one who avoids doctors even when necessary could make for a fascinating tale when things go awry. Which would make the most interesting story for you to write?

            Character description is critical. Readers have to get to know your protagonist so that they can identify with how and why he will behave, what motivates the choices he makes, what forces operating inside him drive his decision-making.

            Narrative will help readers see those forces, but dialogue is also important in character development.

            Have fun with this one.   

Holiday Beliefs

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            With Christmas approaching, now is a good time to write about the holiday. Not everyone celebrates Christmas, so if you have a special day, choose that one to remember.

            Some children are so poor that there are no gifts, no tree, nothing special about the day except maybe going to church. Other kids dream about all the packages they get to unwrap and then, on Christmas Day, get to tear paper off gift after gift.

            Try to recall a holiday that was special for you. What were the reasons that it was meaningful? Was it the gifts or time with family? Was it the mystic or the planning that went into preparations to celebrate?

            Your task is to write a story in which your character celebrates a special day. Make the anticipation large enough to inspire a well-developed story. Include a bit of conflict so that not everything runs smoothly. Narrative is important to set up the scene, but dialogue is what will spur action. Sensory details allow the reader to be in the scene, so include them as well.

            Have fun with this one.

Change in Routine

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            Your character gets up every morning at six, showers, fixes a cup of coffee and a piece o toast, then drives to the metro station. She hops on the next train for a forty-minute ride. Before going into the office, she stops at the coffee shop in the lobby and buys a second cup of coffee, this one loaded with goodies.

            Once her computer is on, she checks for important emails that might require action. After that, she focuses on her job, ignoring conversation flowing around her until ten, her official break. Her day continues in a similar vein. Day after day, she follows the same routine.

            What would happen if her alarm didn’t go off or if there was no hot water? What if her coffee machine was broken or the train didn’t arrive? What if her coworkers gathered around her desk and sang Happy Birthday?

            How would she react to the changes?

            How we handle change says a lot about us. Some of us are quite rigid and want things to stay the same, both at work and at home. Some of us enjoy change as it adds mystic and variety.

            Your task is to write a story in which your character’s routine changes. You decide whether or not this is a good thing, whether it causes undo tension or not. Readers will want to see the “normal” world at the beginning, then witness the change and the emotional reactions that ensue.

            Have fun with this one.

Tactical Forces

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            During a battle, how the military is deployed is considered using tactical forces. This includes firepower, mobility, shock value and protection. Depending upon the situation, the commanders may utilize ground forces, navies, air strikes and mobile units such as cavalry or tanks. Synchronization is required to ensure that the tactical forces have maximum impact.

            Setting determines what forces are available. In medieval times cavalry and foot soldiers would be employed, while in a futuristic story, all kinds of computer-generated weapons would be used.

            Your task is to do a little research to determine what tactical forces are logical for your story. You might want to download pictures and details into a reference folder. Find out how the weapons and units would be used, the distance in which weapons are effective and what technologies make the weapons successful.

            Next write a scene in which military forces are utilized to effect outcome in battle. You might involve a small strike team or an entire army.  The bigger the number of forces, the harder it may be to direct them in battle.

            Include dialogue even though narrative description is important.

            Have fun with this one.

Setting Changes Affect Story

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            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 Practice of Alchemy

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            Alchemists attempted to purify, mature and create certain substances that were believed to grant certain powers. Changing lessor metals into more valuable ones, such as the magical transformation of base metals into gold was one of the more popular experiments. They also worked to create elixirs to alleviate illnesses and maladies, find the secret to longevity.

            Because alchemists worked in secrecy and guarded their research, they were often thought to be working magic through the use of mythology and religious beliefs. They recorded findings in cryptic languages that needed a code to decipher. As researchers explore the roots and history of alchemy, they have begun to tie together those ancient beliefs with the foundation of modern day science and theology.

            Your task is to imagine a world in which alchemy plays an important role. Perhaps your protagonist is the alchemist, working hard in a secret location to be the first to discover the elixir for everlasting life. What does she do? Where is her secret place? Who does she share her ideas with and why with only those individuals.

            Maybe your protagonist is the adventurer who is searching for the lost histories of alchemists. Where does she go? Who does she rely on in her search? What happens to her along the way?

            Enrich your story with details that add depth to the world. Use dialogue to reveal interpersonal relationships and narration to move the plot along. Change pace. Slow things down when danger is arising and speed things up when your character is fleeing.

            Have fun with this one.

Developing a Strong Female Lead

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            Cast aside the notion of the female warrior who is perfect in all ways. Your female protagonist might be athletically gifted, amazingly beautiful and displaying a lovely personality, but then she’s boring. You also don’t want to cast her as only important because she’s dating a man. Female characters, in order to speak to today’s readers, must have the characteristics of real-life women.

            What are the cultural norms in the world you have created? Are the same as the real world in which women are often seen as second-class citizens? Perhaps you’ve given the women emotional, interpersonal, intellectual and creative strengths that allow her to have goals of her own?

            Do you have only one woman in the story or several? What purpose do they serve? If they are only sidekicks to the male protagonist, rethink your story.

            Your task is to write a story in which the female protagonist has agency. She has strengths and weaknesses, she is not the fairy-tale raving beauty and she is strong in terms of how she approaches life. She does not have to be violent, but she could be if needed to advance the plot.

            If there are two female characters, try not to pit them against each other unless there is a reason to do so in order to add tension that advances the plot.

            Have fun with this one.