Tag: Writing prompt

Following Directions

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            From an early age we learn the rules, what to do, when to do it and when to stop. We are taught where to do something and for how long. Lining up begins when we are young and continues throughout the rest of our lives.

            What we are seldom taught, however, is how not following directions impacts others.

            For example, imagine you’re on a trip with forty other people. The tour director tells you to be on the bus before eight in the morning. You figure the bus won’t leave until 8:10, so you don’t bother to appear until 8:11. Your inability to follow directions impacts the rest of the group.

            All games have directions. Children are taught to follow them in order to make the game fair. What happens when someone feels above the “law”? They are called cheaters.

            The same term can be applied to adults as well.

            Your task is to write a scene in which following directions plays an important role. It might be interesting to have some characters who always comply, some who sometimes comply and some who seldom, if ever, comply. The combination builds tension, something needed to make a story interesting.

            Have fun with this one.

Fan Fiction

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            Imagine loving a story series so much that you write your own takes on what the characters do. You imitate the settings, clothing, languages and behaviors of your favorites. You find Internet sites dedicated to the stories and submit your versions. Other fans love what you’ve done and so you write more.

            But it’s not just for fans of current stories, but even for fairy tales from long ago. How many versions of Cinderella, for example, have you read? Just about every culture has a Cinderella or Prince Charming. There are contemporary versions in which Cinderella is the rescuer or in which Rapunzel sits down below the window and calls up, asking the trapped prince to let down his hair.

            Your task is to take a known character and story and make it your own. Expand on the story by creating new situations and settings or by bringing an old tale into the present. Or maybe well into the future. Think about what technologies existed during the first writings and what you want your characters to be able to utilize.

            Make sure there is tension, that something happens that places your character in jeopardy. Use both narrative and dialogue. Include those all-important sensory details.

            Have fun with this one.

Wasting Time

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            Our days are often filled with running here, there and everywhere. We seldom have a minute to spare, time for ourselves because we are so busy doing things for others. However, whenever we do manage to eek out a bit of time, instead of doing chores, we might goof around. The things we find to do say a lot about us.

            For example, let’s say a person chooses to play games instead of weeding the garden. The games provide relaxation while weeding is back-breaking work. Perhaps we head off to the kitchen and create something fabulous to eat, something that’s just for fun. Maybe we take off on a long walk, listening to an audible book or podcast.

            The choices we make when we’ve got an opportunity to waste time help define who we are.

            Your characters need things to do that are outside of work.

            Your task is to first create a list of activities that make sense depending upon your character’s interests. Narrow it down to the one that you believe you can include in a story.

            Consider setting elements of time and space. Include sensory details so readers will smell the flowers, taste the gourmet cupcakes and feel the bark on the trees. Readers want to know how sweaty and stinky the character gets and whether or not the activity is exhausting.

            Add in one other character with whom the protagonist can share either the fruits of the activity or be there as a companion.

            Have fun with this one.

Your Favorite Place

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            Close your eyes and visualize the place that makes you the happiest, the most calm. The place that inspires a feeling of awe. Listen to the sounds. Breathe in and take in the smells of the flowers, the earth, food cooking. Reach out and touch the bark of trees, the silkiness of flower petals, the gravel beneath your feet.

            Use your imaginary camera and take a picture and then another one. Pick up a paint brush, dip it in some paint and create a replica of what you see in your imagination.

            Think about how you feel. Are your shoulders relaxed? Has your breathing slowed? Did a sense of calmness flow over you?

            This is your happy place.

            Your task is to create a comparable place for your character. Begin by imagining him in a variety of places and situations. Where does he feel most fragile, most overwhelmed? That’s not it, but it’s important to the story. Now think about one or two places where she’ll feel relaxed. Where the sense of awe comes to her.

            That’s the spot where a portion of the story will occur.

            Write a scene in that place. Add in other characters to people the situation. Remember to include sensory details here and there so that readers will enjoy being there as well.

            Have fun with this one.

Using Color in a Scene

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            Close your eyes and call up a place that makes you happy. Take in the sounds, the smells, but most importantly, the colors.

            If you’re in your garden, there will be lots of greens: light, dark, edged with red and so on. There might also be an abundance of color if the flowers are in bloom.

            If it’s a vegetable garden, there might be things growing. Think oranges, reds, greens.

            Perhaps you think of the forest with tall trees looming overhead. Then browns will dominate the scene, with greens overhead.

            Your task is to write a scene in which your character is inundated with color. Don’t narrate the scene, but use action and dialogue to make the colors stand out.

            Readers will want to experience that place through your characters’ eyes.

            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.

Dream Encounter

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The term “dream” represents a variety of things.

A dream can be something that occurs as you sleep. Sometimes the dream is based on factual encounters which then spin off into uncharted territory. Many times dreams are complete pieces of fiction that include monsters, dark spaces, falling from great heights and discussions that never took place.

Dreams can also be wishes. When young we imagine ourselves as ballerinas, firefighters or teachers because those are the heroes in our lives. As teenagers we dream about going to college or trade school, of becoming engineers, mechanics or computer science technicians. Later on, we dream of marriage and family, trips and excursions and the homes we’d like to own.

Owning items can also be considered a dream. Picture the perfect gown for a dance, the sports car you always wanted to drive, or the collection of baseball cards that you once saw at a flea market.

Your character has dreams. Imagine a scene in which that dream plays a significant role. What does he want? What emotions does he experience whenever he thinks about it? How hard will it be for him to achieve that dream? What happens when he doesn’t?

Write using a combination of narrative and dialogue. Make sure the yearning comes through.

Have fun with this one.

Losing Things

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            Remember a time when you thought you had lost something. How much energy you spent looking depended upon how important the item was as well as how soon you needed it.

If you were packing for a trip and couldn’t find the documents for your presentation, you probably put a considerable amount of time into locating them. If, however, you had misplaced your comb, you most likely terminated the search and bought a new one.

What if it was an anniversary card for your best friend? A Father’s Day card for your loved one? Or the key to your house that you intend to give to your house sitter?  Perhaps it’s the blouse that matches the slacks you’re wearing for a special night out?

Or, if you’re extremely unlucky, you feel as if you’ve lost a piece of your mind.

Your character probably has lost a thing or two. How does that play out in a story?  If the item is a priceless heirloom, she might try to track down the last person who touched it.

If the object turned up missing after a burglary, your character might feel both bereft and violated.

If it’s his mind, his memory, he might go through periods of bereavement followed by periods of blankness.

Your task is to write a scene in which something is missing. Your character reacts to the loss in the way only she would. Narrative and dialogue are important. Description of the object, the emotions, and the search are critical.

Have fun with this one.

Searching for Treasure

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            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.