Friday, May 20th, 2011 I’ve hesitated to toss up a photo to use as a prompt because it’s just too easy to get into the habit of doing something lazy, but I just couldn’t pass this up.
The most recent edition of Imker Freunde Magazin (Bee Keeper’s Friend) from Germany wafted pass my day-job desk this week and the cover photo caught my eye.
The object on the right in the photo is some kind of beekeeper’s post, covered all over in bees. The swarm is so large, that the bees have even pooled on the ground around the post. The little girl on the left has attracted the bees’ attention, and some have come to investigate her. One looks like it’s trying to crawl into her pocket. A few are close to landing on her.
The second photo is from inside the magazine, taken from another point of view. The bees are closer, and the child looks…excited? Frightened?
Here’s your prompt: What’s happening in this picture? Write a poem, a song, an essay, a news story. Anything. Just tell us what’s happening.
Friday, May 13th, 2011  In honor of Friday the 13th, I think a writing prompt on phobia is in order.
Fear of this day is so large it’s got TWO Greek names. You may refer to it as either Friggatriskaidekaphobia or Paraskevidekatriaphobia.
A few of my favorites from the wikipedia list of phobias:
- Halitophobia – fear of bad breath
- Ablutophobia – fear of bathing, washing, or cleaning
- Agyrophobia – fear of crossing roads
The wikipedia entry also contains a list of phobias related to animals (such as Ichthyophobia, the fear of fish) and biological instances (such as Hydrophobia, the fear of water, which is a a symptom of rabies). Very informative.
It’s fun to joke about phobias, but for some, they’re true fears which interfere with a way of life, often for the worse.
In college, I had a friend who developed a pervasive fear of social situations (Sociophobia), so bad, that by the end of the semester she could not leave her dorm room. She had to be medicated to be removed, and never completed her degree.
George Lucas’ famous character Indiana Jones has a near-paralyzing fear of snakes (Ophidiophobia) which often hinders his heroic exploits. It’s a great plot device: his fear has a tendency to get in the way of the action, causing tension and raising the stakes, as well as adding depth to the character.
Keep this in mind while you’re working through this exercise.
Here’s Your Prompt: Today’s prompt is an exercise in character building/story planning which is a large part of writing. Choose a plausible phobia from the wikipedia list (or any other resource, or even make up your own) and apply it to a character your currently writing about, or one you’re thinking of starring in your next story or novel.
Think of the possibilities that phobia has for influencing your character’s actions, both within the framework of a tale, and as backstory. Is it possible that an entire story can be created from the fear?
Make a list of how your chosen phobia can interfere with every day life, make is plausible, but stretch.
For example, what if your character, like Indiana, suffers from ophidiophobia, but she lives in New York City?
There aren’t many snakes to be found in the city, so how can her fear affect her? Maybe she walks to her job every day, but the zoo has erected a tremendous billboard on her route with the photo of a large, striking rattle snake. She can’t even look at it.
Her fear is so strong that she needs to find another route. And taking that route starts your story in motion. What happens when she has to find another way to work?
After you’ve made your list, determine which items or situations can be used as scenes. Then, get to work writing them!
* Photo by W.J.Pilsak found at Wikipedia.
Friday, May 6th, 2011  On May 6, 1937, the German airship, Hindenburg, exploded just as it arrived at it’s destination, Lakehurst, New Jersey. Thirty six people were killed.
Herbert Morrison, a radio announcer on WLS Radio, watching the disaster unfold, delivered a live speech as the zeppelin went down in flames, the last line of which has been exploited in movies, television and elsewhere (often taken out of context and used for dramatic — even humorous — effect).
He said:
“Oh, oh, oh. It’s burst into flames. Get out of the way, please…this is terrible…it’s burning, bursting into flames, and is falling… Oh! This is one of the worst… it’s a terrific sight… oh, the humanity.”
Almost a thousand people waited for the Hindenburg that evening. Bad weather and rain delayed both the ship’s arrival and timely docking. A set of unfortunate circumstances: the use of hydrogen for buoyancy and maneuverability (rather than the safer helium gas), the small gas leak noticed too late, Captain Max Pruss’ too-fast landing and subsequent reverse engine thrust, all contributed to the inferno.
Reports say the spectators felt the heat of the blast nearly a mile away.
Here’s Your Prompt: Write an eye-witness account of an accident, a natural disaster, or a medical emergency. What was your first thought, or the first words out of your mouth? What were you doing when “it” happened? Were you with anyone? Were you near enough to be injured yourself? What about anyone else you were with?
Who else was involved? How did it happen? What was the ultimate outcome? Write what you experienced during the event. Don’t ignore your senses: how things looked, felt, sounded, smelled and even tasted. Include how you were feeling when the event was happening, and now, looking back on it, how you feel about it having happened.
Journalistic Prompt: Write the same story as a reporter, not as an eye witness. “Interview” others who saw what happened and relate, in their words, the most key elements of the story: who, what, when, where, why and how. Keep your own opinion out of the story, and be certain to include a spectrum of eyewitness opinions — including contradictory accounts and conclusions — to make certain the story is “fair and balanced.”
For more information on journalism, see my other prompt on the inverted pyramid style of writing for newspapers.
Friday, April 29th, 2011  I got sucked into the whole Royal Wedding Thing this morning, prompted by the fact that I wanted to see Kate Middleton’s dress.
As I was watching, I got to thinking about hands.
Kate’s hands were in the focus of the camera a lot, because she was waving, of course, and then there was that wedding ring bit. I was quite surprised to see how plain they were. Like the dress and the jewels and the tiara, I expected a little more pomp.
Here’s a close up of the ring ceremony. The angle’s not great, but you can see that Kate’s got blunt nails and little polish on them if any. I had an earlier impression of her having bit them down to nubs, but I think this disproves me. Still, her nails are short and to the point, yes?
Here’s a close-up of my own hands the morning of my wedding – those talons are real, btw, no fakes for me. (I couldn’t bear to waste my time in a salon – and besides, I think typing makes them stronger.)
So, what do Kate’s hands say about her? That she can’t be bothered at all? That she’d rather spend her time doing something else? That she can’t bear to spend her time in salon?
What about the photos to the left? Old hands at the top surely evoke a story. Robot hands must make something come to mind. My favorite are those working on the engine. When I get my hands dirty, I take off my rings. Not these fellows. What does that say about them?
Here’s Your Prompt: Study the hands around you. Look at the hands of mothers and policemen and construction workers. Peer at artists’ hands and those of teachers and nurses. Look at your own hands!
Do these hands reveal the vocation or hobby of their owners or not? Does the mechanic you know carefully remove any hint of grease from his nails before he comes home from the shop? Does the artist strip all the paint off or leave it on? Whose hands are dry and cracked, old and worn, nicked and cut?
Now, write a scene or memoir or even non-fiction about a person who’s interesting feature is his hands. Describe them, and why they’re significant — but don’t keep all the description in a large single paragraph. Work in bits of description and significance between the story: show us how these hands are important without telling us all at once. Keep the tension by gradually revealing the story bit by bit.
Friday, April 22nd, 2011  Pretend you (or your character) is scheduled for surgery: something “relatively minor,” like gall bladder removal.
You’re prepped, laying on the gurney in a hospital gown minus your skivvies and socks. The anesthesiologist shoots a nice little brain-numbing drug into your IV and you feel yourself getting woozy.
As they’re wheeling you into the surgery, the doctor leans over you and tells you, “Everything is going to be all right.”
Only, it’s not your doctor…and you knew you were going to be “all right” because what you had going on what something relatively minor.
Before you can protest, everything goes dark.
When you wake up, you realize you’ve still got your gall bladder, but something else is missing.
Here’s Your Prompt: What is it? What actually happened in the operating room? Who was the mysterious doctor? What are the repercussions of this surgery? And, what about your gall bladder?
Friday, April 15th, 2011 April is National Poetry month in the U.S. and Canada.
Do you like poetry? I admit that I don’t know much about it, although I do know what I like.
I favor bouncy, rhyming poems a la Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein (because they are so fun!), but I also like e.e. cummings (clever, clever).
Henley’s Invictus is my favorite (Thanks, Charlie!) because the strength of the narrator appeals to me. It’s also dark, and I really like that.
In honor of National Poetry month, let’s have a prompt about poems.
Here’s Your Prompt:
- Write a poem. It can be jouncy, bouncy, rhyming fun, or free verse, or even a patterned poem, such as a sonnet. (If you choose haiku, you must write at least 5!)
Here are some resources on how to write poetry:
- For a twist on writing poetry, choose a favorite scene from a book or movie, and write it in poetry form. Again, it can be free verse, rhyming or patterned.
- Here’s where the reverse poetry idea comes in: find a poem, any poem, that you like. It can be one from childhood, or a new one you’ve never read before. Then, re-write the poem in prose, but the deal is, you have to use the exact words of the poem in your essay /story / scene.
For example, if you were to choose Silverstein’s “Forgotten Language” which starts off:
Once I spoke the language of the flowers,
Once I understood each word the caterpillar said,
You could write…
Once I spoke the language of the flowers: silent and delicate, a trembling of fingers or tilting of head conveyed much. Lengthy speeches could not offer as much information as the casual lift of a hand.
Once, I understood each word the caterpillar said, I knew the flowers for liars….
Get the idea? Find some poetry here:
Brownie points if you post in the comments! Have fun!
Friday, April 8th, 2011 Today’s prompt is all about quantity and nothing about subject matter.
Yesterday, Wil Wheaton posted on his blog Two Hundred Words Before Six in the Morning.
A single page, double-spaced, yields on average 250 words – less, however, if you’re writing poetry or dialogue. But if you can write one page every day, you can churn out roughly one novel a year (two, if you’re writing YA fiction.)
Can you do it?
Here’s Your Prompt: Write 200 words before something: 200 words before breakfast, or before your lunch break is over, or before you have to leave the house this morning.
Write 200 words before you’re finished drinking your coffee / tea / soda. Write 200 words before you have to pick up the kids from school today.
Do you work full time? Write 200 words before you start your workday, or before your morning meeting (admit it, you’re checking your personal email, right? Skip it, and write.)
Do you ride public transportation? Write 200 words before your stop. Or, 200 words before you arrive this morning.
Whatever you do today, write 200 words.
Friday, April 1st, 2011  I’ve just finished editing a scene in my (completed) novel which has given me fits and starts for weeks.
It’s (mostly) a conversation between two very strong women in which important revelations are made.
Both women are surprised at what they learn. Their feelings — and their intentions — are both relevant to the story. But I can only tell it from a single point of view. So, which should I choose?
That’s been my dilemma. And over the last few weeks, I’ve re-written the scene several times, first from one point of view, and then the other. And then I flip-flopped, and flip-flopped again.
Each time, the scene has become stronger and the dialogue more tense. Each re-write made the prose leaner and tougher.
I finally settled on a viewpoint, and it’s not that of the protagonist.
The fact is: even though my protagonist learns some pretty significant things about herself, the other character has more to lose because of it.
Literary genius Sol Stein suggests that a scene should be written in the POV of the character who is affected most by the scene’s content. This makes sense to me, and that’s why I decided to leave it in the point of view of the secondary character.
Bonus! Writing from her POV stirred my muse to suggested additional plot layers, so the story has grown as well.
Here’s Your Prompt: Choose a scene you’ve written that’s not working for you. Write it from the point of view of another character. Be sure to include what this character thinks and feels and sees as the scene progresses. Be cognizant of how the flavor of the scene may be changed due to the alternate point of view.
If you don’t have an existing scene, write one! When you’re finished, start over and write it from the opposite POV.
Friday, March 25th, 2011  Today (March 25) is International Waffle Day.
According to Wikipedia, “Etymologists say the term [waffle] was derived from waff, a 17th-century onomatopoeia for the sound a barking dog makes, similar to the modern woof. Although the relationship between a dog’s bark and indecisiveness is unclear, the inference is that waffle words have about as much meaning as the noise made by a dog barking.”
Also, according to wikipedia, “a waffle is a batter- or dough-based cake cooked in a waffle iron patterned to give a distinctive and characteristic shape. There are many variations based on the type and shape of the iron and the recipe used.”
Thus, International Waffle Day can be celebrated by waffling on decisions or by consuming waffles. Your choice. (If you find yourself waffling on this decision, feel free to do both.)
True story: Once, I was traveling from Maryland to Georgia to meet some friends, and they gave me directions:
Get on Route 95 south.
Waffle House.
Waffle House.
Waffle House.
You’re there.
Such is the greatness of waffles.
Here’s Your Prompt: (Your Choice. If you’re waffling, do both.)
1 – Write about indecision. Tell a story about a person who must make a tough decision. The decision must be of such import that the choice of one contraindicates the choice of the other. This can’t be a “stay or go” choice. Either option must be painful. For example, your protagonist’s best friend needs a kidney, and your protagonist is a perfect match. If he doesn’t give up a kidney for his best friend, his best friend will die. But your protagonist suffers from a rare anesthesia allergy, and giving up a kidney might also mean giving up his own life. What does your character do? How does he feel? Why does he make the choice he does? (Not choosing is not an option.)
– or –
2 – Write a scene of someone eating waffles. Why are they eating waffles? Are they fresh? Homemade? Frozen? Are they eating at a restaurant? What’s the atmosphere, the sounds and smells, around him? Coffee and bacon? Orange juice and toast? Is it noisy? Glasses clinking, pots steaming and sizzling, loud conversation? Or, is he eating at home: quiet and serene on the back porch, with a gentle breeze shushing leaves and birds singing? Is the dog waiting for a handout? Does your character enjoy eating waffles, or is it the only thing “on the menu?” What condiments does she use on her waffles? Butter, syrup, whipped cream, strawberry sauce, fresh fruit? Once you’re done, make the event of eating waffles the significant action of the scene. Why is eating these waffles important?
Note:
Image by Churchill95, captured at: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:American_Breakfast.jpg
Friday, March 18th, 2011 I’ve been giving a lot of thought to world building these days, as I’m slated to teach a class at an upcoming convention. In simple terms, world building is all about setting the scene for your story or novel.
If you write contemporary literature, you may not need to do so much. If you write science fiction or fantasy, you’ll need to be aware of all the differences between the world you’re writing, and the world you live in, so you can make the fictional world believable when you write it.
Mainly, you have to make certain that things, “work.” If it rains blue raisins every night, you’ll need a plausible reason for this phenomena and write it convincingly into the story. And there needs to be balance. For every really cool item you place in the world, you’ve got to have an equally evil or devastating one.
Balance makes the story/world more believable: too much happiness and light and things get boring fast. Too much evil and darkness, and we’re left with no enjoyment, no hope.
Naomi Novik writes stories set in the Napoleonic era where dragons exist. Kim Harrison’s urban fantasies take place in current-day Ohio, where all kinds of supernatural beings exist and tomatoes are thought to be deadly.
What kind of stories could you tell about these kinds of worlds?
Here’s Your Prompt: Create a world, much like your own, with one significant difference. Like Novik’s world, it could be the existence of dragons (or some other mythical creature). Or, like Harrison’s world, it could be that a common plant is considered dangerous. Can you imagine a world without ketchup?
On the flip side, it could be a world without a particular animal or “luxury” item. For example, what if horses didn’t exist? What if airplanes or trains or automobiles had never been invented?
Or build a world where tomatoes (or another plant) are found to cure cancer, Alzheimer’s or some other disease. (This is where balance comes in: if you can cure cancer, there’d better be some other disease or illness or birth defect that people have to struggle with.)
One you’ve built this small piece of your world, think of ways the setting can be used to generate a story idea. What kind of people live in this world? What do they believe? How do they live? How does the setting affect them?
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