Tag: Grab Bag

What do you need to work on most, your descriptions of sight, smell, sound, touch, or taste? Click on one of these links and choose a writing prompt based on the photo that first catches your eye.

It’s your turn. Look at this photo from all angles. Look at the color, the light, the shadows, the textures. What scenes does it bring to mind, what emotions? Come up with five writing prompts based on this photo. Save them in a running list of writing prompts either on your computer desktop or on a piece of paper you keep at your writing space. Better yet, type them in the Comments section below and share your inspiration with others!

Does your character need a hobby? Whether he just happens to have plans with his golfing buddies whenever his wife’s family is in town or would prefer staying at home reading classic Russian literature to socializing with friends, your character’s hobbies can say a lot about his personality. Make a list of hobbies your character might enjoy. Could any of them further the story and deepen your characterization?

Consider twilight. What feelings and moods come to mind? Do they differ if you place yourself in Paris’ bustling Place de l’Opéra or at a remote Eastern Washington cabin surrounded by trees and no electricity? Tell a story that takes place at twilight, using the setting of your choice. Or, if you’re writing a novel, could thinking about twilight in this way add color and texture to a chapter that otherwise seems stalled?

The most brilliant of stories–fiction or non-fiction–come from nothing more than a seed. Devote at least part of your writing time today to pulling out your collection of writing ideas and see if you can find new potential in old seeds. Does time give you a new perspective on a topic, making a previously disregarded idea now seem bursting with life? Does a character sketch you never fully developed suddenly fit perfectly in the story you’re writing now?

What is your pet thinking about right now?

What is your protagonist trying to escape from?

Create a short story or poem using all of the following words. And don’t forget to share what you come up with by leaving us a comment!

Stowaway
Top ten
Luminescence
Vital signs
Too late
Ephemeral
Fleeting
Daughter
Grandma
Roses
Saffron
Broken mirrors
Smoke and mirrors