Prompts! Prompts! Prompts!

So as a writer and person I have my ups and downs. Took some time to feel like posting anything other than my own writing again. But life has a funny way of flipping itself around at the least expected times so this morning I thought, hey, why not some writing prompts?

(1) The Pet's Perspective: I want you to try and think about a day in the life of your pet. If you have more than one pick one; it could be your favorite pet, or your least favorite pet, or your only pet, or a pet you wish you had, whatever! The point is to think about perspective and jot down some thoughts that might not normally ever cross your mind. A dog's seemingly irrepressible urge to chase anything that runs from him, or a cat's habit of attacking things that do not exist. Have fun with it.

 (2) Be a Jerk: one of the things that many authors say is that you need to be mean to your characters. If something isn't threatening their life, possibly killing their friends, maybe destroying the world, or even just threatening to take their parking space at work, then a character doesn't have much motivation and the reader has a harder time supporting them. There is no story without conflict right? So the prompt here is to event a character, for the sake of ease assume it's a standard retail job, although you could pick anything, so a cashier, or stocker, or someone who works in sales, etc. Have something terrible happen to them and see how they deal with it. A car could explode, their boss could yell at them, there neighbors dog could crap on their porch, etc. Again have fun with it!

(3) A Can of Worms: actually start a story with "A Can of Worms" opening, or maybe just existing because that could be a weird story topic, I mean, who can's worms? Anyway start with that and then go from there. You could go stream of consciousness with this, just going from thought to thought, or you could write a real serious story about a can of worms, or virtually anything. Just have fun with it.

Review and discussion of Joe Bunting's "14 Prompts" and a look at The Write Practice

Photo property of thewritepractice.com

Before I started this blog I had never really noticed how many blogs there were out there. If someone had asked me, "Hey, do you read blogs?" I would have said, "No, that is reserved for a special kind of internet vampire and I like the light of day," or something along those lines. I am hoping that my current interest in blogging is not the result of a obsessive, but brief, spark that is doomed to fade. In my efforts to not let that fate transpire I have started looking at other blogs for ideas, and general interesting content. I recently came across The Write Practice blog, which is where the above image came from (I am also attempting to not violate any copy-rights). This blog, founded by a Mr. Joe Bunting, and supported by several others, offers a lot of advice to creative writers, as well as a space for them to practice. I think that is where the "practice" in the blogs name sake comes from. I good guess I'd imagine.

Anyway! To the point. The Write Practice is currently offering a digital copy of the above book titled 14 Prompts, written by Mr. Bunting, for free; all you need to do is subscribe to the blog. I have done just that and just finished reading it through. It is a quick read and offers some authentically helpful pieces of advice along with its 14 prompts.

14 Prompts is a helpful and understanding kind of writing guide with pieces of beautiful and well written prose thrown in. The author encourages readers to participate in a constructive writing environment and offers both this book, and it's parent blog as venues for just that. Bunting makes the logical effort to promote his blog by suggesting that readers of 14 Prompts should respond to its prompts and discussion questions on the blog itself. However, Bunting takes the extra step to, and the thoughtful one, and offers the idea that his book could be used in a small group off the net, and after reading it becomes apparent that was a thought he had in mind during its creation.

The text covers lots of topics and supplies various prompts and discussion questions. Bunting suggests that despite his book of prompts being a very short list, it is an effective list, and means to cultivate more than just seemingly random ideas for the reader.

As I read through the text I took note of several ideas that I personally found useful. The text also touched on the biggest problem I face personally as writer : preoccupation with perfection. The first line of the 14th prompt of Bunting's book is "Perfection is no place for a writer." I feel both comforted and unnerved by this message; one side of my brain thinking, "Oh thank god," and the other awkwardly asking "really?" and neither gaining any ground.  I think that this is a challenge that many writers face, and I know that it can't be easily resolved, if at all, but Bunting's advice reminds me that my preoccupation should really be with writing, and not with perfection. The rest of Bunting's last prompt continues discussing this issue and offers some interesting insight on how to manage it. Definitely worth a look if this is a specific problem you suffer from.

If you have any interest in creative writing I would highly recommend taking a look at, and of course following, Bunting's blog and picking up a copy of his book. What I have covered only scratches the surface and there is plenty of other great advice to be had, as well as a supportive group of like minded individuals to support you.


Pleasant reading.



 

Writing about Traveling

A little while ago I heard a train go by, and I wondered where it was going. The prompt for today is very simple. What would you do if you could just jump onto a passing train? Where would it take you? Just at thought. 

Picture Prompt

Exactly as the title implies, the prompt is to pull a story from the picture. From this point on I will be looking for picture prompts and would appreciate and submissions of pictures you think would make good prompts. This page will not be only for picture prompts, but I felt that it would be a good addition.

Writing Prompt Monday

So, I am not sure how often I will be supplying writing prompts throughout any given week, but I am going to make a point to put at least one, or two, or maybe three, up every Monday. I will be pulling these from places, books, and my own noggin.











1. I call this one "The Salesmen," and it came out of a writers group that I participate in on a week, to bi weekly basis. This is where you start: A salesmen walks up to a house, knocks on the door, and is waiting for an answer. Go from there. You could think about what he is going to sell, what kind of personality he has, does he like his job, who is going to answer the door, etc. Just have fun with it.

2. This one is for developing a character (and I owe this one to Amanda Miller). Imagine twenty things that you would find in your characters trash can or waste basket.

3. I call this next one, "The little things." Look out the window nearest to you. Now really take in everything you are seeing. Then imagine that one thing, one little detail, was just slightly off. If it is bright and sunny imagine that the sun is now blue, or a hot dog vendor is selling buns filled with celery. How would these really slight changes affect the world? Assume that in that world these are what is considered normal. Creating a small world were the simple facts are slightly different from your own can be entertaining, inspiring, and can be an exercise in keeping consistency in your writing.


Hope these give you something to think about! If enough interest is shown I might start a Facebook group or something for a small writers group. Just a thought.

The creation of the pages!

NOTE TO ALL AUTHORS AND ADMINS

So, this is my nearest approximation to creating separate pages that can be updated. Things will always be posted to the "Home" page, but if one of the following labels is attached to the post it will also appear in that category.

John's Writing, Pictures, Reviews, Thoughts, Writing Prompts

I can add or change these as needed and if anyone has any specific page / page names they want let me know. Labels need to be written in under the Labels section on the right hand side of the posting screen. I am sure everyone can figure that out, but better safe than stupid questions. So! On we go!