2026 Get Started Right Writing Challenge: Day 5

Quick note: I'm so sorry for the delayed post today. We had some tech issues last night and into this morning that actually deleted part of my writing for today's task. Guess that's why I always advise people to make copies before posting (and I should follow my own advice).

For this fifth day of the 12-day Get Started Right Writing Challenge, write for at least 15 minutes. After all, I feel like a writing challenge should offer at least a handful of opportunities to focus on writing. As with Day 2, you can write fiction, poetry, or nonfiction. Also, you can pick up where you left off on that day or go in a completely new direction.

Remember: You don't have to finish whatever you start or even be happy with what you write. Just write.

Not sure what to write? Then, I've got a few prompts you can peruse:

Also, we share writing prompts throughout the year here. So find a good starting place, set your timers, and get writing...and share what you write in the comments.

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"Older Brother Fred"

I grew up the oldest of three brothers. Sort of. Because I also grew up in the shadow of an older brother Fred, who seemed to do all the bad things my parents told me (and my brothers) not to do, and it usually resulted in his death or severe injury. Like the time he stuck a fork in an electrical outlet and electrocuted himself. Or the time he mixed chemicals under the kitchen sink and poisoned himself. There was even once when he somehow flushed himself down the toilet and ended up in the sewers and general chaos ensued.

Of course, my older brother Fred was a fictional character created by my father for instructive and comedic effect. And well, I guess it worked, because Fred eventually became the older brother of my own children. His follies have continued to act as an example for what not to do...and why not. Cross the street without looking both ways? Fred did that, and he got run over by a speeding delivery truck. Leave random toys and stuffed animals on the stairs? Of course, Fred did that too...right before he tripped, toppled down the stairs, and broke his neck. Basically, if Fred did something, it was probably a horrible idea. Like swallowing chewing gum or toothpaste, leaving a boiling pot of water unattended, leaning over a railing, or throwing rocks at each other. Fred did all these things, and none of it turned out well.

And yes, I've done things myself that did not turn out well, but I lived...so I try to be careful about sharing some of the dumb things I did, only because it might make it seem more possible to get away with jumping into unexplored water holes without looking, running across ice without knowing how thick it is, flipping and crashing my bike without a bike helmet more times than I could count, or allowing the older neighborhood kid to "power drive" me multiple times on my head as a boy. It's much better to put the pain...

(And that's the awkward place it cut off apparently. I think my original version from just after midnight this morning went a few more paragraphs, and maybe I'll try to recreate it, but for now, I just want to allow everyone else to complete their daily task--and cross my fingers that this is the only tech hiccup we have for a good long time.)