Things We Lose
Things We Lose: "Things we lose have a way of coming back to us in the end, if not always in the way we expect."
Madder Libs
First, think of one of each of the following: a word you use too much; the name of a city you'd like to visit; an unusual color; a hobby; a physical quality a person might wish for; an animal; a famous author; a verb ending in -ing; a number; an adverb....
So Close, and Yet…
Writing Prompt: You have nearly arrived at your dream destination. Thus far, the trip has been uneventful, and there's only an hour's drive left between you and vacation bliss—when suddenly the vehicle breaks down, leaving you stranded. Where are you, and what do you do?
Extraordinarily Ordinary
Describe something ordinary in an unrelated genre style. For instance, you could describe your living room in the style of an epic fantasy, a pigeon in the style of a western, your breakfast in the style of a steamy romance, or an office building in the style of a sci-fi thriller.
Blahbarian
Write a scene that includes a character speaking a different language, speaking in a thick accent, or otherwise speaking in a way that is unintelligibe to the other characters. (Note: You don't necessarily need to know the language the character is speaking—be creative with it!)
Pranks and Perspective
Write a story or a scene about one character playing a prank on another. Describe the scene from both characters' points of view.
Musical Incantation
You're absent-mindedly singing to yourself, when suddenly the topic of the song comes true.
Going Viral
You have (or a character has) created a computer virus that is capable of spreading to every computer, tablet or smartphone in the world. It takes over the device's screen and displays something else instead—a message, an image, an animation, etc. What does it display, and why?
Custom Etymology
Write a story or a scene about someone inventing a new word—or, alternatively, giving an existing word a new meaning.
The Vow of the Peacock
You're sipping champagne at the stroke of midnight on January 1, 2018, enjoying your celebration and not giving much thought to tomorrow. Suddenly, you notice that there is a large peacock standing beside you. You're not quite sure where it came from, or if the bird is even real. The peacock...
Spiced Architecture
You (or a character, or perhaps two) have been enjoying a leisurely walk down a familiar wooded path for about an hour, when you suddenly realize that you no longer know where you are. Trusting that your current path will lead you back home—because it logically should—you turn around and head...
Symbolic Animals
Write a story or a scene involving an animal that symbolizes something else. It can represent a concept, an experience, an emotion, a historical moment, or anything else you can think of.
Considering Absurdism
The 7th of November is the anniversary of absurdist writer/philosopher Albert Camus' birth in 1913. Writing as yourself or through a character, discuss whether life has meaning and reason—or it's as meaningless and nonsensical (i.e., absurd) as Camus believed. Given your position, consider what, if anything, people can do to find...
Take Action: How I Overcame Writer’s Block
BY RENÉE THOMPSON Ray Bradbury once said if you’re a writer and you’re blocked, well, you’ve picked the wrong subject then, haven’t you? At least he had a subject. For me, writer’s block was never so much about stalling in the midst of writing a story as the lack of a...
Wednesday Poetry Prompts: 167 (Risk Poems)
For this week’s prompt, write a risk poem. That is, write a poem in which either the narrator, a character, or whatever takes a risk, or in which risk is involved. For those who like board games, yes, you can finally write that game about Risk that you’ve always wanted to...