5 Prompts to Keep Your Writing Going Over the Holidays (Win Books!)

It’s the holidays at Promptly and WD headquarters, so it’s probably only right to have a year-end blowout swag giveaway, right? I’ll post five prompts below—respond to any of them,…

It’s the holidays at Promptly and WD headquarters, so it’s probably only right to have a year-end blowout swag giveaway, right? I’ll post five prompts below—respond to any of them, and when WD is back in operation after the new year, I’ll throw all the names of the story-posters in the Promptly 10-gallon hat, and draw three for an assortment of books and magazines. (We'll also finish out the WD Top Tips series when we're back.)

The halls are quiet around here and few creatures are stirring, so I’m going to slip out before I get locked in and have to spend the break feasting on my emergency peanut butter cracker stash and reading back issues and the various gnome books scattered about Chuck Sambuchino’s desk.

Here’s to hoping you and yours have a great holiday week. See you in January.

***

WRITING PROMPTS:Holiday Extravaganza 2010
Feel free to take the following prompts home or post a
response (500 words or fewer, funny, sad or stirring) in the Comments section below.
If
you’re having trouble with the
captcha code sticking, e-mail your piece and the prompt to me at
writersdigest@fwmedia.com, with “Promptly” in the subject line, and I’ll
make sure it gets up.

  • You wrapped the present with utmost care, and placed it under the tree. Then, laughed.
  • Craft a story featuring a cell phone, a lost and found box, and a blizzard.
  • An incident spurs a mall Santa to reexamine his life.
  • You quit smoking, you quit drinking, and you gave up something else dominating your life, all in one day.
  • “That’s not a New Year’s Resolution. That’s a death wish.”

--

Also, what are you and your writing doing Jan. 21-23? Join us in New York for the Writer's Digest Conference.
We always have a blast, and it can be a great move for your craft and
career (at one of our recent events, agents Janet Reid and Andrea Hurst
signed clients, and went on to negotiate six-figure deals for them). On
tap this year:

  • Our signature agent pitch slam, featuring at least 57 agents representing a variety of genres and styles
  • Sessions on the future of publishing, craft, platform, social media, freelancing and much, much more
  • Panels and Q&As with agents and other pros
  • Our off-site poetry slam in SoHo.

Click here to learn more. Hope to see you there!

Zachary Petit is a freelance journalist and editor, and a lifelong literary and design nerd. He's also a former senior managing editor of Writer’s Digest magazine. Follow him on Twitter @ZacharyPetit.