Your Prompts and Tips
Some free resources to help you write better and achieve the success you deserve
This is a selection we've harvested from our archives, RELOAD THE PAGE for more!
Prompts:
1. Write a few pages about a character who finds an ominous—or romantic—note written in red ink.
2. Most people go to the beach during the summer, but going to the beach when it’s cold is a completely different experience. Write a few pages in which a character decides to take a wintertime trip to the beach.
3. Write a few pages set at a graduation ceremony (could be preschool, grad school, or even basic training), in which the graduation speaker gives a speech that brings the audience to their feet—in excitement about what they’re saying or strong disagreement with their message.
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Tips:
1. Whether it’s about trekking through a faraway land of dragons or running into an ex while grabbing coffee, there is something we can relate to in just about any story. When you are reading, put yourself in the protagonist’s shoes (or any other character’s, for that matter) and explore how their hopes, worries, conflicts, etc., relate to you and your life, past or present.
2. The best writing creates a sensory experience: it employs most or all of the senses, including sight, sound, touch, taste and smell. This allows us to fully envision ourselves in a story. Put in an effort to evoke more senses that just sight in your story.
3. Take a close look at the world of the story. Could the story be told somewhere else to the same effect? Does it drive the plot in any way? For example, Sue Monk Kidd's “The Secret Lives of Bees” would not be the same if it were set anywhere but in South Carolina in 1964. Any time you read, pay special attention to the storyworld in which it's set. Is that world integral to the plot? How so?
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TO DO LIST:
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SCRATCHPAD:
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PRIVATE JOURNAL:
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TRACKING:
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TO DO LIST:
Add tasks to your sortable list, then revel in checking them off.
SCRATCHPAD:
Cache your gems as they fall in this always accessible place.
PRIVATE JOURNAL:
Reflect on your process — good, bad and ugly — in your dated diary.
TRACKING:
Measure your progress with key writing metrics, automatically,
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