Your Prompts and Tips
Some free resources to help you write better and achieve the success you deserve
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Prompts:
1. Write a few pages set on a beach, where a character’s metal detector turns up a valuable but disturbing item.
2. There are lots of different summer camps out there. There are traditional ones for kids, filled with archery and kayaking, but there are also lesser-known camps, like one where you can foster your circus skills. Write a few pages about one such unusual camp that you make up!
3. Romance writers aren't horsing around. Write a few pages of a romantic scene set in a moving vehicle.
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Tips:
1. 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?
2. Do you ever reread a story? The first time around, don’t worry about analyzing every detail—just read for fun! Your goal is to get a more general, natural sense of the narrative! The second time around, you’ll have a working understanding of the story that makes it easier (and more rewarding) to dive deeper into the nuts and bolts of the story.
3. 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.
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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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