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 in which a family checks into a hotel to begin a vacation and immediately notices something off—whether it be the room, the staff, or the guests.
2. Write a few pages about a literal case of cabin fever that takes place in a—you guessed it—cabin.
3. Write a few pages about a character who reluctantly embarks on a fishing trip and reels in something other than a fish.
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Tips:
1. Any good mystery provides enough clues that the reader is able to make well-founded guesses about the outcome, but not so many that they can predict exactly what is going to happen. As you read, note how many clues the author is giving. Are there any plot twists or red herrings? Do you feel the author left enough clues or so many that you figured out the big mystery halfway through?
2. Know the rules before you break them! Or as Dorothy Parker once said, "If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the second greatest favor you can do them is to present them with copies of The Elements of Style. The first greatest, of course, is to tell them to quit now, while they’re happy.
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:
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,
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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Show Dones
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Minutes
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