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. Listen up! Sit outside for a few moments today and write a few pages describing what you hear. Is it the buzzing and clicking of cicadas? The hum of an air conditioner? Honking traffic? Take it a step further: show your physical reaction to the sounds you hear.
2. Write a few pages about a character who takes a last-minute road trip. What is their destination? Somewhere not too far or on the other side of the country? What kind of car do they take, and what problems do they encounter?
3. Write a few pages of a story in which one of our founding fathers finds himself suddenly transported to present-day Times Square. Is he convinced he’s dreaming? What does he think about all the cars and digital screens?
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Tips:
1. Whether it’s a new word, a different perspective on a life experience, or a writing technique we haven’t used before, every story has something to teach us. It is good practice to think of yourself as a student anytime you read. Always think about what you can take away and apply back to your own writing to make it stronger.
2. The most valuable takeaways from a story are those that stay with us for hours, days or even years after reading. Contemplating what you can recall from a story is a useful tool to better analyze which aspects of the writing are effective and make an impact.
3. Toss Perfectionism. Or, as Voltaire candidly quoted in his Dictionnaire Philosophique of 1770: "Il meglio e l'inimico del bene": the great is the enemy of the good. Excessive self-editing sabotages creativity and completion. Free yourself up on your first draft. Revision is your ally!
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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,
ADD DO
Show Dones
Metric:
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Words
Minutes
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