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 about a family pet that is literally reborn, as in reincarnated. Do they come back as a puppy, or as something very different, like a tree or a new friend that just moved into the neighborhood?
2. Write a few pages inspired by this famous couplet by Ezra Pound (“In a Station of the Metro”): “The apparition of these faces in the crowd / Petals on a wet, black bough.” Does a character interact with one of the people in the crowd? What is the meaning behind the gloomy setting?
3. Write a few pages about a kids’ party magician who has the perfect cover to hide the fact that he actually possesses magical powers.
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Tips:
1. Whether a one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people-eater or a candlestick that can talk, anytime an author successfully gives life to an inhuman character, it is a feat. When you read one such story, think about how the author brought the being to life. Do they humanize it? Or, do they embrace it as a different kind of creature entirely?
2. Almost every story has some unexpected aspect, ranging from a small moment with a sudden turn of phrase all the way to a sweeping plot twist. When you read, think about what surprises you and how. Is it a pleasant or unpleasant surprise? Do you wish the story surprised you more?
3. The believability factor is an important one in any story. Even if the story is about talking garden gnomes, it still has to be realistic enough in the way the characters act, emotions are depicted, etc. to ground the reader in that world. When you read, ask yourself if the author really put themselves, and thus the reader, in the scene.
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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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