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 decides to start a garden in their backyard and uncovers an ancient artifact in the dirt that certainly doesn’t belong there. How did it get there? What will they do with it?
2. Write a few pages in which the protagonist’s grandmother tells him or her a secret about their family history that no one else knows. How does this affect the character’s life? Do they spill the secret to someone else?
3. 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.
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Tips:
1. 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.
2. Whether it’s a long-winded passage or a complicated plot point, we all scratch our heads while reading from time to time. In these cases, we recommend first pausing and taking a breath before slowly rereading. Walking away and coming back to it later is a good idea if you are feeling particularly lost.
3. We joke about the cliché of a psychologist asking “How does that make you feel?” but it’s valuable to take stock of how a story makes you feel. Since emotions can be complicated in the world of stories and real life, oftentimes it’s a mixed bag. Do you think the writer intended for you to feel that way?
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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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