It is exciting to find out that more of our members are doing some of the writing prompts. If you haven’t done so yet, try to this month. You can also do any writing prompt from another month or from somewhere else.
You can write the challenge as long as you want, even if it leads to a short story or a longer work. But when we share them at the meeting, we need to remember there are more people with something to share. Because time is limited, we need to keep a reading to approximately 500 words or a couple of pages.
April Prompts
- Write a scene that includes time travel.
- Use this phrase: When you realize you have to parallel park….
- Write a short story about a wedding cake.
- Your main character is a female swashbuckler. What’s she up to this week?
- Write a scene using these three elements – Genre: Young Adult; Person: A bored inventor; Problem: It’s been raining for a month with no signs of stopping.
Words:
Injury – stranger – protest – summon – verdant
Exercise: Guy with a Gun (from James Scott Bell)
“This was a Raymond Chandler idea. If you’re writing along and the going gets dull, he said, just bring in a guy with a gun.
Justify it later.
It’s a great trick. (Yes, it’s OK to call these things “tricks of the trade.” If you’re angling for a position on the Yale faculty, you can call them “advanced literary operandi.”) It brings instant conflict and juices up your story.
Of course, it doesn’t have to be a literal gun. It can be almost anything:
•
An unexpected guest
• Someone from the past
• An upsetting
phone call
• An accident
• A cop
• A nun
• A con artist
• A news item
• A death
• A sudden shock
(“You’re fired!” or “Will you marry me?”)
Try it by writing a scene with an unexpected event.