I feel like I've seen every possible writing prompt website there is? I want to try something fresh and new. Does anyone know of any fun and exciting writing prompts? I'd love to hear about them.
I find that excruciating emotions generate a lot of output.
A bit hard to whip up on demand, though ...
Jenny
i like celtx for screenwriting. Its FREE thats #1 and #2 they make it easy to use. celtx.com is their site.
I often find prompts in the oddest things...I'll look around my desk or I'll notice something while I'm out running errands -- and a story will spring from that. Emotions are good too...the roller-coaster they can take you on while you're working can be a little draining, though.
Just look around with an open mind and open eyes. There are prompts in the most mundane things -- it's all in how you look at them. You'll be surprised.
I don't usually find writing prompts offered by other people to be all that helpful, they're usually something I have to find for myself. A particular poem, song, or photograph, for example, might speak to me especially strongly and I'll use that (though the danger there is that sometimes the poem, song, or question is ridiculously emo and when I look back on what I wrote because of it I'm forced to groan and burn it *g*)
I also talked a little about getting ideas in my Geofiction hub. My less-likely-to-be-emo ideas tend to come from things I love, like the grassland fantasy setting I've been working on for several years, or sudden inspiration, like the "werewolf apocalypse" setting I'm working on now.
I just replied to this post and lost it, so if there ends up being two on here basically the same, I apologize.
To answer your question about writing prompts....song titles. I can take a song title, or some lyrics and write a story synopsis from it very quickly.
I used this method by accident early one morning. I was trying to come up with ideas....music was on....discovered after a few minutes of everything going well that it had come from the title of the song. After that I did it on purpose.
It even works (or can) without hearing the song. Just run titles or lyrics through your mind and jot down what comes to you with each one. Music is an important part of your life, I imagine you're very inspired by it.
I know you're persuing the horror genre, and this method has worked for me with that too. In fact, it's fun and amazing to me.
Hope this helps you.
Wow. I can't believe I never thought of that before. You're absolutely right. I can't wait to try this!
Thank you so much!
Wow. I can't believe I never thought of that before. You're absolutely right. I can't wait to try this!
Thank you so much!
You're very welcome! Please let us know how you make out with the technique, I'm very interested to hear.
Come up with a title that you think sounds cool and then write a story from it. That's always fun.
*thinks*
Rachel Winston and the Horse Lords. Now, I have no idea what the heck that story would be about. Probably a medieval woman who snuck into a trade caravan headed for China and got caught up in the Mongolian invasion. It might end up being a ridiculous story, but it helps exercise the imagination.
When I am sat on the pan is when I come up with some of my most creative ideas, I have a notepad in there and a mini fridge with assorted drinks whilst I demonstrate my straining face, the ideas just seem to flow!
How unique.
I think the mini-fridge is a funny touch, just wish it didn't bring up visuals.
Must be a guy thing, but whatever works.
Why not just write on the roll of t.p.?
If you have a fridge full of bevys, it's no wonder you're in there awhile.
It's a very efficient system....in and out without even having to get up. Must save a lot of time, and you wouldn't lose your train of thought because of distractions.
All you need to do now is get pizza delivered.
Hope for your wife's sake that there's another bathroom in the house.
I find I'm inspired by the Internet. In particular, I like to look at the Yahoo answers section, ant the requests on hubpages too. For me it goes beyond what is written - I think about who would write such a question, their background, why they need to ask - and which answers they will follow. You could have a novel before you even know it.
I've been enjoying writing memoir because all you have to do is think back over your strong memories, those that seem to have a significance that seems to just get stronger over time. I don't always know what the significance is but it is easy to sort out memories that have power. I literally sometimes sit down a make a list of memories that I think are worth writing about and just pick one. The only problem on the internet, is that there are some memories that I would like to write about but won't because I don't want them public. I try to write only about things that I wouldn't mind my students (I am a teacher) knowing about me.
What I usually do is think of my friends, and then I think of them as characters... but not just like my friend Joe Schmoe is now in a book I'm going to write... I think of his character as an extreme. I find his weaknesses, and strengths, and features and I exaggerate them like there's no tomorrow. If he's unreliable once in a while, he becomes the most unreliable friend I have in my story... never to be counted on, but since we grew up together, such is life, and we deal with him. Or if he likes grilling and having a beer once in a while he's suddenly a washed-up master chef, and a raging and unreliable alcoholic. I know it's not the greatest start for a story, but hey... it's what I could come up with right now... and if I could come up with something like that in about 30 seconds, imagine what you could do in half an hour?
Go nuts.
P.S. - I love "Joe Schmoe" as a friend, but I find for writing that exaggerating their bad characteristics works a lot better at creating drama and tension in a story than if I were to write a story about how he grills us some mean ribs and hands me a beer!
I had a writing teacher once that just told me to wake up every day and write. Set a timer and write for a specific amount of time, and stop mid sentence. It doesn't matter what you write about. You can write about an object around you, you can write a paragraph of useless nothings and then change perspective on it (ie, from third to first). Whatever you want!
The main idea is just to get in the habit of breaking down the barrier between your thoughts and your writing. The blank page is terrifying and I think we all feel like we need to start off brilliant or just not start.
Forget it. Just go. A writer is a person on whom nothing is wasted, so everything around you is inspiration and prompt.
I had trouble nailing down ideas to prompt stories for a long time, but recently I think I've boiled it down to a few things that work for me.
I'm primarily a Sci-Fi writer, so I'll usually build up a story around a technical element (or several technical elements) that I learn about by doing research on a topic and then following it all around until the idea snowballs into something in my head and I just have to write!
Another thing that I found recently that really helped was sitting down and writing challenges for myself. Like "I bet you can't write a story about such and such incorporating this and that element to make it interesting." I've only started doing it in the last six months, so I haven't put any of that material out for publication yet, but I like what I've come up with so far an awful lot!
by earnestshub 13 years ago
Some time back I tried my hand at creative writing. I tried to use my imagination and write a story based on a real event from my distant past.A friend of mine is a creative writer and I enjoy reading his stuff, and he told me to lay it out better.My problem with writing was I could not move away...
by Martha Sugg Drexler 13 years ago
Is it more important to develop characters first and then write a story around them or vice versa?
by akuigla 13 years ago
Where and How You Find Inspiration For Writing?
by Misbah Sheikh 2 years ago
Please take some time to read Rosina's short story that she has written in response to prompt#18 of Earl S. Wynn’s article, “101 Writing Prompts to Inspire You.” Here's the link: https://hubpages.com/literature/The-Thr … e-GangsterHi Rosina, I thoroughly enjoyed reading your story. I like...
by Rosina S Khan 2 years ago
Here is an article by Chill encouraging us to write flash fictions based on eight detailed creative writing prompts. Here is the link:https://hubpages.com/literature/10-Crea … CreativityHi Chill,I loved your prompts. My muse might start working on some of them in the coming days. Thank you...
by gogetter4u 13 years ago
Let's have fun writing a story everyone and see how far it get's. On Your Mark, Let's Go..While I was asleep in the room last night, I was awakened by a strange noise that sounded like a weak moan or if someone was in pain. The house was dark and I was afraid to go downstairs to see where the noise...
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