Writing Prompt: Another Childhood Memory Reclaimed

I won't claim to understand in the slightest the whole bronies thing — adult men who follow My Little Ponies with more energy and spending money than its target audience of little girls. Now coloring books for adults are landing on best-seller lists. (I understand this more — the almost meditative act of filling in white space and the urge to create.)

That leaves me wondering, what's next?

Writing Prompt: A Gift

Now that Thanksgiving is over, so many people are now turning their eyes to the stores, trying to find the perfect gift for every person they know. It's a task few if any ever accomplish.

But the whole Black Friday/Small Business Saturday/CyberMonday/Fall into Bankruptcy Tuesday in part leads straight to this week's writing prompt:

Writing Prompt: For the first time...

The first snow of the season came to the Logophilius household on Friday. Entirely too early, if you ask me, though I admit I'm having a difficult time accepting that it's already the end of November.

Wasn't summer just two weeks ago? And autumn last week?

Writing prompt: How's Your Vacation Going?

Think of an odd place to go on a vacation — somewhere you've never been — and write a letter home telling your family and friends about your travels. Tell us about the amazing locations you've seen, interesting cultures you've experienced, and exotic foods you've tasted.

The weirder the better, but the location must be somewhere you've never been, like a moon of Jupiter, a goat's digestive tract, or Detroit.

Writing prompt: That's not awkward at all

Two things happened to me this week.

One, David Sedaris came through town on a lecture tour, and I (along with a full house) got to hear him read some stuff about, oh, having his family over for Thanksgiving, playing Sorry! with his niece, and feeding his lipoma to a turtle. Naturally, that got me thinking about personal essays.

Writing Prompt: Your Basic Flash

 This week, write some flash fiction: Write the shortest story you think you can write, BUT it must include the following things:

• At least two characters.
• A setting.
• A conflict.
• A resolution of the conflict.

This is your basic flash fiction — a super-short but otherwise complete story. Can you do it with less than 100 words? Less than 50?

To get some ideas and see what others have done with this style of story, check out Flash Fiction Magazine, UW Flash Fiction, Flash Fiction Friday, and other sites. You might even want to submit your story for publication!

Bonus points for writing flash fiction about The Flash.

Writing Prompt: Inside the Game

Write a scene from the point of view of someone inside your favorite video game.

Ulterior motive

No ulterior motive here. Just a little something to get you writing and thinking about something from a different perspective.

Writing from inside a game like Grand Theft Auto or Tomb Raider should be pretty simple because there's already a story laid out there. For a greater challenge, try writing from inside a game like Candy Crush, Asteroids, or Tetris.

Writing Prompt: The Evil Hero

Think of one of your favorite fictional heroes or heroines, not necessarily a superhero — lord knows we've seen plenty of those these days — but a favorite heroic character. You could choose Beowulf, Albus Dumbledore, Miss Marple, Katniss Everdeen, or, of course, your favorite spandex-wearing comic book character. Whatever. (This might be a good moment to consider what the word heroic means to you.)

Writing prompt: Disillusion

Write a scene or story in which your main character discovers she is not who or what she thought she was. This could be an identity crisis, a realization of true authority, or even a disillusionment of supernatural nature.

The Prompt Jar

Instead of giving you a writing prompt this week, I want to help you build a collection of your own writing prompts. Saving up writing prompts is just like saving up your pennies for a big vacation, only without a ceramic pig you have to break open to get into.

The Five-Second Writing Prompt

The title of this writing prompt is accurate, but you're going to need more than five seconds to write. Here's what I want you to do: Write at length about a five-second interval.

Writing prompt: Look What I Found!

Your story begins with your main character unexpectedly finding something valuable.

What item was found? What type of value does it have? Would it be valuable to anyone or only to certain people?

Writing prompt: A Bad Order

Egad! I forgot to post a writing prompt yesterday!

Well, here it is. Use the whole week to build a good story if you like.

Write a story or a scene that begins with a waiter or waitress bringing you or the main character the wrong order.

Writing Prompt: Fictionalizing Your Earliest Memory

Everyone at some point in his or her life is asked the question, what's your earliest memory? It's one of those annoying questions that someone (usually your mother) asks when no one else can think of anything to talk about.

As annoying as that question is, I want you to think about it now.

A Witing pwompt?

Write a scene or story in first-person from the point of view of a young child. Some of the things you need to keep in mind are

• The child's vocabulary.
• The child's lack of experience, and his or her personal explanations for things he or she doesn't totally understand.
• The child's motivations and desires.

All these will be different from what you would expect from an adult character.

Writing prompt: Indecision

Write a scene or short story in which the main character can't make up his or her mind. What are the consequences (especially the otherwise avoidable negative ones) of indecision?

And more importantly, what's the real meaning behind the lyrics of Rush's song "Freewill"?

Writing prompt: Visualize Your Successful Future

Think for a moment about what you really want to do with your life — your dream job, your ultimate career, what you want to be remembered for when you're gone.

Now imagine that you have been living that life for a few years and, unexpectedly, you've been given a great award in recognition of your work. What reward is it — a Pulitzer or Nobel Prize? A Presidential Medal of Freedom? A Humanitarian Award from the Elie Wiesel Foundation? A dinner in your honor by the American Federation of Teachers?

With that picture in your mind, write your acceptance speech for the award.

Writing prompt: A Short Story Definition

Samuel: "You know, I tried reading the dictionary straight through once, but I just couldn't get a handle on the plot."

Daniel: "Of course you couldn't. A dictionary isn't a novel; it's a collection of short stories."

Writing Prompt: The Surprise Visitor

Write a story that begins with someone unexpected coming into a character's life — or back into it: A past paramour takes residence in the next cubicle. A long lost sibling moves into the house next door. A green-skinned man who speaks no known human language appears in the backyard. Take it from there.

Writing prompt: Every End a New Beginning

Grab one of your favorite novels off the shelf and flip to the end of it. Make the last sentence or last paragraph of that novel the beginning of your new story. Don't continue the story you pulled the text from. Instead, use that text as a jumping-off point for something new.