Skip to main content

Weekly Writing Prompts

I know I haven't been the best lately with sharing about my writing course with James Patterson and also my reading challenge for 2016. Life just seemed to get in the way, and I found myself off track and not writing like I've wanted to. So here I am trying to get myself back on a schedule of some kind and making time to write not only on my blog but also my books.

I am happy to say that I have completed one of my novel outlines. I'm in the final stages and ready to begin the writing process. I'm really happy with how the outline turned out and I feel it was a great way to begin as there were things I didn't even think about putting in the book and things I just didn't see or notice until I went back through the outline and saw how they did or didn't work.
Outlining is key I think for any writer and something all traditional publishers and agents ask to see before taking on a new author or when working with a new author after signing them.
Hopefully, the manuscript will turn out better than the outline, and the book will get published. One can only hope.

Okay, something I'm going to start doing is posting weekly writing prompts to help those who are struggling with writing. I use these myself, so I hope they help you as they have helped me.
--


Here are 5 prompts to try out this week. They're from Shery Ma Belle Arrieta-Russ' book, WEEKLY WRITES: 52 Weeks of Writing Bliss!, which contains over 365 writing activities, prompts and ideas to fill up your journal.

1. List at least 5 situations you hope you never have to find yourself in. Then write the courses of action you would take if you do find yourself in those situations. (Week 14 - Indecision)

2. What are some of the things you expect from yourself? List ten to fifteen of these expectations, pick one and then write about it for ten minutes. (Week 40 - Expectations)

3. Build a story from this weird or absurd news: "In an attempt to get a date, a man in Turin, Italy arranges at least 500 bump-and-stop car accidents with young female drivers." (Week 22 - Absurdities)


4. Create a superstitious society. Invent omens and superstitions and make these the driving forces behind the actions of the people in your society. (Week 38 - Warnings)

5. Someone you have never gotten along with for years suddenly steps up and says hello to you while you are walking in the park, shopping or having coffee. She strikes up a conversation as if the two of you are the best of friends. How would you react? (Week 15 - Reactions)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Time to Start Writing is Now! (1st published on Utah Children's Writers)

I teach writing for my local college's continuing educational program. I love meeting with beginning writers each week and sharing the basics. However, I'm always surprised to find many of them haven't even sat down to write the story building inside them or at least log the ideas they have for story lines. So my advice to you today if you want to start down the road of becoming a writer...The Time to Start Writing is Now! Some Idea Starters For beginning writers (and something I learned when I studied at the Institute of Children's Literature), I have found using visual aids to spark an idea is always a great way to begin the process of writing. You can do this to draft an actually short story or book for submission to just using it as a writing exercise.  Study the pictures I have below or pick one of your own from a magazine, old photo album, etc. Study the pictures and select one that appeals to you most.  Also, keep in mind your target readership with pi...

The Multiplied Benefits of Journaling

Do you keep or have you kept a journal or diary? If so, you probably already know some of the benefits of journaling because you've experienced them. You know that your journal helps you make sense of the senseless side of your life. A journal can be an emotional lifesaver when you go through a hard time. But did you know that scientists believe journaling can even keep you physically healthy? The release of pent-up emotions you pour into your journal every day actually helps reduce the symptoms of arthritis and asthma, and strengthens your immune system. This really makes sense if you consider that much illness is exacerbated by stress, and a journal is one of the best stress reducers out there. Journaling gives you a record of your emotional growth like no other. While it can be useful at times to be able to look back and see just when your neighbor moved in or when you started suffering from headaches, the intangible changes in you can be even more fascinating to look back...

Is Research Really Important in Fiction Writing?

In a lot of the writing groups and conferences I've been to the topic of research has come up from time to time. There are many different opinions on the subject, and many will tell you research is only necessary when you are writing about something you know very little to nothing about. But is this really the case and if it is, does your writing suffer from not doing research all the time? After writing many short stories and picture books for young readers, my opinion on doing research might be very different from yours. I have always felt research is critical no matter how much I know or don't know about a certain subject. There is always something I learn each time, even on topics I know a lot about as things are always changing, and changing fast sometimes these days. However, I thought I was just one of the weird writers out there feeling this way until I took a research workshop with James Patterson, who had this to say about research. "Research really he...