How would your character react when put on the spot and asked to participate in something that would be funny but that would be done partially or largely at his expense? If you’re a non-fiction writer, how would you react to such a thing? Or how have you reacted to such a thing in the past?

Come up with a scenario and play it out on paper to explore your or your character’s reactions, emotions, and actions.

This exercise was inspired by the video of Brad Sherwood, Colin Mochrie, and Karl Rove rapping at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner:

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Create a story from the following images. (Click through to view the larger originals in full detail before getting started.)

   

The photographs are called “Lonely Walk” and “I have dreamt the Middle Ages”, by Ilona Wellmann and Cavagna Ottavio respectively.

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There’s a lot of talk lately about the possibilities for science “finding the cure” for aging. So today, imagine what would happen if the human lifespan expanded to two hundred, four hundred, or even a thousand years. How would that change crime rates, birth rates, romantic relationships, family relationships, friendships? How would it change education, careers, emotional development? Free-write, brainstorm a story that explores this issue, or begin writing a story.

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This morning I read an article about a practice of marrying women to the Qur’an. It’s a little-known practice in certain areas largely used to prevent the woman’s share of property from leaving the family via marriage to someone outside the family. However, I think that the idea of marrying a woman or man to an ideal or a religious symbol carries a great deal of potential as a plot element. Brainstorm a story in which this occurs, free-write about how this element might be used in a story, or simply begin writing the story.

Technorati Tags: fiction, free-writing, journaling, prompts, religion, write, writers, writing

This quirky little article got me to thinking a bit about the role of animals in life and literature:

Fang Peng, from Pingsai town, Guizhou Province, claims ‘Submarine’ responds to his name being called out.

Fang says the fish developed his ability to understand human speech from his father who used to spend four hours a day with him.

There are scores of articles about family pets that have saved their owners from deadly house fires or the like. Many pet-owners believe their pets have complex emotions and motivations, and animals often play intricate roles in fiction and literature–whether as symbols, ordinary animals, or something “more.”

Today, free-write a bit about the roles animals can play in literature or popular fiction, in a particular genre or in general. Free-write about what you’d like to do with an animal in your writing, or begin a story that involves one. Your imagination is your only limit–your animal can be as normal or supernormal as you’d like.

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This morning I found a photograph/art piece called, “Do you trust yourself with your dreams?” Click through the below thumbnail to see the full piece by Erlend Mork, and examine it in detail:

Ask yourself that same question: do you trust yourself with your dreams?

Start writing.

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What does it mean to have an alter ego? Possibilities range from the ordinary, everyday “face” we put on when out in public, to the melodramatic secret identities of spies and superheroes–not to mention real-life undercover officers. What do you think of when you hear the term? How might you explore the concept of an alter ego in story or essay? How might having an alter ego affect a person?

Click through the thumbnail below for further inspiration if you like, in the form of an amazing photograph by Jiri “Bernie” Bernovsky:

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Not that long ago I received a spam with a randomly generated subject line of “be my delusion.” There’s something fascinating about that particular phrase. Today, do one of the following:

• Begin a poem with that line.

• Include it as a line of dialogue in a story.
• Free-associate from the phrase, using it to brainstorm a plot or character.

You might also think about what it means to be delusional and how you could treat the subject in a non-stereotyped manner.

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Click through the thumbnail below to look at James Hickey’s photo of “Radilina Dancing”:

After looking at the photograph for a long moment and taking in every detail you can, do one of the following:

• Write a poem centered on this image

• Free-write about the dancer or the dance
• Write about the dancer–who she is, why she dances
• Use the dancer as a character in a story
• Set a story against a backdrop of this dancer dancing
• Use the photograph in a story

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Dictionary.com has the following definition for irony:

1. the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning: the irony of her reply, “How nice!” when I said I had to work all weekend.
2. Literature.
a. a technique of indicating, as through character or plot development, an intention or attitude opposite to that which is actually or ostensibly stated.
b. (esp. in contemporary writing) a manner of organizing a work so as to give full expression to contradictory or complementary impulses, attitudes, etc., esp. as a means of indicating detachment from a subject, theme, or emotion.
…
5. an outcome of events contrary to what was, or might have been, expected.
6. the incongruity of this.
7. an objectively sardonic style of speech or writing.
8. an objectively or humorously sardonic utterance, disposition, quality, etc.

How do you feel about irony? Does it have a place in your writing, and if so, what is that place and why? Try looking through a piece of previous writing and underlining, highlighting, or putting a tick-mark next to places where you display an ironic tone. What are you using irony to achieve in these places?

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