I love to use images as the inspiration for writing, and if there’s one thing you can find in abundance on the internet, it’s images! Today, check out the Catchy Colors Photoblog (I’ve also added it to the blogroll as a resource). The photos are visually arresting, and could inspire you directly or indirectly in all sorts of ways. Pick out a photo and use it as inspiration. Free-associate from it, work from it directly, free-write based on it… there are any number of ways to take inspiration from images. Even the color of a photographed item might be enough to get you going, or the shape. Here’s one I’d use from the blog:

I’ve been asked to post the latest Dream Quest One announcement. As always, I can’t check out contest legitimacy, so make sure things sound right to you, or poke around on the internet for more information. If you enter and win, be sure to come back and share the joy!

The Dream Quest One Poetry & Writing Contest is open to everyone whether experienced or not. This competition welcomes anyone who loves to arrange words into beautiful art or to write a short story that is worth telling. And to all who have the ability to dream. Write your best short story or poem for a chance to win cash prizes. All works must be original. (http://www.dreamquestone.com)

 

Guidelines:
(1) Write a poem, thirty lines or fewer on any subject, style or form, single or double line spacing, neatly hand printed or typed.

and/or

(2) Write a short story five pages maximum, single or double line spacing, on any subject or theme, creative writing, fiction or non-fiction (including essay compositions, diary, journal entries and screenwriting). Must also be neatly hand printed or typed.

Multiple poem and story entries are accepted.
Deadline: December 31, 2007.
Winners will be announced on January 31, 2008.

Prizes:
Writing Contest First Prize: $500. Second Prize: $250. Third Prize: $100.
Poetry Contest First Prize: $250. Second Prize: $125. Third Prize: $50.

Entry fees:
Writing Contest entry fee is: $10 per short story.
Poetry Contest entry fee is: $5 per poem.

To send entries by mail: Include title and story or poem, your name, address, phone#, email, brief biographical info. (Tell us a little about yourself) on the coversheet, add a self-addressed stamped envelope for entry confirmation. Mail entries/fees payable to: Dreamquestone.com.

Dream Quest One

Poetry & Writing Contest
P.O. Box 3141
Chicago, IL 60654

Visit http://www.dreamquestone.com for further details, to print out an entry form or to enter online.

Here’s another round of a few questions you can ask of one of your fictional characters to help you flesh him or her out a bit more. The number you decide to answer will probably depend on how much detail you go into—the more inspiration you find in a single question, the fewer you need to explore on the whole. If you really want a ton of questions to choose from you can visit our page of writers’ resources, which has a link to our pdf of 365 character questions, but I recommend only answering a few questions per character so as not to burn out on an individual character.

• Cattle: Does your character own, work with, or have responsibility for any sort of livestock?
• Charred: What’s a memorable experience your character has had with fire?
• Cobalt: What does your character think of when he pictures or sees a deep cobalt blue color?
• Cranberries: If your character does any sort of cooking, what would she make with a tart berry such as cranberries?

Sometimes the most unlikely or seemingly meaningless question can yield unexpectedly interesting results. You never know which characters are hiding odd habits, abilities, or events from you. Any strong word—particularly a verb or noun—can be used as the basis for a question, so if these options don’t do it for you, look for more options elsewhere. Grab a dictionary and flip pages until you find a word that you can work with.

If you prefer to write non-fiction rather than fiction, always feel free to ask character-building questions of yourself and journal about the answers.

Book Lover

Take this image as the center of a scene and build outward, bit by bit. Explore the location, the people, the movement, the events.

What’s happening here? What’s going to happen next? What might have happened recently? Who comes through here every day and sits at this table? Who’s drinking this coffee or smoking these cigarettes? What does it feel like to dip the spoon into the coffee, or sip through the rippled crema? Is this drink sweet or bitter? How does it make the drinker feel? Is he relaxed in his coffee experience, or eager to get on with the rest of his day?

Explore through description, story, narrative, free-writing, or even a sketch of your own that fills out the area beyond the boundaries of this image.

My little cup of coffee by ~detachmenttenshi on deviantART

Friday’s Feast is a great weekly source of random question-prompts to get your fingers moving. For example, here’s last Friday’s menu:

Appetizer
When was the last time you visited a hospital?

Soup
On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how ambitious are you?

Salad
Make a sentence using the letters of a body part. (Example: (mouth) My other ukelele tings healthily.)

Main Course
If you were to start a club, what would the subject matter be, and what would you name it?

Dessert
What color is the carpet/flooring in your home?

You can answer one, two, or all of these. Remember that even courses that seem to have one-word answers, such as today’s dessert, can be expanded on with a little thought. Why do you like or dislike that flooring color? What’s the story behind that impossible-to-remove stain that the white carpet shows so well? How did that flooring feature in an argument between you and your spouse?

Word Nerd
Shirts, tote bags, more!

It’s time for a beautiful, inspirational piece of artwork to write about.

Click through and look at the larger version as well. I particularly love the colors in this one. Today, do one of the following with it:

• Simply take inspiration from it and free-write after looking at it for at least five minutes.
• Write a story about this place, or that takes place in it.
• Write a story that somehow features this piece of artwork.
• Journal about your thoughts regarding this piece of artwork.

Sacred fantasy by ~bm on deviantART

Check out the Hidden Side of a Leaf’s 24 Hour Read-a-Thon details. The event will take place on Saturday October 20; I’m tentatively planning to take part just for fun, posting my updates at Errant Thoughts and reviews of anything I finish over at Errant Dreams Reviews. It’ll be fun and there are prizes involved, so join up! Since it’s about reading and involves making regular posts that you might have to get creative to keep interesting and entertaining, you could consider it your exercise for that day.

Over at the Booking Through Thursday site you’ll find a weekly question about how, when, and why you read. Pick one today—it doesn’t have to be the current question—and journal about it. The folks who participate weekly often write just a paragraph or three, particularly as it’s a blogging meme, but for the purposes of journaling, try to fill one side of a sheet of paper. Either that, or commit to using it as a weekly blog prompt for at least one month, and each week check out at least five other bloggers’ answers to see what other people do in comparison to you.

Here’s another round of a few questions you can ask of one of your fictional characters to help you flesh him or her out a bit more. The number you decide to answer will probably depend on how much detail you go into—the more inspiration you find in a single question, the fewer you need to explore on the whole.

• Bravery: How does your character define bravery? Does he see himself as brave?
• Brat: Who’s the most bratty person your character knows, and what’s her relationship with him?
• Baffle: Write a list of things that confuse and baffle your character.
• Bulldoze: If someone tried to run roughshod over your character, figuratively bulldozing him out of her way, what would he do? Write about a scenario in which this happens.

As I’ve noted before, I like having a wide variety of questions to choose from simply because you probably want to answer different questions for each character you explore, and you might find one question inspiring but not another. However, I don’t recommend trying to answer a huge number of questions for a single character—you can end up burning yourself out on the character before you get to your actual writing! Just pick a few highlights and use those. Even one or two good questions can teach you a lot about a character.

If you prefer to write non-fiction rather than fiction, always feel free to ask character-building questions of yourself and journal about the answers.

Imagine that a storm, flood, or other natural disaster were to strand you in your house this very day. First, make a list of things you have on hand that might be useful to you once the power goes out, the phone service goes out, and you can’t go anywhere for help. You might also note things you’re used to counting on that you won’t be able to—such as the fridge and stove, and if you have a well, the water.

Write a story about what happens next.