First, click through the thumbnail below and look at the full-size photo. Then, set a timer for 10-30 minutes and free-write one of the following:

• A description of what’s inside the books.
• The actual contents of the books themselves.
• A story in which the books play a part.

I love creating characters from interesting photos and pieces of art that I come across. Today I happened upon this photo by oleg dou; click through for the full version:

Fantasy queen? High priestess? Evil witch? The lead performer in an opera or stage play? Mystic? What do you imagine this woman as?

Sometimes I post images here, something to inspire your thoughts with visual stimulation. For the most part I like to link to photographs of people, because they can become the most interesting characters when you stop to imagine who they might be. They contain all the little details of everyday life like wrinkles, laugh lines, moles, birthmarks, smeared makeup, etc. that many artists might leave out. Normally I prefer to link to photos because I think they stretch our imaginations and bring a character to life in ways that other pieces of artwork might not. Sometimes, however, something different is in order. Today, use the following beautiful portrait piece to inspire a character word-portrait:

Sephiroth: Into the Lifestream by =ramy on deviantART

Imagine who this person might be and what they’re up to. If you don’t want to write in a genre that directly suits the imagery, then imagine that this piece of artwork is a real person’s idealized self-image, and speculate on the sort of person who would imagine themselves this way!

I’ve fallen for Dionys Moser’s desert photos. They are some of the most striking, beautiful, colorful works I’ve ever seen. Every single one of them could spawn an entire world or story. Today, write a scene that takes place in the following image (click through for the larger version) or, if you prefer, one of Moser’s others:

This morning I discovered a site called Disgraceland, PRC. To quote from the page,

Once upon a time in a land called Xi Pu, just west of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province in the People’s Republic of China, there was a tourist theme park… The World Landscape Park. As a business venture it failed, and today the park lies abandoned and decaying. Personally, I think it’s a lot more interesting this way than it could ever possibly have been when it was open.

The site is filled with a series of curious photographs of this unusual place, including such oddities as banyan trees built of concrete and rebar(!), and of course the requisite irreverent commentary. The place is largely deserted, a sort of cultural ghost town, and contains some fairly strange sights, such as the following:

The accompanying commentary reads,

The Tomb of the Unknown Exhibit. What was it? Where did it go, and how, and why? Is this proof of ancient astronauts visiting the Earth and taking home souvenirs?

Today, narrate your own walk-through of a derelict theme park meant to represent cultures from around the world. Here are some options you might take:

• If you have artistic talent, sketch the exhibits instead of just narrating them. Or, collect images from the internet and use them.
• Use either the real world or a fictional one. Pick a particular culture to view the world’s cultures through the eyes of.
• Be totally serious or completely tongue-in-cheek—your choice.

Word Nerd

Click through the below thumbnail to take an up-close look at an intense school of fish.

Translate the clustering of individuals into something that has nothing to do with a school of fish. Free-associate off of the imagery, the herd-like motion, the vast numbers, or whatever gets you going and write a story, a poem, a character sketch, a journal entry, a section of memoir, a travelogue, or anything else that comes to mind. If you prefer to work with the visual, print out the photo, paste it into the center of a large piece of paper, and paste other images around it in whatever way makes sense to you—and see what larger truth emerges from the individual pieces.

Normally when you’re asked to come up with a “creation myth” as a writer’s exercise, you’re being asked to delve into the mysterious, long-ago origins of a thing. Instead, today I want you to come up with an alternative explanation for the everyday origins of a thing. For a beautiful, creative, and highly unusual example, click through the thumbnail image below for a wonderful piece of art called “Goldfish Factory” by Susan McKivergan. Look closely at the drops of water falling from the spout in the enlarged version:

Vibrant colors stimulate the brain in amazing and unexpected ways. Color is an important factor in how we feel about photography and other visual pieces of art. We adorn ourselves and our environments with color, from the clothes we wear to the paint on our walls to the flowers in our gardens. Today, head on over to the Catchy Colors Photoblog. Pick the first image that catches your eye and use it to stimulate a piece of writing. It doesn’t have to be a concrete “prompt” in the sense of using the image’s contents to inspire your work. Instead, use the colors of the image and the feelings the image inspires in you to get your creative juices flowing.

For instance, by content alone I would not normally choose this headache-induced photograph; however, the saturated shades of blue definitely inspire me!

Take a look at the gorgeous photograph “Eyes of Youth” by ayse yalcin (click through for the full version):

Its young subject has such dark, haunting eyes. She isn’t smiling in the usual manner of posed photographs; her expression is complex and fascinating. The black-and-white coloration only serves to highlight the strength of her eyes in this image, and her nose and hair aren’t what you’d expect from a “typical” model–yet she’s quite beautiful in her own unique way.

Today, tell her story.

Imagine that you’re watching a story unfold from behind a pane of frosted glass. Outside there’s snow on the ground, and the pink and blue of sunrise color the sky. Bare trees rise up against the horizon:

(Click through the above thumbnail to see the full, beautiful photo by Watermark of Merni.)

Tell the story as you see it happen.