Today’s prompt-found-on-the-web is from Writers Write, entitled I wish someone told me:

Todays prompt is this:

I wish someone told me..

Begin with that line and go on to a paragraph or more.

Or, turn it into the opening line of a story.

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Without reading the artist’s statement below the image, take a look at Bad Waters, a fascinating print of a merman, a cloud of jellyfish, and a monster. Free-write about what you imagine might be happening in this image, write a short story, or outline a longer story. Afterwards, of course, feel free to read the artist’s statement describing the scene.

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Look up a god from a polytheistic religion, such as Heru’ur, or Horus the Elder, of Ancient Egypt. (Do a web search or visit your local library.) We aren’t so much concerned with accuracy as inspiration here, so rather than doing an exhaustive search, pick a web entry or book entry that appeals to you. Many old gods consist of versions and variations, with different bits of lore sometimes attached to them and sometimes attached to other gods; you’ll often find directly contradictory pieces of information about a god from different sources. Thus, it’s your job to pick out the bits and pieces that form a picture of the god that most appeals to you. You might print the entry you like and underline, highlight, or take notes on the printout until you have a firm idea of what this “god” would be like in your version of reality. Finally, do one of the following:

• Write or brainstorm a short story from the god’s point of view.

• Write or brainstorm a short story from the perspective of a worshipper of this god.
• Tell a creation myth or folktale related to this god.
• Tell a tale of this god’s existence and involvement in everyday life.

Any of these can be set in the god’s original milieu and time period, a fantasy or pseudo-fantasy setting of your making, the present day, or any other time period you can imagine.

Since Heru-ur was a hawk god in some myths, here’s a new cafepress writing design for you:

Write with grace
Blank journals, ornaments, mugs, shirts, more

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

Since it’s nearly holiday-time, here’s a simple exercise for you today. First, look at this dark-eyed photograph.

Then do one of the following:

• Use the photo as a story starter.

• Free-write about the character whose eye this is.
• Write a poem about the photograph.

Epic Coffee Large Mug

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Holocaust Survivor Leaving US — Sees What’s Coming

Read the above article. Try to imagine what it must feel like to be this man, who has seen atrocities and fears seeing them again. Then do one of the following:

• Journal/free-write about your feelings after reading the piece. Set your timer for at least 20 minutes to make sure you get past surface feelings to the deeper stuff.

• Write a short story exploring such feelings of fear and the atrocities that provoke them.

Lest you think I’m somehow making light of this gentleman’s concerns and history, remember that writing (fictional and otherwise) has been used for centuries to better shed light on those things that needed to be said. The best cautionary tales don’t pontificate or preach–they allow us to experience the world from someone else’s point of view, and to be enlightened by that.

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One exercise often taught in creative writing classes is that of re-telling an old fairy tale from a different perspective. This is so popular, in fact, that it has produced quite a few novels and books of short stories, including a wonderful series of anthologies with such titles as Silver Birch, Blood Moon and Black Swan, White Raven.

Although this is definitely a wonderful exercise and you should certainly give it a try if you haven’t before, today I’m going to suggest something slightly different. Today, tell your own fairy tale on your own terms. If you need someplace to start, I highly recommend using any piece of artwork from this page for inspiration! If you currently have any fiction set in a fantasy world of your own devising, or if you’re a game master who has created their own campaign world, try setting it in that world.

Adventurers’ Last Words:
“I try not to wake it up”
Shirts, mugs, prints, more!

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Use one of the following snippets as a story starter. Obviously edit as appropriate when you go back later; they’re just to get you started:

• I thought I’d die when the pain shot up from my shoulder through the back of my neck.

• It was a weird kind of pain, that itched more than it hurt.
• She clenched both hands around the key in the lock, determined to open the door on her own; pain shot through her overtaxed tendons.

Pain can be a great way to get to know a character. Pain can bring out the best (or worst) in a character. Pain spurs tears, anger, nausea, or quiet determination. Put your fictional character into a painful situation–however difficult that may be–and you’ll really get to know her.

Blank Journals

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I often find that one of the best ways to come up with fascinating fictional characters on demand is to go looking for fascinating portrait photographs and artwork on the web. Take an image and imagine what that person would be if she were a character in your fictional world. Today, do that with the following photograph (click through for the larger version and photographer information) or look through the rest of photo.net (my favorite source of inspiring photographs) for one that speaks to you or your needs:

What is this woman thinking? Why does she look to the ground–is there some shame or sorrow that bows her head, or does respect or awe lower her gaze? Who is observing her, and what are their thoughts?

You can also use such images as “story starters”–imagine that your story begins in that image, and take it from there.

Technorati Tags: journaling, prompts, write, writers, writing

Another web source of prompts is the livejournal community Darkening Days. One of my favorite recent prompts from there is this Lewis DeSoto quote. It’s a poignant thought, and one that could serve as a marvelous journal meditation or story starter.

Any quote that inspires you can act as an exercise prompt–either through indirect association or through direct inspiration. I can even imagine a character starting off a narration by quoting this particular piece–done right, I think it would be positively magical.

Killing Off Characters

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Today, start your warm-up with a lightning strike.

This could be a literal or metaphorical lightning strike; it doesn’t matter. It’s a swift, sudden flash of insight, energy, or destruction that comes from out of a stormy sky. You could use it to start off a story, scene, journal entry, or free-write–although I think this would make a particularly good story starter.

Character Dictation Tile Box

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