Here’s this week’s prompt:
Write a creative piece such as a short story, flash fiction, poem, or something else based on the word, “theme.”
If you use this prompt, please leave a link to your post in the comments below by 11:59 pm EST on Wednesday, May 27th and I’ll share it next week. Also, please be sure to link back to my blog so your readers know where you got the prompt! Thanks.
Here’s this week’s prompt:
Write a creative piece such as a short story, flash fiction, poem, or something else based on the word, “title.”
If you use this prompt, please leave a link to your post in the comments below by 11:59 pm EST on Wednesday, May 20th and I’ll share it next week. Also, please be sure to link back to my blog so your readers know where you got the prompt! Thanks.
Start a story with this sentence and see where it takes you.
Have fun!
If you choose to participate, post your work in the comments. I’d love to see what you come up with.
Next Friday, before revealing the next prompt, I’ll post your work with a link back to your blog if you wish.
Happy writing!
Last week’s prompt was Sense of Smell.
Nthato wrote a fun piece in response. You can find his story on his blog: Sense of Smell Prompt.
Aurora wrote a beautiful piece in response:
I remember being together with my grandmother when I was probably about seven or eight years old. It was summertime, around noon, and the sky was dark grey like lead. She asked me to come outside with her. There she ordered me to listen. No birds were singing, no bees humming. It was completely silent. And then she told me to smell. It was unique, unusual and unforgettable. And she said: “That’s how rain smells.”
The first drops started falling only about 10 minutes later.
About half a year, early December, I was with her again. Suddenly she ordered me to put on my jacket and we went outside. The sky was grey and cloudy, the air damp.
She again ordered me to smell and I did.
Then she said: “That’s how snow smells.”
Not even half an hour later the first flakes fell.
I never forget these episodes – nor the smells of rain and snow.
This week’s prompt is…
Whether you have writer’s block or not, this is always a great exercise to get your mind thinking creatively.
Take a timer, set it for ten minutes, and then write about whatever you want.
You can start a new story, make a list of something, or just ramble about nothing or about everything.
I noticed that when I do this exercise I tend to ramble about my day and what I need to get done writing-wise, blogging-wise, life-wise. It’s kind of boring and not much a story.
Yet, it get your mind moving and it’s a great stress reliever if not anything else.
If you choose to participate, post your work in the comments. I’d love to see what you come up with.
Next Friday, before revealing the next prompt, I’ll post your work with a link back to your blog if you wish.
Happy writing!
With the holidays approaching, different kinds of smells are all around us.
If the air is cold enough, we can smell snow on the way. Sometimes the scent of Christmas trees waft in the air. The smell of baking cookies and other desserts is always comforting as well as the smell of Christmas dinner.
Even without the holidays, the smell of a good cup of coffee or tea can wake us up in the morning. Or we can be satisfied by the way the pages smell in a book while reading.
Take a moment and reflect on our wonderful sense of smell. Have your character describe what he smells during the situation he’s in. The five senses are a great addition to description in your writing.
If you choose to participate, post your work in the comments. I’d love to see what you come up with.
Next Friday, before revealing the next prompt, I’ll post your work with a link back to your blog if you wish.
Happy writing!
The weather can affect a lot of things such as how people feel and change their mood. Switch it up a bit and put your character outside in the rain.
Is it down pouring or just drizzling? Is it raining in the middle of winter or summer? Is your character locked outside of the house or traveling somewhere? Is your character alone, with a friend, a love interest? Love scenes in the rain are totally cliche, but can still work.
If you choose to participate, post your work in the comments. I’d love to see what you come up with.
Next Friday, before revealing the next prompt, I’ll post your work with a link back to your blog if you wish.
Happy writing!
Last week’s prompt was Drama.
Here’s mine:
Graduation day from high school was the best day of my life. I no longer had to spend seven hours of my day listening to teachers lecture and I no longer needed to be around any of my classmates. The girls were always too caught up with their looks and the boys. The boys were always too caught up with their sports and the girls. My high school was the very definition of stereotyping.
I was glad to go to college. There would be no more drama; no more rumors roaming the halls, no more spitballs and paper airplanes being thrown across the room in the middle of class. We were adults come graduation day. I would be going off to college where my classmates would be other adults.
It turned out people of all ages can be in your class… some classmates were my age, others were grandparents. I even had a few kids in my class. Seriously, they were kids. They skipped a couple years of high school because they were geniuses. It made me feel totally inadequate.
The worst part was the immaturity in some people. Notes were still passed during class, kids still fell asleep and snored in the middle of a lecture, and rumors still ruled the hallways. The only difference was that I had no idea who the rumors were about.
Needless to say graduation day at college was the best day of my life. I was going out into the real world. I was going to be with real adults. I was ready to get a full time job doing what I loved to do.
Of course when I got my job I realized that adults can clash with one another as well. Rumors don’t spread because they’re said right to your face. Personalities bounce off each other and it’s not always in a good way.
Some people think they run the office with or without our boss being present, some people are lazy and only pretend to do their work but still manage to get all the credit. It was like being in high school over again! Some people just will never grow up.
Maybe retirement will be the best day of my life.
Now onto this week’s prompt…
Everyone wants to do something great in their life. Accomplish a huge goal, take a risk, make a name for yourself.
Write about a character who really lives their life to the fullest; or tries to.
If you choose to participate, post your work in the comments. I’d love to see what you come up with.
Next Friday, before revealing the next prompt, I’ll post my version of the prompt along with anyone else who participates with a link back to their blog.
Happy writing!
Last week’s prompt was a sentence starter, “Her braces glistened in the sunlight…”
Here’s mine:
Her braces glistened in the sunlight causing him to blink his eyes.
“Is something wrong?” she asked tilting her head in confusing.
“Everything is fine.” he cleared his throat and looked the other way.
She bit her lower lip and glanced down at the ground awkwardly. He looked at her pressing his lips together. He wanted to go in for a kiss, but was too nervous.
What if he missed? What if he didn’t kiss her right? What if her braces cut his lip?
No one had ever explained to him how awkward and difficult a first kiss would be.
Now onto this week’s prompt…
Drama is everywhere we look; at school, at home, at your work, with your friends, your family, on the Internet, etc.
Create a situation surrounded by petty drama whether something made up and completely ridiculous or something that’s actually happened to you.
If you choose to participate, post your work in the comments. I’d love to see what you come up with.
Next Friday, before revealing the next prompt, I’ll post my version of the prompt along with anyone else who participates with a link back to their blog.
Happy writing!
It all started when I overslept that morning. I knew nothing good was going to come from the day because I had already had a rough start. When I was assigned that group project in fifth period, I knew it was karma for me missing some of the school day.
We didn’t get to pick our partners, either. The teacher assigned us partners and I was paired up with Jimmy and Kim. I grunted with an eye roll, despite trying to be subtle about it. Jimmy didn’t care about school. He never did his homework and he never arrived to school on time. He never paid any attention in class and didn’t bother to bring his textbooks, a notebook, or even a pen to class with him. Kim did her homework and she was smart, but all she cared about was how her face looked. She sat in the back of the class, constantly taking out her hand mirror to check that the make-up hadn’t melted off her face.
I wondered if this was going to be a good thing. Maybe if I just did the entire project myself, things would go a lot smoother. I would definitely get a decent grade because I knew what I was doing. I wouldn’t have to worry about waiting for Jimmy and Kim to give me their part of the project and I also wouldn’t have to worry about whether they did a good job on their parts or not.
I would be in full control.
My teacher then announced that each group member would be getting the same grade, so we all needed to really work together in order to earn our grade. I scoffed. Yeah, right. I turned around in my desk and noticed that Jimmy’s head was down on his desk sleeping and Kim was texting under her desk.
Maybe I could just tell my teacher I did all the work and she would make an exception for our group. She knew how Jimmy and Kim were—it was May. If she had any reason to think they would actually do the work, then my teacher was crazy herself.
I delegated to Jimmy and Kim to make it seem as though I was trying to include them. I asked what parts of the project they wanted to do and when they didn’t respond, I assigned parts to them. I didn’t want to sound bossy, but at least they couldn’t say I didn’t try to give them a chance.
I did their parts without telling them, too. I wanted to make sure it got done and didn’t want to be scrambling to finish the project last minute in case they didn’t do their share of the work—which neither one of them did.
I planned on talking to my teacher after class the day the project was due. I wanted her to know that I did all the work. Jimmy and Kim did not deserve a good grade.
“Sasha, Jimmy, and Kim, I would like to speak to you after class.” My teacher said the moment the bell rang. What was this about?
When all my other classmates dismissed themselves, I walked up to my teacher’s desk with Jimmy and Kim right behind me.
My teacher looked me in the eye. “I was told this morning that Jimmy and Kim had to work together on this project because you didn’t want to be included?”
My jaw dropped. You had to be kidding me….
His taste in women was better than I thought it would be. He was the type of man to look at the beauty on the inside rather than the outside. He had gone out with women of all shapes and sizes because of this. People would give him funny looks as they walked down the street together because—let’s be honest—most of the women he dated made them look like an odd couple.
He was my friend and I respected him as such. He brought a different girl to meet our group of friends every two weeks. Yeah, none of them lasted long.
One woman was Jill. She was tall and slender with gorgeous crystal blue eyes and long, flowing blonde hair. She always wore tight miniskirts with halter tops, even though they dated in December. I never did figure out how she walked through ice and snow in three-inch heels. Her personality was bubbly. She was friendly always smiling and laughing. Jill got along with everyone in our group. Two weeks later, he split up with her. She was sad, but not too sad because I heard she found another boyfriend about three days later.
Another woman was Amy. She was the average height of 5’5” and a little chunky around the edges. She preferred her jeans, t-shirts, and sneakers. She enjoyed running in the afternoons, which was something he didn’t enjoy. But for two weeks, he did. He ended up losing a few pounds while she only lost one. That was the end of that relationship.
One woman was as big and strong as a fitness trainer with a childish personality, one was short and stubby and a little depressed, and another was petite with a temper as short as a time bomb.
Let me tell you this: I’m average. I’m the same height as him, I wear casual clothes, but can dress up when I want, I’m zit-free, and my personality is friendly and happy to all. He and I get along great. We’ve been friends since elementary school and talk to each other every day. I was just as unique as all those other girls he dated.
So… Why wouldn’t he go out with me?
Last week’s prompt was Different.
Here’s mine:
They didn’t have anything in common.
She would stop and smell the roses,
He would sneer and walk on by.People pegged them as an odd couple.
She was sweet to everyone she met,
He was arrogant and always serious.No one understood how they started dating.
She had her life together,
He jumped from job to job.No, they didn’t have anything in common.
Yet people began to peg them as a cute couple,
As they walked down the street always holding hands.
Now onto this week’s prompt…
Write a story beginning each sentence with the next letter of the alphabet. For example:
After he opened his eyes he noticed they were in a different room. Betty was on the other side trying to find a way out, but he couldn’t see much. Candlelight lit the dark room and all he could see were shadows.
The next sentence would start with the letter “D” and so on.
Have fun with this one!
If you choose to participate, post your work in the comments. I’d love to see what you come up with.
Next Friday, before revealing the next prompt, I’ll post my version of the prompt along with anyone else who participates with a link back to their blog.
Happy writing!
The sound pierced my eardrums. I began to wonder if I was going to lose my hearing or maybe she would lose her voice. Either way, I just wanted it to be silent again. I couldn’t concentrate on my work.
It wasn’t just the noise that bothered me, either. It was also what she was doing. She was so distracting with her mannerisms and body movement. I found myself glancing up from my computer screen to see what she was doing. I anticipated her next move every time.
She was on the ground, her eyes darting from left to right indecisively. There were six items surrounding her. I smirked wondering which one she was going to pick. I heard a low grunt come from the back of her throat.
I put my computer down on the coffee table in front of me and leaned forward on the couch. She kept turning her head back and forth between her choices and me. I watched intensely as she stared down everything in front of her.
Then, I noticed she slowly leaned back readying for a pounce. With a subtle growl before a quick bark, she leaped into the air and landed right on top of one of the six toys in front of her.
I nodded my approval of her decision and leaned back watching her wrestle with it. It wasn’t too long before she laid down with the toy in between her paws to rest. I let out a chuckle at how quickly she wore herself out.
At least now I was able to get some work done.
Last week’s prompt was Try, Try Again.
Here’s mine:
He eagerly ripped the envelope open. His tongue stuck out the side of his mouth in anticipation. He grinned, taking out the letter and tossing the torn envelope in the trash bin.
He unfolded the letter and shifted his eyes from one side of the paper to the other. His grin soon faded all too fast as he read down the page.
Another rejection.
He folded the paper back up and held it close.
Another rejection for his collection.
He didn’t mind, though. There were plenty of other publishers out there.
Now onto this week’s prompt…
It’s good to be different from others. Whether you look different, have a different personality, or have different interests.
Write about a character who is different from everyone else. Does he like being different? Or does it make him feel self-conscious?
If you choose to participate, post your work in the comments. I’d love to see what you come up with.
Next Friday, before revealing the next prompt, I’ll post my version of the prompt along with anyone else who participates with a link back to their blog.
Happy writing!
“We’re here! We’re here!” the kids cheered in the back seat of the van.
I smiled at my husband as he parked the car in the driveway of the cottage. He groaned looking at me with exhaustion in his eyes.
“Thank the Lord we’re here because I couldn’t take any more traffic… or the kids asking if we’ve arrived yet…” he sighed.
I let out a chuckle and kissed him on the cheek. I opened up the passenger door and let myself out of the car while my husband let himself out on the other side. Our three children chanted in the back seat to be let out of the car.
I opened up the back slider door to the minivan. Before the kids had a chance to stand up from their seats, our dog dashed out of the car. She ran passed the driveway, through the deck, over the sandy beach backyard, and jumped right into the lake.
The kids hopped out of the car cheering our dog on chasing after her.
“No one is allowed in the lake yet!” my husband shouted.
“Aw…” the kids moaned.
“Come help us unload the car. Then we can have lunch and go swimming.” I told the kids. They all groaned in unison at the thought of unpacking the car. Now that they were a little bit older they could start pitching in with the packing and unpacking.
I grabbed a couple of suitcases in my arms and headed for the deck to walk through the front door of the cottage. Before opening the door of the cottage, I leaned back to check on the lake. I didn’t need the dog to go swimming after some ducks.
Instead, the dog was out of the water lying on the deck sunbathing. She was certainly in vacation mode.
“How come she gets to relax and go swimming right away?” one of my daughters growled.
“She’s a dog, dummy.” My son scoffed.
The three kids walked past me each carrying one suitcase each. I held the door open for them while trying to balance the few bags I carried. My husband walked up on the deck carrying more bags than I had in my arms. I tried to hold the door open for him as he squeezed the bags in the doorway.
Once we were all settled into the cottage, the kids brought their luggage into their bedrooms, I brought the dog inside the house and fixed everyone sandwiches for lunch. We sat outside in sandy yard and ate at the picnic table.
The kids choked their food down in anticipation to go swimming. They ran back inside to get changed into their swimsuits as my husband and I continued to eat. After a few moments, they came charging out of the house with the dog at their heels. All four of them jumped into the lake splashing, laughing, and having a good time.
My husband smirked as he ate watching the kids play in the lake. I pushed my empty plate away from me and took out my book and opened it up.
I had been looking forward to this vacation all year long.
Last week’s prompt was a sentence starter, “The next big app…”
Here’s mine:
The next big app was a life saver. All you had to do was plug in everything about yourself as time went on and the app did the work for you.
“When you first buy the app,” I explained to my friend, “it asks for a lot of information about you. Physical appearance, emotions in certain situations, education, etc. It’s a little personal, but the more information you give, the better the app works for you.”
My friend blinked at me. She glanced down at her phone with a raised eyebrow tilting her head to the side. “Well, that’s a little odd. I think the app should buy me dinner first.”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s not like that, Stacey. The longer you use it, the better it gets to know you. For example, you can plug in the food you eat during the day. After a week or so, if you’re hungry, you can just ask what you should eat. The app will tell you.”
Stacey looked up at me with her upper lip curled in disgust. “Why in the world would I need an app to tell me what to eat?”
“It was just an example.”
“It’s stupid.”
“Stacey, you’re the only person I know who doesn’t have this app.” I grunted in exasperation. “People practically live off of this app.”
Stacey shook her head. She exited out of the app store and turned the screen off on her phone placing it in her back pocket. “I don’t need an app to tell me how to live my life, thank you very much.”
I sighed turning the other way. She didn’t know what she was missing. The app was constantly getting bigger, better, and more popular. Before we knew it, the app would most likely be running the world. How cool would that be?
I mean, it’s an app so it wouldn’t be biased against anyone or anything because it has no feelings. It would lie like more politicians did. It would be great for everyone. I didn’t know how Stacey was going to be able to get along in a world where she was the only one not using the app.
Stacey turned on the TV and the news came on breaking me out of my thoughts. I turned to the TV to watch.
“Want to watch a movie?” she asked. She always asked that when she wanted to change the subject.
I opened my mouth to respond when I realized what was going on the news. “Turn it up!” I patted her arm and pointed to the TV screen with my other hand.
Stacey obeyed upon seeing the headlines on the news.
“Today, a man turned himself into the police after killing his best friend. He expressed that he was guilty and felt horrible for taking his friend’s life.” the newscaster explained.
She looked over at her co-host sighing. “Apparently, this new app everyone is raving about told him to do it.”
Stacey and I glanced at each other with our mouths wide open in shock. I swallowed a lump in my throat and deleted the app.
Now onto this week’d prompt…
Sometimes we succeed the first time. Sometimes we fail and then have to try a few times before we succeed.
Write about a character who tries something new in his or her life. Will they fail? Succeed? How many times will they have to try in order to succeed?
It can be something as complicated as getting into college or as simple as learning to ride a bike.
If you choose to participate, post your work in the comments. I’d love to see what you come up with.
Next Friday, before revealing the next prompt, I’ll post my version of the prompt along with anyone else who participates with a link back to their blog.
Happy writing!
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