Writing Prompts and Exercises #1
 

Hi everybody, I thought I would start this since I have like 3 or 4 books now full of writers prompts and we could do one a day or every few days or one a week (Whichever is most comfortable for y'all, what do you guys think?)

and if you like what you wrote from the prompt or exercise then you could post it here if you wish to!

1st Prompt -
Use this line in your story:
"So who's the idiot stuck in the elevator?"


I hope this can be something that can help everybody :) Have fun.
-Pammie

List of prompts
Prompt #1 - Use this line in your story: "So who's the idiot stuck in the elevator?"
Prompt #2 - A character walks into their kitchen and discovers something very out of place.
Prompt #3 - Use this word to spark a story or piece : Virus
Prompt #4 : Use the following word to inspire a piece - Halloween
Prompt # 5 - It is discovered that the pie in a small-town diner has curative properties.
Prompt #6 - A father take his young daughter shopping for her first bra.
Prompt #7 - At the beginning of December, a girl wishes to see her missing mother again for Christmas, despite her fathers urgings to forget about her because she left. Then a mysterious woman appears knowing much too much about the girl and her father, and claims to be the mother....is it a wish come true or something more?
Prompt #8 - Two teenagers volunteer at a soup kitchen for the holidays,which bonds them together but will the two keep the season in the mind or let the pressures of life break their unlikely friendship apart, when school starts again.
Prompt # 9 - Two people who have never met (to their knowledge!) are stranded together in a half deserted airport over christmas.
Prompt # 10 - While baking holiday cookies together two people share a life changing experience for at least one of them.
Prompt #11 - Use the following words in a piece or to spark a piece - Mistletoe , Gingerbread, Inflatable snowman, and Eggnog
Prompt #12 - Its Christmas in the afterlife, tell me in a story or piece, what do the residents get on this special holiday?

Exercises from The Write Brain Workbook by Bonnie Neubauer
Exercise #1 - Circle a word that appeals to you:
Alabama Banister Merry-Go-Round Exorcist Truckstop

Circle another word that appeals to you:
Wind Garage Insensitive Harried Jambalaya

Circle one more word:
Memory Sarcifice Massage Nonsense Oracle


Use the circled words in a story -
Start with the following sentence: At times I feel like a hamster running around and around on his wheel.


Exercise #2: Think of someone who really bugs you. Think of a place you'd like to send this person. Then - mentally- send them there. Then start writing. Start with -
The postcard arrived...

Excercise #3: You are TWO years old! Write from this POV. Be childlike. Have fun. Play!
Give yourself a name (With a initals C.A.T.):
Nickname:
Eye color:
Hair color:
favorite food:
Siblings names/ages:
How they treat you:
THoughts on toilet training:

Start with : Here I am, stuck in my crib...

okay guys another batch from my new book!

Exercise #4 -
Pick an age from 2-88
Eye Color
Hair Color
Name of City/Town
Type of Residence/House
First name starting with 'G'
Last name starting with 'S'
Promienent physical feature
Quirk/Mannerism

You are now this character. Start with -
I remember when the power went off

Exercise #5 -
finish the story beginning with this...
In his rearview mirror, the cab driver saw...

Exercise #6 -
Use this quote in a story, its a Louis Armstrong quote about what Jazz is.
"Man, if you gotta ask, you'll never know."

Exercise #7 -
Start your story with the classi opener
Once upon a time...

Exercise #8 -
okay this one is a fill in the blank AND finish the story
Dear [Blank],
I know it has been 37 years since I have been in touch.

Exercise #9 -
Grab a book or magazine, grab a line from it that you like to be the first line of your story. Be inspired by the line and WRITE!

Exercise #10 -
Okay here's something very...different, give it a try and see if it gets your brain going!


You are the journal/diary of a 18 year old girl. She has been writing for months to you about dieting, boys,etc. You are finally tired of her complaining and whining. So when she is asleep one night...you write her back.

Dear [Blank],
It has been...

Exercise #11-
Finish the story: She adjusted his bow tie...

Exercise #12-
You are in a bus depot in New York City, a gypsy appears and gives you a tarot card (which is up to you), start with this sentence :
'It almost seems impossible for me to go back to that split second when...'

Exercise #13 -
Finish the story - 'The first time I saw him, he was digging ketchup out of the bottle with a knife...'

Exercise #14 -
Use these thirteen words in a story -
Book
Author
Mystery
Money
Success
Romance
Wealth
Mansion
Play
Science fiction
Star
Commitment
Best Seller

begin with the sentence 'I am terribly afraid...'

Exercise #15 -
Trace the life of an object through multiple owners.
(Original prompt was to trace the life of a five dollar bill through five different owners, I just made it more general for our use!)

Exercise #16 -
Write a story about a holiday somewhere unexpected (In jail, on another planet,etc.)

Exercise #17 -
Write a piece that contains a ransom note from someone very unexpected.

Exercise #18-
You are out walking. Two Joggers pass you. You overhear a tiny tidbit of conversation between them.
"And then I got to shake hands with (insert famous historial figure name here)."
You are POSITIVE this is what you heard. Write a story about this (You can either do it through the conversation, what you think the conversation could be about, or what ACTUALLY happened)

Exercise #19 -
Write about your Muse as a character/person, describe them in as much detail as you can...

Exercise #20 -
-An exercise for you to try that I just came up with-
Either put your mp3 player on shuffle or turn the radio on, the first song that comes on....use it in some way (a line, an emotion, a tone...) as a inspiration for a piece of fiction.

Exercise # 21 -
Start with the word Bubble (or sub with another word for multiple uses)
and free assoicate (Bubble - bath - shower - gel - gooey - caramel - cream) etc. go for as long as you like, circle between five and eight words you have written down and use them in your piece or to inspire a piece.

Exercise #22 -
One Word prompt - Gifted

Thanks for opening the thread, Pammie :)

I'll add the link to the board guide, too

Great :) I haven't had a chance to write anything for this one yet....but I'm working on an idea. I'll probably post a second prompt saturday or sunday.
-Pammie

sounds good :)

I think that's a great idea, Pammie! :clap: :hug: I love it :D

Maybe you can also have a list of all the prompts in the first post in case someone wants to do them all ;)

Thanks, Pammie! That's a great idea! :D

They are also LOTS of prompts available from websites on the Internet, but some sites are better than others. ;)

I once saw a writing kit, like "write something every day" but I didn't buy it. And now I wanna kick myself for it. One reason why I love this thread :D

If you consider yourself a writer, you must write. I think that's pretty much a give in. Sometimes I find it really hard to own the fact that I am a writer.

That's a really good point, Lara :nod:

Yay I'm glad we have some people excited about this thread.

Prompt #2 - A character walks into their kitchen and discovers something very out of place.

-Pammie

Good point, Lara :nod:

:yay: for a new prompt, Pammie :D

Okay I wrote something for the new prompt. I'd love some feedback,lol, the idea is mainly what sparked this one.
-Pammie

Raymond Pryce was having a bad day. He hadn’t thought so until two minutes and thirty six seconds ago. That was when he had walked into his kitchen to discover the scene. The ‘scene’ as it could only be described was that of a young woman in a long flowing gown laying unconscious (Or dead…please…not dead) on his kitchen island. He took a quarter step towards her. His breathing relaxed as he took note that her chest was moving, ever so lightly up and down. The woman’s hair was dark and fairly long, her skin was the kind of pale that men would call creamy. The island had been cleared of its items by…someone so she could rest there. Naturally, it was not large enough for her whole body, so her legs hung over at the bend of her knee. A noise pierced through his lack of sane thoughts. It was, he realized, the front door. Someone was coming in. HE stepped away from Ms. Comatose USA, closed the folding kitchen door and walked towards the front door. Three of the small men were inside already. Four more were in the doorway, headed in. He counted.
“Oh,Crap.”
Raymond muttered numbly. The small, oddly dressed man in the lead opened his mouth to say something. Ray put his hand out, a hushing gesture.
“If you even think about saying ‘Hi Ho’, I will seriously consider stabbing someone.”
He said in deadpan.

Wow Pammie! That was really great! :clap: It almost had the tone of an old detective story, when PIs were called dicks and women were called dames :lol:

I'd love for you to continue it :nod:

Wow, Jen...I never thought of that but now that you point it out I get the feel of that a bit too. hehe I might just continue it if I get a itch to.
-Pammie

:yay: