Prompt me! Words, phrases, and images - Updated!

[Dev Kimiko]

The thread that makes you write something, damnit

Contents
Index
Intro
How it all works
Word Prompts
Phrase Prompts
Visual Prompts
Prompt Challenges
F.A.Q
Useful WF links

[Dev Kimiko]

Intro

Procrastination, writers block, laziness... call it what you will, but it's a plague of many writers, myself included. We ought to write, but we don't, or we want to write but we don't know what to write about.

This thread is not here to give you amazing ideas. This thread will not solve your writers block and make you churn out twenty pages of pure bliss. This thread is to make you write something, god damn it. Because we are not writers without our words, and most of us don't write near enough what we would like to, or what we think we should.

If nothing else, I hope this thread makes you write something today, where you might otherwise have gone idle.

[Dev Kimiko]

How this all works

Looking for something to write, or just need a kick in the arse to get something done? Then roll up your sleeves and take a little gamble.

The name of the game is simple. Below me I have a list of 100 words, 100 phrases, and 100 images (You can choose your given number from any list, it's up to you). Using Gaia's Random Number post feature, generate a number between 1 and 100. Find that number in the list, highlight the white-text, and write. It can be anything, from 100 words to ten pages, using existing characters and places or something completely new and different. As long as it relates in some way to the prompt that is given to you. You may interpret the words and images in any way. Don't sneak out, don't roll another number and hope you get a better prompt. Just write; try and forget about everything else and write what comes to you.

[Dev Kimiko]

001. Fickle
002. Vicarious
003. Drain
004. Tangerine
005. Underpants
006. Yellow
007. Popinjay
008. Lily
009. Funeral
010. Severence
011. Hammer
012. Colonade
013. Specter
014. Theatre
015. Deliverance
016. Docile
017. Amateur
018. Dream
019. Intercept
020. Gravity
021. Chicken
022. Fair
023. Just
024. Light
025. Variance
026. Disaster
027. Fortuitous
028. Distance
029. Jade
030. Vertigo
031. Fade
032. Architecture
033. Mail
034. Glimmer
035. Note
036. Hang
037. Boom
038. Ladle
039. Festive
040. Red
041. Vacuous
042. Hall
043. Glass
044. Cracked
045. Fog
046. Scarf
047. Coffee
048. Watch
049. Sky
050. Lament
051. Grass
052. Guitar
053. Microphone
054. Vacuum
055. Endless
056. Power
057. Speaker
058. Feather
059. Farm
060. Snake
061. Liar
062. Thief
063. Awkward
064. Morning
065. Evening
066. Dusk
067. Dawn
068. Life
069. Death
070. Hungry
071. Hand
072. Insufferable
073. Tolerance
074. Guilt
075. Assuage
076. Gender
077. Eight
078. Two
079. Clever
080. Pull
081. Push
082. Delight
083. Linen
084. Petulant
085. Forgive
086. Forget
087. Eleven
088. Iris
089. Sunflower
090. Stem
091. Daisy
092. Mother
093. Resent
094. Bench
095. Swing
096. Limousine
097. Phoenix
098. Cage
099. Lemon
100. Pirate

Updated September 5, 2010

[Dev Kimiko]

001. The telephone poll was askew
002. You can't paint it that colour!
003. He flew off the edge of the building
004. Now is not the time for chocolate
005. Every once in a while...
006. We cannot stay here long
007. She was scheming again, I knew it
008. The goldfish was dead
009. The field was empty
010. He just had to blurt it out
011. I don't see why this is funny
012. The sky was orange
013. Once there use to be stars in the sky
014. She sat by the edge of the road and cried
015. The paths diverged
016. "White isn't a colour", she said
017. I desperately wanted to change the subject
018. The bells tolled
019. Once again the bridesmaid
020. How can you be so inconsiderate!
021. This wasn't a day for high-heels
022. We sat in awkward silence
023. These shoes were made for dancin'
024. Remember when we were kids
025. The flames licked at the roof
026. This is bullshit!
027. They had him cornered
028. Spring flowers were in bloom
029. She drew the curtains shut
030. You can't make an omelet without eggs
031. I don't see what that has to do with anything
032. She liked picking through people's roadside junk
033. When are you going to cut your hair?
034. There was something strange about her
035. He kept a pistol in his desk, just in case
036. Paper reigned down from the sky
037. Smoke filled the air
038. It was a complete disaster
039. That's not what I meant at all
040. The dress didn't fit
041. I could hardly hear myself
042. Something fell from the sky
043. It was the longest day of my life
044. The house was old, very old
045. Her foot was stuck
046. We have to keep moving!
047. It was a long way down
048. He had an odd taste in clothes
049. The red light was flashing
050. The lights went out
051. Would we ever get out of here?
052. She huddled against the cold
053. He laughed bitterly
054. The birdcage was empty
055. I didn't know whether to hug him or slap him
056. You're not the boss of me!
057. She licked the cake batter off the spoon
058. I lost my wallet
059. He ran for the train
060. Cobwebs covered everything
061. The house was empty
062. She picked up the knife
063. We both grabbed for it
064. The rope wasn't long enough
065. The car lay on its side
066. Let's go shopping!
067. It was a long walk home
068. We were all drunk
069. We couldn't remember
070. She loved the feel of sand between her toes
071. We were waiting for a train
072. The room tilted
073. The ground shook
074. Get out of my sight!
075. Rain pelted the roof
076. If I had a dollar for every time someone said that...
077. She stood in front of the crowd
078. He only wanted to help
079. What's in this pie?
080. Vultures circled
081. The heat was unbearable
082. Not so fast, buster
083. It was my first day on the job
084. The mirror was broken
085. Every window was smashed
086. He couldn't move
087. It was the first snows of winter
088. The girls stood to one side, giggling
089. Pass me a tissue
090. It was the last day of summer
091. We climbed the tallest tree
092. Someone had brought cookies to work
093. I stared at the computer screen
094. Great minds think alike
095. You're such a fraud!
096. She held a stick of fairyfloss in each hand
097. He was jammin' on his guitar
098. It all went to hell in a handbasket
099. The paint was wet
100. She blew a kiss in my direction

Updated September 22, 2010

[Dev Kimiko]

All images are work-safe
Majority of images acquired from stock.xchng, the SMH or National Geographic

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[Updated December 13]

[Dev Kimiko]

Prompt Challenges

Don't want just one, simple prompt? Want to try something a little challenging? Here's a few ideas I saw thrown around by participants in the first thread:

• If you roll, say, 23, instead of taking just one prompt from one of the three lists, try to combine all three #23 prompts in one work.
  
• Roll any number of 100-sided die and combine all the given prompts in one work.
  
• Continuously gain new prompts to further your story (Eg, base one chapter around one prompt, then continue the same story using another prompt as inspiration for the next chapter)

[Dev Kimiko]

F.A.Q

What's Gaia's 'random number feature' thing...?
When you post, above the main body of text you should see the following:



This is Gaia's random number/dice-roll feature 3nodding

Can I post my prompt-inspired work here...?
Sure~! Although the purpose of this thread is not for feedback, you're welcome to share your prompt work with us.

How'd you come up with this idea?
Uh... I was bored. And I once signed up for a 100originalfics LJ community, where the aim was to make 100 original pieces of fiction based around 100 prompts. So one day I just picked one at random and said 'okay, I'll write that... hey, wait, this could be a good idea to cure sucky writers block boredom! Maybe I could make a thread about it'.

How often do you rotate the prompts?
Bimonthly, for the moment. Eventually.

Where do you get the prompts?
My brain. And raping Winamp for inspiring song titles.

Where's the original thread?
You can find it here, although the old thread serves no purpose because the new one is better set up. Still, it has different prompts. Please don't necro it though sweatdrop

[Dev Kimiko]

Useful WF links

Gaia Name Bank
Got a question? Just ask Jile~
Think Tank and Ideas help
Write interesting
Veive's writing linklist and rants
WF linklist; useful rants and guides
The World Building Game

Useful writing links in general

Wikipedia - quick reference savior
Dictionary.com
The writing rants of Limyaael
Sydney Morning Herald snapshots; more inspirational images

[Dev Kimiko]

Buh, reserved in case of something else (Reshuffling posts xD;...)

[orchid_elf]

it was the same dream...

an endless circle. everyone living the same dream, everyone singing the same song as before. the continuity was terrifying.
history nothing but a circle. the end is the beginning and the beginning of one is anothers end.

a girl grew up wanting to be a doctor but ended up in a supermarket.
a girl grew up wanting to save the world, but couldn't even save herself.
a boy grew up wanting to be rich and famous but never made the stage.
a boy grew up not knowing what he wanted and ended up a star.

a dream which will never be realised and never be changed. a dream which crushes and creates with the same hand. a dream which never ends and never seems to have begun...

life is a dream.

[Cloudy Crystals]

Can I complete a prompt I got earlier? ninja

[Dev Kimiko]

Cloudy Crystals

Can I complete a prompt I got earlier? ninja

Haha, 'course~ ninja This is just new stuff (And a replacement for the old, chunky-first-page thread).

[Navenna]

The new set up looks very nice.

I never was good at chess, but I always attributed that to my having never learned to play. Sure, I understood how the pieces moved. But to be good at chess you need more than just a basic understanding. I would like to think that I'm not a simple minded person, but if someone were to judge my intelect on how well I play, I'm afraid they would think otherwise.

It might come into question why I play if I'm not good at it and never was. The simple answer to this question and most everything in my life is: because of a girl. Or perhaps that is the most complicated answers, seeing as women are not simple things to deal with.

I met Annie when we were kids, just about to enter the third grade. Even then I thought she was beautiful. I'd love to say that I was mature and kept my love for her secret, but I didn't. I followed her like I was a puppy and she was carrying my favorite chew toy.

By the time our first 6th grade dance was over, I backed off. She hated me. But that didn't change how I felt about her. It was six years since the dance and even then only way she'll talk to me is if we're playing chess. So I play. I loose each time, and yet I keep on playing. The highschool's chess team even gave me a theme song. I can't even remember the title anymore... but the words stick with me, even in my old age.

I get knocked down
But I get up again
You're never going to keep me down

They played that song at Annie and my wedding reception, six years after the last meeting of chess club... Annie used to sing it sometimes while we played chess. Yes, we kept playing even after we were married. It was a sort of strange bond between us. Deep talks while she won and I lost. In all my memory I only won a handful of times. I suspect she let me win those few times, to keep me playing.

I made her promise to have a chess set set up next to my coffin at my funeral and to play my song for me at my wake... and always remember that I was never good at chess...

*lyrics borrowed from Tubthumping by Chumbawamba

[Lyra Skye Pendragon]

Phwee! Sounds like fun. 3nodding I'll have to get back to my prompt later, though, after school. XD *bookmarks thread*