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 Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2011 6:59 am
This thread is all about getting you started. Sometimes the worst part of writing is the 'blank page' which is often where writer's block becomes a problem. It is often the fear of failure. How do you know you have a good idea? What if I can't finish it? What if it doesn't work out?
The truth is, you don't know. You just have to write and work on whatever you do to help you develop as a writer. Like most activities - you have to practice to get better. Prompts are a really good tool as it gives you something to focus on. They can often help you get over that gaping hole in your current project because you're giving it a new twist, or throwing in something just to get you back in the flow.
If it doesn't work out, you can always take it out when you're editing but at least it gets your brain working again.
You will find in the next post word, sentence and quote prompts. There are also links to other prompts.
In the post after prompts, there is an example of how to generate your own prompts.
Feel free to post prompts or sites you've found/created yourself for others to pick up. Do let us know how useful you've found this thread. How many words did you manage based on the prompt you used?
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Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2011 6:59 am
Prompts
Word prompts
Ability | Age | Animal | Autumn | Average
Bandwagon | Beauty | Body | Book
Cage | Camping | Cartoon | Chain | Chance
Clover | Coincidence | Color | Creative
Develop | Destiny | Desire
Environment | Esteem | Experience
Fade | Flower | Food | Forest | Friend
Generous | Group | Grow
Honesty | Help | Honor
Idea | Image | Incentive | Innovative | Internet
Joy | Kindness | Kindred Spirit
Ladybug | Learn | Light | Love
Mature | Memory | Metal | Modest | Mood | Mountains
Museum | Music | Myself | Mystery
New | Novel | Night Dreams
Ocean | Opera
Peace | Picture | Privacy
Quest | Quiet
Rainbow | Remember | Realize
Shape | Snowflake | Sun
Time | Truth
Waterfall | Wellness
Youth
Courtesy of www.creativity-portal.com
Sentence prompts
1) Describe the view outside your window. (Hint: choose one word to describe the whole view)
2) I feel_______________________ (Hint: choose the strongest feel ing you have or might have now)
3) I want________________________ (Hint: choose the ‘it’ that you want the most of anything that you’ve ever wanted)
4) I am_______________________ (Hint: one character trait that you are most sure of)
5) I wish_____________________________ (Hint: choose your most heartfelt dream)
6) I would_____________________________ (Hint: choose the one action that you’ve most wanted to take)
7) I will_______________________________ (Hint: choose your favorite goal)
cool I won’t_______________________________ (Hint: choose your deepest conviction)
9) I wonder_______________________________ (Hint: choose your wildest dream)
10) I’m not________________________________ (Hint: choose your worst nickname)
Courtesy of http://www.articlebiz.com/article/3253-1-top-ten-sentence-prompts/
Quote prompts
“When we ask advice, we are usually looking for an accomplice.” - Marquis De Lagrange d. 1876, Pensees
“Only one person in a thousand is a bore, and he is interesting because he is one person in a thousand.” - Harold Nicolson: Diaries and Letters, 1930-1939, 1968
“Slang is a language that rolls up its sleeves, spits on its hands, and goes to work.” - Carl Sandburg, The New York Times, Feb. 13, 1959
“If I am not for myself, who is for me?” - Hillel “The Elder,” Pirque Aboth, c. 30 B.C. - A.D. 9
courtesy of www.classbrain.com
When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be" Lao Tzu.
Further prompt suggestions:
http://www.thewritingsite.org/resources/prompts/expository.asp
http://www.writinginthemargins.co.uk/page6.htm
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Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2011 7:00 am
Generating ideas
Pull out a piece of paper and write one word in the middle (it doesn't matter what the word is). For demonstration purposes, I will pick "home" (I am literally coming up with the words as I type, that's how easy this exercise is).
Now proceed to create something along the lines of a mindmap of any word that stems from this one word. You will find that words become less related the further out you go. The trick is not to think too much, just write what comes to mind. A bit like the game word association.
eg/ Home > family > friends > arguments > emotions > human > animal > animalistic > brutality > crime... and so on.
Each link from "Home" can then be broken down again:
family > children > youth > innocence > imagination > creativity > belief > freedom
And so on. Its best if you give yourself a time limit as you will accumulate an awful lot of words!
You can then look through the mass of words and pluck out the ones that catch your attention. Explore what images they produce in your mind; try a freewrite session (10 minutes of no thinking - just writing based on your prompt).
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Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2011 7:02 am
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