What a prompt will do...

We are all inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery, guided each by a private chart, of which there is no duplicate. The world is all gates, all opportunities.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
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If you’ve been to WVU or have taken f2k, you know that somewhere along the line, you’re going to run into a prompt. What is a prompt? Well a writing prompt is just that, it is used to get your muse flowing and start writing.

Some days, as writers, we get blocked for things to write about. Our story closet has been picked dry and so we need to dig into that storage bin and find something, ANYTHING to give our muse a lift.

Does an old smelly sock do it for you? No, What about a shoe? Aha an old shoe you haven’t worn in years. An old faithful shoe that has memories tied to it. Ahh, now we’re getting somewhere. What kind of memories? Good or bad? Oh I think I went digging and struck gold!

Do you realize there is a prompt waiting for you around every corner? Just walking out the door, the odor in the air can elicit a writing prompt, as well as the sights of a barren street or empty parking lot, slamming doors, bouncing balls on a basket ball court? All of these sights and sounds can trigger a writing prompt.

Julie likes to dish out the ‘Three Word’ prompts. Name three random things, tie those three things together in a story. It takes a little practice but sometimes you get some of the best unblocked writing ever. Why? Because you were not really thinking about writing, you subconsciously had those three things in your mind, you wrote about them and tied them all into a nice little ball of yarn and you shared it with your writing friends.

Some will look at you, (not knowing what the three things were) and think, “What is this story about?” A writer will give them a clear picture hopefully and they won’t have to ask that question.

Now some writing prompts are Picture Prompts. This is the one where you look at a picture and from what you see, you write a story. This one is tough because you have to dig into your memory pool and pull out some really creative writing. A picture is worth a thousand words, literally.

Then there is the Sentence Prompt. This is where a partial sentence is given and you finish it and spin it into a webfully woven tale. Take for example: “Clarice walked into the store and could not believe her eyes. What did she see?” Just something as simple as that can help you unblock the block and have you writing until your fingers pop off your hand.

As you journey down the writing road, always remember that there is a prompt that will bring in the shovel and start digging you out of the slump that you might be in. Don’t take writing for granted, use it to your advantage of being the healer that it is meant to be.

Inspired Writing

A Double Rainbow!

I’m often asked, “Where do you find the Inspiration to write?”

Well honestly I can say, YOU! It is you who inspires me to write each and every day. Sometimes I’m at a loss for inspiration so I need to search and search hard to find the one inspired topic that will get YOUR fingers tapping also!

Sometimes I do prompts. Prompts are helpful in getting that story started when you’re at a loss for words to come creeping out of the keyboard. Maybe the prompt will say, “Look at this picture of a sunset, flower, drainage ditch, unending highway,etc,” and write a 500 word piece. Oftentimes 500 words can lead into a thousand and before you know it you have a Short Story ready for your friends (in a writing workshop) to review and help with revising.

A prompt can also assist you in putting some muscle behind your muse. It will have you pumping out your writing and you’ll be sitting there wondering how you ever got to 500 words. There’s a really cool link over there to the left, Pumping Your Muse, produced my my dear friend Donna Sunblad, a published author, who herself is pumping out tales like candy on a conveyor belt.

Inspiration can also come from things that are happening throughout your day. Let’s say you go to a fast food restaurant and you are seated behind a bunch of gabby teenagers talking about life. Well, there is a story just waiting to be written. You don’t say that you eavesdropped, you write a story from what you overheard. Be creative and embellish what you heard and you, as a writer are good at embellishing, right? RIGHT!

Now for my poetry I need a different form of inspiration. I write spiritual verse, so I need to look at things from a spiritual perspective. When I see funny shaped clouds it inspires me to write about the beauty of the sky and from whence they came. A rainbow can inspire a multitude of poems, and my inner faith often leads me to the path of writing poetic muse for the soul.

I already have over 50 poems of some of my best spiritual poems together and as soon as I find an editor that accepts poetry, I’ll let you know. I would aim at Epress but they don’t do poetry anymore. I have a lot of respect for the editors and people who run the place so they were my first choice. But one never knows, time can change and things rearrange and maybe they’ll have a change of heart. Until then, you’ll have to dip your fingers into my poetry on here and enjoy the feeling you get from being inspired too.

Get inspired and WRITE RIGHT!