March 26, 2010:
I was at Frances Peck’s workshop on Syntax yesterday. One of the quotations she used in her handout was so compelling, I just have to share it with you. It’s a line taken from Dylan Thomas’ short story, “The Lemon,” and it was originally published in the collection Adventures in the Skin Trade (1969). I must look it up. But first, it would make a great prompt.
Use this line to begin your own short story, then check out the original:
Early one morning, under the arc of a lamp, carefully, silently, in smock and leather gloves, old Doctor Manza grafted a cat’s head onto a chicken’s trunk ...
March 7, 2010:
I often find quotations inspirational. Here are some well-known quotations. Use it as the first line for your story or use one as your inspiration for a story.
“The devil damn thee black, thou cream-faced loon!” - Shakespeare, Macbeth
“A sight to make an old man young. “ - Tennyson, Godiva
As thick and numberless as the gay motes that people the sunbeams. - Milton, L’Allegro
“Give us the tools and we will finish the job.” - Churchill, 1941 Speech to the US.
“Women have a wonderful instinct about things. They can discover everything except the obvious.”
- Oscar Wilde.
February 5, 2010:
My daughter gave me, among other things, a Forgotten English desk calendar for Christmas last year. Not only does the calendar display an obscure, archaic word for each day, it also tells an anecdote associated with that calendar date. The anecdote for February 4th goes like this:
On this date in 1799, a 42-year-old Englishwoman named Elizabeth Woodcock unwittingly became an early cryogenics experiment after being thrown from her horse into a six-foot deep snowdrift north of London between Impington and Cambridge.
According to William Hone’s Every-day Book, or Everlasting Calendar of Popular Amusements (1827), she was unable to free herself, and incredibly “remained day after day, night after night, perfectly distinguishing the alterations of day and night, hearing the bells of her own and neighbouring villages.” Nevertheless she was surprised to learn, after being discovered by a traveling farmer, that she had spent over a week in what she had imagined to be her “snow tomb.” Miraculously, she lost only her toes and soles of her feet to frostbite but died five months later of unknown causes.
– Forgotten English (2010 desk calendar), Jeffrey Kacirk.
Those of you with a similar sense of morbid creativity will understand how thrilled I was to read this little gem.
Here’s your prompt:
Now, tell us “the rest of the story.”
January 26, 2010:
Much to my chagrin, I’ve found myself watching waaay too much reality TV lately. For a number of reasons, I’ve been very frustrated with my writing projects, so I’ve been having difficulty concentrating. Lack of concentration and drive equals increased mindless television. I particularly like So You Think You Can Dance and Project Runway.
One of the reasons I like these programs is their artistic aspect. I love dance and I love art. The other reason is the characters.
I’ve always enjoyed character driven books. For me, the best stories are the ones that develop strong, unique characters and play off the interaction between those characters. Books that come to mind are Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake and anything by Charles Dickens.
Write a story about two unique characters with a conflict. If you like, you may start your story with the following quote from Charles Dicken’s Nicholas Nickleby:
He had but one eye, and the popular prejudice runs in favor of two ...
January 12, 2010:
Lists are kind of fun. They are a way to organize thought and ideas. And as we all know, each new year spawns a host of lists: Top 10 Movies of 2009, Top 10 New Year’s Resolutions, Top 10 Books of 2009, Top 10 Predictions for 2010. But lists can be used throughout the year – and not just to keep track of your next trip to the grocery store. They can be used to learn about ourselves and even to jump start our inner muse.
Write a piece (truth or fiction) that incorporates a list (or many) into the story. You may want to write about the teachers in your life or the reasons you choose to live in Canada (or wherever). The possibilities are only limited by your imagination.
December 20, 2009:
I taught piano for many years. I played the piano for nursing homes at Christmas, and I also accompanied choirs and several church congregations. That’s all in my past now, and when I sit at the piano, my fingers just don’t work the way they used to when I was playing four and five hours a day. I quickly become discouraged. But “back in the day,” this time of year was filled with Christmas carols. When I hear “Adeste Fidelis” or “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” I become nostalgic, and my head is filled with memories of Christmas Past.
Maybe you have a similar reaction to the traditional songs of the holidays, or maybe not. Maybe you want to launch into a tirade about the excesses of the Christmas season. Maybe you practice a different faith. Maybe as a child, Christmas was a time of exclusion instead of excitement. Whatever your circumstances, Christmas carols tend to evoke memories and emotions: sometimes good, sometimes bad.
Whether your associations with Christmas music are positive or negative, that’s what I’d like you to write about this week.
You may wish to write an opinion piece on the commercialization of Christmas. Perhaps you’d like to write a Christmas memory associated with a particular carol you sang at the school concert. Maybe you are separated from your family and want to write a piece that expresses the emotions you feel when you hear certain songs on the radio. This week’s prompt is wide open to interpretation.
Oh, and by the way, happy holidays!
December 13, 2009:
With Christmas around the corner, this week’s prompt reflects the holiday season.
I’m sure you’re all familiar with “The Twelve Days of Christmas” – or at least some of it. Click here to read the lyrics.
Using “The Twelve Days of Christmas” as a template, write an updated version for the twenty-first century. There are lots of ways you can do this. You may want to use humour. You could call it My Last Twelve Days at Work or turn it into a picture book for boys ages 4-6. These are just a couple of ideas, but there are many other approaches you could take. Your imagination is your only limitation.
November 21, 2009
I enjoy taking photos of interesting people. They often inspire my imagination.
These photos were taken in Malawi and England. Choose the photo that speaks to you, and use it as the inspiration for a story. You can use the setting of the photo as the setting for your story or just use the character to inspire your story.
November 14, 2009
Do you ever read one of those little newspaper snippets about some obscure event, and wonder what really happened? So often articles, especially the ones that are simply meant to catch your eye, are tantalizingly incomplete. Here’s an example of what I’m talking about.
You can use this news item or find your own. Use it as the stating point for your story. Once you get going, don’t worry about the facts. Your story is fiction. You are simply writing what could have happened.
October 28, 2009
I love tales of the supernatural. I love reading them, and I love writing them. I love the traditional, Victorian stiffness of M.R. James. I love the oozing mausoleums and mouldering corpses of H.P. Lovecraft. I love the finely crafted psychotic anti-heros of Poe. And I love Stephen King’s trademark mix of pop culture and new twists to ancient horrors. It’s all such good fun. So in keeping with the spirit of the season, I’m making this week’s prompt in honour of the masters of horror.
Many tales of terror are written in the first person, so let’s stick with that convention. My favourites often have a good backstory, say a mystery or a legend, so let’s make that a criterion as well. Now to get you started, here’s a line from a piece by M.R. James. You can use it as the first line of your story:
An evening light shone on the building, making the window-panes glow like so many fires . . .
October 20, 2009
Hemingway once wrote a six word story: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." Hemingway is said to have thought it was his best work.
Since then many writers have tried to match his masterpiece. Here are some examples I pulled off the Internet:
Cats everywhere grow thumbs. Mankind enslaved ... – Dirty Scarab.
Checklist: Wine. Candles. Roses. Music. Rohypnol. – Amit Kapoor.
Things were good. Then came man. – Rindo R.
Threw rock at mirror. Reflection screamed. – Donnie.
Narrow exit. Result: eighty charred kids. – M. Hari Prasad.
His skin crawled. Right past him. – Peter Keller.
I hope these inspire you to come up with your own. Give it a try.
October 11, 2009
Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and family gatherings are an excellent source of creative fodder. They are memorable for so many reasons: family dynamics, happy reunions and unforeseen humour. They are filled with both the expected and the unexpected.
Write about a memorable family gathering: past or present.
