As I am heading to Tibet for about a week or so, I'm not bringing my laptop for safety reasons, meaning that I'm relying on you all to post prompts in my absence.
Be creative, and I'll see you all soon!
Today's prompt asks you to, once again, dive into the world of the unusual for your artistic inspiration. Write about someone's face (not necessarily someone you know) as if it were a natural landmark, being shaped and shifted by the elements over time.
Alternatively, take the title and completely run with it! Have fun!
So, quite obviously, my hope for the next week (that I'd be able to post a prompt every day, no worries) fell through, leaving all of you high and dry in terms of actual writing material. I'm not sure how many people are still regularly around, though I do get stories in my inbox every now and then, making it a point to read them, even if I don't offer any criticism myself.
Anyway, for this prompt, I'm going to send you along a journey that I've currently been encapsulated by myself. That is, I was struck with a bizarre amount of inspiration this morning, and have set to work on my next (longer) short story.
Today, write about an amateur avant-garde film director, who shot, produced, and edited the entire film themselves. In the meantime, however, splice sections of the film that are playing with other scenes, of other people, perhaps from the film, perhaps from other characters' points of view. At the end, use the film once more in order to unite both storylines.
Sound sufficiently confusing? As you can see, it's got a bit of work yet, but I've got high hopes for you all as writers, though we all come and go from time to time, we've all ended up here for a reason, if not by choice. I hope you enjoy!
No spoilers in this post, I promise.
Today, write about someone who, having been awoken in the middle of the night, goes out for a midnight jog, and finds themselves utterly and completely alone. Depending on where you place this character, this can be typical or completely baffling.
What is the character's first reaction upon their discovery? Do major facilities (power, water, etc.) still work? Do they wait for sunrise to discover the rest of the day?
Enjoy!
"That ringing in your ears is the last time you'll ever hear that frequency." Coming from a line spoken in Children of Men, whether or not it's true, everyone has, at some point, experienced this "ringing" tone, being indescribable to those unaware, and leaving as quickly as it arrives.
Today, write about someone who is prone to random, occasionally violent outbursts, seemingly connected to tinnitus episodes. Though the character in question believes it is something else entirely, many others have gone on the record arguing otherwise.
What does the character believe? How do they take the news that they are "wrong?" What exactly happens in these episodes?
I've got a few more lined up, but in the meantime, have fun!
Today, write about someone whose life has been substantially altered by someone miscommunicating something years ago, perhaps not even to the narrator/person in question. For those that obsess about communication, being consumed by a misunderstanding is not entirely out of reach, particularly if one chooses to throw in a dash of the surreal.
Tomorrow...I'll plan out a week's worth of prompts, somehow. I promise.
Today, we're able to record anything and everything. Why do phones come with cameras, voice recorders, note-taking applications, and many more? Though higher-end cameras can run into the thousands of dollars, many people today opt for a lower-end, yet entirely functional "point-and-shoot," in order to record memories wherever they see fit. Multiple photo-sharing websites such as flickr, imgur, Photobucket, and others serve as a way to upload and preserve these memories for as long as the server space allows. 50 years ago, perhaps even as early as 30 years ago, this simply wasn't possible, not without a professional's access to equipment and processing stations.
Today's prompt, inspired by learning about Tibetan history (and their Dark Age), along with a blog post on one om.co, ask you to consider what would happen if the collective physical memory of someone simply disappeared. Though people can still remember (and see this person), all photos, certificates, official documents, etc., have vanished.
What does that mean for anyone attempting to navigate today's increasingly connected world? Who would be affected the most by it? What sort of meaning do photos really have?
Enjoy!
Today's prompt is precisely as you would think: write a story (or poem) about someone who waited for far too long in the rain, and their thoughts about it afterward. The narrator can be waiting for another's train running late, or just outside another's house, waiting for them to come out.
Sorry about the lack of posts recently, apparently, being in China means that all of my inspiration that I had over the summer has flown out the window. We'll get there, though. Enjoy!
Write about a time you, or your character, pushed the envelope to the line. When did you, or your characters, keep pushing and pushing until the situation reached almost a breaking point? What was the end result?
Today, imagine a major metropolitan area that has been utterly wiped clean of any and all brands, leaving the citizens to either construct their own renditions thereof, or simply leave the blank space as is. This means that where there would not only be billboards but logos, trademarks, anything that uniquely identifies a company, would be replaced with a completely white space, free for anyone to draw and recreate it.
Are there those who couldn't go a few city blocks without be assaulted with colourful and invasive advertisements? Are there those that would only seek to deface and twist existing versions thereof? What distinguishes companies from one another that could quite easily be interchanged?
Enjoy the rather blank mental image!
