Inventive Writing Prompt Round-up #31
Here's the latest round-up of posts from my Tumblr blog, where you can find a new post every morning (well, sometimes it's the afternoon). Happy writing!
#212 Two women have been friends for years. One afternoon, one of them says to the other, “I have something to tell you about myself that you may not believe.”
"Of course I’ll believe it, because I know everything about you."
The first woman heaved a sigh. ”You don’t know this. And you may not like me much after I tell you. Because here’s the truth.”
What does she reveal about her backstory?
#213 It’s the morning after the biggest event your main character’s life. (Like winning an Oscar, or a book award, or achieving some other huge goal.) How does he or she feel? Elated? Empty? Exhausted? Hungover?
#214 She felt like she was hanging on by a thread. There was the ______ and the ______, not to mention the __________. And of course, the ___________! Taken together, they all threatened to overwhelm her.
#215 She couldn’t wait for him to leave—but she started missing him as soon as he was gone.
#216 Explore what your characters drinks. Does he pound water all day? Does she always have a Diet Coke at hand? Is he totally against alcohol or an imbiber? Wine or beer or hard liquor? Coffee or tea?
#217 All of a sudden, she became one of the cool kids. Yet her position there was precarious, and nerve wracking. Because one of the things they liked to do was…..
#218 It was the scariest thing he’d ever faced in his life. Every cell in his body told him to run from it. But instead he turned toward it.
J.D.
Hi, Charlotte. That 218–Yeah, that’s what my guy, Moses Palmer, does. There are so many times in my life when I wish I had made similar choices. I don’t mean physical threats. I walked away from a few of those, but there were many more of the scarier kind. There still are.
J.D.
So true lol. What I wouldn’t give to be in “knowing when” camp.
Charlotte Dixon
No kidding!
Angie Dixon
215. She couldn’t wait for him to leave but she started to miss him as soon as he was gone.
She’d spent 18 years with him and knew him better than anyone. She loved him desperately, but thought he needed to be on his own. She was happy for him that he’d found something new, but being an empty nester was going to be harder than she’d expected.
Charlotte Dixon
That sounds like the beginning of a novel to me, Angie!
J.D.
Charlotte is correct. Good opening.
Angie Dixon
Thanks JD and Charlotte. I hadn’t thought of a novel. I was just thinking that my son really got on my nerves Sunday, but I know I will have a rough time in August. Hell only be 75 miles away, and home on weekends. But it is an interesting idea for a novel, and I’ve been wanting to write fiction again…
Dyoung
Sending kids off to college IS a novel all it’s own! I know.
My daughter is 7.5 hrs away for the first time at the age of 20. I miss her everyday. But when she is home- I get a bigger glimpse at the fine young adult she has become and it’s a fabulous feeling.
You’ll see. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and the kids grow up!
Charlotte Dixon
So true! I sobbed when each of my kids left for college, but my tears didn’t last long. Once you get past the shock of the empty nest, the world opens up!
Angie Dixon
Well, he’ll only be 75 miles away and he’ll be home every weekend for a while. We are concerned because he’s worse than most kids at life, especially being around people (“shy” doesn’t even begin to describe it), but we’re happy for him.
Charlotte Dixon
I was so worried about my son. His first year of college he wrote me an email that said, "I'm too stupid for college." (This is a boy who went on to get a Master's in Math.) His second year he went through is food allowance every month and all the girls donated their extras to him. But, he survived–and thrived! Your son will, too.