Category Archives: Inspiration

10 Writing Prompts for July 20

  1. “I can’t go back to the way things were.”
  2. “I’m pretty sure we’re going to need a lawyer.”
  3. “Come on, George, we both know all that stuff was just talk.”
  4. “Oh, sure, we threw away our future today, but we still have enchiladas!”
  5. It made us feel like kids again. And we couldn’t stop…
  6. “You really never believed in me!”
  7. “I’m calling today, ‘Launch Day’!’”
  8. “I’m afraid I’ve hit a creative roadblock.”
  9. Her mother…coming up the walkway. There had to be a place to hide…
  10. I sensed tension. Lots of it. I looked to Barkley for relief…

Note: These prompts only starting points and might–and probably will–elicit entirely different characters, settings, dialogue. If so, mission accomplished!

#9. Her mother…coming up the walkway. And my wife miles from the house. There had to be a place to hide. If only I could vaporize my car so the ‘nobody home’ message would ring loud and clear.

But nothing was ‘loud and clear’ to this woman. Except when she screamed at PBS commentators. That was loud and clear.

old-woman-574278_1280

10 Writing Prompts for July 18

  1. “No matter what happens, this is how I want to remember my time here.”
  2. “Darn it.  I think we have a future together!”
  3. The Ferris wheel seemed to be as good a place as any…
  4. “As I’ve always said, never judge a book by its table of contents.”
    My brother and I looked at each other and cocked our heads.
  5. “This might seem a little narrow-minded, but I’m pretty sure the only real solution is to get a dog.”
  6. “Make sure you stop over and say bye to the kids.”
    “Oh, yeah,     that I’ll do for sure.”
    I didn’t like the sound of that one bit.
  7. “Can you take this call?”   The only right answer was ‘no’. And yet…
  8. “Isn’t she the absolute perfect bride?!”
    We stood in the back and chuckled. How long would it be before…
  9. “I can’t do this anymore.”
    “This? What do you mean ‘this’?
  10. She had finally figured out who she was. How unfortunate for all of us.

Photo by tanialee gonzalez on Unsplash

Curation Tuesday: More from Ray Bradbury’s Zen in the Art of Writing

From Ray Bradbury’s Zen in the Art of Writing: Releasing the Creative Genius Within You

  • “Do not, for money, turn away from all the stuff have collected in a lifetime.” [For many of us, it’s time to put all we’ve amassed to us.]
  • “Do not, for the vanity of intellectual publications, turn away from what you are—the material within you which makes you individual, and therefore indispensable to others.”  [For me, this requires a daily pep talk. Sometimes, I’m all in. Other times, out of resistance, I drift toward other projects.]
  • “To feed your Muse, then, you should always have been hungry about life since you were a child. If not, it is a little late to start. Better late than never, of course. Do you feel up to it?” [I think Ray would suggest you dive into your closet of notebooks and half-finished works and see what is inches away from being revived.]

I hope a few of Ray Bradbury’s thoughts speak to you as a writer/creator.

Added on September 4, 2018:

Here is blackwings666’s post about Ray Bradbury.

Be open to inspiration. Write on!

Curation Tuesday: More from Ray Bradbury’s Zen in the Art of Writing

From Ray Bradbury’s Zen in the Art of Writing: Releasing the Creative Genius Within You

  • “Do not, for money, turn away from all the stuff have collected in a lifetime.” [For many of us, it’s time to put all we’ve amassed to us.]
  • “Do not, for the vanity of intellectual publications, turn away from what you are—the material within you which makes you individual, and therefore indispensable to others.”  [For me, this requires a daily pep talk. Sometimes, I’m all in. Other times, out of resistance, I drift toward other projects.]
  • “To feed your Muse, then, you should always have been hungry about life since you were a child. If not, it is a little late to start. Better late than never, of course. Do you feel up to it?” [I think Ray would suggest you dive into your closet of notebooks and half-finished works and see what is inches away from being revived.]

I hope a few of Ray Bradbury’s thoughts speak to you as a writer/creator.

Added on September 4, 2018:

Here is blackwings666’s post about Ray Bradbury.

Be open to inspiration. Write on!

10 Writing Prompts for July 16

  1. “So THAT’S why she was following you! I knew she wasn’t that socially desperate.”

  2. “Hey, everything I do is above board!”

  3. “My job is to put away bad guys.” It was impossible to not roll my eyes.

  4. “You’re not exactly playing by the rules.”

  5. “I’m just not following your point.”    
    “Your obtuseness—so convenient.”

  6. “If that phone beeps one more time, you’re going to need it to be surgically removed.”

  7. “I understand that you’re doing your job, but do we really need to be frisked? And twice?”

  8. “Why don’t we team up on this?”   It seemed like a good idea. But my gut said otherwise.

  9. “Sure I’ll testify against him. But I need some reassurances.”

  10. “Everything he claims? Baseless. Absolutely baseless,” he said as he backed his way out the door.

Photo by Nick Herasimenka on Unsplash

Curation Saturday: Ray Bradbury’s Zen in the Art of Writing

From Ray Bradbury’s Zen in the Art of Writing: Releasing the Creative Genius Within You

Excerpt 1:

“I needed that approval. We all need someone higher, wiser, older to tell us we’re not crazy after all, that what we’re doing is all right. All right, hell, fine!”

Yep, I guess that, along with the daily accountability, is why the My 500 Words Facebook group is one I’ve stuck with and visited daily.

These folks are in the trenches with me, many/most of us writing to explore, writing to reflect, writing to release, and sure, some folks are writing to publish, which is certainly just as valid and definitely exciting.

And so Ray B [easier to type than ‘Bradbury’…I think it’s the combination/sequence of the letters] found that validation from a revered 89-year-old art historian, Bernard Berenson.

While I’m not a famed art historian, I hope that my comments and content can provide some validation to fellow writers.

Excerpt 2:

“But it is easy to doubt yourself, because you look around at a community of notions held by other writers, other intellectuals, and they make you blush with guilt. Writing is supposed to be difficult, agonizing, a dreadful exercise, a terrible occupation.”

With this excerpt, Ray B draws the contrast between himself [“I believe one thing holds it all together. Everything I’ve ever done, I’ve done with excitement, because I wanted to do it, because I loved doing it.”] and many other writers.

As I write this post, as I consider my age, as I think about how I am not overly enthused by rewriting, followed by rewriting, followed by rewriting…and then marketing, I wonder if I’ll ever get anything published. This is not a ‘woe is me’ proposition. It’s just a moment of self-reflection, of revisiting [probably daily] what is more important to me when it comes to writing.

More from this book next week when Ray B addresses the muse…

 

Curation Saturday: Ray Bradbury’s Zen in the Art of Writing

From Ray Bradbury’s Zen in the Art of Writing: Releasing the Creative Genius Within You

Excerpt 1:

“I needed that approval. We all need someone higher, wiser, older to tell us we’re not crazy after all, that what we’re doing is all right. All right, hell, fine!”

Yep, I guess that, along with the daily accountability, is why the My 500 Words Facebook group is one I’ve stuck with and visited daily.

These folks are in the trenches with me, many/most of us writing to explore, writing to reflect, writing to release, and sure, some folks are writing to publish, which is certainly just as valid and definitely exciting.

And so Ray B [easier to type than ‘Bradbury’…I think it’s the combination/sequence of the letters] found that validation from a revered 89-year-old art historian, Bernard Berenson.

While I’m not a famed art historian, I hope that my comments and content can provide some validation to fellow writers.

Excerpt 2:

“But it is easy to doubt yourself, because you look around at a community of notions held by other writers, other intellectuals, and they make you blush with guilt. Writing is supposed to be difficult, agonizing, a dreadful exercise, a terrible occupation.”

With this excerpt, Ray B draws the contrast between himself [“I believe one thing holds it all together. Everything I’ve ever done, I’ve done with excitement, because I wanted to do it, because I loved doing it.”] and many other writers.

As I write this post, as I consider my age, as I think about how I am not overly enthused by rewriting, followed by rewriting, followed by rewriting…and then marketing, I wonder if I’ll ever get anything published. This is not a ‘woe is me’ proposition. It’s just a moment of self-reflection, of revisiting [probably daily] what is more important to me when it comes to writing.

More from this book next week when Ray B addresses the muse…

 

Ten more writing prompts…and one more Warmup strategy.

imagine jeremy-beck-405603-unsplash

Another use: I have reduced one of my hard copies to 1000 strips of paper, each containing a Warmup. I pull out four or five at a time and see what story develops.
[Note: My first ebook of Writing Warmups is currently free.]

  1. “Why don’t you come with us?” As she considered the request, the three of us turned our backs and winced.
  2. “Don’t sweat it. You’ll get the hang of it.”
  3. I swear when I grabbed her hand for the first time, a jolt of electricity shot up my arm.
  4. “How do you get anything done in here?” 
  5. “All due respect…” Oh, geez, I knew anything but respect was on its way.
  6. The deadline was approaching, but our solutions weren’t.
  7. “So, what’ll it be—root canal or a date with my brother?”
  8. “Should my hands be sweating like this?”
  9. “Let’s just make believe we get along…just for tonight.”
  10. “What is it with you? Why does everything have to be so organized?”

**Photo by Jeremy Beck on Unsplash

 

Ten more writing prompts…and one more Warmup strategy.

imagine jeremy-beck-405603-unsplash

Another use: I have reduced one of my hard copies to 1000 strips of paper, each containing a Warmup. I pull out four or five at a time and see what story develops.
[Note: My first ebook of Writing Warmups is currently free.]

  1. “Why don’t you come with us?” As she considered the request, the three of us turned our backs and winced.
  2. “Don’t sweat it. You’ll get the hang of it.”
  3. I swear when I grabbed her hand for the first time, a jolt of electricity shot up my arm.
  4. “How do you get anything done in here?” 
  5. “All due respect…” Oh, geez, I knew anything but respect was on its way.
  6. The deadline was approaching, but our solutions weren’t.
  7. “So, what’ll it be—root canal or a date with my brother?”
  8. “Should my hands be sweating like this?”
  9. “Let’s just make believe we get along…just for tonight.”
  10. “What is it with you? Why does everything have to be so organized?”

**Photo by Jeremy Beck on Unsplash

 

Another ten writing warmups…

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Another of my writing prompt strategies…

I often merge two or more Warmups into a scene for practice writing or one that might show up in a work-in-progress. [Note: My first book of Writing Warmups is currently free.]

  1. “Let’s just say your mom will not be pleased.”
  2. She was a master at starting rumors about herself.
  3. “Hey, don’t look at me. I’m just the middle man!”
  4. His family business was impeding our progress, not to mention his parenting skills.
  5. We’d been looking at the wrong person this whole time.
  6. Her nationality remained a mystery…to us…even to her parents.
  7. And so began my climb up the corporate ladder…
  8. “Just one more problem.” He showed us the photo.
  9. “We will probably need some reinforcements after a couple of hours.” “Are you kidding me? We’re talking about a group of kindergarteners!”
  10. “Oh, I forgot to mention…”

**Photo by Clément M. on Unsplash