Category Archives: Inspiration

Another way I use my writing warmups: I will close a mediocre writing day with a burst of Warmup-inspired words to help kickstart  my next session. [Note: My first ebook of Writing Warmups is currently free.]

1. “He gave me a detailed description of what he wanted.” I held it up. “This is as close as I could get.”
2. The speaker hobbled across the stage to the podium. I leaned to my buddy. “This is going to take a loooong time.”
3. The bank statements told an interesting story.
4. “Just jot your name on the dotted line and all will be well.”
5. “That guy across the street? Been there three straight days.”
6. “Not so fast. I need a few minutes to read this over.” Totally not what I wanted to hear.
7. The books were stacked. The coffee was brewed. The all-nighter had begun. And then the phone rang.
8. I held the document up to the light. “Very interesting.”
9. In strutted a fashion disaster. “Which way to my dressing room?”
10. “I have absolutely nothing to hide.”

Note:

1. The last suitcase at the baggage carousel was about to change my life…
2. “He really teed off on me…and for no good reason.”
   “Wellll…let’s just say…”
3. Josie’s feet were propped on the desk as I entered her den of sin…
4. Non-stop yakking…that was the only way to describe it.
5. I reached for the ring in my pocket. So far, so good…
6. “Let’s just say follow-through wasn’t exactly his strength…”
7. It was hard to tell the criminals from the politicians…
8. At the far end of the terminal, a diminutive woman huddled inside her heavy coat and waited. There had to be more to her story…
9. I braced myself for the worst possible news. Instead…
10. I wasn’t sure who the applause was for, so I shrugged and waved to the welcoming crowd…

Another use: I turn to my lists of prompts to spice up my morning pages when I’m tired of writing about my own little issues and plans.

1. “This brings back special memories.”
   “I hoped it would.”
2. It had been years since we felt this close…
3. The attic contained secrets no one wanted to explore…
4. “You look good in red.”
   “Well, you look good…nah, I can’t even lie about it.”
5. “I am your doctor, you are my patient. Therefore…”
6. “So it’s settled. I’ll stay here and you look inside the cabin.”
7. “This festival is going downhill fast.”
   “Yeah, gale force winds and dozens of casualties tend to do that.”
8. “Can I have this dance?”
   Wrong question. Wrong time.
9. Why couldn’t this moment last forever?
   I couldn’t believe I was even thinking that.
10. “You’re going to eat all that?”
    “Yeah, why?”

One of my writing prompt strategies…

If I’m stuck at a point in one of my fiction drafts, I thumb through my lists to find a character’s action or a piece of dialogue that, at the very least, nudges me into the ‘What if…’ mode.

1. “You look good in heels.”
   “Shut up and give me my shaving kit.”
2. “You’ve been through a trauma. You’ll need some time.”
3. It was all starting to come back to her…
4. The writing teacher complained that there was no ‘aboutness’ to my story. ‘Aboutness’…he actually used that pseudo-word.
5. “It sounds like a lot of work to me.”
   “I knew you were going to say that.”
6. We had descended into the hellish vortex of worthless meetings. Something had to be done.
7. “You have your beer. I’ll go with chocolate chip cookies and milk.”
   “Perfect! I knew we were made for each other!”
8. “You’re looking especially haunting today.”
9. Their laughter seemed especially insincere this time around.
10. “There’s no such thing as a good politician.”
11. “There’s a special someone out there waiting just for you.”
    “Yeah, like I’ve never been told that before.”