most writing prompts suck
So I will try a not-suck one (warning: it might suck). Begin your story/exercise this way:
Socks you wear daily (not yours), revolver, dog you love, dragged out back in the snow falling darkness, dragged behind the dumpster with gun placed to head…Go.
Now, go ahead, say that is lame. Hell, I agree. Way too many images. Crazy off-the-page-subtext. Even seems a bit forced, possibly melodramatic. Even leaning prescriptive.
That’s a prompt?
Maybe the genre of prompt is actually like swimming a true mile (anyone?), as in tougher-than-I-fucking-thought?
Well, fuck. And you. And You try. One sentence, please.
Can I get a non-cliche prompt?
I do not want 1. Which god are you? 2. You drank a milkshake and feel weird. 3. Knock, knock. What was that?
Anything else is cool.
Add your writing prompt (this might appear later in a textbook. And I’m the type of person to pay you .00002 % royalty as opposed to those bastards stealing your idea at 0001%, ha, ha [no, seriously, ha, ha]).
Uh. The point is write ONE sentence as a writing prompt. Let’s see it.
Tags: Writing prompts
“Pretend there is a magazine called something like ‘Penthouse’ and you are writing a letter to a forum– of sorts– detailing the evening you came across a young lady whose automobile had failed in a bad part of town and who was willing to repay you, somehow, if you would siphon off a bit of your fuel into her tank, and you said: __________________________________________________________________.”
“Pretend there is a magazine called something like ‘Penthouse’ and you are writing a letter to a forum– of sorts– detailing the evening you came across a young lady whose automobile had failed in a bad part of town and who was willing to repay you, somehow, if you would siphon off a bit of your fuel into her tank, and you said: __________________________________________________________________.”
An amazingly shameful moment, one you’ve never told, couched in fiction and set in the heart of a scene, with one major detail– character, atmosphere, time, occasion– radicially changed.
An amazingly shameful moment, one you’ve never told, couched in fiction and set in the heart of a scene, with one major detail– character, atmosphere, time, occasion– radicially changed.
Prompts are meh. I’m tired of people putting prompts on Twitter. I’m tired of people thinking the Wishlist is a list of prompts.
Prompts are meh. I’m tired of people putting prompts on Twitter. I’m tired of people thinking the Wishlist is a list of prompts.
Yes. I get this. Maybe prompts should just die. Maybe just evaporate. But it seems like they cling.
I mean what exactly are they?
Yes. I get this. Maybe prompts should just die. Maybe just evaporate. But it seems like they cling.
I mean what exactly are they?
Write your own most outrageous example of “bad writing.”
Write your own most outrageous example of “bad writing.”
i havent written to prompts in a long time. i never liked writing to prompts. i tend to think they are not helpful (to me, i mean). instead, they make me more frustrated, i guess.
Write about the worst thing that ever happened to anyone in your family from the point of view of the person who inflicted it upon your family and make us by god love them.
i havent written to prompts in a long time. i never liked writing to prompts. i tend to think they are not helpful (to me, i mean). instead, they make me more frustrated, i guess.
Write about the worst thing that ever happened to anyone in your family from the point of view of the person who inflicted it upon your family and make us by god love them.
i find some basic, kind of arbitrary prompts good to get the juices flowing. stuff like “fill a page w/ sharp images about winter.” “write in the voice of that one janitor who handed out jolly ranchers in jr high.” etc.
i find some basic, kind of arbitrary prompts good to get the juices flowing. stuff like “fill a page w/ sharp images about winter.” “write in the voice of that one janitor who handed out jolly ranchers in jr high.” etc.
A book of fiction written wholly in writing prompts would be interesting.
A book of fiction written wholly in writing prompts would be interesting.
Take one job you had in your past that is unusual (that the average person would find inside knowledge about interesting) and modify it to be the inner workings of a nonexistent business – write about it from the inside to explain how this person ended up there.
Okay. Pretty sucky. I hate prompts.
Take one job you had in your past that is unusual (that the average person would find inside knowledge about interesting) and modify it to be the inner workings of a nonexistent business – write about it from the inside to explain how this person ended up there.
Okay. Pretty sucky. I hate prompts.
I feel attacked by this post and its comment thread.
Also, this is my new prompt:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hqfWAJ2wJI&feature=player_embedded
I feel attacked by this post and its comment thread.
Also, this is my new prompt:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hqfWAJ2wJI&feature=player_embedded
Write about something that has nothing to do with you.
Write about something that has nothing to do with you.
Write about your best experience with ice cream from the point of view of a dog.
Write about your best experience with ice cream from the point of view of a dog.
Spend an afternoon in a slaughterhouse. Find three books in three languages that you do not speak and read a page of each out loud, one in a whisper, one in a normal voice, one thunderous. Watch something burn for ten minutes. Go to a reptile convention, and find the mother who is there to be with her daughter even though she hates reptiles. Look at your house. Look at your house. Look at your house. Get muddy. That is your prompt.
Spend an afternoon in a slaughterhouse. Find three books in three languages that you do not speak and read a page of each out loud, one in a whisper, one in a normal voice, one thunderous. Watch something burn for ten minutes. Go to a reptile convention, and find the mother who is there to be with her daughter even though she hates reptiles. Look at your house. Look at your house. Look at your house. Get muddy. That is your prompt.
a dance club from the point of view of the music
a dance club from the point of view of the music
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Socks you wear daily (not yours), revolver, dog you love, dragged out back in the snow falling darkness, dragged behind the dumpster with gun placed to head…Go.
Write three paragraphs about eating fish: [then, take thirteenth sentence, cut and paste to new page, start story here].
Write three paragraphs about eating fish: [then, take thirteenth sentence, cut and paste to new page, start story here].
http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l11ginoJID1qzjervo1_500.png this was liked by 2,680 people on tumblr, must be good
http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l11ginoJID1qzjervo1_500.png this was liked by 2,680 people on tumblr, must be good
woops, sorry jason floyd williams, i will stop impersonating you now, go in peace to love and serve great american literature and mather schneider
woops, sorry jason floyd williams, i will stop impersonating you now, go in peace to love and serve great american literature and mather schneider
plus a prompt:
“Write as yourself on your death bed remembering your first memory.”
You are the Statue of Liberty, having sex with the Eiffel Tower.
You are the Statue of Liberty, having sex with the Eiffel Tower.
for intro workshops:
take a sheet of paper, write down you favorite joke, pass it to the person to your left, and turn the joke you receive into a tragedy in 250 words or fewer.
for intro workshops:
take a sheet of paper, write down you favorite joke, pass it to the person to your left, and turn the joke you receive into a tragedy in 250 words or fewer.
Just when you think you’re not getting drunk from your 40 ounce malt liquor,
Just when you think you’re not getting drunk from your 40 ounce malt liquor,
“Jeremy steal white plastic tubing?”
“Jeremy steal a bag of balloons from Safeway?”
“Say ‘what’ again. I dare you.”
– Jules Winfield
Play Twenty Questions.
“If you bitch-slapped it, would it cry?”
It’s 2:31 AM.
Write something good.
“Jeremy steal white plastic tubing?”
“Jeremy steal a bag of balloons from Safeway?”
“Say ‘what’ again. I dare you.”
– Jules Winfield
Play Twenty Questions.
“If you bitch-slapped it, would it cry?”
It’s 2:31 AM.
Write something good.
Is that Amy McDaniel? Did she get married?
Is that Amy McDaniel? Did she get married?
Tough, so many prompts are tough. I’ll try one.
WRITING PROMPT: Pick a genre you have never written in, write in the opposite sex of whatever sex you are, and the story must contain some reference to loss, the scent of bacon cooking, a 66 Mustang (Candy Apple Red), something breaking (glass or otherwise), the sensation of silk on your fingertips or body, and the taste of copper in your mouth. GO.
Ah, that probably sucks too.
WRITING PROMPT: You must kill somebody that you love. GO.
WRITING PROMPT: You wake up in a puddle of your own vomit and urine. GO.
WRITING PROMPT: You are having sex. Not with your spouse. GO.
WRITING PROMPT: The reality you know is false. GO.
Bleh.
I give up. I suck.
Tough, so many prompts are tough. I’ll try one.
WRITING PROMPT: Pick a genre you have never written in, write in the opposite sex of whatever sex you are, and the story must contain some reference to loss, the scent of bacon cooking, a 66 Mustang (Candy Apple Red), something breaking (glass or otherwise), the sensation of silk on your fingertips or body, and the taste of copper in your mouth. GO.
Ah, that probably sucks too.
WRITING PROMPT: You must kill somebody that you love. GO.
WRITING PROMPT: You wake up in a puddle of your own vomit and urine. GO.
WRITING PROMPT: You are having sex. Not with your spouse. GO.
WRITING PROMPT: The reality you know is false. GO.
Bleh.
I give up. I suck.
YOUR DAD JUST ATE A LOAF OF BREAD MADE WITH RANCID OIL. IT WAS YOUR FAULT. APOLOGIZE TO HIM. WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE WHEN YOU TURN INTO A PHOTON TO ESCAPE. CAN YOU HEAR YOUR MOM CRYING.
YOUR DAD JUST ATE A LOAF OF BREAD MADE WITH RANCID OIL. IT WAS YOUR FAULT. APOLOGIZE TO HIM. WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE WHEN YOU TURN INTO A PHOTON TO ESCAPE. CAN YOU HEAR YOUR MOM CRYING.
“MOM I TOLD YOU THIS ISN’T ABOUT YOU!!!!”
“MOM I TOLD YOU THIS ISN’T ABOUT YOU!!!!”
“I give up. I suck.” isn’t too bad.
“I give up. I suck.” isn’t too bad.
That is unbelievable.
That is unbelievable.
In hindsight, it was simple math to determine that the fifty dollars you were holding in you hand was not worth the the turd you had to put in your pants to get it.
In hindsight, it was simple math to determine that the fifty dollars you were holding in you hand was not worth the the turd you had to put in your pants to get it.
matthew simmons, i firmly credit your “rot” prompt for getting me published by monkeybicycle. i’m serious. it saved my story!
matthew simmons, i firmly credit your “rot” prompt for getting me published by monkeybicycle. i’m serious. it saved my story!
This topic always reminds me of the McSweeney’s thirteen prompts: http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2006/5/4wiencek.html
This topic always reminds me of the McSweeney’s thirteen prompts: http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2006/5/4wiencek.html
Liiike a glove!
Liiike a glove!
Go to the laundry mat, sit and watch someone else’s laundry, and write a story/poem/something about this person using only what you know of their laundry.
Go to the laundry mat, sit and watch someone else’s laundry, and write a story/poem/something about this person using only what you know of their laundry.
She is haulin’ a sweet ride
Miss Tokyo Drift
She is haulin’ a sweet ride
Miss Tokyo Drift
Are we making a distinction between prompts and constraints? I like constraints, but I’m not sure how they’re different, ultimately, from prompts. Meh.
Are we making a distinction between prompts and constraints? I like constraints, but I’m not sure how they’re different, ultimately, from prompts. Meh.
Mmm… constraints.
Mmm… constraints.
No no, you’re thinking of restraints.
No no, you’re thinking of restraints.
Oh, right.
Oh, right.
That kid’s a hero.
That kid’s a hero.
constraints is when people tell you to not end a story by having the narrator kill herself.
constraints is when people tell you to not end a story by having the narrator kill herself.
prompts that work for me are ones that are vague or abstract. like, think of the word ‘soft,’ then write something.
prompts that work for me are ones that are vague or abstract. like, think of the word ‘soft,’ then write something.
yes. i once had a writing class where we were given one-word prompts each week. then we wrote for five minutes or so. words like, “heel,” or “hairnet.” it was surprisingly effective. better than any sort of hypothetical situation or contrivance.
yes. i once had a writing class where we were given one-word prompts each week. then we wrote for five minutes or so. words like, “heel,” or “hairnet.” it was surprisingly effective. better than any sort of hypothetical situation or contrivance.
He tells the little girl that he is her husband from the future, and she believes him.
He tells the little girl that he is her husband from the future, and she believes him.
Great example of constraints in action is the film “The Five Obstructions,” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Five_Obstructions) in which Lars Von Trier challenges Jorgen Leth to remake his short and sweet film, “The Perfect Human” five times, but with obstacles placed in the way–i.e. it is remade in Cuba, severe restrictions are made on the length of takes, and so on. I envision something like this in terms of revising a literary work, an alternative to Oulipean formal constraints, since Lars’s “constraints” pointedly straddle form and content, & with a little mischievous goading thrown in for good measure, bound to force a piece down some unexpected paths.
Great example of constraints in action is the film “The Five Obstructions,” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Five_Obstructions) in which Lars Von Trier challenges Jorgen Leth to remake his short and sweet film, “The Perfect Human” five times, but with obstacles placed in the way–i.e. it is remade in Cuba, severe restrictions are made on the length of takes, and so on. I envision something like this in terms of revising a literary work, an alternative to Oulipean formal constraints, since Lars’s “constraints” pointedly straddle form and content, & with a little mischievous goading thrown in for good measure, bound to force a piece down some unexpected paths.
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