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Writing World

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Featuring everything new and experienced authors need to develop creative and technical skills. Check out writing development articles, our Word of the Day, writing prompts, anthology opportunities and more!

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Prompts

Unseen Impact

We all impact others' lives on a daily basis, whether we know it or not.  I think this is especially true as writers sharing our works with the rest of the world.  Unless a reader comments or messages us, the impact we make is generally unseen.  I used to teach therapeutic horseback riding to a group of kids from the Big Brother/Big Sister program.  These kids had a lot of disadvantages in life, but they absolutely loved their experiences with the horses.  It was a large group of kids, so we spl
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Prompt Team Event 2024 - *Now Live*

We're honestly overwhelmed by the response to our first annual Prompt Team Event!  Yes, you read that right... this will be an annual event, and we already have a working idea for next year   We've got 9 stories based on Prompt Team prompts for your reading pleasure.  There were several more takers who weren't able to complete their stories in time, so keep an eye out for them to be posted separately.  We've been promised a Christmas story from @wildone, but after his last one, I feel obligated
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Prompts

Talk Talk

Conversations. Sometimes it’s too much, sometimes too little, formal, informal, clumsy, artificial, with another word: difficult. Let’s practice, Shall we? #253 Someone is on the bus. The guy beside them fidgets the whole time with an irritating tinkling bangle while telling them, it seems, their entire life story, including very personal things. It’s time to pop in the earbuds. When it’s time to get off the bus, the talker has disappeared and the strange bangle is now on th
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Shooting Stars

I was reading something this week and it mentioned shooting stars, so that stuck in my brain as a good idea for some prompts.  Of course, I can't remember for the life of me what the heck I was reading   And I've had Bad Company's Shooting Star playing in my head ever since as well.  So let's shoot for the stars and see what we come up with.  After a bit of a sing-along, of course       PT Prompt #251 You've had a week from hell and on the drive home from work, you
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Prompts

Bad Words

You know exactly which words I mean: *@%#*,*@%#*, and oh yes, that too. We avoid those in polite company or when little ones are around, but sometimes it’s very difficult not to use them. Fortunately, there are several proven methods to work around the problem. # - 249 Your main character’s sister visits with her five and three-year-old kids. She is famous for her creativity in avoiding bad words. Write an epic rant about her new boss. (Without using bad words of course.)
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Prompt Team Event 2024

The Prompt Team - myself, @Cole Matthews, and @Aditus thought it would be fun to have an event highlighting GA prompts.  Participants will have their prompt responses featured in the December 5th prompt blog.     To participate: PM one of the Prompt Team members.  We will assign you a random prompt from our prompt bank.  Prompt responses may be any length, but if they are below 1,000 words, then they must be part of a collection.  If they are 1,000 words or more, then they m
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Arts and Crafts - Character-istics

What elements make for a believable character?  What can writers add that aids in the complete and utter suspension of disbelief?  Lots of thing come to mind like quirks, back stories, associations, inner thoughts, tribulations - and the list goes on and on.  However, something many authors have done with beloved recurring characters is to give them hobbies.  Certainly Sherlock Holmes had several and varied 'pursuits'.  Agatha Christie had Miss Marple constantly knitting.  Let's try rounding out
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Word Triggers

Certain otherwise-innocuous words can be a trigger for some people.  Maybe it's a negative association with the word - a reminder of past trauma or a social faux pas.  It could be a word that becomes an inside joke - an innocent word given a not-so-innocent meaning.  These words make us cringe and avoid them and not really want to explain our reaction to other people.  For me, a certain spring-blooming flower is a word trigger.  I avoid saying the name of this flower because I have  negative ass
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Bird Brains

We often think of birds as being superfluous beings.  Almost always there, but usually we don't notice them.  However, let's try something different.  Let's pretend we are a bird, observing a scene, and maybe even the people in it.  What do you encounter and what does a 'bird's eye view' mean to your writing?   #243 - Canadian goose - You are traveling far, far away to winter someplace warm.  What do you encounter and how does it affect you?   #244 - Pigeon - You live in a sq
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Conflict Prompts

A good story needs some kind of conflict.  It doesn't have to be over the top drama, but there needs to be something for the character(s) to work toward overcoming.  So, let's get conflicted!       PT Prompt #241 Create a conflict.  Then add conflict to that conflict.  Then add even more conflict.  There cannot be enough conflict in this story.   PT Prompt #242 Write a story with an unresolved conflict that still has a satisfactory ending.    Please
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Childhood Prompts

Things that happen in childhood can affect us throughout life, whether minor or profound, positive or negative.  Sometimes these things can cause issues later in life, especially if they've been repressed.  Or maybe they manifest as quirky habits.  In my family, we don't say "cheeeeessseeee" when we have our pictures taken; we say "fuzzy pickle".  Don't ask me how or why that started, but it's something we still do.  I'm almost obsessive about being on time.  My grandma insisted on being twenty
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Imagine if

Randy loves movies, either fantasy or science fiction, where the most inexplicable things happen.  What kind of strange things?  A monster bursting from a person's belly, a series of rooms that change the situation of various characters, or even a door that opens into another world.  In these stories, such things are not weird.  They are the stuff of imagination so, let's imagine if...   #235 - Your narrator is driving in a 2012 minivan when a time-travelling wizard appears in the seat
Prompts

Oh Sh** Prompts

We've all had moments where all we can do is say "oh, sh**" and then either brace for the inevitable or stare in disbelief as the inevitable cockily saunters past.  For example, I was driving home from work one day and was sitting in my car at a red light.  There was one car ahead of me.  The light turned green, and the car ahead of me proceeded through the intersection.  For some reason, I didn't go right away.  I hesitated and allowed a good couple of car lengths between us before proceeding. 
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Prompts

Building a mystery!

If you know me at all, you know I love a good mystery story.  Dame Agatha Christie, Jonathan Kellerman, Joseph Hansen, Martha Grimes, Earl Derr Biggers, Dashiell Hammett, Robert Parker, Minette Walters, Joe Lansdale, Wilkie Collins, and many many more all come to mind.  There is something intriguing about a whodunit or even a whydonit.  They are also such fantastic period pieces, where you journey to another place and live in a different time.  You can read about Dave Brandstetter in the 19
Prompts

A Hard Habit to Break

We are creatures of habit, and sometimes those habits can be a bit strange, especially to other people.  My best friend in high school preferred to walk on the right side of people.  If I forgot and walked on her right side, she would make me switch over to her left side.  It became a bit of a  joke between us, and it became a habit for me to walk on the left side of people, even if she wasn't around.  Over thirty years later, I still walk on the left side of people and feel uncomfortable if I w
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Conflicted or Confident

With effective writing, our characters should always try to show, and not tell, the reader how they are feeling.  Verbal expressions are the simplest and most direct way, like stuttering or announcing things.  But, there are certain actions and reactions in the body, which are even more efficient at conveying a character's feelings.  I've decided to give you a couple of opposite feelings to work with.   Here are physical clues for you to use portraying your character's state of being.  Feel
Prompts

A Matter of Perspective

Sometimes it feels like we’re losing the ability to empathize with each other.  Road rage, entitlement, me, me, me.  Recently, I was heading into a store and someone locked their car with that annoying car beep right as I was passing it.  I am extremely sensitive to noise, so it caused me to involuntarily flinch.  The person noticed, so their reaction was to beep the lock again.  I ended up going into the store right before them, and held the door for them.  Their look of surprise was worth push
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In Flagrante Delicato

Getting "caught in the act" is the most common translation of this Latin phrase.  It involves a person being very naughty and someone 'walking in on them.'  I'm proposing these prompts because sometimes our characters can get just too nice.  Our protagonist can be too "pro" and our antagonist too "mean".  Sometimes having our main character suffer a character flaw, or two, can lend more authenticity to a story.  Let's stretch our wings and try something a bit nasty.   #223 - You are in
Prompts

Freaky Friday

Sometimes life can get a little freaky.  So let's get our freak on and explain the unexplainable.     PT Prompt #221 You're running late to work and don't have time to stop for your customary cup of coffee.  Instead, you end up taking a completely different route to work and end up experiencing what can only be described as a 'glitch in the Matrix'.  What happened?   PT Prompt #222 You keep having moments of deja vu, to the point where it's starting to freak both y
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Emotional Rescue

Ahhhh!  The plot is thickening.  The characters have developed perfectly.  You have balanced your pace so there is riveting action, informative scene setting, and a richness to your tableau.  Everything seems to be going so well, and yet, your beta reader drops a bomb on you.  "It's just falling flat."   What are you supposed to do?  Where do you turn?  How can you enrich and round out your characters?  How about a little emotional rescue?  Let's try filling in the back story of y
Prompts

Vacation Time!

I just spent two wonderful weeks in the south of England, seeing everything from the Cerne Giant (Google it if you're not familiar...  )  to Stonehenge at sunset.  I could write an entire story about all the sights and experiences from the trip, but at the moment, will have to settle with two prompts based of actual things I experienced during my adventures.  PT Prompt #217 After travelling for over 24 hours with pretty much no sleep and lots of Dramamine (motion sickness med that make
Prompts

Points of View - The Ultimate Personification of an Object

Points of view are so important in stories.  As writers, we have to pretend to be someone else, feel what they feel, and ache with their longings.  As an exercise, let's pretend to be something not alive.  You can fill the object with whatever you feel or think.  The object will become a character, a witness, and your sounding board.     #215 - You are a porch swing.  You must describe the events that unfold around you, but only during times of great emotion.  That's when you awaken.  
Prompts

Let's Write Some Poetry!

Since National Poetry Writing Month is fast approaching, along with the Poetry Anthology, I thought it would be the perfect time to feature some poetry prompts!    PT Prompt #213 - Poetry Write a poem about a feeling without explicitly naming what that feeling is.    PT Prompt #214 - Poetry  Use spring as your springboard to start a poem.  Embrace the fickleness of the season!    Please include the prompt number either in your story/chapter description or
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Tired Prompts

Around here it looks a lot like spring which means I feel either super energized---or I’m tired. Luckily some GA members sent me prompt ideas so I can find a comfy spot to take a nap in the sun. Thank you @Thirdly and @Lee Wilson. PT #211 You’re a closeted gay man at a company gathering, for example, a conference of some kind. The company brought in a unique kind of entertainment and you’re attracted to one of the entertainers. With their costumes, you can’t tell if they’re male or fem
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Wisenheimer - How sarcasm can drive a character sketch

Comedy in a story can elevate an interesting tale into one you can't put down.  There are several types of humor, but perhaps one of my favorites is the sarcastic retort.  Nothing can fuel a character like some witty, and biting, humor.  Let's try some examples with a, well, not first line, but first exchange with two main characters.   Have fun with it.     #209 - "This is the last time I'm going to trust you with being the lookout."              "What's my next job? Poison
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