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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

Father Christmas, Krampus, Santa Claus, Saint Nicholas, and Kris Kringle

There is a rich tradition in the West of creating Christmas and Yuletide tales.  Both sacred and secular versions of stories populate the airwaves and Internet with versions of light in the darkness, good defeating evil, epiphanies about faith, and even simple tales of happily ever after.  While we love to challenge conventions in these prompts.  Sometimes it is fun to go with the flow.  For these prompts, I'd like to challenge writers to create some wonderful stories of love winning, light conq
Cole Matthews

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More Holiday Prompts

It's the holiday season and it's a merry time for some and not so great time for others.  Here are two prompts to reflect both moods.     PT Prompt #97 You are gifted a magic snow globe.  What happens when you shake it? PT Prompt #98 You are spending the holidays alone.  Describe your day and any celebration or lack thereof.    
Valkyrie

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Magical Prompts

Magic is in the air! PT#95 Sam got a magical advent calendar from gran Lulu. So far, the chocolate and marzipan were delicious but magical? What does the calendar’s magic do to Sam? PT#96 Looking for the box with Christmas decorations in the attic, your protagonist pushes cardboard boxes around. Suddenly something strange drops on the floor. After a closer examination, it turns out to be a mechanical arm. After playing around with it for a while it suddenly attaches itself to them,
Aditus

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December Festivities, and not just the flashy ones!

December offers such a wealth of subject matter on which we can write.  There are the parties with friends.  Gatherings with relatives.  The symbols and holidays are liberally sprinkled throughout the month. I wanted to explore some different paths this year beyond Christmas. Prompt #93 - Winter Solstice - You are invited to a bonfire on December 20th in the middle of a clearing in the woods.  The snow blankets in a thick layer on the grass and coats the tree limbs.  There are tents with fe
Cole Matthews

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Happy Prompt-Day!

I hope everyone in the US who celebrates Thanksgiving had a wonderful day yesterday and has enough leftovers to make more yummy things like turkey soup.  I know I will have stuffed myself into oblivion (no comments on that one, Steve  ), but there's always room for more, right?  We have another holiday of sorts today... Alles Gute zum Geburtstag, that's Happy Birthday in German, to our resident wolf, @Aditus! In honor of Addy's birthday, I've decided to feature a couple of birthday-ish prompts. 
Valkyrie

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Spacy Prompt

So, why the heck did I give you these random prompts? I helped my nephew to draw all kinds of alien species, that’s why. And because there has always to be a second prompt, I used the next sentence someone said to me as a first line. Val thought I have to explain my randomness. Prompt #89 The newest spaceship is ready to leave the space yard when the main engineer gets a last-minute order: He has to modify the captain’s chair. Due to the new captain’s species, he wouldn’t be able to us
Aditus

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November, Remember

November is a month for remembering things.  Whether it's the Remember, Remember, the Fifth of November, with Guy Fawkes day, or November 11th, the Armistice Day commemorating The Great War, World War I, this is a month for looking back over past events.  Therefore, I'm suggesting prompts that have to do with remembering events of the past. #87 List of items: rosemary, a diary, a chest, RAM, elephant, and a red poppy #88  Your main character lost his memory.  What brings it back?  
Cole Matthews

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Wordplay

I love a good play on words, which is why I like Dad jokes and memes with puns.  Don't judge me... someone has to laugh at them!   Disclaimer: I'm not responsible for any eye strain or facial bruising caused by excessive from any stories inspired by these prompts.     PT Prompt #85: Sometimes words have very different meanings across languages.  For example, the word "gift" in English means something given to another person without expectation of payment, synonymous with "present"
Valkyrie

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Happy Prompt-aversary!

While it feels like just yesterday when I approached Aditus and Cole Matthews about working together to continue offering GA prompts on a weekly basis, it’s actually been one year!  To celebrate our one-year anniversary, we thought we’d pay homage to GA’s late prompt guru, Comicfan, by choosing our favorite prompts created by Wayne.    Aditus: Comicfan’s prompt #213 made me put my toe in the water and write a very short story. I got so many encouraging comments that I dared to wr
Valkyrie

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Hiding

PT #83 It’s a matter of common knowledge among friends and family that the protagonist of your story despises a certain person. Ironically, this very person dies in a freak accident at their house. As no one would believe this, they have to hide the body. Help them.   PT#84 In order to avoid the pesky marriage-soon-trigger, Ash doesn’t date, officially. Find the most outrageous excuses to tell the family or — just tell them a truth of your choice, preferably all nicely boxed
Aditus

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October is Coming Out!!!

In October in the United States, we celebrate National Coming Out Day.  But that really doesn't do it justice.  Coming out isn't a day or a week or a month.  Coming out is a process for most of us.  It's intensely personal, incredibly liberating, and extremely terrifying for most people.  Let's practice our writing skills with some characters who are coming out of the closet, are remembering their emergence, or even contemplating doing it.   #81 - First Line - "How could you have outed me l
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Prompt Day Sept 2, 2022

Between editing, proofreading, and writing for the anthology, along with things being crazy at work, my brain is a bit on the crispy side at the moment.  So let’s get right into this week’s prompts.   PT Prompt #79 You are hiking through the woods when you encounter a wooden sign with the following words written in red, dripping paint:  I’d turn back if I were you.  Do you turn back or continue on the path?  If you continue, what do you encounter?  PT Prompt #80 Your ch
Valkyrie

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Famous First Words

I always wondered if famous authors stare at a white sheet of paper or a blinking cursor, wrestling with the very first word, the first sentence, like me. There is a story somewhere, but how to begin? Or do the words just pour out of them? PT#77 Let’s borrow an opening line of a famous book and write a short piece of fiction or a poem. I’m pretty much f*cked. (The Martian by Andy Weir) All children, except one, grow up. (Peter Pan by J.M: Barrie) He was born with a gift
Aditus

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Potpourri - Sometimes we need to mix it up!

When writing a story, we need lots of different tools and techniques.  Sometimes these may include using different styles of writing or even bringing to life challenging or even repugnant characters.  To practice these different techniques, I've given a couple of exercises.     #75 - Use the Passive Voice in a vignette.  For example, "Jenny was a great writer who once won an award.  She had written a story that garnered lots of attention and cause quite an uproar.  That excitement pass
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Prompt Day Aug 12, 2022

Still a bit short-winded, I present to you the Friday Prompts! PT# 73: You stare at your best friend’s wedding list. Instead of pots and pans or nifty gardening equipment with useful links where you could order it, you read: Surprise us! As your friends love “quirky things with character”, you decide to go to a yard sale. In the end, you have to choose between a huge, inflatable pink flamingo, a hand-pottered caterpillar-shaped bowl, and a coat rack that looks like a human spine. What
Aditus

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Technically Unplugged

I spent last weekend out in the country with my BFF for her family reunion.  It’s been an annual tradition for us for over ten years now, and I look forward to it every year.  It’s an absolutely idyllic setting, surrounded by farmland and mountains sporting all kinds of greenery.  There’s no wi-fi, and cell phone signals are spotty, at best.  We sleep in a tent on a hill next to the main house and talk most of the night over a campfire, underneath a clear sky filled with stars never seen in subu
Valkyrie

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Disability Pride

I’m writing this blog on July 26th, which is the 32nd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.  July is Disability Pride Month, which honors the passage of the ADA.  The ADA prohibits discrimination based on disability and guarantees equal accommodation to people with disabilities in areas including access, transportation, and telecommunications.  I had a wonderful discussion today with one of my patients (I work with adults with developmental disabilities) about the ADA and wha
Valkyrie

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All I ever wanted....July days

Vacation!! Nothing stimulates the recreative juices like a getaway.  Here we are in the middle of July with a lake beckoning, the hammock swaying gently between two trees, and a grill smoking away with barbequed delights searing and sizzling.  A cold, condensed mist trickles down the side of a glass of lemonade, or an adult beverage, and a dog-eared open book splays on your lap as the birds chirp and the squirrels wrestle.  Maybe it’s time to relax and try a new prompt!  Pull out the c
Cole Matthews

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All About Bacon

Today's prompts are brought to you courtesy of my dinner on the day I wrote this blog. 🍳 🥓 This is a tribute to the porky, fatty goodness we all love (well, most of us, @Slytherin  ). Bacon makes everything better, right?   PT Prompt #63a: Describe bacon to someone who has never eaten it.   #63b: For the site poets - Write an Ode to Bacon.    PT Prompt #64:  You are a strict vegetarian and your non-vegetarian boyfriend has just moved in.  To your dismay,
Valkyrie

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A Midsummer Night's Prompt

Maybe summer has just begun, according to the summer solstice.  But, we get to treat the month of July as the middle point of summer in the Northern Hemisphere.  Midsummer is a fantastic time of picnics, parades, hanging out at the lake or the ocean or the pool, and letting the sun and fun wash over you.  Let's play with our characters at a bright and cheery midsummer setting or even in a dark and spooky midsummer's night.     #61 - You're at a cookout and there is an attractive young
Cole Matthews

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Gimme a Cake!

Around here we’re picking berries, strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, blackberries, and currants, which means, cakes, pies, jams, preserves. Okay, I’ll stop here. What are your favorite cakes? Which cake is typical for your country? PT #59 The protagonist of your story finds a beautiful cake on their doorstep, without a card or any hint who gave it to them. Help them to unravel the secret.   PT #60 Describe any cake and make your readers want to eat it. If yo
Aditus

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Pride Flowers

June is halfway over and summer is just around the corner, although with the high temperatures lately it feels like summer is in full swing!  Pride month celebrations are still going strong.  I've been seeing lots of pictures in my FB feed of friends celebrating Pride all over the country.  For my birthday this year, I decided I wanted to get some flowers, something I don't tend to keep in the house since I am death to plants  The grocery store I shop at had a display of Pride-themed bouquets, s
Valkyrie

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June and the Advent of Summer

The warm, long days of summer are just beginning.  In fact, the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere occurs in just two weeks.  We celebrate Father's Day, Flag Day, and the beginning of the summer break for students.  And, it's Gay Pride Month!!  There is so much to write about. First, let's do a random word one. Prompt #55 - Use all the following words in a story.  It can be about anything, of any length, but it must include these words:  Bug, frigid, oozes, sidecar, ban
Cole Matthews

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Prompt Us!

We always tell you what to do. Write a story, a poem using this or that. I thought we could do it the other way around this Friday. You tell us what to write. For example, @Valkyrie Write a story beginning with a Valkyrie, an Erinys, and an Oracle meet at a spa, or @Cole Matthews Please write another sonnet. (He will probably kill me for this.) So, good-bye if you don’t hear from me anymore. If there is more than one prompt, we get to choose and the rest go into the guest prompt bank.
Aditus

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Be Our Guest

@AC Benus was kind enough to start off our guest prompts during National Poetry Writing Month with a couple of poetry prompts.  Since the Prompt Team started, we've had a few members send us prompt suggestions, so we thought it was time we featured one of them. If you have any ideas for prompts, please feel free to send them to myself, Aditus, or Cole Matthews, and you may be featured in a future edition of the prompt blog.  All types of prompts are welcome - creative, word lists, poetry, techni
Valkyrie

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