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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

National Poetry Month Wrap-Up 4/27/22

There are only three more days left in April, although around here it feels more like December.  The buds on the trees were sporting a nice winter coat of snow today instead of leaves and pretty spring flowers.  I'm wondering if this will be one of the rare times we get a May show shower   The end of April also means the end of National Poetry Month.  There has been a nice selection of poetry posted this month, and @Aditus and @Parker Owens took on the challenge of writing 30 poems in the month.
Valkyrie

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April 22nd - Introduction Line

Sometimes the story is outlined on paper or in our head, but how to begin? The first sentence should engage the reader without revealing too much or boring them to death. This time we’ll do it the other way around. PT #41a Pick an introductory sentence from a favorite book on your shelf at home or a story on GA and use it to start a short story or vignette. And because it’s still April: PT#41b Choose the first line of any poem and continue to write a poem of yo
Aditus

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Shakespeare's Revenge, or How I Lost My Fear of Poetry or Lost My Head

Prompt 39 April 23rd is Shakespeare's birthday.  Since April is Poetry Month and I'm absolutely horrible at writing poetry, I'm at a disadvantage, to say the least.  However, I'm always game to try something new, so I challenge our faithful readers and writers to a duel, you know, Tudor style. In honor of the Bard of Avon's birthday, let's do sonnets.  I found an explanation, which I still don't really understand, but I think I get the gist of it.   A sonnet is a 14 line poem.  It
Cole Matthews

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The Prompt Team Prompts 4/8/22

It feels like this month just started, but we're already starting the second week of National Poetry Writing Month.  Check out the collections that have been posted already.  Maybe they'll inspire you to give it a try yourself.  Or maybe taking a look at the beautiful creek Aditus provided us with will stir some poetic musings.     PT Prompt #37 - Poetry Write a poem about taking a walk along this creek.    PT Prompt #38 - Creative It's Easter morning and you wake
Valkyrie

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April Fools - 4/1/22

April Fools’ Day was always an exciting day in my house when I was a kid.  It was a good idea to check out everything before ingesting food, walking through doorways, or opening drawers.  I got my mom good one year by putting orange juice in the milk carton.  She never drank from the carton, so I figured my prank wouldn’t work, but wouldn’t you know she actually drank right from the carton that day and got a mouth full of juice instead of milk (she hates juice)!  What are some pranks you’ve pull
Valkyrie

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March 25th Call to GA’s poets

April is National Poetry writing month (NaPoWriMo). The challenge is to write a poem a day until May. Over the last years, we had several poets who took up the gauntlet. I understand that many of you can't or don't want to write a poem a day, but we are looking forward to every poem or poetry collection that will be posted during the next month. We are happy we could win AC Benus as a special guest to get us started with two brand new poetry prompts: Skyscraper Let's Write some Sk
Aditus

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Let there be Spring!!!

Aaaaahhhh...The Vernal Equinox approaches.  "The March equinox – also called the vernal equinox – marks the beginning of the spring season in the Northern Hemisphere and the autumn season in the Southern Hemisphere. The March 2022 equinox will arrive on March 20 at 15:33 UTC. That’s 10:33 a.m. Central Daylight Time." - EarthSky website [https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-vernal-or-spring-equinox/]   Oh, and it's Randy's birthday too!  But enough about
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St. Patrick's Day Prompts 3/11/22

St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner.  Settle in with a pint (or three) of Guinness, put on some green, and get to writing!  We could end up with some pretty interesting prompt responses, and you don’t have to be Irish to participate, since everyone’s Irish on St. Patrick’s Day.    PT Prompt #29 - creative Write a short story from the POV of a leprechaun. PT Prompt #30 – creative It’s midnight on St. Patrick’s Day, and you’re on your way home after a night of dri
Valkyrie

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March 4th Round Robin

A Round Robin isn’t a fat bird.   It’s actually a lot of things, but the only interesting definition concerning prompts is that it is a form of storytelling. There are several variations. Let’s try two. PT# 27 Tell a story that begins at the same place as it ends.   PT# 28 Find at least one fellow author and tell a story together. Write its paragraphs or sentences alternatively.
Aditus

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Happy Fairy Tale Day...

Who doesn't love a fairy tale?  They are the stuff of childhood, memories of the distant past, lessons for the present, and fodder for the future.   This coming weekend is Tell a Fairy Tale Day.  So, I proposed we tell each other some fairy tales, based on the tropes and ideals of the genre.  Hopefully these prompts will get you conjuring up your own scenarios of a child eating someone else's porridge or a lonely orphan girl who meets her prince, only to flee at midnight.   #25 - Story
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February 18 - Black History Month Prompts

February is Black History Month in the US.  It is a time when we celebrate the achievements of African Americans and honor their struggles and triumphs in US history.  Black History Month started in February 1926 as “Negro History Week” by Carter G. Woodson – a historian who helped establish the field of African American studies.   It has since been expanded to include the entire month of February and is now celebrated in many other countries besides the US.  Here are two prompts in honor of Bla
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February 11 No weather for Mad Hatters

Around here you have to hold onto your hat, unless you want a workout. Let's make it a theme.   PT 21 List of words. You had a stressful week at work and no time for grocery shopping. There's a storm outside, and you are hungry. Besides rice and canned beans, all you have in your fridge is two eggs, shrimp, one red pepper, a dragon fruit, fish sauce, and a jar with kimchi. What’s cooking? And to stay with the Valentine theme, sorta... PT22 While on a second honeym
Aditus

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Valentine's Day - It's not just a corporate conspiracy!

St. Valentine's Day is drawing near.  While many people don't enjoy the holiday, others revel in the blooming of new love, the sprouting of true love, and the enduring promise of "ever after."  I happen to love the celebration. When I was a teen, I never knew what the poets meant when they'd write about the earth moving and the heavens exploding.  I never really understood how a kiss was that special.  For me it was just a kiss, kinda fun, but not really that big of a deal.  [Mind you,
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January 28th First Month Done

Are you already looking for the ‘reset button’ like me? What better method to get over a substandard start of the year is there than writing? PT#17 A young man, wearing a long striped purple scarf, is ice skating in a circle alone. What is his story?   PT#18 First line: "It's pouring out here. May I come in?"
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Wintry Prompts 1/21/22

Much of the Eastern United States is being hammered by a massive snowstorm as I write this.  We're getting close to two feet of snow where I live.  So it feels fitting to feature two prompts based on snow.  What's it like where you live?     PT Prompt #15 - Technical Describe a cold, snowy winter to a pen pal who has never seen one.    PT Prompt #16 - Creative  The Gay Snowman.  How does a snowman find love?   
Valkyrie

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January; The Beginning and the End

January is named for the Roman god Janus, who was the patron of beginnings, endings, and the nature of a doorway or threshold.   The Janus Society was an early homophile organization out of Philadelphia in the 1960s and was one of the earliest organizations of gays, lesbians, and gender non-conforming people of the era.   Prompt #13 The Janus Society's president had a magazine called, "Drum" and in 1965, it was the first U.S. magazine to show a nude male from the front.  What is his story?
Cole Matthews

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The Prompt Team Prompts 1/7/22

Did anyone make a resolution to write more in the New Year?  Experimenting with some prompts is the perfect place to start!  I've selected both a creative and a technical prompt for our first prompts of 2022.  Don't forget to post links to your responses in the threads in the Writer's Club.   PT Prompt #11 - Creative  First line:  "Jump!  They're coming!"    PT Prompt #12 - Technical  Write a short story in second person.  Talk to your reader.  
Valkyrie

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Christmas Eve Prompts

Brrr!! It's so cold and dark this time of year.  Time to put on that cardigan sweater, you know, the one with the patches on the elbows, pull out your trusty computer, sit by a roaring fireplace and let your imagination go wild.  Or, if you don't have a roaring fireplace, maybe write about one! There is a fireplace blackened with soot.  But, as you're about to pile in some wood, there is something sticking out from the corner.  What is it? Immerse yourself in the mood and write a
Cole Matthews

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Mid-December Prompts 12/17/21

It’s hard to believe December is half over!  How about celebrating the end of the year by writing a prompt? There has to be a punchline somewhere for #7!    PT Prompt #7 An angel, a werewolf, a vampire, and a human go to a bar. What happens? Write a short story or vignette.   PT Prompt #8 Winter challenge.  You're snowed in at a motel in the middle of nowhere with just strangers in rooms nearby.  Tell us what happens.
Valkyrie

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Intermezzo Prompts December 10, 2021

Santas are all around you, wherever you look. Maybe you need a break to become inspired? PT#5 Write a short story or vignette using at least five words from @myr’s word of the day list.   Or you can’t get enough of beards, bellies, and bells and you want to throw yourself head-first into the hustle and bustle. PT#6 Christmas - Your Secret Santa gave you a pink jockstrap. What happens next?
Aditus

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Wintry Holiday Prompts! December 3, 2021

With the holiday season beginning to heat up, let's stretch our writer muscles and creativity with some prompts!!  Here are my first offerings into our wonderful winter writing.   PT 3# Holiday Quote - "Let's do something that puts us on Santa's naughty list." PT 4# You've played Santa at the mall for the past twenty-five years, but after dealing with bratty kids, entitled parents, and a total lack of manners, you've decided you're done after this season.  It's taken all your
Cole Matthews

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The Prompt Team Prompts 10/29/21

One of the things I loved about GA when I first discovered the site was reading the weekly prompts and the stories authors wrote in response to those prompts.  There was camaraderie associated with those blogs, and lots of fun and support from other authors and readers, especially for new authors. I was inspired to start writing, and during the first couple of years after I became a member, I wrote many responses to Wayne’s prompts.  My first completed serial was inspired by a short prompt story
Valkyrie

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Wayne's Prompts #7

Well this is it  Today will be the end of Wayne's Prompts. We are discussing to see how we want to continue forward with this blog, and would like to hear any ideas you may have. Reach out to any staff member and we will take a look   So for the final prompts, we received this late addition by @Valkyrie! One she partook on was Prompt #316 from @comicfan. To even things out, we will also throw in prompt 317 as well. You can announce your prompt response for #316 and #317 by clicking on the n
wildone

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Wayne's Prompts #6

Well, well, well, we are back again this week with another one of a favourite prompt that Wayne presented to us.  Last week we looked at one of @Mikiesboy favourite prompts and it's partner. Here is what Prompt #500 brought us: https://gayauthors.org/story/mikiesboy/onlyprompts/5 Sorry I can't make a box like below .   This week, lets look at a couple of prompts from @Headstall. One of his favourite prompts that he wrote a story for was Prompt #801. His submission to that one can
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Wayne's Prompts #5

(Oops, was supposed to post this last night  ) It is the Friday on the start of a long weekend I think everywhere in North America  If you live elsewhere and have one as well, just remember you don't have to do a prompt response this weekend  Maybe let it digest for a bit and maybe something will happen over the weekend that will have you saying DAMN, that was a prompt suggestion. Then you can write your story. Unless it is being stuck in H E double hockey sticks or any other macabre settin
wildone

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