Cole Matthews

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 your character with a sideline that forms a foil or balance. #247 - Your character is a stunt driver who loves the thrill of the chase. She is competing for a very prestigious trophy, but in her off time, she trolls second hand stores for old dolls. Give us a scene that shows her love of the chase and finding the perfect doll for her collection inspire her. #248 - Your character has just experience the death of a loved one. His lonely passion is to find the perfect stamp to complete a collection. How does this mirror his mood and ease his mourning. These are just examples. Use any character and any hobby to stretch your character's boundaries. Please include the prompt number either in your story/chapter description or title to help readers who would like to search for specific prompts. Also, please remember that stories less than one thousand words must be posted as part of a collection. If you check the subgenre 'prompt' in your story tags, then people/readers can find everything here: https://gayauthors.org/stories/browse/subgenre/prompt/

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 square where a fountain used to flow. Instead, the square is abandoned, dead, empty. How did that happen and what did it do to you? Please include the prompt number either in your story/chapter description or title to help readers who would like to search for specific prompts. Also, please remember that stories less than one thousand words must be posted as part of a collection. If you check the subgenre 'prompt' in your story tags, then people/readers can find everything here: https://gayauthors.org/stories/browse/subgenre/prompt/

I think I must do the quirks one. 😘

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 next to them. Why did the wizard appear and what does he do next? #236 - Your neighbor is in her backyard eating a Schwinn bicycle with streamers and a basket with plastic flower appliques. Who is your neighbor and what do you do next? Have fun! Please include the prompt number either in your story/chapter description or title to help readers who would like to search for specific prompts. Also, please remember that stories less than one thousand words must be posted as part of a collection. If you check the subgenre 'prompt' in your story tags, then people/readers can find everything here: https://gayauthors.org/stories/browse/subgenre/prompt/

Thank you! I decided practicing my play by play was needed.

Well, maybe we’ll know. It’s possible they will know more.

Thanks!

Probably not but I guessing you made it safely. Thanks for getting me started on some new writing!

thank you so much! It was an interesting character sketch. I had fun doing it.

And here we go! https://gayauthors.org/story/cole-matthews/tales-from-bingham-lake/1

PT Prompt #234 You have three near-misses on the way to work. What happened, and how were they avoided? *** Laura heard the tinkle of her phone beckoning to her, but when she reached over, the device slipped from her grasp. She lunged, as much as the seatbelt would let her, and almost caught it. In the background, Morgan Wallen sang about how it couldn’t be the last night. As the brakes squealed, her blood pressure surged. Laura Naugen was already late for work. This

These are the prompt tales I'm collecting. What will they become? Who will read? It doesn't matter because they are mine.

Gonna have to try this.

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 1970s in California when a gay detective was a novelty, or about the 1930s with Miss Marple solving village murder cases between the wars in England and between cups of tea. Mysteries are somewhat formulaic, but within those formula there is room for characters to bloom and eras to be lived. Let's try our hand at our mystery set in another time and another place. #231 - You find the dead body of a complete stranger in a trunk in an attic. Make it interesting. When did this happen? Where in the world? What relationship do you have with it. No need to solve this mystery. Just set it up and see what happens. #232 - You are digging through an old file when you come upon some pictures. In what media are these pictures? What are they wearing? What about these images worry you? Again, we aren't figuring out what happened. We are building a mystery. Please include the prompt number either in your story/chapter description or title to help readers who would like to search for specific prompts. Also, please remember that stories less than one thousand words must be posted as part of a collection. If you check the subgenre 'prompt' in your story tags, then people/readers can find everything here: https://gayauthors.org/stories/browse/subgenre/prompt/ Good luck.

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 free to add more, but use these to get your scene started. #227 - Conflicted - Rubbing or pulling at an ear, looking downward, and a sinking feeling in the gut #228 - Confident - Stretching, a strong handshake, and easy breathing Please include the prompt number either in your story/chapter description or title to help readers who would like to search for specific prompts. Also, please remember that stories less than one thousand words must be posted as part of a collection. If you check the subgenre 'prompt' in your story tags, then people/readers can find everything here: https://gayauthors.org/stories/browse/subgenre/prompt/