Descriptive Passages

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Be Confident. And other worldly advice.

Thursday,  July 24, 2014  •  Prompt #81

 

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As I walked across campus tonight, I saw a yellow banner above the bridge across Varsity Pond. “Be Confident,” it read.

Prompt

Write about a piece of advice, such as “Be Confident” that you heard growing up or as a young adult.

 

Instructions

  1. If no single phrase jumps out at you, write six pieces of advice that you can remember and see if anything resonates.
  2. Or, use one of these phrases.  Save for a rainy day. Turn the other cheek. Look before you leap. He who hesitates is lost. You snooze. You lose.  Cheaters never prosper. Don’t slouch. If first you don’t succeed, try, try, again. Fake it ’til you make it.
  3. Use that phrase as your first line.  Write in response to it.  Write for  10 minutes.

 

Variations

  • Have one of your characters offer another character advice. How does the second character respond?
  • Write a short fable for which the last line is a piece of advice.
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Swim. Swam. Swum.

Monday, July 21, 2014  •  Prompt #78

pool

 

On Sunday, I went to a pool party in Longmont’s Sunset Park,
which inspires today quick prompt:

Write about swimming.

 

 

Aspects to consider:

  • The body of water.
  • Your body in the water. (Or that of your character.)
  • The repetition or rhythm of strokes or kicking.
  • The sound of splashing, waves and breathing. Perhaps the absence of sound under the water.
  • The temperature of the air or the water.
  • The smell and taste of the water. Briney? Chlorine? Salty?
  • The quality of light.
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A Giant Leap

Sunday, July 20, 2014  •  Prompt #77

moon

 

Today marks the 45th anniversary of the moon landing.

 

 

 

Today’s Prompt:
If you are old enough to remember, write about where you were when Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon.

  • Describe where you watched or listened to the landing.
  • Who was with you?
  • What emotions did you experience?

Write for 15 minutes.

Additional Writings

  • Choose one of the following words as your springboard. Write for 15 minutes. Man on the Moon. Half-Moon Bay. Blue Moon. Moonpie. Moonlighting. Honeymoon. Moonshine.
  • Write a 200-word fable that features two animals and the moon.

Writing Group Variations

  1. Gather in an area away from city lights with a good view of the moon.  (Consult a moonrise calendar.)
  2. Look at the moon through binoculars and a telescope. Look carefully.
  3. Take notes.
  4. Move to an indoor area and write your observations.
  5. Did anything surprise you? Do you feel an emotional connection to the moon?

 

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City Sidewalks

For Wednesday, July 16, 2014  Prompt #73

 

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Write about an encounter on a city street.

Writing Tips:

  • This can be an encounter between two people, a person and a sign,  an older person and a toddler, three dogs, or some other combination.
  • Balance observation, description, and dialogue.
  • Write for 15 minutes.

Book Suggestion: Alfred Kazin’s A Walker in the City.

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Roar!

Tuesday, July 15, 2014  Prompt #72

zoo

Yesterday afternoon, I wandered through Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo, the inspiration for today’s writing prompt.

 

Write about zoos.

 

 

 

Writing Tips:

  • You can focus on a particular zoo, animal, visit, or a opinion about zoos.
  • Or you can write in a more abstract, mixed-up, or interwoven kind of way.
  • This prompt lends itself especially well to sensory descriptions: be sure to include the sounds, sights, textures, and smells all around you.
  • Explore your emotions and state of being. What was your motivation for being at the zoo? Were you eager or reluctant to be there?

Further Writing

  • Shift your perspective with that of one of the animals. Write for 20 minutes.
  • Write about being in a zoo at dawn or dusk.

Writing Group Variations

  • Visit a zoo and spend time writing there.
  • Or swap zoo stories and write from there.
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Breakable

For Monday, July 14, 2014  Prompt #71
IMG_2104

 

 

Write about something fragile, either literal or metaphoric.

 

 

Instructions

  1. Find something fragile in your home or someone else’s home (with their permission of course). Hold it (carefully!). Put it down, describe it, using a variety of sensory details. Is it heavy in your hands? Does it make a sound if you tap it gently? Is it old and worn?
  2. If you know about the origins of the piece, write about it.
  3. Write about what it means to you.
  4. If you are remembering something long gone, write about it to the best of your recollection or fictionalize the account to add interest.

Further Writing

  • Did you ever break anything valuable? Yours or someone else’s?  Were there repercussions? Where did this take place? How old were you? Examine your emotions and state of being.
  • Write about fragility from an emotional perspective. Was there ever a time you or someone you loved felt or seemed broken?

Writing Group Variations

  • Bring something fragile to your writing group.
  • Write about your piece or someone else’s.
  • Share your writing to hear the variety of stories group members devised. What is common? Where do the stories differ?

 

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Caught!

For Sunday, July 13, 2014  Prompt #70IMG_2052

 

Today is another quick prompt:
Write about your experiences fishing or watching others fish.

 

 

 

 

Writing Tips

  • Include sensory details, including sense of smell, about place, time, weather conditions, or what you were wearing.
  • Include  specifics about the kind of fishing you were doing or watching. Ocean or river? On a bank, from a bridge, or in a boat? Talk about gear, flies, bait and other details.
  • Examine your emotions and state of being. What was your motivation for being there? Were you eager or reluctant to take part.
  • Include action — large or quiet.

 

 

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Ritual

For SaturPhoto1day, July 12, 2014  Prompt #69

Write about a ritual, either personal or public, that you have taken part in or regularly take part in.

Instructions
1. Write about the ritual in a factual step by step detail. Write for 10 minutes.
2. Next, add in emotional and sensory details, perhaps explaining what draws you to this ritual, what you like and don’t like about it, how it has changed over the years, or how you have changed it, or how you would change it if you could.

Further Writing

Create a  ritual for yourself and describe the who, what, why, when, and how of it.

For Writing Groups

  1. Share a ritual with the group.
  2. With each others’ permission, write about a change to the ritual and the reaction that participants have because of it.
  3. Read the altered rituals out loud to each other.
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One Wedding and A Funeral

Wednesday, July 9, 2014  Prompt #66

My beautiful pictureThis weekend I attended both an unexpected funeral and an impromptu wedding. (I officiated!) Most definitely a cycle-of-life few days. The next three prompts will draw off these experiencse.

Funeral

Write about the first funeral you remember attending. Include small details that have stayed with you and emotions you experienced, such as grief, fear, confusion, or curiosity.

 

Further  Writing

Write a 300-word elegy or obituary for yourself or a character.

 

For Writing Groups

Write instructions for your own funeral or memorial service or for that of a character. Write them as an extended poem or flash non-fiction piece.