This prompt was inspired by Amy Silverberg’s story Suburbia! which you can find in The Best American Short Stories 2018
The Prompt
Write a story with some magical realism in it
[Write On Wednesday] Magical Realism
[Write On Wednesday] Childhood Trips
This prompt was inspired by Kristen Iskandrian’s short story Good With Boys, which I reviewed in the Reading Room.
The Prompt
Write a story based on a trip you took in childhood
Tips
Continue reading “[Write On Wednesday] Childhood Trips”[Reading Room] Good With Boys by Kristen Iskandrian
This story captures the intensity of pre-teen life in all its aching glory and vibrating physicality. If you’re looking for a story that’s an example of how to create a strong voice for your first-person character, read this one!
The Opening
Continue reading “[Reading Room] Good With Boys by Kristen Iskandrian”125 – Goals vs. Reality
Setting writing goals is one thing. Living with them, quite another.
This month’s theme at StoryADay is Goals Vs. Reality.
LINKS:
Your invitation to the March Hangout: This event has passed
Breaking Writers’ Block ebook: https://amzn.to/2Xq13My
The YouTube version of this podcast: https://youtu.be/QNfeGG6hsPA
SWAGr for March 2019
Post your goals for this month and let us know how you got on with last month’s goals.
Leave a comment below telling us how you got on last month, and what you plan to do next month, then check back in on the first of each month, to see how everyone’s doing.
Continue reading “SWAGr for March 2019”[Write On Wednesday] Alchemists
We’re all alchemists, here, turning an abundant resource (ideas) into something much more valuable (stories) and today i want you to include some alchemy in your story
The Prompt
Write a flash fiction story in which a character transforms something seemingly worthless into something valuable
Tips
Continue reading “[Write On Wednesday] Alchemists”What I Know About Flash Fiction
Since February is all about Flash Fiction around here, I’ve put together these resources for you, on the joyful thing that is Flash Fiction.
Oh, and if you haven’t read the Rose Metal Press Field Guide To Flash Fiction, you should.
Flash Fiction is fabulous way to:
- Tighten up your writing in longer projects
- Practice writing quick stories, for StoryADay May
- Rediscover the joy of finishing stories
Here are some Flash Fiction Essentials to get you started writing in this demanding, but fun form.
| Reading Flash | 4 Ways To Think About Flash | Podcasts About Flash | Further Reading From Around The Web |
Continue reading “What I Know About Flash Fiction”[Write On Wednesday] Time’s Up
This month’s focus is on Flash Fiction. Flash isn’t just short, it is urgent. And so is today’s prompt
The Prompt
Time’s Up
Tips
Continue reading “[Write On Wednesday] Time’s Up”124 – Being A Writer
What kind of writer are you? What kind of culture do you want to create? What kind of writing life are you aiming for?
In this episode I ponder these questions and talk a little about this month’s theme of Flash Fiction.
And I invite you to share what inspires you, right now: https://stada.me/124
:LINKS:
Seth Godin’s The Big Sort https://stada.me/g-bigsort
Chuck Wending’s blog post about writers and day jobs https://stada.me/w-dayjob
Story Review: Joan of Arc Sits Naked In Her Dorm Room https://stada.me/rr-joan
More short stories:
And You Thought Your Last Breakup Was Bad: Five love stories by Matt Leibel https://stada.me/leibel
Seven Stories by Alex Epstein https://stada.me/epstein
Sh*t Boyfriends, stories by Kathy Fish and Dorothy Bendel https://stada.me/valentine
:CREDITS:
Main title music by Alan McPike: https://www.standardstrax.com/
Incidental music by Rebecca Reads www.fiverr.com/rebecca_reads
[Write on Wednesday]Anachrony
This week’s prompt was inspired by the flash fiction story Joan of Arc Sits Naked In Her Dorm Room by Rachel Engelman
The Prompt
Write a 750 word story featuring a character from history or mythology, but place them in a different era
Tips
Continue reading “[Write on Wednesday]Anachrony”[Reading Room] Joan of Arc Sits Naked In Her Dorm Room by Rachel Engelman
This story won the 2018 2018 Stella Kupferberg Memorial Short Story Prize and was performed as part of the Selected Shorts series at Symphony Space in NYC. (Be still my heart. Can you imagine?!)
I love stories like this. It’s an excellent example of what short stories can do.
There is no need to explain how Joan of Arc (and it does seem like it is the Joan of Arc) is somehow inhabiting a modern American university or college. In a short story, you can trust your readers to come along for the ride, no matter how surreal, as long as everything makes sense within the story world you create.
And in this story, it does.
Continue reading “[Reading Room] Joan of Arc Sits Naked In Her Dorm Room by Rachel Engelman”[Write On Wednesday] Good From Bad
Yesterday, I reviewed “Useless Things” by Ariel Berry, and it gave me the writing prompt for today’s Flash Fiction focused prompt
The Prompt
Write a story of fewer than 1000 words, that features a twist on a topic/event that might be seen as a disaster. Show us how your character pulls another meaning from it
Tips
Continue reading “[Write On Wednesday] Good From Bad”Feb 19 Critique Week
Three times a year I offer an opportunity to have a story reviewed by me and a group of your peers. Find out more here
While you’re here, why not subscribe to the podcast? It’s 20 minutes of free audio inspiration every other Saturday.
[Reading Room] Useless Things by Ariel Berry
Since we’re all about Flash Fiction here at StoryADay during February, I’m going to be highlighting some flash stories here in the Reading Room. This story comes from 100WordStory.com, a project from NaNoWriMo’s Grant Faulker, and partners.
Useless Things by Ariel Berry caught my eye because of its mix of big ideas and mundane moments in life. It does what short fiction is supposed to do: make us stop, figure out what’s happening, and think about how we might deal with a similar situation in our life.
Continue reading “[Reading Room] Useless Things by Ariel Berry”123 – When The Writing Stalls
What do you do when it’s difficult to write? Here’s what I did this week.
You can find all the links and discussion I talked about, here: https://storyaday.org/when-writing-stalls
And here’s the Serious Writers’ Accountability Group (SWAGr) for Feb 2019: https://storyaday.org/swagr-feb-2019/
SWAGr for Feb 2019
Post your goals for this month and let us know how you got on with last month’s goals.
Leave a comment below telling us how you got on last month, and what you plan to do next month, then check back in on the first of each month, to see how everyone’s doing.
Continue reading “SWAGr for Feb 2019”What I Do When The Writing Stalls
I’ve been stalling on writing this blog post for about two weeks.
Don’t worry, it’s not bad news or anything. I just couldn’t write it.
You know the feeling, right? You want to work on a project, but every time you sit down, something is wrong. You can’t find your way into the story, or you are seized with a sudden urge to research the perfect lamp for your desk…
My Favorite Productivity Hack
To get this post going, I used one of my favorite, sure-fire tricks:
Continue reading “What I Do When The Writing Stalls”[Write on Wednesday] Weather Or Not
Since everyone in my orbit is talking about it anyway, let’s write about the weather!
The Prompt
Write a story in an environment where the weather is so extreme that it shapes everything: actions, metaphors, hopes & dreams…
Tips
Continue reading “[Write on Wednesday] Weather Or Not”[Write On Wednesday] Rescue Me
If you’re writing for publication, it’s important to be aware of lead-times, (i.e. the time between when an editor says ‘yes’ to your story and the date the publication goes live). They can be long, so if you’re writing a seasonal story, you need to be submitting months in advance. That’s why today’s prompt is for October’s National Adopt A Shelter Dog month. Write your doggie story today and start pitching it now!
The Prompt
Write a story featuring a dog
Tips
Continue reading “[Write On Wednesday] Rescue Me”122 – A Room Of One’s Own
As a writer, what do you need? Do you need a desk? A room of your own? Scrivener? A pad and paper and something to lean on?
The answer is probably ‘it depends’. And it’s important to figure out what you need, and when.
Other writers (often in the form of writers’ groups) can help you find your groove as a writer.
In this episode I talk about finding your groove, and the value of writers’ groups.
[Write On Wednesday] The Writing Group
Have you ever been part of a Writers’ Group? There’s good (Solidarity! Feedback! Deadlines!) and bad (Jealousy! Bitchiness! Blowhards!). This week I invite you to write the story of a writers’ group.
The Prompt
Imagine a writer’s group. Write a story about one of their meetings (or a series of meetings
Tips
- This ground seems ripe for satire and farce, to me, but perhaps that’s just the way my mind works. (I refer you to @guyinyourMFAclass for inspiration!)
- Put a writer (like or unlike) yourself into the group. Have a clear sense of who your protagonist is, what they want, what they don’t want, and what internal struggles cause them potential problems with other characters in this group. What, in their background, caused this internal flaw and how does that play into how they react to other people?
- Go to town, pitting your protagonist against people who appeal to them or who play on that internal struggle (knowingly or otherwise).
- Don’t forget to bring the story to a head over one incident, one moment, and show us how the protagonist deals with it.
Go!
Photo credit: Ondřej Lipár
[Write On Wednesday] The Group
Ever been forced to be part of a group project? Ever joined a community group because you felt like you ought to? Ever been part of a voluntary group that you loved?
Today’s prompt encourages you to mine those experiences to create a story with an ensemble cast.
The Prompt
Write A Story Centered Around a Group of People Trying To Achieve One Goal
Tips
SWAGr for January 2019
Post your goals for this month and this new year!
Let us know how you got on with last month’s goals and how you feel about the past year. What did you learn? What did you finish? What did you give up? What did you start?
Leave a comment below telling us how you got on last month, and what you plan to do next month, then check back in on the first of each month, to see how everyone’s doing. Continue reading “SWAGr for January 2019”
121- Happy Hogmanay 2018
In which I encourage you to celebrate the end/start of the year however makes you happiest!
If you want planning docs find them here: https://stada.me/pace
If you want to set some goals for January, check in at StoryADay.org on Jan 1 for our SWAGr group.
And if your goals are simply to stand in front of the mirror every day and say “I am a writer” (see last podcast for identity), that’s OK too (I suspect if you do that, you’ll end up actually writing).
Other resources at StoryADay to help jump start your writing after a break:
Help! I’m Drowning In Story Ideas: https://stada.me/stadadrown
Does Thinking Count As Writing?: https://stada.me/stadathink
[Write On Wednesday] New Beginnings
A new year is almost upon us. News sites and shows and all your favourite blogs are urging you to think about resolutions and goals and all the way in which Next Year will be Better than every other year that’s gone before.
Of course, that’s not exactly how it works, is it?
The Prompt
Write About A New Beginning
Tips
- Pick a character who needs a new beginning, or who wants a new beginning, and write about the moment they make that decision or embark on the new thing.
- Or, pick a character who had no interest in beginning again and force them into a situation where they must.
- This story could be tragic (new beginnings are often triggered by tragedy, because new beginnings are often too disruptive to be embarked on by choice), or it could be comedic, hopeful, dark, or joy-filled. It depends on you, your mood, your writing preferences and the character you picked.
- Make sure to show us your character’s journey thorughout the story. Let them develop If they begin the story wary and unwilling, show us a moment of hope, where things might go well (even if you decide to go dark in the end).
- Remember to make the reader (and yourself) FEEL something for the character and the struggles they’re going through. That feeling might be as difficult and safe as humor, or it might be a sentimental weep-fest. Or it might just be that glimmer of hope.
- Think about a new beginning you experienced. What emotions did you feel? How did they manifest in your body and your mind, and in your actions? What can you take from that and put into your story?
Leave a comment and let us know what you wrote about, and how it went.
Photo Credit. Dafne Cholet (CC BY 2.0)
[Write On Wednesday] Word List Redux
It’s a crazy time of year. You’re busy. You don’t have time to write. You certainly don’t have time to write anything good.
Great. Write something silly today. Write a story that can’t possibly be good because it came from a ridiculous prompt.
The Prompt
Use these words in your story:
Sea kelp, annointed, onion, flabby, twist, anachronistic, bing, fly, bauble, sun
Tips
- Write a story and highlight the words as you use them.
- Allow yourself to write something silly, ridiculous, bad.
- Set a timer if you have to.
- Marvel at how, even in this ridiculous exercise, you managed to write at least one line you were really pleased with
- Post your story in the comments if you dare (it’s fun to see what everyone else comes up with). But remind yourself, you do not have to show it to anyone.
Go!
120 – Identity And Outcomes
Should you focus on your goals (the outcome you want) or your identity (“I am a writer”) if you want to succeed?
This week I talk about the idea that it is much easier to create a good habit if you see yourself as the type of person who DOES a thing, rather than as someone who wishes they had the ability/time/resources to do a thing.
LINKS:
Atomic Habits by James Clear: https://stada.me/atomic (Amazon affiliate link)
StoryADay Set & Meet Goals post: https://stada.me/pace
[Write On Wednesday] Roll Up, Roll Up, Roll Up!
Today’s prompt is a kind of carnival game, a tombola, a random lucky dip.
When I was a kid, I loved going to church bazaars and village fetes and Christmas Fairs.
Aside from scanning the cheap paperbacks and making a beeline for the bakery stall to see if Carol-Anne’s dad had made his famous tablet, I loved nothing more than the Lucky Dip.
Hand over a coin and plunge your hand into a huge barrel of cold, scratchy sawdust, trying not to get any stuck under your nails. Try not to think about the unfortunate association of the smell of sawdust with all the times somebody threw up at school and the janitor came by with his trusty bucket of the stuff. Rummage around until your fingers find the smooth crinkle of something wrapped in cheap, thin paper. Pull it out and lo! you have a gift. No idea what it would be. It might be something ‘meh’, or it might be something cool like a spinning top or a plastic penny whistle, or one of those little puzzles with the balls you have to roll around until they are all in the right divots; something I could play with all afternoon then shove it in a drawer and re-discover periodically over the next few years.
Whatever I got, it was something I hadn’t expected. And it was mine, all mine!
Below, you’ll find a lucky-dip of sorts, a prompt from the archives of over 500 prompts at StoryADay. It has been generated especially for you!
The Prompt
This is your randomly generated prompt: Continue reading “[Write On Wednesday] Roll Up, Roll Up, Roll Up!”
[Write On Wednesday] Write A Holiday Story
It can be overwhelming to sit down to write a story.
When you could write about anything it can become difficult to decide what to write about. These writing prompts are meant to put limits on your choices, in order to make your creative gears grind.
The Prompt
Write A Short Story That Features or Refers To A Holiday
Tips
Continue reading “[Write On Wednesday] Write A Holiday Story”
[Reading Room] There’s No Such Place As Bedford Falls by Joanne Harris
The Reading Room is a series of posts analyzing short stories I have read, with a writer’s eye.
This Christmas story was first published in the UK’s The Telegraph newspaper in 2007.
Opening Line
It’s six in the morning, and Santa’s on the blink.
This certainly fulfills my need for an opening line to be intriguing. (The phrase ‘on the blink’, means ‘malfunctioning’ for those not raised in the UK!)
Of course, the story very quickly delivers on the line. The Santa in question is a light-up decoration (hooray, for a double-meaning for the phrase ‘on the blink’! I’m seeing blinking lights now). Continue reading “[Reading Room] There’s No Such Place As Bedford Falls by Joanne Harris”
SWAGr for December 2018
Post your goals for this month and let us know how you got on with last month’s goals.
Leave a comment below telling us how you got on last month, and what you plan to do next month, then check back in on the first of each month, to see how everyone’s doing. Continue reading “SWAGr for December 2018”