[Writing Prompt] – Time

Write a story that hinges in some way on time: the passage of, warping of, misperception of, freezing of, measurement of, gadgets for tracking, etc.

Hooray! Day 5 and you’re still coming back for more. Hope the writing is going well, but if not, keep plugging away at it. It’ll come. Why not read and comment on someone else’s work to inspire you?

Since this is a time-limited writing challenge I thought it was about time we wrote, well, about time.

The Prompt

Write a story that hinges in some way on time: the passage of, warping of, misperception of, freezing of, measurement of, gadgets for tracking, etc.

If you need a little inspirations on the workings of time and our obsessions with it, try this collection from the British Museum.

Go!

And when you have written your story, log in and post your success in The Victory Dance group or simply comment on this post and let the congrats come flying in.

[Writing Prompt] – The Death of Imagination

Day 4 and you’re back for more. Good for you!
How’s it going? Don’t forget to check in at the forums or leave a comment on this post when you’ve written today, or if you need a little encouragement.

The Prompt

Today, write a story in which imagination and fanciful stuff like art and interpretation have been outlawed. What kind of implications would that have? Why did they do it?

(What if no-one had had the imagination to see the importance in stopping to take this picture? How would language sound without metaphors? Would we, without history, be doomed to repeat it?)

Go!

And when you have written your story, log in and post your success in The Victory Dance group or simply comment on this post and let the congrats come flying in.

[Writing Prompt] – Twitter Fiction

Day three and it’s a holiday in the US, my kids go back to school tomorrow and frankly, I think we all deserve an easy day today so…

The Prompt

Write a Twitter length story. 140 characters. That’s it.

(But watch out. It’ll take longer than you think to come up with a real story and then trim it down to 140 characters. Get some inspiration here.)

Go!

 

And when you have written your story, log in and post your success in The Victory Dance group or simply comment on this post and let the congrats come flying in.

[Writing Prompt] Wanted

You’re back for the second day for writing! Good for you! I’m proud of you.

The Prompt

Today, pick a character (maybe someone from your past, maybe someone you’ve been imagining for years, maybe someone you’ve written about before).

Give that character something to want. It can be as simple as wanting a place to sit down, or as grand as wanting to save the world.

Show us how much they want it, somewhere near the beginning of the story. Make it their guiding principle for every action they take, every word they say throughout the story. See how it shapes everything, and how it frees you from having to explain why they are doing what they are doing, all the time? Nice, eh?

Near the end of the story you’re going to have to decide whether we see your character get what they want, be thwarted, or limp off into the sunset still seeking after it. Show us that scene.

Go!

 

And when you have written your story log in and post your success in The Victory Dance group or simply comment on this post and let the congrats come flying in.

[Writing Prompt] – Saturday Morning

Welcome to StoryADay September 2012!! You’ve signed up. I’m so proud of you!

Well, while you are welcome to write whatever the heck you want today, here’s a prompt to help you out in the unlikely event that you can’t even come up with one idea 😉

The Prompt

Write a story set on a Saturday morning in the era during which you were a kid. It doesn’t have to be you (or a kid) in the story, but make your story capture the feel, the colors, the sounds of the time.

Don’t forget to make it a story though: something has to happen, someone has to change; we must see a beginning, a middle and an end.

Go!

And when you have written your story log in and post your success in The Victory Dance group or simply comment on this post and let the congrats come flying in.

A Challenge — And A Gift

StoryADay September ’12 starts TOMORROW!

But more about in a minute.

First: I have a gift for you, and a favor to ask.

StoryADay September ’12 starts TOMORROW!

But more about in a minute.

First: I have a gift for you, and a favor to ask.

The Gift: Your Tools For Breaking Writers’ Block

StoryADay.org Guide To Breaking Writers' Block kindle edition coverThis will be my fourth StoryADay challenge. I’ve had to get pretty good at side-stepping writers’ block.

Now you can have 60+ of my best techniques for breaking through resistance, in handy ebook form, free until Sunday Sept 2, 2012

The StoryADay.org Guide To Breaking Writers’ Block

You can get your copy FREE until Sunday, Sept 2 just by clicking ‘buy’.

What’s Inside?

The tips are arranged by section:

  • Creativity Exercises
  • Physical Comfort
  • Goal-Setting
  • Accountability and Rewards
  • Examining The Problem
  • Boot Camp (Just Do It!)
  • Prove It To Yourself
  • Seeking Inspiration

You can read the book through once or dip in and out whenever you need a boost.

Why Free?

Honestly, it’s a blatant attempt to rise higher in the Amazon rankings and improve the visibility of my book. Every copy downloaded by you (or someone you tell about it) in the next few days, boosts its sales rankings and helps future, paying readers find it. This, in turn, helps me pay for StoryADay.org and keep it free to you. Oh, and it’s DRM-free, so you should be able to share it between devices freely.

Why Kindle?

Ebooks are easy and Amazon makes it particularly easy to get your book into the distribution stream. They offer 70% royalties, which was unheard of in the publishing world before they came along. And I love my Kindle.

Also, I’m researching the whole process and writing it up, and will release a report on it a few months from now. You’ll be able to use this report to figure out whether or not it’s worth your time to put together your own ebook (a collection of short stories perhaps?) and how to avoid making mistakes along the way. This report will be free to members of the StoryADay.org Advance Notice List.

What You Can Do

You are welcome to download the book and do nothing more. But I would really, really appreciate it if you would consider doing some of the following steps. It really helps.

  • “Buy” the book during the free promotion period (before Sept 2)
  • Share the link with writer friends and tell them to buy it while it’s free.
  • Repost the link at Facebook, Twitter, your blog, whatever other social media you use,
  • Leave a review at Amazon. 20 words is all it takes and it makes a huge difference tot he book’s visibility.
  • Read the book and get excited about your writing

Get Your Free Copy of the StoryADay.org Guide To Breaking Writers’ Block NOW

StoryADay September Is Almost Here!

Tomorrow. Can that be right? Tomorrow?!

OK, deep breath.

If you’re NOT doing the StoryADay Sept’12 challenge, no need to unsubscribe. This list will not be flooded with daily prompts or chatter about the challenge. You’ll have to get on the Daily Prompt email list or go into the community for all that stuff. You’ll just get a nice, helpful writing-related post now and then, and news about upcoming challenges.

But, even if you’re too busy with other projects, why not goad your writing friends and challenge them to take part? It’s not too late! 😉

If you ARE doing the September Challenge here are a few things you might want to be checking:

  • Have you subscribed to the Daily Prompt email? You don’t have to, and you certainly don’t have to write to them, but some people find it useful. If you don’t want a nagging, I mean “inspiring”, email in your inbox every morning, you can still find the prompts on the blog every day if you ever need them.
  • Have you joined the community? It’s a great place to check in and post your Victory Dance every day, or get encouragement from others when you are lagging.
  • Have you added your name to the blogroll? There’s nothing like a little publicity to keep you honest!
  • Are you collecting story sparks? Keep collecting them every day during the challenge and you’ll always have something to write about.
  • Have you downloaded your free copy of the StoryADay.org Guide to Breaking Writers’ Block? You might need it in ten days or so…

And that’s it from me, except to wish you luck, persistence and courage.

See you in the forums?

 

Keep writing,

Julie