A question from Mary Robinette Kowal, to prompt today’s story
The Prompt
The thing that I want you to think about is is just the answer to a question :
What’s in your character’s pocket?
So is there a thing that they carry with them all the time?
Is there something that they have put in their pocket specifically just in that moment?
Do they not carry anything in their pocket? How can they get away with that?
What’s in their pocket?
Mary Robinette Kowal
Mary Robinette Kowal is the author of The Spare Man, Ghost Talkers,The Glamourist Histories series, and the Lady Astronaut Universe. She is part of the award-winning podcast Writing Excuses and a four-time Hugo Award winner. Her short fiction appears in Uncanny, Tor.com, and Asimov’s. Mary Robinette, a professional puppeteer, lives in Nashville. Visit at maryrobinettekowal.com or visit her Patreon
Catch Mary Robinette Kowal on the StoryADay podcast here: Part 1| Part 2
Join the discussion: what will you do with today’s prompt OR how did it go? Need support? Post here!
Here’s your next Game Piece. save the image and share on social media with #storyaday
Write a story using this helpful structure from Rachel Swearingen
The Prompt
Expand, Narrow, Explode the Frame
Write a scene in which a character is looking for something or someone that has been lost. Use all the senses to describe the setting. Give us a sense of the body and include the following “moves” in any order:
1. Allow the details of the scene to feel close, contained, even constricting. 2. Describe the thing that has been lost, a brief memory perhaps that has been triggered by its loss. 3. Look down. Zoom in on something very small. 4. Bring in a distant sound. 5. Draw attention to an opening of some sort, a window, a door, a hole in the wall or in a dense wood or in a thick covering of clouds, for example. 6. Can your character see or sense what is beyond that opening? 7. Allow your character to climb down or up or into for to a new vantage point. 8. Is your character alone? Invite a stranger to the scene. What happens now?
Rachel Swearingen
Rachel Swearingen is the author of “How to Walk on Water and other short stories” which received the New American Press Fiction Prize. Find out more at RachelSwearingen.com
Join the discussion: what will you do with today’s prompt OR how did it go? Need support? Post here!
Here’s your next Game Piece. save the image and share on social media with #storyaday
Read this tips for the StoryADay Challenge…and get your gameboard!
May is almost upon us!
Here are some tips on how to participate fully in the challenge:
Gamify your Experience
Each day of the challenge I’ll post a graphic you can save and share to chart your progress. Keep it secret or share on social media using #storyaday
OR If you’d like to get away from the screen and do some handi-crafts, print out this version of the game board and pieces. Cut out a piece for every day your write and paste it onto the game board. Proudly display it in a public space or take pictures and share on social media, using #storyaday
Set your own rules
You don’t have to write every day but you should push yourself to do as much as feels a little intimidating…and then review every week to see if you want to change your commitment)
Set up your workspace
Pick a notebook or create a folder on your computer to house all your StoryADay related writings
Always Put a Date on Your Work
Especially if you’re hand-writing. You won’t be sorry!
Do Your Victory Dance
Every day, come back to the blog and post to let the community know how you got on…yes, even if you didn’t get on well!
The support you’ll get is well worth the effort!
Don’t Catch Up
I mean, if you are highly motivated by streaks, you can.
For the rest of us, I strongly recommend closing the door on days when you didn’t write.
Part of the point of this challenge is to learn about how write, long-term. Do you tend get crushed by set-backs? Learn to keep going during this challenge!
(Use the community to help keep going. Post if you need a word of encouragement)
Keep It Secret, Keep It Safe
I do encourage you to post about your writing, but I don’t encourage you to post your actual stories.
For one thing, the idea of having to write AND polish a story every day is paralyzing (trust me, I always try to find ways to circumvent this truth, and I never succeed). Just write. Play in the mud. Make a mess. Enjoy yourself.
The second reason is more practical: if you ever want to have someone else publish your piece, they likely won’t take it if it has been published somewhere before, even on your blog or social media.
Keep Track of Your Progress
Not just whether you wrote or not, but how you’re feeling, how the effort is going, anything else that will help you build your writing practice, after the challenge is over.