[Writing Prompt] Your Voice Is Unique

One of the things newer writers worry about most is originality: how can I have an original idea when all the stories have been told.

Today we’re going to do a little exercise to prove that originality is not about the characters, the even the events of the story. Originality comes from you, writing in your voice, as only you can.

The Prompt

Write A Cinderella Story. Share (At Least An Excerpt) In The Comments 

Tips Continue reading “[Writing Prompt] Your Voice Is Unique”

What People Are Saying About StoryADay May 2014

What strikes me about this, is how often the words “fun”, “happy”, “yes!”, “accomplished” and “glad” come up in people’s comments about the StoryADay challenge.

It’s not to late to join in. Just pick up a pen, and off you go! You won’t regret it!
What people are saying about StoryADayMay 2014

“I have a slew of new things to write that I wouldn’t have thought of if I hadn’t tried StoryADay, so this is pretty great.”
-k.c.

“I’m very much looking forward to spending May with you again! Should be great!”
-s.c.

“I’m so glad I found out about this. Thank you xxx”
-l*

“Great post, exactly what I needed…Thank you!”
-l.n.

“I have surprised myself wit the creativity I have produced.”
-m.r.

“I have been looking forward to May for months, now I know why! I love having a new writing experience every day,”
-c.l.

“Haven’t written fiction IN A LONG WHILE, and I’m glad I came up with something!”
-y*

“Today’s prompt really helped me get over a block for a scene I needed for a larger work I am writing.”
-c.jr.

“I like being forced to get something down…good daily discipline.”
c.g.

“mission accomplished!”
-k.d.

“I loved this – brought a delighted grin to an old lady’s face…thanks for a good start to a sunny morning.”
-a.r.

“the guest prompt was excellent.”
-m.s.

“…only 706 words, bt I like where that prompt took me.”
-e*

“Hooray! I’m having such fun with Drabbles.”
-c.k.

“It’s late in the day, but I got a story done so I’m happy. I feel a sense of accomplishment…”
c.g.

“yes yes yes. I did it. Woo-hoo!”
-k.m.

“…a good warm up for the other writing on the agenda today.”
-s*

“glad I tried it…”
-s.j.b.

“…not bad for a first draft, I think!”
-s.j.m.

“I’m not really happy with [this] story…but it was fun to write.”
-c.s.

“Thank you for another good story idea,”
-s.c.

“Very rough, but…I feel good about writing it.”
-r.s.

“So much fun.”
-s.c.

“Missed a few days, but I’m back on track!”
-m.l.

“Loving StoryADay!”
-k.l.

“Happy dance !!!!!!”
-b.o.

Special thanks to all the people who are writing, providing feedback, supporting each other and inspiring me to keep writing!

[Writing Prompt] Practice Your Descriptive Writing

Yesterday’s prompt about dialogue, probably didn’t leave you much room for descriptive writing .Today, on the other hand, is you change to channel your inner Tolkein.

The Prompt

Write A Story Rich In Description

Tips

  • The trick to good descriptive writing is to pick which details to highlight and which to exclude. You are like a photographer, framing a shot, not a draughtsman, capturing every detail of a room.
  • Description sets the mood: a dark and stormy night suggests something about the story that’s about to be told. You can, of course, play with the reader’s expectations and set a funeral on a sunny day, but again that sets the mood. The jarring quality of the weather and the occasion tell us something about how the characters feel about the events.
  • A description of a person can tell the reader more than simply what you, the author, sees in the character you’re describing. It can tell them how the character sees herself, or how the character is viewed by the person viewing them. Perhaps you can have two different characters describe the same person, and show how their feelings about the person color their description.
  • Don’t forget to include action and character development in your story. Use the descriptive writing to serve them. Remember, you’re writing a story, not painting a still life!
  • Browse the archives for other articles about descriptive writing, if you’re stuck.

GO!

Are you a fan of descriptive writing or do you tend to skip over those parts when you’re reading? Did you find this an easy or hard exercise. Did you learn anything today? Leave a comment or join the discussion in the community.

[Writing Prompt] Give Your Characters A Voice

Today we’re going to focus on dialogue.

Gripping, realistic dialogue can bring a story and its characters to life. Writing great dialogue, however, takes practice.

The Prompt

Write A Story Told Almost Completely In Dialogue

Tips

  • Remember that how we speak (what we say and what we don’t say) is heavily influenced by how we’re feeling — what kind of day we’re having; how we feel about what we’re saying; how we feel about who we’re saying it to.
  • Use emotions to dictate word choice, length of sentence (if you’re breathless because the object of your affection is actually talking to you, your sentences are going to be fragmentary. If you’re talking about a your life’s work, you’re going to use big words and jargon and hardly pause for breath).
  • Remember that no-one really talks like they do in plays: no-one listens carefully and answers appropriately, and no-one tells the whole truth.
  • You can use play format to write this (” STAN: I can’t believe you said that! / MOLLY [walking away]: Believe it, bub.”).
  • You can write this is a more traditionally narrative way (“I can’t believe you said that!” / “Believe it, bub” / “Come back, please! Honey?”)
  • You can include dialogue tags and ‘stage directions’ if you feel you need them. This can be helpful if more than two people are talking. (“‘I can’t believe you said that!’ / ‘Believe it, bub,’ Molly said. / ‘You are so screwed, bro.’ Dan shook his head as he watched his friend’s wife walk away, her head held high. ‘I think she means it this time.’ “)
  • Don’t go crazy with the dialogue tags (…she cheered; she exulted… “She said” is usually fine). And watch your adjectives, unless you’re writing a Tom Swift parody!
  • People rarely use each other’s names in everyday speech. Resist the temptation to have your characters do it. Instead, focus on making each character’s way of expressing themselves distinctive. (How often have you heard a story your friend told you, laughed, and said ‘yup, that sounds like something he’d say’? People DO sound different from each other. Use that.)
  • It might be easiest to limit this story to two characters so you can really focus on each of their voices — with maybe a walk-on part from a waiter or a cop or the person they’ve been waiting for, just to mix things up.

GO!

What form did you decide on? How did this go for you? Do you usually write a lot of dialogue or was this new for you? Leave a comment below or chat about it in the community.

[Writing Prompt] Lights, Camera, Action!

How did you get on yesterday? Did you post in the comments or the community about your writing? Which proverb or ‘theme’ did you use?

Every story — even the most literary, introspective story — needs action.

Stuff must happen.

Action is the agent of change and your characters must change (even for a moment) or face an opportunity for change,  for your story to interest people. “Stuff happening” is what gives you the opportunity to show that opportunity for change.

The Prompt

Write A Story Wrapped Around An Action Scene

Tips Continue reading “[Writing Prompt] Lights, Camera, Action!”

[Writing Prompt] Gabriela Pereira – Musical Cues

The Prompt

Choose a piece of music from the list below. Listen through it once or twice and get your mind in the mood of the music. Then start writing.

  • Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saens
  • Fanfare for the Common Man by Aaron Copland
  • Egmont Overture by Ludwig van Beethoven
  • Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18 (II. Adagio Sostenuto) by Sergei Rachmaninoff
  • The Planets by Gustav Holst (choose one movement)

Gabriela Pereira is the Creative Director and Instigator of DIY MFA, the do-it-yourself alternative to a Masters degree in writing. She creates workshops and tools to help writers get the MFA experience without going to school.

DIYMFA.com logoGabriela holds an MFA in Writing for Children from The New School. When she’s not teaching or designing learning tools for DIY MFA, she enjoys writing some fiction of her own. She especially loves writing middle grade and teen fiction, with a few “”short stories for grown-ups”” thrown in for good measure. Visit DIYMFA.com to learn more about Gabriela and DIY MFA.

[Also, don’t miss the Writer Igniter visual prompt machine at Gabriela’s site. So much fun!]