This is a very silly prompt, but it always gets people writing!
Guest Writing Prompt from Jerry B. Jenkins
Today’s guest prompt is from the legendary Jerry B. Jenkins, co-author of the Left Behind series and many, many other best sellers, and host of the fabulously generous writing resource: JerryJenkins.com. I’ve been poking around inside his new Writers’ Guild (a memership site for writers). It’s well worth a look, and I’ll be posting a review of it later in the summer.
Updated: As a bonus, Jerry’s asked me to share this article with you:How To Become An Author
The Prompt
You head the credit union at a company that requires employees to explain needs for loans. One pleads privately for confidentiality, and you talk the the board into his loan, based on their trust in you. You go to your grave without revealing his secret, which is…
Jerry B. Jenkins has written 187 books with sales of more than 70 million copies. He’s had 21 New York Times bestsellers, including the Left Behind series. He now shares his writing knowledge with aspiring authors at JerryJenkins.com.
Fourth Grade Spelling List
This is a ridiculous and fun little exercise. Try it!
Here’s another prompt that’s going to make it difficult for you to try to write a brilliant story. We’re focusing this week on productivity, quantity not quality. And here’s the secret, when you’re not too worried about the quality, you quite often find that your writing is better than you expected.
The Prompt
Write a story containing all of these words from a fourth grade spelling list.
- Blame
- State
- Frame
- Holiday
- Relay
- Waist
- Pail
- Gain
- Raise
- Mayor
- Airplane
- Remain
010 – The Challenge Day 1
You’re doing it! Good for you!
Today’s episode is a pep talk and your first writing prompt. This week’s theme is “Limits”
You can leave a comment about today’s story here: http://storyaday.org/prompt-30-mins/
Write A Story In 30 Minutes
This prompt is a great one for the first day because this is a day when you’re probably the most excited about the challenge and your ambitions are high and you’re quite likely to try and do too much.
The Prompt
Write a story in 30 minutes
I would rather you try to do too little and succeed and try to do too much and fai. Hence the limit on timing.
Tips
- Set a timer. I know you probably have a phone clutched in your hand right now. Tell it to set a timer for 30 minutes. Don’t start it yet.
- Every story starts with character. Think of your favorite type of character from somebody else’s fiction. Do you like Jack Reacher? He’s heroic he’s almost impossible to beat in a fight. And yet Lee Child manages to make him an interesting character. Is this the kind of character you like? If not what do you like? Write down qualities of characters that you love to read about, now.
- Once you have a character, think about something that this character would never ever do.
- Think of a way to back this character into a corner where they must do the thing they would never do.
- For example all Harry Potter wants to do is find a place to belong, a place to call home. He finds it at Hogwarts. The last thing he would ever do is risk getting kicked out of Hogwarts. But what does he do in every book? He risks getting kicked out of Hogwarts. He does it to save his friends, to further the course of right, and ultimately to save his world.On a smaller scale in All The Light You Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, the main character is a young blind girl who relies utterly on her doting father. The last thing she would want is to be separated from her father and have to cope with life on her own. But along comes World War II and the Nazis and guess what she has to do? It’s not a big adventure novel there are some explosions (not in a Bruce Willis kind of way), but the tension is very real because were worried about this poor vulnerable girl and what she’s going to do in her circumstances. Pick something for your character that will push them beyond their comfort zone.
- Think about this for a little while. It might be best if you think about this while you go off and do whatever it is you have to do today, and then come back to writing later.
- think about how late you can start the story. You don’t have to write background, telling us who the character is, what her daily life is all about. That’s for movies. This is a short story. We don’t have the space for that. Short story writers can start closer to the middle of the action — we can start in medias res, the middle of the action. Later, we show the reader the stakes, through conversation or actions. They don’t need to know everything in the opening paragraph.
- OK, you have a few ideas? Great! Start your timer.
- How to write a story in 30 minutes Write for no more than 10 minutes on the opening of the story. At the 10 minute mark make sure that you’re moving into the main action of the story: the complications, making things worse for your protagonist, making things funnier/more harrowing/more interesting. At the 25 minute mark, start wrapping up: even if the story isn’t completely finished, even if you have to write [something cool happens here], draw a line under the middle part of your story and get the resolution. Wrap it up by the time you hit the 30 minute mark. First draft: done!
- This is difficult, and you’re not going to end up with a fabulous polished story. (You might, but you shouldn’t expect to.) However writing to the end of the story gives you a first draft that you can go back and clean up later. The experience of going from beginning to end in 30 minutes proves to you that you can do this. Congratulations! You have a complete story. Now start thinking about what you might write about tomorrow!
Guest Writing Prompt from Jonathan Maberry
JONATHAN MABERRY is a NY Times bestselling novelist, five-time Bram Stoker Award winner, and comic book writer.
Today we’re kicking off StoryADay May 2016 with a prompt from the fabulous Jonathan Maberry. (If you have a chance to hear him speak at a writer’s conference/group/signing, go! You’ll be inspired to run home and write!)
The Prompt
When Terry began scrolling through her phone, none of the photos she found were hers.
Welcome to StoryADay 2016
Welcome to Week One!
This weeks’s theme: Limits
I know you’re excited. I know you want to get started on your great masterpiece. But setting that kind of pressure on yourself is the fastest way I know to a crippling case of writers block.
This week I’m going to impose limits on your writing that will make it almost impossible for you to write something great. This is my gift to you.
SWAGr Post for May 2016
Posting a little early for May, since tomorrow’s a big day at the site. Don’t forget to post your commitments here, even if you’re not doing the StoryADay May challenge this year. And we’d love to have you stop by and cheer people on every so often during the month!
Every month we gather here to discuss what we’ve achieved and commit to making more progress in our creative lives in the coming month. We call it our Serious Writer’s Accountability Group or SWAGr, for short! (We’re serious, not sombre!)
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.
(It doesn’t have to be fiction. Feel free to use this group to push you in whatever creative direction you need.)
Did you live up to your commitment from last month? Don’t remember what you promised to do? Check out the comments from last month.
And don’t forget to celebrate with/encourage your fellow SWAGr-ers on their progress!
****
Examples of Goals Set By SWAGr-ers in previous months
- Write a story a day in May – everyone!
- Revise at least 10 short stories – Iraide
- Write two short stories. – Jami
- Attend one writers’ conference – Julie
- Write fable for WordFactory competition – Sonya
- Re-read the backstory pieces I wrote in May and see if I can use them within my novel – Monique
- Research the market – Jami
- Focus on my serial – Maureen
So, what will you accomplish this month? Leave your comment below (use the drop-down option to subscribe to the comments and receive lovely, encouraging notifications from fellow StADa SWAGr-ers!)
(Next check-in, 1st of the month. Tell your friends. )
Don’t forget, if you need inspiration for a story you can still get ALL THE PROMPTS from StoryADay May 2015 and support the running of the StoryADay challenge at the same time. Give a little, get a little 
Click here. Now only $2.99
009 – Tips for a Successful Month of Writing
Julie shares her best tips from 6 years of Extreme Writing Challenges, for getting your writing done this month. Don’t turn off before the last tip…it’s the best!
Music credit: Alan McPike standardstrax.com
008 – How To Write for a Month The StoryADay Way
Wondering how it’s possible to write a story a day for a month? 6 years’ worth of FAQs, condensed into one little podcast!
007 – How (and Why) To Write A StoryADay for a Month
It sounds like a crazy idea: trying to write a story a day every day for a month, and yet thousands of people have taken on this task every May since 2010. How? Why?
Listen and find out what your writing life will gain from giving it a try.
005 – Giving Yourself Permission To Write
In this episode I talk about the many, many ways we are wrong when we tell ourselves we simply can’t write!
004 – How To Become A Highly Successful Writer
Make sure that your definition of ‘success’ for your writing is really YOUR definition of writing success. Don’t allow anyone else to tell you what success looks like!
Also covering: fifth grade failures; epic wins; a look forward to December 31.
[Write On Wednesday] Dreadful Dialogue Tags
Conventional writing wisdom (these days) says that the mark of an amateur writer is to use colorful dialogue tags instead of a simple ‘she said’. Nevertheless, teachers continue to foist alternatives to ‘said’ on our children. Today’s assignment is designed to show you just how ridiculous that can become.
Have fun!
And, if you’re near King of Prussia, PA, tonight, come out to the StoryADay Live! “Un-Dreadful Dialogue” workshop hosted by the fabulous Main Line Writers’ Group!
The Prompt
Write a story featuring lots of dialogue. Every time you attribute speech to a person you must use one of the ‘alternatives to said’ from the sheet.
(Click to enlarge)
Tips
- Make sure you rely entirely on the tags to convey the emotion, leaving the dialogue itself bland and without character.
- Bonus points for making all your characters sound the same.
- Be as ridiculous as you like.
- This exercise works particularly well when your subject matter is serious or shocking.
- This whole exercise is designed to show you how ridiculous dialogue tags can wreck a serious story.
- (Remember, “he said” and “she said” become invisible when you use them well. These tags never will.)
- Make sure every single utterance has a tag, whether or not you need one. (e.g. in the case of two people speaking, you can often get away with no tags at all, especially if the conversation is short and the voices are distinct.)
- Read it (and weep).
Go!
Writing Is A Choice You Make Every Day
“Writing isn’t an event that happens to you. It isn’t a destination you arrive at. It isn’t a title you are crowned or a VIP lounge with a secret password. It’s a choice you make every day about how you will spend some hours.”
[Write On Wednesday] Steal A Title
Big News! This prompts for this year’s StoryADay May challenge are now available for pre-order as a Kindle ebook! (More formats forthcoming)
If you’re the type of person who likes to plan ahead, go ahead and pre-order your copy today. It’ll land in your Amazon account on Saturday, April 23, (automatically downloading onto your Kindle or Kindle app on your phone) giving you a week to ponder the prompts before the challenge begins.
Stuffed with all-new prompts—including material from my StoryADay Live workshops on story structure and conflict—and headed up by a section that shares road-tested tips for surviving a month of short story writing!
And now, on to this week’s prompt.
The Prompt
Steal a title from a novel or song
Tips
- You can tell the story of the song, in short story form
- You can write a completely different story, taking the title and coming up with something fresh.
- Don’t simply retell the story of someone else’s novel (that’s theft!)
[Write On Wednesday] 100 Word Story With Grandparents
Today I’m challenging you to share your story on the new Anchor App (only available for iOS just now, sorry).
The Prompt
Write A 100 Word Story Containing A Reference To Grandparents
Tips
- This can be a story about grandparents, or it can have the most tangential reference to grandparents (see my story on Anchor)
- Even if you don’t remember your grandparents, the idea of grandparents saturates our culture. I’m sure you can find some way (syrupy or sarcastic) to write about this!
- 100 word stories (also known as Drabbles) take some finessing, so I’m going to recommend writing something a little longer, then cutting it.
- A good way to think about a 100 word story is to have 25 words to set it up, 50 words for the meat of the story and 25 words for the wrap up. It’s not that neat, of course, but the formula is just a ‘way in’.
- Dribbles often come across almost like form-less poems. The descriptions and characterization certainly owe more to poetry than to novels.
- If you’re new to Anchor, download it from the app store and go through the introductory ‘first wave’ instructions, then just mash the big red button to record your story. You have two minutes, so you might want to fire up a stopwatch. When you’re finished, you can listen to the finished ‘wave’ and then click the ‘next’ arrow to move to a screen where you can give your wave a caption and a hashtag (use #storytelling and #storyaday so that I can find it and listen). Then listen to other people’s stories and hit the ‘reply’ button (you’ll have one minute to reply. When you’re listening, the app will keep playing content until you
- If you don’t have Anchor you could always record your story and upload it to your own blog or another audio hosting system.
Go!
[Write On Wednesday] Change A Headline
Did you ever, as a child, say a word so often that it lost its meaning? (“Basin”, anyone?)
Today I want you to stare at a news headline until it loses its original meaning and lets you play with it.
The Prompt
Take A News Headline And Change A Word Or Two, Sparking A Fictional Story.
Examples
For some reason, to me, this headline suggested some kind of epic fantasy with heroic quests, tasks the hero have been assigned. Continue reading “[Write On Wednesday] Change A Headline”
[Write on Wednesday] Write what you know
We’re always being told to write what we know but doesn’t that sound the teensiest bit boring?
Still, unless you have a lot of time for research, mining your own experiences can be useful…if you go about it in the right way.
The Prompt
Write a list of things you know about. Pick one. Give that knowledge to a character.
Tips
- Dig deep as you make your list. Consider all the arcana of your brain’s storehouses. Don’t discount very, very specific things like “growing up one street across from an elite military academy’s live-fire training grounds, in the 1970s” or “spending vacations in an apartment over my uncle’s store”.
- Pick something from the middle of your list. The first will be too obvious and everyday (therefore the story will not excite you) and the last one will be too weird, because you were clutching at straws. That one would require too much research and then your short story would never be written (or would demand to become a novel).
- Consider what kind of character you can give this experience to. Will the wnjoy it? Hate it? Grow up to try to hide it only to have it become important (remember Clarice in “The Silence Of The Lambs” trading secrets about her backwoods upbringing to buy Hannibal Lector’s assistance?)
- Consider giving your character a sidekick to impress/show off for/frighten/lie to.
- What does your character want? How can this specialist knowledge help/hinder in their quest. What would they do/never do? What do they need? Where are they at the start and the end of your story (metaphorically and physically).
GO!
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[Write On Wednesday] PostModern Pop Songs
The Prompt: Write A List Of Song Titles You’d Actually Be Interested In Listening To. Write The Story Behind The Song, for one of them.
![[Write On Wednesday] PostModern Pop Songs](https://storyaday.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/ehimetalor-akhere-unuabona-Ks4QgxeHlm0-unsplash-1200x800.jpg)
After you reach a certain age — or stage — of life, it seems like no one writers songs for you any more. You’ve learned a lot of the lessons pop singers seem to be struggling with. Maybe you’re (gasp!) happily married. Maybe the things you struggle with are things other than love and boys and where to go on a Saturday night.
The Prompt
Write A List Of Song Titles You’d Actually Be Interested In Listening To.
Choose One.
Write The Story Of The Character In That Song.
Tips
- Country music is probably a slightly better role model here than pop. I know there are lots of songs about a more mature kind of love, or about the kind of lifestyle people wish they were living. You could write a wishlist of how your life would look (similar to the country music odes to God, Guns, Mama, Girls and Trucks)
Continue reading “[Write On Wednesday] PostModern Pop Songs”
[Reading Room] The Rules Are The Rules by Adam Foulds
I like complex stories. But I want them to be just as satisfying on a FIRST read as they are on a second or third.
At the start, the main character, Peter, is struggling at the start with many things: his job, the kids on the soccer team and their parents (he doesn’t really like them), his faith, his urge to be a father himself…
Continue reading “[Reading Room] The Rules Are The Rules by Adam Foulds”
I Hereby Grant You Permission To Write
In the middle of the 20th Century “Art” because professionalized, to the point where we felt we didn’t deserve to tell stories unless a New York publishing house was slapping it between hardcovers, or an overpriced university program anointed us “Writer, MFA”.
This was an aberration; a moment in history that did not exist before and does not exist now.
Humans have always sat around and told each other stories, without the benefit of editors or tutors or anyone giving us permission. We told stories to audiences, and we gauged their reaction in order to make our stories better next time.
The success of the “amateurs doing things on TV” genre (American Idol, The Voice, Dancing With The Stars) along with the boom in indie publishing, indie movie making, indie everything making, are signs that the artificial workshop of creative professionals is over. Humans are taking back control of our own creativity.
Are you?
Tell your stories. Show them to people. Make them better. Write new stories.
That’s all there is to it.
You have every right to write. In fact, print out this certificate and write your name on it.
There. You have my permission to write.
Can you give yourself permission to write?
Want To Learn To Write More? Give Yourself Permission To Write
We all imagine a perfect time when the obstacles will fall away and Writing Will Happen. And We’re All Wrong…
We all have reasons why we’re not writing.
- We’re too busy.
- We’re too tired.
- We don’t have anything to say.
- We’ve tried before and failed to finish.
- We have to get these pencils lined up just right…
We all have reasons why we’re not writing right now:
- We’ll do it after you’ve settled in to this new job.
- We’ll do it at the weekend.
- We’ll do it when the kids go to sleep.
- We’ll do it when the sun comes out.
- We’ll do it on a rainy day
- We’ll do it when we retire.
We all imagine a perfect time when the obstacles will fall away and Writing Will Happen.
Except We’re All Wrong
In all of it.
Too Tired?
Maybe, but remember how invigorated you felt last time you got into that flow state while writing, and the time just flew away? Continue reading “Want To Learn To Write More? Give Yourself Permission To Write”
[Write On Wednesday] Write A Secret Story
Not everything you write should be written with a view to showing it to anyone else.
Just as you would practice the piano in private for months or years before hoping to be able to bring any pleasure to a listener, writers must practice their craft too…sometimes in private.
The Prompt
Write A Story That Is You Will Never Show To Anyone
Tips
- Don’t cheat and tell yourself that something magical is bound to happen and that you’ll end up writing a story so good that you’ll feel compelled to show it to people. Promise you will not show it to anyone and stick to that.
- If you’re having trouble coming up with something to write about, dive into your stash of Story Sparks (you have been collecting them, haven’t you?)
- If you haven’t been collecting Story Sparks out in the real world, take ten minutes right now and look deep inside yourself. What news story annoyed you this week? Which political candidate do you despise the most? Why? What did you see that was beautiful, recently? What is your strongest memory of your mother? Why? What did summer smell like when you were growing up? Who do you miss? What’s your favorite swear word? What frightened you when you were a child? What frightens you now?
- Make a quick list of 30 Story Sparks. (If you don’t know what I mean by story sparks read this article)
Continue reading “[Write On Wednesday] Write A Secret Story”
[Reading Room] Dress of White Silk by Richard Matheson
I can see why so many episodes of the Twilight Zone start with the words “From a story by Richard Matheson”…
This creepy little story starts with a kid who has been locked in a room by ‘Granma’, and we don’t know why, yet.
It’s told in the voice of the little kid, and I mean, really in the voice of a little kid:the grammar’s all wrong and there are no apostrophes in the contractions. The story can be a little hard to read at times, because of it, but the errors keep us firmly in this kid’s head the entire time — no narrator’s voice, here. This is a great technique for a writer to steal borrow, if you’re bold enough.
Continue reading “[Reading Room] Dress of White Silk by Richard Matheson”
[Write on Wednesday] Regret
I’m not big on regrets. Everything experience contributes to the person we become, so there’s not much point in wishing to change the past.
But everyone has regrets.
And what good is a character in a story without a few regrets?
The Prompt
Write A Story Centering On A Character Wrestling With A Big Regret
Tips
- Think of a character (do this exercise: adjective noun; e.g. nervous housewife; tired teacher; suicidal businessman; carefree duke)
- Give that character one thing in their past that they regret.
- Think about how this thing has affected where they are today.
- Ask yourself what would this character do if given a chance to act on the regret (to confront the person it concerned, to change the decision they made, to make amends, to take revenge).
- Think about the different options open to your character. How does each of them work with the person the character has become in the intervening years? (A rich young man with no responsibilities might swear revenge on the woman who broke his heart. When he meets her again, as an older man who has inherited his wealth and title, does he still want revenge? What will it mean for him if he takes revenge? Is it worth it?)
- Decide which course of action your character will take (or not take).
- Set them on the road to taking that course of action.
- Now start the story. Don’t start with the backstory. Start with them on the road, in the room, in the middle of the fight, in the midst of the heist. You can weave the backstory into the conversations they have during the story.
- Make sure to let the reader know what’s at stake.
Go!
[Write on Wednesday] The Lie, Revisited
I’ve been browsing the archives here at StoryADay, unearthing some gems from the first year I ran the challenge.
I also decided to recycle a prompt or two. Here’s one from the middle of May 2010:
Ooo, the lie. We’ve all done it. We do it all the time, even though we know we shouldn’t. Sometimes we get away with them and other times they come back to bite us in the most spectacular fashion.
The Prompt
Write About A Lie
Is it a tiny one? A whopper? Does no-one find out about it? Does that mean your character really ‘gets away with it’? Does it spiral out of control and become a Fawlty Towers episode?
GO!
What Are The Last Three Books You Read?
Sometimes, when it’s hard to pick a writing project, it can be useful to take inspiration from other authors.
Sometimes, it’s good to review what kinds of books we’re reading and ask whether or not they are helping us in our writing.
Sometimes, it’s just fun to challenge our friends.
So here’s my challenge to you: tell me about the last three books you opened
(Not your favorite books, not books you wanted to read, not books you think will impress me. What books did you open? And yes, this can be in ebook, audio or picture book form)
Share your #last3books on your blog or social media and/or in the comments below. Then post this challenge to your friends.
Magnificat Year of Mercy Companion
A mixture of personal stories, poetry, reflections on scripture, lives of the saints and litanies, it’s a positive way to start the day. It makes me less selfish.
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
Set in a densely realized fantasy world, centered in one city, but so deeply developed that I have confidence there’s a whole universe around it. Locke Lamora is a lovable rogue, who, with his gang ‘The Gentleman Bastards’, tries to pull of the biggest scheme of his life and ends up in more trouble than even he could ever have imagined. There is magic in this universe but it is expensive, therefore it is sparely, which makes me happy. I prefer relatable tales of people getting in and out of scrapes on their own wits and training.
It’s an incredible feat, especially for a debut novel. The language is rich and earthy and witty (like Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s lovechild, if it had been abandoned and raised in a gutter). It is long though. I kind of wish it was a series of three shorter books, so I could enjoy one, put it down and sigh, and then look forward to he next one. There’s certainly enough story there, for that. But that’s not the choice they made, so I’ll be picking this on up for some time to come.
Unstoppable by Bill Nye
With his trademark chatty tone and irrepressible optimism, he points out all the problems we face and encourages the next generation to be bold, and believe that they can come up with solutions, if only they care enough.
Great read.
So, those are the last three books I opened. What about you? Leave a comment!
Don’t forget to share the challenge. Here are some updates you might use:
What are the last three books you opened? Take the #Last3BooksChallenge https://storyaday.org/last–3-feb
Dare to share the last three books you opened? Take the #Last3BookChallenge http://storayday.org/last-3-feb
[Write On Wednesday]
In honor of Groundhog Day, today’s prompt encourages you to tell a story over and over and over again…
In honor of Groundhog Day, and one of the best films ever made about an obscure holiday, today’s prompt encourages you to milk one simple plot for all it’s worth.
The Prompt
Write A Very Short Story About An Incident In Your Character’s Day, Then Make Them Relive That Incident
Tips
[Write On Wednesday] Zeitgeist
Are you even moved by an injustice in the world? A news story? A historic event that you feel has stories in it that haven’t been told?
It can be hard to figure out how to write a story that is of the moment, but doesn’t become irrelevant when the news cycle moves on.
Yesterday’s Reading Room post was all about a story just like that and it pointed one way forward: set your story in the moment (in that story’s case, it was during the Occupy Wall St movement), but make the story about more universal issues. The protagonist of “We Was Twins” was not part of the the Occupy movement, but got caught up in it anyway. He was struggling with issues of poverty, life after military service, grief, estrangement…issues that are universal and timeless.
This week I encourage you to try something similar.
The Prompt
Write a story set in a specific time/place in history, but tell the story of specific individuals dealing with issues that are both specific to them, and part of the human condition.
Tips
- You might write a story about an idealistic twenty-something who goes to help at a refugee camp in Europe only to find that she still gets picked on by people because she can’t stand up for herself.
- You might write about someone working on Donald Trump’s Presidential campaign, but with an intriguing complications in their personal life.
- What if your main character got caught in Winter Storm Jonas on their way to do something life-changing?
- You could combine this idea with ‘evergreen’ occasions, like Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, the first day of spring. Write a story like this and you can republish it every year, or sell it to a publication that’s looking for holiday stories. Make sure your protagonist has an interesting story to tell, that you can highlight/echo/make poignant with the holiday you choose.
Go!
[Reading Room] We Was Twins by Fiona Maazel
This story takes place against the backdrop (as they say) of the Occupy Wall St movement. As well as being a really good story, it’s a great example of how you can take a hot news story and use it to ground your story without risking it seeming dated, later.
How does that author do this? Well, let me set the scene for you. Continue reading “[Reading Room] We Was Twins by Fiona Maazel”