Write A Warm Up Story

Today’s a great day to write a warm-up story before StoryADay and you’re invited to join us at one of today’s live writing dates, to get some guidance and support. 7:30 AM or 7:30 PM (Eastern US CHECK YOUR TIME). Watch your inbox for the link.

Not on the list? Join for free here and get the meeting link

Today’s prompt

Write a story inspired by this image

Edward Hopper, Cape Cod Morning, 1950, oil on canvas, 34 1/8 x 40 1/4 in. (86.7 x 102.3 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation, 1986.6.92
Edward Hopper, Cape Cod Morning, 1950, oil on canvas, 34 1/8 x 40 1/4 in. (86.7 x 102.3 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation, 1986.6.92

Remember: If you’re planning to write a LOT of stories this month, they’re going to be short, often Flash Fiction (fewer than 1000 words). That means your story’s scope has to be narrow but deep. 

You can’t tell the story of this person’s life, just the story of this moment. Everything else, you can hint at.

Warm Up – 5 minutes

Look around around your space and picking out details. Think about things you can see, touch, hear, smell, and yes, even taste.

Spend five minutes writing descriptions of several of those things. Try to find new ways to describe elements that have clichés attached to them: for example, don’t say “the computer fan purred like a kitten”, instead say something like “the white noise from my computer’s fan utterly failed to mask the sounds of my mother crashing around in the kitchen below.” (Or something better that comes from your unique brain and experiences).

Invite the reader into the sensation with your words.

Brainstorm – 5 minutes

This picture depicts a moment in this person’s life. 

  • What are they looking for (what do they desire)? 
  • What are they anticipating is about to happen and why? 
  • What will change for them if they gets what they want? 
  • How many thoughts will run through their mind as they looks out of this window?
  • What actions do they take to distract themselves from whatever it is they’re anticipating? 
  • What has already happened, before they lean forward to look out of the window?
  • What point of view and style of story will you choose to help readers inhabit this moment? A first-person stream of consciousness monologue? A slow, lyrical depiction of the moment? A more action driven scene that shows us all the things the main character does before, during and after this moment? A second-person reflection on what it is to wait or anticipate (“you stand at the window, bent at the waist, unaware of the dawn chorus in the long grass outside. All you can think about is…)

You can’t write about all of these things, but you can choose one, two or three and have them add up to a story (think of it like a puzzle for the reader to solve).

Then come to one of today’s Zoom writing dates with me + the Superstars:
🕢 7:30 AM or 7:30 PM Eastern — your choice. (check your inbox for the links. If you’re not on the list, sign up here)

Come connect, write, and feel the power of community.

Discussion: How did you get on with your short story? How are you feeling now that May is right around the corner?

🌟 Superstars Edge: You will hit bumps during May. The difference is, the StoryADay Superstars writers have a place to land — to recover, to reset, to keep going. That’s why they finish. That’s why they grow. Join us!

Why Before How

how a post-partum exercise class made me a more dedicated writer

Happy Friday, Writers.

I’m back, as promised, with a little Something for the Weekend.

First, a story, then some prompts:

Why Before How

His chubby little hands reached out for mine and I raced up the grassy slope to scoop up my little boy and whirl him around. He’d never been in any danger. He just wanted his mum. So I ran.

This was the image I kept in my head, throughout the series of exercise classes I attended after I had my second kid. I wasn’t there to ‘get my figure back’

I was there because I wanted to be the kind of mum who could run to my kids if they needed me — or wanted me, or simply if I wanted to.

Every time I was tempted to stop leaping around like a fool in font of the mirrors, and catch my breath, I’d conjure up that vision and ask myself if I would keep going, if I was running to save one of my kids.

Knowing WHY I was doing a hard thing made it easier to live through the slog of the ‘how’.

As a writer it can be hard to sustain the long-term effort required to achieve the writing life you want.

Getting clear on why you are doing it, makes all the difference.

You’re not doing it ‘to become a best-seller’ (the writing equivalent of, ‘to get my figure back’ – something other people seem to care about more than we do…).

You’re doing it because you want to. Because it makes you happier. And that’s a good enough reason to put in the effort.

If you can, spend some time this weekend thinking about why you want to write that project you’re working on/avoiding.

  • What does it really mean to you?
  • What will finishing it do for you, in your deepest self?

Once you have the ‘why’, you’ll find it much easier to do the reps you need to do, to reach that goal.

Writing Prompts

Need some inspiration to jumpstart your writing? Here are a few more Story Sparks I shared in January:

(Each dose of inspiration is around 1 minute long and captioned)

To follow along with all the prompts, click here.

I’ll be back in your inbox next week. If you have questions or fears, or are stuck on anything to do with your writing, let me know. in the comments I’ll do my best to address your question in an upcoming missive.

Keep writing,

Julie

P. S. Those little kids I was training to chase? They’re just about to turn 20 and 22. Now I’m exercising for myself, because that long-ago class taught me that I was stronger than I knew…a feeling I want to hang onto! Likewise, it’s OK to pursue your writing to make someone else proud of you. But, stick with it, and you’ll soon find you’re writing to make you proud of yourself!

Writing Prompt: Top of the Hill

A 0:0:51-long dose of inspiration

https://youtube.com/watch?v=2TplNxdFKmk


StoryADay’s Julie Duffy shares a view and a writing prompt from the west of Scotland.
#writingprompt #writingprompts
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