[Writing Prompt] Transport Yourself

This prompt is inspired by “Vanilla Bright Like Eminem” by Michel Faber, a story that captures a moment in time for one family as they travel on a train. (Read my review.)

The Prompt

Write A Story That Features A Mode of Transportation You Have Used So Often You Take It For Granted.

Tips

  • It might be a bus, plane, boat or your first car.
  • Include a detail or two that convinces us you’ve really been in that vehicle (the shape or location of the cigarette lighter. The ash tray in the arm of the seat. The inadequate luggage racks…)

[Writing Prompt] Open Source Story

This post is the second of two. Check out last week’s prompt or stay here to go straight to the part where you steal a story from someone else!

This prompt is part of a two-part prompt. Last week we wrote stories for other writers to steal from. This week we’re doing the stealing.

The Prompt

Look through the links from last week and find a story with a character, premise, setting or ‘what if’ that you think you can steal and build on. Write that story.

Tips

  • Don’t worry if the story is less than perfect. As long as it has one appealing feature (character, setting or premise), let the rest go. Just finish it and post it.
  • Think of this like the kernel of a piece of open source software (like WordPress, on which this site is built). Someone came up with the original nugget and you’re building on it
  • Post the story somewhere and provide a link to it. Post it in the comments here if you don’t have a blog of your own.
  • Feel free to take the story off in a completely different direct or into a different genre.

The Rules:

  • You must write the story in one 24 hr period – the faster the better.
  • Post the story (or a link) in the comments.
  • Leave a link to your story and say which story it’s based on
  • Find something nice to say about someone else’s story and leave a comment. Everybody needs a little support!

Optional Extras:

Share this challenge on Twitter or Facebook

Some tweets/updates you might use:

Don’t miss my short story: Steal A Story #WriteOnWed #storyaday https://storyaday.org/open-2

This week’s #WriteOnWed short story prompt is a Steal A Story! #storyaday https://storyaday.org/open-2

Come and write with us! #WriteOnWed #storyaday https://storyaday.org/open-2

See my story – and write your own, today: Steal A Story at #WriteOnWed #storyaday https://storyaday.org/open-2

If you would like to be the Guest Prompter, click here.

The Write On Wednesday story prompts are designed to prompt quickly-written stories that you can share in the comments. It’s a warm-up exercise, to loosen up your creativity muscles. Come back every Wednesday to see a new prompt or subscribe.

[Writing Prompt] Story For Stealing

This post is the first of two. Come back next week to steal a story from someone else!

This prompt is part of a two-part prompt. This week we’re writing a story that we won’t mind someone stealing. Next week we’re going to look at someone else’s story and steal their character, setting, premise or twist, and write our own story (a kind of derivative work).

The Prompt

Write a quick story with one strong feature: an appealing (or loathsome character), a great setting, a fabulous twist, an intriguing ‘what if’. Plan to allow someone else to steal from/be inspired by this story

Tips

Don’t worry if the story is less than perfect. As long as it has one appealing feature (character, setting or premise), let the rest go. Just finish it and post it.
Don’t try to write something you’re so proud of that you’ll be loathe to let it go.
Think of this like the kernel of a piece of open source software (like WordPress, on which this site is built). Someone came up with the original nugget, then let everyone else into the sandbox to play with it. Are you more mature than a four year old or will you get annoyed if someone else builds on top of your sandcastle?
Post the story somewhere and provide a link to it. Post it in the comments here if you don’t have a blog of your own.
Come back next week, read the links/stories and create a story based on someone else’s.

 

The Rules:

  • You must write the story in one 24 hr period – the faster the better.
  • Post the story (or a link) in the comments.
  • Leave a link to your story and say which story it’s based on
  • Find something nice to say about someone else’s story and leave a comment. Everybody needs a little support!

Optional Extras:

Share this challenge on Twitter or Facebook

Some tweets/updates you might use:

Don’t miss my short story: Open Source Story #WriteOnWed #storyaday https://storyaday.org/open-1

This week’s #WriteOnWed short story prompt is an Open Source Story! #storyaday https://storyaday.org/open-1

Come and write with us! #WriteOnWed #storyaday https://storyaday.org/open-1

See my story – and write your own, today: Open Source Story at #WriteOnWed #storyaday https://storyaday.org/open-1

If you would like to be the Guest Prompter, click here.

The Write On Wednesday story prompts are designed to prompt quickly-written stories that you can share in the comments. It’s a warm-up exercise, to loosen up your creativity muscles. Come back every Wednesday to see a new prompt or subscribe.

[Writing Prompt] A Way Into Second Person

It’s easy to raise objections to writing fiction in the second person point of view (“You do this, you do that and then you feel …”). The most obvious objection is that it reads like a “Choose Your Own Adventure” novel. It’s hard to pull off.


But this morning I was listening to an interview with a writer who found a fascinating way into the POV: his novel, “How To Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia”, is written as a self-help book. (It’s a great interview, full of all kinds of good stuff. Have a listen.)

The writer, Mohsin Hamid, sounds like such a nice guy that I hope he won’t mind us stealing his idea for this weeks’ writing exercise:

The Prompt

Write a second-person fiction tale as if it was a self-help book/article.

Tips

Think of all the ‘How To Write” articles you’ve read over the years. Have some fun with them

It doesn’t have to be ‘self help’, it can be aping any type of non-fiction that lends itself to second person.

You can often find this kind of writing at McSweeney’s. It isn’t always obvious that you might apply the label ‘fiction’, but it certainly is.

Read a sample of “How To Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia”

 

The Rules:

  • You should use the prompt in your story (however tenuous the connection).
  • You must write the story in one 24 hr period – the faster the better.
  • Post the story in the comments — if you’re brave enough.
  • Find something nice to say about someone else’s story and leave a comment. Everybody needs a little support!

Optional Extras:

Share this challenge on Twitter or Facebook

Some tweets/updates you might use:

Don’t miss my short story: Self Help Story #WriteOnWed #storyaday https://storyaday.org/wow-second

This week’s #WriteOnWed short story prompt is Self Help Story! #storyaday https://storyaday.org/wow-second

Come and write with us! #WriteOnWed #storyaday https://storyaday.org/wow-second

See my story – and write your own, today: Self Help Story at #WriteOnWed #storyaday https://storyaday.org/wow-second

If you would like to be the Guest Prompter, click here.

 

 

[Writing Prompt] My Robot Nurse

People have been writing about robots for a long time and fans of Science Fiction will instantly know what I’m talking about if I mention Isaac Asimov and his three laws of Robotics.

Robot on the Taff

Twenty years ago I couldn’t have asked those of you who are not fans of Science Fiction to write a robot story unless you were writing about heavy industry.

Ten years ago, you could have written about the Mars rover or those funnily little circular robots that were starting to sweep our floors (and sweep for mines in the military).

Today you could write a story about your grandmother, being brought her medicine and being entertained by her own robot butler and only be on the edges of speculative fiction, according to this report from the BBC: Robot Designed To Care For The Elderly.

Reading this article gave me the strongest sense that I was living in an Asimov story (or very shortly might be)

The Prompt

Write a story featuring one of the everyday robotic technologies available to us today

Tips

You can make it, like early sci-fi, an exploration of humanity’s relationship with machines and what that means. Or you can simply use the robot as a primary or secondary character.

Perhaps your robots are sentient but it would be also interesting to see how living with highly-efficient, highly-programmed machines that are NOT sentient affects your characters’ actions.

Some of the robots available in day to day life today (or soon) include the Roomba(af), Lawnbot(af), Lego Mindstorms(af), robots for cleaning your pool(af), welding robots (my grandfather used to do this job!), Automated Guided Vehicles that carry goods around warehouses and hospitals[1. “(af)” denotes an affiliate link.].

The Rules:

  • You should use the prompt in your story (however tenuous the connection).
  • You must write the story in one 24 hr period – the faster the better.
  • Post the story in the comments — if you’re brave enough.
  • Find something nice to say about someone else’s story and leave a comment. Everybody needs a little support!

Optional Extras:

Share this challenge on Twitter or Facebook

Some tweets/updates you might use:

Don’t miss my short story: Everyday Robots #WriteOnWed #storyaday  https://storyaday.org/wow-robot

This week’s #WriteOnWed short story prompt is Everyday Robot! #storyaday  https://storyaday.org/wow-robot

Come and write with us! #WriteOnWed #storyaday  https://storyaday.org/wow-robot

See my story – and write your own, today: Everyday Robots at #WriteOnWed #storyaday https://storyaday.org/wow-robot

If you would like to be the Guest Prompter, click here.

[Writing Prompt] A February Story

It’s February.

February Sunset

What does it mean to you? Shortest month? Leap year? Darkness and winter? Summer in the southern hemisphere?

Write A February Story

Tips

What might “February” mean to an old woman? A young man? A kid whose birthday is in Feb?

Might you write a story with a sentence for each day in February? A 28-sentence story? (or maybe 29)

What unexpected stories could you tell, with a theme of “February”?

 

The Rules:

  • You should use the prompt in your story (however tenuous the connection).
  • You must write the story in one 24 hr period – the faster the better.
  • Post the story in the comments — if you’re brave enough.
  • Find something nice to say about someone else’s story and leave a comment. Everybody needs a little support!

Optional Extras:

Share this challenge on Twitter or Facebook

Some tweets/updates you might use:

Don’t miss my short story: February #WriteOnWed #storyaday https://storyaday.org/wow-february

This week’s #WriteOnWed short story prompt is February! #storyaday https://storyaday.org/wow-february

Come and write with us! #WriteOnWed #storyaday https://storyaday.org/wow-february

See my story – and write your own, today: February at #WriteOnWed #storyaday https://storyaday.org/wow-february

The Write On Wednesday story prompts are designed to prompt quickly-written stories that you can share in the comments. It’s a warm-up exercise, to loosen up your creativity muscles. Come back every Wednesday to see a new prompt or subscribe.

If you would like to be the Guest Prompter, click here.