Take a story you wrote earlier this month, and write it again in a different way.
Julie Duffy is a fan of not making things harder than they need to be.
This year’s StoryADay May official bookseller is Reads & Company, a privately-owned indie bookseller in Pennsylvania. Any purchase from the site this month supports Reads & Co.
Leave a comment and let us know how you used the prompt, and how you’re celebrating!
Tell the story of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” from the old man’s point of view–after his murder.
This prompt was supplied by Dean Knight, the Education Coordinator of the Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Richmond, Virginia. You can find out more about the museum here: www.poemuseum.org
This year’s StoryADay May official bookseller is Reads & Company, a privately-owned indie bookseller in Pennsylvania. Any purchase from the site this month supports Reads & Co.
Leave a comment to let us know what you wrote about today, and how it went!
June is rewrite and re-examine month at StoryADay. So today’s prompt reflects that.
Now that you’ve had a chance to recover from the frenzy of writing in May, here’s a prompt that help you to take a second look at one of those stories and improve it. Perhaps there is one you liked, but you know isn’t quite working yet.
It’s one from the archives, and I think you’ll like it.
In this month of stealing worlds, characters and ideas (from yourself and others), this prompt encourages you to take another look, from a new angle.
Tell a story in someone else’s universe, from the perspective of a secondary, overlooked, or unnamed character
This it! The end of StoryADay 2019! You are an absolutely rockstar for being here today!
Do me a favor? Leave a comments below, and answer these two questions:
But don’t forget to write today’s story.
About A Writer
Normally I don’t encourage stories about writers because it seems kind of cheap (and uninteresting for the readers), but today I think you’ve earned it.
Use all the tricks you’ve been practicing this month to show us what a day in the life of a writer can be.
You’ve achieved so much this month. I’m so proud of you.
To keep the momentum going, mark your calendars for these StoryADay events throughout the year.
Go!
Don’t forget to leave a comment saying how many stories you wrote this month, and how you feel about it! Then come back tomorrow to record your June goals in the SWAGr post.
Steal from yourself!
Retell a story you’ve told before, in a new way
This exercise opens up opportunities in future, when you have a piece that isn’t quite working. You can cast your mind back to today and remember that yeah, there’s more one way to tell this story, too.
Let us know how you got on today, in the comments below!
Sticking with this month’s theme of Getting You Writing and Breaking Blocks, today’s prompt shares another technique for quieting your inner perfectionist: stealing a story from someone else.
Rewriting a classic story, reworking a story of your own, or just stealing the plot of a folk tale, means there’s one less thing to worry about: plot. Writing this way lets you concentrate on other aspects of your writing:
Rewrite a story (yours or someone else’s)
Good news! You don’t have to get a whole new idea today…
This is the first of your Rescue Week prompts!
Rewrite your First Person story from Week One
Day 15
This is the first of your Rescue Week prompts!
Rewrite your First Person story from Week One
Try writing a story from a different in a different point of view. You could use third person limited, in which you can still only understand ‘hear’ the thoughts of the main character but which gives you greater flexibility. Or you could use use third person omniscient, which lets you head hop (just remember to limit that to places where you jump between scenes).
If you’re having trouble remembering what Third Person, Limited sounds like, try reading a little Harry Potter.
Trouble with the Third Person, Omniscient? Read some Dickens.
Another option is to rewrite the story from the perspective of a different character. You could stay in First Person, but now you’re telling the story from the antagonist’s point of view; or the point of view of a secondary character.
One of the benefits of doing this, is that you don’t have to get a whole new idea today. This can be a wonderful way to get a story finished when you’re running on fumes.
An added benefit: you might discover your story works better from a different perspective or in another character’s voice.
Leave a comment telling us how you got on. What choices did you make as you rewrote your story? How did it go?
Congratulations! You’ve written for seven days straight! If you’re anything like me, things are both easier and harder now. The writing might be becoming a priority in your day: something of a habit that you’re making time for. Sitting down and starting might come easier with all this practice. After coming up with seven new stories in as many days, however, maybe you could use an easier day today. So you have my permission to steal a plot:
The Prompt
Re-tell a classic story in your own way
Tips
GO!
Post a comment at the blog to let us know you’ve written today, or join the community and post in the Victory Dance Group.
Today’s prompt is a little different. It’s going to show you just how much difference Point of View can made.
Take a story that you have written (either this month or at some other point) and rewrite it from a different point of view. If it was third person, limited, try making it first person, or third person omniscient. What new avenues of empathy does that open up for you? What new language can you use (see this article for useful examples).
You can choose to rewrite someone else’s story for this exercise (as long as you promise not to try to get it published and get yourself — and me — for breach of copyright for producing unauthorized derivative works) but it’s better to try this with one of your own. I’m not actually terribly worried about us getting sued. It’s just that rewriting one of your own will show you just how much the same story, written from a different point of view, changes even when written by the same person.
I strongly suggest choosing a story you are already happy with, for this exercise. If you already love the story, you’re much more likely to enjoy playing with it from a different point of view. Or you might hate doing it, but remember: you’re not deleting anything. You’re just doing an exercise.
Go!
It’s May 8 and we’re working through our second weekend already. I’m guessing the shine might have worn off this challenge a little by now and that you could be struggling.
(It’s not easy to come up with a fresh idea every day!)
So today, give yourself a break. Go back and find a story you’ve already written. Now, tell the story from a different character’s perspective.
Try to make the tone of the story totally different: the length of the sentences, the pacing, the rhythm, even the events, if the second person remembers them differently.
Go!
Write (or Rewrite) A Story In The Style Of Your Favorite Dead Writer
This is the second in a series of prompts that will encourage you to choose a story to write several different ways. You could choose a fairy story or a tale you’ve already told right here during Story A Day May. Each day I’ll give you a style to write in. You can reuse the same character, plot, timing, whatever works as you import your story into the new style. Feel free to ditch characters, change their names, switch out the endings, whatever makes sense.
I’m tempted to suggest Dickens, but maybe you’re more of an Austin or Bronte fan. Or maybe one of those Russians. Or further back? Chaucer, anyone? Shakespeare? Douglas Adams? (Nope, still too soon. Sob!)
Go!
Write (or Rewrite) A Story In The Style Of A TV Show You Know And Love
This is the first of a series of prompts that will encourage you to choose a story to write several different ways. You could choose a fairy story or a tale you’ve already told right here during Story A Day May. Each day I’ll give you a style to write in. You can reuse the same character, plot, timing, whatever works as you import your story into the new style. Feel free to ditch characters, change their names, switch out the endings, whatever makes sense.
I’m not going to limit you, because I know I wouldn’t have a clue what to do if you told me to write in the style of a CSI show, but a more gentle mystery might work for me. Or maybe it’ll be sci-fi, daytime soap, or rip-roaring Melrose Place evening soap. Reality show? Sitcom? Adult cartoon? What do you watch and love?
Go!
A supportive group of committed writers, who meet virtually, support each other’s efforts, and
become better writers today, not ‘some day’.
The only qualification to be a ‘Superstar” is a desire to write and support your fellow writers.
The only qualification to be a ‘Superstar” is a desire to write and support your fellow writers.
A supportive group of committed writers, who meet virtually, support each other’s efforts, and inspire each other.
Registration for 2024 open now-June 8, 2024
A 6-part journey through the short story.
Starts July 28, 2023
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