Monday Writers’ Prompt – I think I forgot something

Deadlines, family, hurricanes, end of summer…. I could keep the list going of the things that kept me from my daily blogging routine.  Instead – I’m going to use it (’cause that’s what writers do with everything, isn’t it?) as my writing prompt for the day

What is something your character might/could forget that would cause a problem?  A meeting?  A birthday?  A date?  How does the forgetting change them or their situation?

Or… start a story with someone forgetting something important go from there.  Do they not care at all?  Are they terribly upset?  Do they miss out on something important because of their mistake?

For my current heroine, she actually needs to forget something.  She needs to forget to live her life by rigid lists.  Do you have a character who would benefit from forgetting?

And in the mean time, I hope you remember everything you are supposed to today and this week!

Monday Writer’s Prompt – I’d be rich

I’m in kind of a dreaming mood today. Sort of that “what if…” feeling. Now usually that’s a great thing for writers and writing.  We’re always asking “what if..” and it leads us down new and (hopefully) exciting fiction paths.  Today, I’m feeling esepcially positive and hopeful so my prompt to you is:

What if you or your character suddenly had $5,000,000.  Yes, five million dollars.  And let’s really have fun… after taxes 🙂

If you choose to write about this money for your character – how would their life change, where would they go, what would they do differently, what would they go for that they couldn’t or wouldn’t otherwise?

If you choose to write about this for you, the same questions apply but first ask yourself what would you do for your writing career?  Me?  I’d run to the store and purchase the best computer and printer available, register for all the conferences I want to go to, and buy advertising to market myself and my books more.  And that would only be the beginning!

Where would this money take you?

Wishing you a week – and more – filled with an abundance of all good things.

Monday Writer’s Prompt – I did it anyway

Have you ever made a decision that everyone or at least almost everyone in your life was against?  Maybe it was something small like cutting your hair short.  Maybe it was more significant like taking a job far away from hom.  How did it turn out? How did it make you feel?  What did you learn?

Do this for you or put your character in this difficult position.  It’s not easy to stick to our guns and do what we think is right for us, but it does lead to some interesting insights and results.

At every point in our life is a chance to make a choice – once a decision gets made it changes the course of things to

of course, some people do go both ways

come.  And there’s no going back.  Kind of amazing, isn’t it?

Have a productive week.

Monday Writer’s Prompts – A Gift

Yesterday my sons gave me a lovely gift of light changing optic flowers.  They found it at a yard sale, paid for it themselves and presented it to me with great flourish.  It now sits on my desk adding some lovely feng shui movement to the space I do my journalling in.

And, of course, it got me thinking… what gifts – expected or not – have you received that were special to you?  How about unwelcome gifts?

Or what if your character received a gift?  Would it make her/him grateful?  Uncomfortable?  Sad?  Happy?  What would this action and the ability (or lack) to receive show about your characters?

This gave me a idea for my own work. I’ve decided that there is a space in the charm necklace worn by my heroine in WAVES OF PLEASURE and when my hero gives her a charm to put in that spot, she’s not  certain how to react.

Hope your week is filled with lots of great gifts!

Monday Writer’s Prompts – That Was Unexpected

Hello fellow writers – let’s keep this one short and sweet:

“I was minding my own business, when I unexpectedly walked in on….”

Write it from your point of view or your characters.  I just discovered while writing this, that it will work in GUARDED HEART for an important scene.  How cool is that!

Have a great and productive week!

Monday Writer’s Prompts – Alternate History

I saw the new X-Men movie this weekend with my family.  I really liked it (and now have a bit of a crush on Michael Fassbender), although I will admit that my knowledge of the X-Men mythology comes mostly from the movies, so changes they made from the original comics doesnt upset/distract me as much as it does the real fans.

In addition to giving the supposed history of the beginning of the X-Men, it offers and alternate history idea for the Cuban Missle crisis.  What if there were someone pulling the strings to bring Russia and the United States to the brink of Nuclear War?  What if they wanted that war?

The boys and I talked a little about this (at 11 and 8, it’s a little too serious for them), but they liked the idea of changing the reasons or backgrounds of history.

So that’s my long winded way of getting to my prompt for the day – What if:

Dontcha love it!

– something from history happened/ended differently?

– something from history had a completely different reason from what we thought?

– something from your personal history never happened or ended differently?

Steampunk is practically an entire genre of alternate history, and it’s popularity is growing fast.  What’s your favorite alternate history book or story?

Monday Writer’s Prompts – Well, I never…

I was once given a great idea for getting develoing a character and for creating scenes in a story.  As yourself what would your hero/heroine/villan never

a) do

b) say

c) think

Because, my fellow writers, they are going to have to do just that before the end of the book and we as the authors will have to decide under what circumstances they would be willing to do/say/think what they never thought they would. Don’t we have the best jobs?!! 🙂

One of my favorite instances of this is in a *terrible* movie, Catwoman, with Halle Berry.  Her friends have given her this totally wild and sexy leather outfit as a gift telling her it’s for when she’s having a dating emergency.  She says it’s lovely, but she’ll never wear it. Oh yeah?  Guess what she reaches for the first time she goes out embracing her new life.  Wearing the outfit shows her – and us – how much she has changed.

So…. what would your characters never do?  Now go make them do it!

Monday Writer’s Prompts – A Change in the World

 

What else might change?

What nearly everyone is thinking about, talking about, posting about is the death of Osama Bin Laden.  Personally, I am still in a state of stun, but mostly I feel grateful that before the upcoming 10th anniversary of 9/11 those who lost the most will hopefully have some sense of closure and justice.

So in keeping with these thoughts, the prompt I offer you is this – what could happen if the wake of a huge change, whether it’s a gain or a loss.  You could start something this way:

“In a world where _______ is _______…”

In a world where computers are illegal….; In a world where smiling is prohibited….; In a world where being thin is a crime…; In a world where apes are in charge (oh wait, that’s been done!). 

What would you change?  And what would the result be?

Monday Writer’s Prompts – It’s gone

I am back home in my writing studio and as hard as it is to get going after over five hours of driving and arriving home after midnight, I’m glad. It feels good to get back into my routine and have my favorite things around me.

Which brings me to my prompt for today:  What if something you enjoyed…disappeared from the world, or at least from your world.  Would you journey to find it?  Would you look for a substitute?  Would you hord your stash?

Hope this triggers something for you.  Me – I’m gonna hold my coffee mug a little tighter.

Have a great week!

Monday Writer’s Prompts – Flowers

Staring at a new page on a Monday morning is a daunting thing.  We all need a way to jump start the muse after a

The drama of tulips

 weekend (especially here in Massachusetts where we had our first real weekend of spring like weather).  So, today’s recommendation is:

Columbines - the flower of the state I was born in

Flowers.

I am not a gardener by any means, but I love when I see them blooming, I love them in my home, on my desk… anywhere.  Here are some flower quotes to get you started:

People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us.  ~Iris Murdoch, A Fairly Honourable Defeat

Earth laughs in flowers.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Hamatreya” 

When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other.  ~Chinese Proverb

If you’ve never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom.  ~Terri Guillemets

Have a wonderful week – and bloom where you are planted 🙂

The heralds of spring