The Writing Reader
Currently viewing the tag: "danger"
Send to Kindle
“People who focus on the here and now, without thinking about the impact on the future, are more aggressive than others when they are sober, but the effect is magnified greatly when they’re drunk,” said Brad Bushman, lead author of the study and professor of communication and psychology at Ohio State University.
“If you carefully consider the consequences of your actions, it is unlikely getting drunk is going to make you any more aggressive than you usually are.”
…Bushman said it makes sense that alcohol would make present-focused people more aggressive.
“Alcohol has a myopic effect — it narrows your attention to what is important to you right now. That may be dangerous to someone who already has that tendency to ignore the future consequences of their actions and who is placed in a hostile situation.” -Science Daily
Writing Prompt: prompt here
Journaling Prompt: prompt here
Art Prompt: prompt here
Photo Credit: Vectorportal on Flickr
Send to KindleSend to Kindle
- People who perceive their car as a reflection of their self-identity are more likely to behave aggressively on the road and break the law.
- People with compulsive tendencies are more likely to drive aggressively with disregard for potential consequences.
- Increased materialism, or the importance of one’s possessions, is linked to increased aggressive driving tendencies.
- Young people who are in the early stages of forming their self-identity might feel the need to show off their car and driving skills more than others. They may also be overconfident and underestimate the risks involved in reckless driving.
- Those who admit to aggressive driving also admit to engaging in more incidents of breaking the law.
- A sense of being under time and pressure leads to more aggressive driving.
Writing Prompt: Write a scene about someone driving recklessly for one of the reasons listed above.
Journaling Prompt: Write about a time when you or someone you were riding with drove recklessly.
Art Prompt: Reckless Driving
Photo Credit: thanker212 on Flickr.
.
Send to KindleSend to Kindle
How do you gain an advantage in battle when you are outnumbered? Here is one strategy:
The Celts scared the Romans and other ‘civilized’ contemporary observers. When they went into battle, they would strip naked and dash at their enemies dressed in nothing but sandals and their fancy necklaces. They howled as if possessed by demons, their shrieks augmented by loud bagpipes. -Ryan Hackney, Amy Hackney Blackwell, Garland Kimmer, 101 Things You Didn’t Know About Irish History: The People, Places, Culture, and Tradition of the Emerald Isle
Writing Prompt: Write a battle scene where the outnumbered warriors use an interesting strategy to gain an advantage.
Journaling Prompt: Do you ever use scare tactics to gain an advantage in an argument? How does that work for you?
Art Prompt: Scare Tactics
Photo Credit: Arnett Gill on Flickr
Send to KindleSend to Kindle
This quote is almost prescient, isn’t it?
The best doctrine may become the worst, if imperfectly understood, erroneously interpreted, or superstitiously followed. -Anna Harriette Leonowens, “Memoirs of an English Governess at the Siamese Court – (The King and I)” [Illustrated]
Writing Prompt: Create a world where a good doctrine has gone bad.
Journaling Prompt: Write about a doctrine that you think was originally good but has been stretched by extremistes.
Art Prompt: Mind Control
Photo Credit: AZRainman on Flickr
Send to KindleSend to Kindle
This reading surprised me by flipping the idea of dangerous animals into the idea of protectors.
‘Poisonous ‘ plants and creatures can be evoked as protectors, protectors of place. Within a bioregion, they protect the deeper forest and are allies to their ecologies. As allies of human beings, they protect against drowsiness and insensitivity, preventing us from charging through fragile terrain with a heavy foot and blind eye. They teach alertness and respect as we interact with place. They also evoke certain qualities within humans. One can like the jaguar stalk and enjoy the night, blend with the environment and disappear into its body. Protectors teach humans to sing like wolf, to go inside like bear, and to relax like snake. -Joan Halifax, The Fruitful Darkness: A Journey Through Buddhist Practice and Tribal Wisdom
Writing Prompt: Write a scene showing how danger protects your character.
Journaling Prompt: Write about your feelings toward dangerous plants and animals.
Art Prompt: Dangerous protector
Photo Credit: Mike Baird on Flickr
Send to KindleSend to Kindle
Have you ever found yourself in a sticky situation? One that you entered willingly enough, but without fully considering the potential for disaster? Yeah, I thought so. Today’s quote is from one of my favorite science fiction series, The Psalms of Isaak, Book One.
Getting in, she realized as the gates creaked open, is never the problem. -Kenneth Scholes, Lamentation (The Psalms of Isaak)
Writing Prompt: Use the quote as the starting point for a story.
Journaling Prompt: Write about a time that you got yourself into a sticky situation.
Art Prompt: stuck
Nonfiction / Speech Writing Prompt: Write about a situation that was easier to get into than to get out of.
Be brave! Share your work in the Comments section and inspire us all.
Photo Credit: Earkle on Flickr
Send to KindleSend to KindleHave you ever done something without thinking? Well, in this story about the Secret Service, the Turkish Prime Minister gets a big surprise when he gets out of his car without thinking.
The prime minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was not so understanding. His motorcade was arriving at the Sheraton Hotel while a “POTUS Freeze” was in place. The Secret Service agent in charge of Erdogan’s detail asked him to wait until Obama’s motorcade had departed, but the Turkish prime minister did not heed the advice. He opened the door to his car, and armed Turkish agents began exiting the other vehicles in the motorcade. “Don’t do that!” the American detail leader shouted. But Erdogan’s entourage nonetheless approached Obama’s departure tent. An agent in the Presidential Protective Detail, having no idea who these foreign guys with guns were, yelled into his handheld mike, “Crash it! Crash the tent!” Within moments, a dozen agents were out of their cars in full sprint, guns drawn, and the Turks were forcibly detained.
The incident was over within 20 seconds, but the Turkish delegation was mightily offended. It canceled several events in New York, while the Secret Service and the State Department apologized and tried to smooth hurt egos. Although agents had done exactly what they were supposed to do, the service initiated a full review, and procedures were altered to ensure that presidential motorcades didn’t intersect with waiting dignitaries in the future.
Full article available online at The Atlantic Monthly.
Writing Prompt: Write about a character who gets a big surprise. Remember, have fun! Your writing exercise doesn’t have to be about secret service agents with guns. It could be a girl at a singles bar who suddenly finds herself surrounded by men offering her martinis.
Nonfiction / Speech Writing / Journaling Prompt: Write about a time you did something without thinking and got a big surprise.
Art Prompt: surprise!
Nonfiction / Speech Writing Prompt: Write about a time when you got a big surprise.
If you’re brave, share your work as a comment. And now, I’ve got to get back to all those guys with martinis. I can’t wait to see how it turns out!
Photo Credit: Martini photo by Rodrigo Senna.
Send to KindleNo related posts.
Welcome to the Writing Reader
I believe that the most important thing about writing is to HAVE FUN! You can worry about things like commas, point of view, tenses, etc., later. Right now, just start writing!
If you respond to one of the prompts on your blog, be sure to come back here and put the link in the comment section for that prompt. Share your brilliance!
The Writing Reader Facebook Group
The Writing Reader on PinterestLink to the Writing Reader
