The Writing Reader
Currently viewing the tag: "relationships"
… if you’re trying to manipulate someone into doing your bidding, just convince them that they are the type of compassionate/responsible/wild/rebellious/perceptive person who would do just that. Then give them an opportunity to prove it. -Esther Inglis-Arkell
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a story or scene involving manipulation as a major theme.
Journaling Prompt: How do you feel when someone is manipulating you? How do you react?
Art Prompt: Manipulate people
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write about how you can manipulate people using the idea presented in today’s reading.
Photo Credit: e³°°° on Flickr
“There were three girlfriends and they were walking down a trail that led to a lake.” -Kathryn Davis, The Thin Place
Fiction Writing Prompt: Use the first line of the week as the starting point or inspiration for a scene, story, poem, or haiku.
Journaling Prompt: Write about a time you spent in nature with friends.
Art Prompt: Three girlfriends on the trail to the lake
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write about an experience where you bonded with friends or family during an experience out in nature.
Photo Credit: RickC on Flickr
…new research, which was just published in Social Psychological and Personality Science, suggests that if we have certain dreams about our partner — about them cheating on us, or causing negative emotions like jealousy — we may unknowingly carry the resulting emotional baggage into the relationship itself. As a result, dreams of our significant others can influence and even predict our behavior in the relationship…
The theory behind why this happens is hardly rocket science. It’s just classic priming — a psychological effect where exposure to a certain stimulus influences our responses to a later stimulus. But what makes this form of priming particularly unique is that the associations are instigated during the dream state from stimulus that’s not real! And the priming itself operates on a largely unconscious level.
The study also shows show that dreams may be an under-appreciated aspect of our social lives. They may be doing more to influence our behaviors — and the quality of our relationships — than we realize. -George Dvorsky
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a story, scene or poem about a character who is affected by a dream.
Journaling Prompt: Do dreams affect how you feel in real life?
Art Prompt: Dream Baggage
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write an informative piece about how dreams affect our daily lives.
Photo Credit: name on Flickr
…parents from different social classes teach their children different lessons about interacting with institutions. …parents help to perpetuate inequalities not only through what they do for their children, such as equipping them with different resources or opportunities, but also through what they teach children to do for themselves. -Science Daily
Fiction Writing Prompt: Add to your character sketch. How did your protagonist’s parents teach social interaction and how does that affect your protagonist in your story? (Click through and read the entire article to learn how social class affects what parents teach children.)
Journaling Prompt: What is the most valuable lesson your parents taught you?
Art Prompt: Parent teaching Child
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write about the essential lessons that parents must teach their children.
Photo Credit: Nationaal Archief on Flickr
A soulmate’s value can’t be measured in dollars and cents, unless you get divorced. -Joel Travis, Blabbermouth
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a story about soulmates who get divorced.
Journaling Prompt: Write about your soulmate, whether you’ve met that person or not.
Art Prompt: Divorced soulmates
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write about the concept of “soulmate” and whether you believe it’s a valid concept or not.
Photo Credit: dark4 on Flickr
Prof. Aquino explains that it’s natural for people to wonder how others view them, especially when social acceptance in the workplace is often rewarded with power and financial compensation.
“However, our research shows employees should do their best to keep their interactions positive and ignore the negative. As the expression goes, kill them with kindness.”
In one of the study’s experiments, the researchers discovered that people who more readily interpret interactions with others as negative are also more likely to try to root it out through such means such as eavesdropping or spying. -Science Daily
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a story about a character who kills them with kindness.
Journaling Prompt: How do you react to negativity in the workplace?
Art Prompt: Kill Them with Kindness
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write about strategies for dealing with negativity in the workplace.
Photo Credit: Free for Commercial Use on Flickr
We were getting nowhere talking about women. Both of us had plenty of education on the subject and neither had ever passed the course. It had not stopped us from continuing to enroll for more class work, semester after semester. -Eric Wilder, Big Easy
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a dialogue between two men trying to decipher the behavior of women.
Journaling Prompt: Write about any confusion you feel about how people of the opposite sex act.
Art Prompt: Gender Gap
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write a humorous piece about how difficult it is to understand the opposite sex. Include self-deprecating humor.
Photo Credit: Kurt Magoon on Flickr
“Then, when the itch is gone, when the vendetta is ended and there’s no one left to hate anymore, there’s nothing left inside of you but this little dried up husk of what was once a soul. And then you die, Richard. Because you’ve become the hate, and when the hate dies there’s nothing left of you.” -David Brown, The Bet
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a story, scene, or poem about the effects of hatred.
Journaling Prompt: Write about a time when you felt hatred and what happened when you held on to it.
Art Prompt: Hatred
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Inform your audience about the effects of hatred on the soul.
Photo Credit: AngelBeat on Flickr
Research done by University of Wisconsin-Madison doctoral student Emily Cramer and professor of communication Edward Mabry indicates that families in which open conversation is encouraged tend to use “richer” technologies, such as Facebook and Skype, to keep in touch with each other, while families who prefer to avoid conflict and enforce conformity stick with e-mail, texting, and phone calls. -Kecia Lynn
Fiction Writing Prompt: Add to your protagonist’s character sketch. How did his or her family of origin communicate? How does his or her current family communicate?
Journaling Prompt: What is your family’s electronic communication style?
Art Prompt: Electronic family communication styles
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write about your family’s communication style.
Photo Credit: khalid Albaih on Flickr
Be careful whom you help, Sara. They never forgive you for it. – Consuelo Saah Baehr, Best Friends
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a scene inspired by this line.
Journaling Prompt: Write about an experience you had when someone you helped got angry with you for it.
Art Prompt: Ingratitude
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write about the paradox of people being angry for receiving help.
Photo Credit: La Chance0925 on Flickr
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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!
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