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It was the baby, of all things, that woke her up. Not her husband. Not the police. Just the baby and his crying. -Todd Ritter, Bad Moon
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: What is usually your first indication that something is wrong at your house? Describe how it happens.
Art Prompt: The Curious Incident of the Baby in the Night Time
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write a humorous piece about your personal security system, whether it be a baby, a dog, or something else.
Photo Credit: rabble on Flickr
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ohnosecond: (humorous)
The fraction of time between making a mistake and realizing it.
Fiction Writing Prompt: Use the word of the week in whatever you write today.
Journaling Prompt: Write about a memorable ohnosecond in your life.
Art Prompt: Ohnosecond
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Use the word of the week in your article or speech.
Photo Credit: DeeMac on Flickr
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It is intuitive that most people would be less likely to take risks after an unexpected loss. What happens after a surprising win?
It turns out that the very same trend applies, according to Case Western Reserve University psychologist Heath Demaree. In other words, it’s not whether you win or lose, but whether the outcome is expected. People appear to decrease their risk-taking levels after experiencing any surprising outcome – even positive ones. -Case Western Reserve University press release
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a story about someone who wins and then becomes afraid to take any more risks.
Journaling Prompt: Does winning make you more or less cautious?
Art Prompt: Surprise Victory
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write about the relationship of risk to success. Convince your audience that they need to continue taking risks even after experiencing success.
Photo Credit: Daadi on Flickr
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Even when you’re on dry land, you may not be completely safe from sharks. Golfers at San Juan Hills Golf Club in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., got a bit of a shock this past Monday when a two-foot-long leopard shark dropped from the sky onto the 12th hole… Puncture wounds indicate that a bird caught the shark and then dropped it over the golf course… next time you’re golfing, you might want to keep an eye from the skies. Every now and then, birds will bomb you with something worse than their poop. -Lauren Davis
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write about an impossible surprise.
Journaling Prompt: What is the most surprising thing that has ever happened to you?
Art Prompt: Flying Sharks
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write about the strangest, most surprising thing that you’ve ever seen or heard of.
Photo Credit: danperry.com on Flickr
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“If I could tell you this in a single sitting, then you might believe all of it, even the strangest part.” -Graham Joyce, The Limits of Enchantment
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a story inspired by this first line.
Journaling Prompt: What is the strangest story you’ve ever believed and why did you believe it?
Art Prompt: Incredible Story
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write about the strangest true story you’ve ever heard.
Photo Credit: stevelyon on Flickr
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A great flat head broke the surface not ten feet away. I could see the water purling away from keeled scales that ran in a crest down the sinuous neck. The water was agitated for some considerable distance, and I caught a glimpse here and there of dark and massive movement beneath the surface of the loch, though the head itself stayed relatively still. I stood quite still myself. Oddly enough, I was not really afraid. I felt some faint kinship with it, a creature further from its own time than I, the flat eyes old as its ancient Eocene seas, eyes grown dim in the murky depths of its shrunken refuge. And there was a sense of familiarity mingled with its unreality. The sleek skin was a smooth, deep blue, with a vivid slash of green shining with brilliant iridescence beneath the jaw. And the strange, pupilless eyes were a deep and glowing amber. So very beautiful. And so very different from the smaller, mud-colored replica I remembered, adorning the fifth-floor diorama in the British Museum. But the shape was unmistakable. The colors of living things begin to fade with the last breath, and the soft, springy skin and supple muscle rot within weeks. But the bones sometimes remain, faithful echoes of the shape, to bear some last faint witness to the glory of what was. Valved nostrils opened suddenly with a startling hiss of breath; a moment of suspended motion, and the creature sank again, a churning roil of waters the only testimony to its passage. I had risen to my feet when it appeared. And unconsciously I must have moved closer in order to watch it, for I found myself standing on one of the rock slabs that jutted out into the water, watching the dying waves fall back into the smoothness of the loch. I stood there for a moment, looking out across the fathomless loch. “Goodbye,” I said at last to the empty water. I shook myself and turned back to the bank. -Diana Gabaldon, Outlander
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a scene or poem about a mythical creature appearing to a contemporary person.
Journaling Prompt: Which mythical creature would you most enjoy seeing in person and why?
Art Prompt: Nessie
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write about the power of mythical creatures to inspire our lives.
Photo Credit: Carla216 on Flickr
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“Me, a princess?”
“You are the legal heir.”
“I never lead anyone.”
“We will help you to be a princess, to rule. If you refuse to accept the throne then the kingdom will cease to exist as we know it.” -Meg Cabot, The Princess Diaries
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a story or poem about a reluctant princess.
Journaling Prompt: What would you do first if you found out that you are royalty?
Art Prompt: Reluctant Princess
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write about the role of royalty in an increasingly sophisticated world.
Photo Credit: ArmandoH2O on Flickr
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‘A burning map. Every epic,’ my friend Jack used to say, ‘should start with a burning map.’ -Hal Duncan, Vellum: The Book of All Hours
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a story inspired by the First Line of the Week.
Journaling Prompt: Write about a quest (metaphorical or real) that you had to go on without a map.
Art Prompt: Quest
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write about an adventure you are undertaking.
Photo Credit: Jeen Na on Flickr
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Today is the anniversary of the disappearance of Amelia Earhart. I thought I’d break from my usual quote sources to bring you a prompt commemorating her adventure.
During Earhart and Noonan’s approach to Howland Island the Itasca received strong and clear voice transmissions from Earhart identifying as KHAQQ but she apparently was unable to hear voice transmissions from the ship. At 7:42 am Earhart radioed “We must be on you, but cannot see you—but gas is running low. Have been unable to reach you by radio. We are flying at 1,000 feet.” Her 7:58 am transmission said she couldn’t hear the Itasca and asked them to send voice signals so she could try to take a radio bearing (this transmission was reported by the Itasca as the loudest possible signal, indicating Earhart and Noonan were in the immediate area). They couldn’t send voice at the frequency she asked for, so Morse code signals were sent instead. Earhart acknowledged receiving these but said she was unable to determine their direction.
In her last known transmission at 8:43 am Earhart broadcast “We are on the line 157 337. We will repeat this message. We will repeat this on 6210 kilocycles. Wait.” However, a few moments later she was back on the same frequency (3105 kHz) with a transmission which was logged as a “questionable”: “We are running on line north and south.” Earhart’s transmissions seemed to indicate she and Noonan believed they had reached Howland’s charted position, which was incorrect by about five nautical miles (10 km). -Wikipedia article on Amelia Earhart
Writing Prompt: Write a story, scene, or poem about an adventurer that disappears under mysterious circumstances.
Journaling Prompt: If you were going to disappear, how would it happen?
Art Prompt: Amelia Earhart
Photo Credit: WikiMediaCommons
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My brother has turned into a swan, which makes it hard to concentrate during band practice. -Eilis O’Neal, Swan (free to read at Fantasy Magazine)
Writing Prompt: Write a story, scene, or poem based on the First Line of the Week.
Journaling Prompt: Write about the strangest thing that ever happened in your family when you were a kid.
Art Prompt: Swan
Photo Credit: Boris SV 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!
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!
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