Category: Writing Prompts

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Freewrite 11: Disconnect and Write

You’d figure she’d get a headache…

Quick! Grab a pen and paper.

Got it? Now distance yourself from every piece of technology in your home (cellphones, laptops, TV, teleportation devices, laser guns, etc). If it’s not deterimental to your health, leave it! I personally suggest that you take a field trip into the backyard or a local park.

Distanced? Great.

Get cozy. Write for fifteen minutes.

 

The point of this Freewriting exercise is to pull you away from all distractions (twitter, facebook, email, texting, your blog, so on) forcing you to do one thing: Write. Be hard on yourself! Don’t go back into your home or pick up any piece of tech until you’ve written something.

What should you write about? That’s your choice.

 

Freewrite #11 Goals:

  1. Get away from technology. (Go in the backyard, park, coffee shop—somewhere!)
  2. Write for fifteen minutes. (I suggest using a pencil and notepad)
  3. Don’t censor / edit yourself.

 

Once you’re done pat yourself on the back. You’ve just done one of the hardest things for a writer to do. If you want to share what you wrote on your blog—FANSTATIC! If not, let me know how this experience helped (or did not help) you in the comments. Good luck!

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Freewrite 10: Using Articles for Fiction

You can use it for fanning yourself…right?

What do newspapers and magazine articles have in common?

Paper mache? C’mon, be serious.

That’s it! You could use them for your writing.

Lets say you run across a magazine article about an organization that gives away free furniture.

Why would someone give away free furniture?

Maybe the owner use to be homeless.

How did that happen?

They did something bad that caused them to loose their job and family.

Now that sounds like something interesting to write about!

Freewrite #10 Goals

  1. Find a newspaper or a magazine article that interests you (it can be online or off)
  2. Fictionalize it.
  3. Write it!

Post your freewrite on your blog! It’s your choice if you want to share the article that you used.

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Freewrite #9: (For WriMos) In Just One Word

 

This freewrite will be an actual challenge!

 

Have you ever wondered how an author can take a 200,000 word project and reduce it to a 300 word blurb? It sounds like a real challenge and, from what I’ve heard, it is!

Many of us are finishing or have finished our NaNo projects this month. You’ll be using THAT project (or some current WIP) in this freewrite.

 

one-wordYour challenge for “freewrite” #9 is to:

  1. Write, in exhaustive detail, what your story is about. Simple!
  2. Rewrite that in 100 words
  3. Rewrite that in 10 words
  4. Put THAT in 1 word

You’ve got two weeks! Post it on your blog and leave a link in the comments.

*Last Prompt

 

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Freewrite #8: (For WriMos) Under Pressure

Since it’s Camp NaNo I thought it would be fun to tailor July’s “challenges” to our NaNo projects. The following scenarios should only be thought of as fun exercises using your Camp NaNo character(s). Don’t feel obligated to actually include them into your manuscript.

When characters are put under extreme pressure, their actions says something about the type of person they are.

The neighborhood geek could actually be a courageous hero.

And the bully? A cuddly kitten!

 

Your challenge is to choose a character from your current WIP and put them in one (or more) of the following situations:

  • Stuck in an elevator with no way to contact anyone
  • Stranded and needs medical attention
  • Is a witness to a robbery in progress
  • They’ve just found out there’s a bomb in the building

 

Are they as great as Flynn??

 

You’ve got two weeks! Post it on your blog and leave a link in the comments.