story prompts

by

Michaeline: Brainstorm Saturday

Imagination magazine cover, March 1955. A full robot with antennae and flashing lights helps a stylish young housewife in a red jumpsuit with her groceries, but manages to bash the eggs all over her floating maroon trunk (of her car). Lots of "Oh, no! Oh, no, no, no!"
Story seeds! Use your imagination, and pass on the ideas that are right, but not right for you. (Image via Wikimedia Commons)

I’ve got a really cool video that just provokes all sorts of ideas in my head for stories. So, if you need a little bit of inspiration, grab a pencil and some paper, and try this:

  • Remember the rule is no self-editing. Jot down quick notes about what comes to you – edit your list later.
  • You don’t HAVE to like robots in order to get ideas from the video. You can pretend they are real people, and see what comes to you. (But don’t deny the weirdo SFF ideas, either – they may spark new ideas in your later.
  • Watch this video (“Do You Love Me?” Boston Dynamics, 2:54), and take notes:
4.
  • Aw, go on, watch it one more time and see what comes up.
  • Any ideas that seem kind of cool, but you have no interest in exploring? Share them in the comments below so someone else can run with them! Kind of like the Poughkeepsie Idea Service!

So, I’m going to share some of the ideas that came to me during this video. It really was inspirational. (And if you want to run with them, go ahead! What you do with these seeds is going to be completely different from anything I do with these seeds.)

Continue reading →
by

Elizabeth: Story Time and Sprints – Recipie Edition

Happy Thanksgiving, or for those of you not located in the US or not celebrating, Happy Thursday.  Hope you have had a good week as we start that accelerated slide towards the end of the year.

I have been off work for the entire week – yay! – which should mean I’ve done lots and lots of writing.  Sadly, that appears not to be the case.  On the plus side, I did get the outdoor holiday lights put up (before the rains started up), the kitchen cleaned, and an excessive number of books read, so I’m considering the time to have been well spent.

I do feel compelled to attempt to put at least some words on the page before I have to head back to the office though, so I’m going to give today’s writing prompt the old college try.

Care to join me? Continue reading →

by

Elizabeth: Friday Story Time and Sprints

Happy (almost) Friday.  For those of you NaNo-ing this month, we’re more than halfway through which, if all is progressing as it should, means a word count of over 25,000.  Quite an achievement.  Some of us (*cough, cough*) may not have been quite that successful thus far, but sometimes it’s about the journey, not the destination.

Speaking of destinations, if California is in your travel plans, you may want to reconsider.  The state is still on fire and the air smokey, even outside my office window,  although the closest fire is over a hundred miles away.  If you know any good rain-dances, maybe now would be the time to give one a try.

I have one more day of work to finish up before kicking off a full week off.  Yay!  Not only will there be Thanksgiving turkey somewhere along the way (and maybe pecan pie if I’m really lucky), but I’m expecting to get a lot of writing done, since I’ll be staying indoors where the air is a little clearer.  Always a bright side.

Before I dive into my current manuscript, I think I’ll start things out by giving today’s story prompt a try.

Care to join me? Continue reading →

by

Elizabeth: Friday Story Time and Sprints

Happy Friday and, if you’re participating, happy NaNoWriMo Day 2. How’s that word count going?  I’ll be NaNo-ing this month, as I have for the last several years, but I won’t be starting until the weekend, once my work-day brain has had a chance to recover from a long, crazy week.

Besides being the start of NaNo, we’re also in the final days of the current election cycle, which means non-stop ads for and against the candidates and propositions. My mailbox has been filled for weeks with contradictory flyers telling me who and what to vote for.  Talk about creative writing.

I’ll certainly be glad to have that over and done with, though I’m both eager for and dreading the actual election. I’m hopeful about the results but, since the world seems to have taken a turn for the crazy in recent years, I worry my hope might be misplaced.

Fortunately, I’ll get an extra hour of sleep this weekend where I can dream about happy-ever-afters, thanks to the beginning (end?) of Daylight Savings time. (Coincidentally, that is one of the items on the ballot next week).

Before I take advantage of that extra hour for sleep, I need to get 1,667 words a day on the page. Before I do that, I think I’ll give this week’s story prompt a try as a little creative-writing-ice-breaker.

Care to join me? Continue reading →

by

Elizabeth: Friday Story Time and Sprints

I can’t believe I forgot it was Friday!

In my defense, I have the day off work today, so all I was thinking about was the various projects I would have time to work on (theoretically) and that I could sleep in instead of joining the commuter rush this morning. Sadly, “post” and “write” didn’t make it to the initial list.

Now that I’ve come to my senses – thanks to a jolt of caffeine – I’m rethinking my erring ways and making sure there’s a spot for writing on the list, right there between a trip to the hardware store and baking oatmeal pecan cookies. To get things started, I plan to warm up my creativity with today’s story prompt.

Care to join me? Continue reading →

by

Elizabeth: Friday Story Time and Sprints

I have lots of books to be read, stories to be written, and tasks to complete from my ever-expanding ToDo list.  Naturally, I decided to stop by the local craft store the other day, just to look around.  I didn’t need anything, of course, but they had yarn on sale and I found some that was pretty and super-soft (and did I mention on sale!), so naturally I had to get it.

That is why instead of reading or writing or doing, I’ve spent the last few evenings after work turning six skeins of pretty, super-soft yarn into a pretty, super-soft blanket, courtesy of my trusty “J” crochet hook.  Can a person really have too many blankets?  I’m hoping the answer is no, otherwise I might have to go into the blanket-fort-building business, just to justify their existence.

Anyway, the weather has taken a turn toward the chilly in recent days – perfect time to curl up on the couch with a my new fluffy blanket, a pot of tea, and get some words on the page.  I have a number of stories in progress, not to mention several shiny new ideas floating around, but I think I’ll start out giving today’s random words and writing prompt a try.

Care to join me? Continue reading →

by

Elizabeth: Friday Story Time and Sprints

There are currently six raccoons on my front porch – it looks like a mom and her kids – so fluffy!  That explains all of the thumping I heard in the backyard a few minutes ago.  I’m afraid they are destined to be disappointed, however, if they are looking for something to eat.  I’m pretty sure the skunk and the opossums cleared everything out when they stopped by a while ago. Meanwhile, my cat is sitting here on the other side of the screen door looking baffled.

Once the “Wild Animal Kingdom” portion of my day comes to a close, I’ll be curling up with a book and relaxing for a bit.  After that, it’s on to the enjoyment of a four-day weekend.   I’ll be kicking it off by sleeping in and enjoying a leisurely breakfast.  Once I’ve gotten that taken care of, I’ll be flexing my creativity-muscles by playing with today’s writing prompt and random words.

Care to join me? Continue reading →

by

Elizabeth: Friday Story Time and Sprints

This week has had its share of excitement but I’m not sorry to see it heading for an end nonetheless.

Last week the Warriors, our local pro-basketball team, wrapped up their season with a championship win, which meant that this Tuesday, there was a victory parade with crowds of people and periodic confetti cannons.  More importantly for me, it meant that the streets around my office building were all closed off, requiring me to work from home, since teleporting into my office was not an option.

I was not too disappointed.

It was a beautiful day and I got to see the parade from the comfort of my own living room, while taking conference calls in my pajamas and avoiding a few hours of commuting.   Really, I should do that more often.

Now that the confetti has been swept up, the streets reopened, and the portable bathrooms taken back to wherever they roost, it’s time to get back to our regularly scheduled programming.  For me that means a trip to the dentist for a check-up, but then it’s off for something a little more enjoyable like lunch at my favorite outdoor café.  I’ll be taking my smoothest pen and my new writing journal and giving today’s story prompt the old college try.

Care to join me? Continue reading →

by

Elizabeth: Friday Story Time and Sprints

I just opened the front door to get some fresh air before sitting down to work on this post.

Bad idea.

Either the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse just raced through the neighborhood or something startled the family of skunks that’s nesting under my front porch.  Fortunately the cat was in the house, not outside in the line of fire.  Guess I’ll be keeping the door shut and hoping for a return of the breezy weather we had earlier in the week.  On the plus side, maybe it will keep the raccoons and possums away for a while.  They spent last evening thumping around the garbage cans, trying (unsuccessfully) to get inside them.

Good thing I wasn’t planning on any outdoor writing sessions in the near future.  Instead, I think I’ll head for my favorite spot on the couch, fire up the computer, and see if I can get some words on the page that I don’t just turn around and delete as soon as I re-read them.

Care to join me? Continue reading →

by

Elizabeth: Friday Story Time and Sprints

A week ago, the sun was shining, spring had sprung, and I was getting my sprinkler system ready to go back into action.  Today, however, it looks like winter is not completely done with us just yet.  It’s been intermittently overcast and rainy most of the day and I’ve been quite glad I didn’t pack away the cozy blankets just yet.  Even the cat hasn’t wanted to go outside and has instead been curled up asleep on the couch for much of the day.

Since it looks like I won’t be working out in the yard on my day off tomorrow, I guess I better find something to do inside instead.  Fortunately I’ve got three stories just waiting for me to buckle down and get some words on the page, not to mention a set of random words to play with.  Writing will definitely be on my Friday agenda.

Care to join me? Continue reading →