writing prompt alert!

official monday prompt:

Here’s a fun exercise in brainstorming: (if you can do this with a friend or two, it’s even more fun. )



1. Out of the air, pick several professions. Doesn’t matter what. Bricklayer, clergy, assassin, art restorer, whatev. List a bunch. Write them down on small bits of paper and fold so you can’t read them by accident.



2. Out of the same air, list several different emotions. Be careful to list only emotions, and not needs (ie, hunger), and take a few minutes to give yourself a nice array to choose from. Write these down & fold them, too.



3. One more time with plucking inspiration from the air, jot down several different settings. Be specific. “Texas” is a setting, but maybe “roadkill barbecue cookoff” might work better here. Let yourself be silly, serious, and everywhere in between. Write ‘em down, bits of paper. Fold ‘em.



4. Okay, now, mix all the bits of paper up in a pile (or hat or bucket, or whatever,) and blindly choose several bits of paper. Maybe five or six. Lay them out, and hopefully you’ll have a mix of all three categories. It’s okay if you have a more lopsided representation of one over another, but at least one from each is good.



5. Write your story using these establishing criteria. Even if it seems nuts, or if the finished story is wildly different from where you started, it’s cool. You’re writing, right?



Aaaaand, go!! Let me know what you get!