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Story Ideas – Daily Writing Prompts
By Deb Gallardo
Donna Sundblad, author of “Windwalker” and a new fantasy, “Beyond the Fifth Gate,” due out this summer, writes two blogs (that I know of). The first is Pumping Your Muse Fantasy Writer (Opens in new window). The second offers daily writing prompts at Pumping Your Muse Prompts. (Opens in new window)
Normally I’m not a fan of writing prompts. Here’s why:
Most of them are random pump-primers to get you started writing that day. They aren’t relevant to anything you may be working on. For some people a jump-start may be just what they need, but for me, I don’t want to spend time writing creatively about anything that I can’t use on my current project.
Yes, I know I could save it, but that’s not the point. If I’m already stuck, then if I take off on a tangent, I may lose interest entirely in my current project.
And that’s why I love “Pumping Your Muse Prompts.” They’re designed to help you interject a spark of creativity into whatever you’re working on. If nothing else, they will get you thinking and that’s the whole point. Our brains are wired to answer questions put to us. And they keep searching until we come up with an answer. How cool is that?
Donna’s prompts are IMHO the best I have ever read.
Here’s a sampling:
Wednesday: Write a story using gas prices as your central plot theme.
(She says that if you want to challenge yourself, make it a humorous story. This is a challenge, since there’s nothing a bit funny about gasoline prices.)
Tuesday: Write a scene that depicts day-to-day life until the phone rings.
(She recommends using the phone call as the catalyst for some sort of change to occur in your characters’ lives, whether just for this scene or possibly for a dramatic turning point in your novel.)
Monday: Start with a childhood memory. Then write down the next thing that comes to mind and the next.
(She says to do this for 3-5 minutes. Your list will only make sense to you, because the connections between items are uniquely your own. From these connections, you may be able to extract nuggets of inspiration.
Make visiting Pumping Your Muse Prompts a part of your writing routine every day or every time you need to get unstuck.
Related Posts
- Review – Pumping Your Muse by Donna Sundblad
- Creative Writing – Life or Death Focus Needed
- Creative Writing Ideas – 3 Tips for Finding Them
- Story Idea Tips to Get Your Writing Started
- Creative Writing Ideas – - Getting Started
5 Comments »
June 18th, 2008 at 7:09 am
Hi Deb,
Thanks for mentioning two of my blogs. I do have one more for writers that offers a steady supply of short story markets, some reviews and other news. It’s called Anthology News and Reviews.
I also wanted to mention that I have a book for writers titled Pumping Your Muse, and it used prompts and exercises to lay the groundwork for a novel length project. In fact, readers will see the kindling and development of both of my fantasy novels as examples.
Donna Sundblad
June 21st, 2008 at 11:07 am
Donna,
Thank you for commenting! I’m happy to hear about your Anthology News and Reviews blog. And now I’m truly intrigued by your book Pumping Your Muse! If it’s got “kindling” it’s my kind of book and perfect for readers of this blog.
Thank you for stopping by and for taking the time to leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers. Come back often!
Deb
June 24th, 2008 at 8:10 am
Hi Deb,
Glad to have found your blog. I love helping writers write!
Donna
June 24th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Thanks again, Donna!
Deb
July 1st, 2008 at 12:05 am
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