Dragon Writing Prompts

Though you can see it from everywhere in the city, people won’t speak of it and it’s airbrushed from official photos. Set a story there.

(When you’re done, if you want to see the tale of the real building, click the picture.)

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Two childhood best friends: KaiKai is outgoing, Eilian reserved. They decide to form a group and bring in two others to round out their talents: Gan and Rio. (It can be any group you want: fighters for hire, monster slayers, fortune tellers, musicians, dancers, samurai, exterminators, party hosts …) KaiKai and Eilian have eyes for talent and the two new members’ talents overshadow the two founding members’.

Gan and KaiKai discover their talents mesh exceptionally well and form a tight partnership when they work together. Eilian prefers to hang back and work in the background, but is there jealousy rumbling beneath? After the group has been together for a while, it gets out that the other new member, Rio, is of a reviled faction (religion, race, planet, philosophy, culture, heritage …) but he or she has such charisma those who hire them don’t mind. (But will it last?)

They haven’t had a job for a bit and are getting hungry for work (and for a substantial meal.) Tempers are short.

Write from the point of view of one of the members. Or from each in turn.

Though the Weekly World News is no more, here’s the headlines from the archives of City Newstand in Chicago, for writing prompts or just for fun :-)

Top 10 Tabloid Headlines from MAY 1998

1. DOG SWALLOWS SHEEP — SUN
2. Porcupine falls head over heels in love — with a broom! — WWN
3. One-armed man fights off monkey with fake limb! — WWN
4. WERERABBITS ARE MORE DANGEROUS THAN WEREWOLVES! — WWN
5. IRAQI TEENS GETTING HIGH ON ANTHRAX GERMS! — WWN
6. Elvis fan has the King’s JOCK STRAP! — WWN
7. Used-car salesman is buried in fireproof suit — so he won’t burn in HELL! — WWN
8. Police find dead woman in giant ball of string! — WWN
9. BIZARRE DISEASE TURNS PEOPLE INTO HUMAN SNAKES! — WWN
10. Wonder drug makes people bulletproof! — WWN

Probably not the quote he wanted remembered for, but it has obviously been speaking to people for over a millennium and a half. ;-)

Use the quote as the first line, last line, somewhere in the middle or just for inspiration. (Did I cover all the possibilities? ;-)

O Lord, help me to be pure, but not yet.
– Saint Augustine (354 AD - 430 AD)

Ew, sounds self reflective. And I promised, no self-reflection! ;-)

Still, I promise! You’re going to create a “found poem”. It’s a poem assembled from prose found in various contexts: newspapers, advertisements, books, labels, signs … For this poem, type your name into Google, and scavenge what turns up for lines to use in your poem. Rearrange phrases, words and sentences into some pleasing form.

Okay, I only promise if your name isn’t unique. :-) Mine is so all the pages are about me. So use someone else’s name: your best friend from childhood, college roommate, first crush, random lawyer from the phone book, Harry Potter …

(From Poetry Prompt from Google Tidbits)

Select one sentence each from a variety of different books or other sources. Add sentences of your own composition. Combine into a poem (or paragraph), reordering to produce the most interesting results.

The sentences can come from any printed source: children’s books, novels, chemistry texts, dictionaries, webpages, newspapers …

(From Charles Bernstein’s Reading/Writing Lab course)

An acrostic poem uses each letter of a word or phrase to begin each line of a poem. The poem will have something to do with the initial word or phrase.

Voracious
Appetite
Mesmerizing
Personality
Icy
Reserve
Elegantly
Savage

There’s some amusing ones by Bruce Lansky at How to Write an Acrostic Poem.

All the examples happen to be single words for each letter but of course they don’t have to be!. Each line can be a phrase. The format of the acrostic is very loose :-)

Use a character’s name, a movie title, a word, an emotion, the beginning of a favorite poem.

April is National Play with Words Month!

Actually it’s National Poetry Month but to keep the prompts relatively short and encourage people who cringe at the word poetry, it’s a whole lot more about playing with words.

Last year I introduced Kenneth Koch’s poetry warm up exercises. (You can see them all here by clicking on Poetry Warm Ups over on the right.) They’re a way of playing with words to get stuff flowing :-)

No actual poetry will be produced, though you may come up with an intriguing line that leads to a poem or a story.

For today, use the structure of the first tabloid headline and generate similar lines of the form:

Food — Noun — -ed verb

Cucumber Killer Captured
Bean Bomber Bamboozled
Anchovy Anarchist Annihilated

Top 10 Tabloid Headlines from APRIL 1998

1. CUCUMBER KILLER CAPTURED! — WWN
2. BEN FRANKLIN SHOCKER!He was a Founding Father, a signer of the Declaration of Independence — AND A SERIAL KILLER! — WWN
3. Teens ordered to clean toilets after peeing on theater seats! — WWN
4. 10 GIRAFFES HAVE HEADS TORN OFF — when zoo truck passes under low bridge — WWN
5. Kitten drowned by a giant goldfish! Cat dips paw in tank & fish pulls him in! — WWN
6. Exploding grapefruits kill hundreds in Argentina! — WWN
7. DEAD HUBBY BURIED WITH WINNING LOTTO TICKET IN HIS POCKET Anxious wife digs up 103 corpses looking for him! — WWN
8. FARMER DEVELOPS THE ELVIS CHICKEN! New birds sport slick hairdos & swivel their hips when they walk! — WWN
9. Gun-totin’ Texan shoots baby kitten. . . THEN CLAIMS SELF-DEFENSE! — WWN
10. VENGEFUL OLDSTER SUES DAUGHTER FOR DEAD WIFE’S ASHES . . . SO HE CAN FLUSH THEM DOWN THE TOILET! — WWN

You (or your character) have taken a vacation on Naboo (just before Star Wars Episode 1 begins.) Then the Trade Federation invades. Write home about it.

(Feel free to substitute a vacation to any place in a movie or book or TV show or video game or story you’ve written … :-)

Create a bestiary. Use each of the following words in the name of the beast or one sentence description of the beast.

amnesiac
bewitches
chamber
disguises
eerie
flickering
graffiti
hypnotized
invisible
journey
karma
laughing
moonbeam
nuzzle
outcast
pilfer
quake
rumble
saccharine
taunt
uneasy
valkyrie
whirl
explode
yammer
zigzag

I wanted to do something based around anime because of the convention, but after 7 1/2 hours (not exaggerating 10AM to 5:30PM) waiting in line to register, I’m a little punchy! Ah, but Kat had enough time to make new best friends ;-) It’s the 5th time we’ve been and it’s never been like that. I suspect they totally forgot that Friday was a holiday with all the kids off and only expected to be registering adults and college students like they usually do.

But this ain’t half bad considering … Make up blurbs, 2-4 sentences, for the following movies that might appear in TV Guide. You can go all the way with it and give star ratings, genre, actors.

Of Mice and Men
Shadow Dancing
I Was a Male War Bride
Based on an Untrue Story
Witching of Ben Wagner
Zombie Cop
Iron Monkey
Daughter of Darkness
Christmas Evil
But I’m a Cheerleader
They Live
Secret of My Success

Anu Garg of Wordsmith.org has been sending out a word a day for 14 years. In celebration this week all the words were not only 14 letters long but defined in 14 letters.

Use them in a story, a paragraph or even a single sentence. :-)

acritochromacy (uh-KRIT-o-kro-muh-see) noun — Color blindness.
tintinnabulate (tin-ti-NAB-yuh-layt) verb intr. — To ring; to tinkle.
tinctumutation (tinkt-myoo-TAY-shuhn) noun — Change of colour.
Brobdingnagian (brob-ding-NAG-ee-uhn) adjective — Of gigantic size.
circumbendibus (sur-kuhm-BEN-duh-buhs) noun — Circumlocution.

Pick one of the following as a prompt. Mix up the elements if you wish, or go to the generator and make some new ones.

The story must have a hellhound in it. The story must involve a suit of armor in it. A character robs someone, and they aren’t happy with it. A character is kind throughout most of the story. During the story, a character drinks something they haven’t had in a while.

The story must have a water-spirit at the end. The story must involve a potion at the end. A character hits something in anger, but the action is misinterpreted. A character becomes attracted to someone during the story. During the story, a character finds out a dark secret.

The story must have a salamander in it. The story must involve a sceptre in the beginning. A character will prepare for a religious ceremony, and they are surprisingly overenthused about it. A character is kind throughout most of the story. During the story, a character is misunderstood.

The story ends during a funeral. During the story, there is an attack. The story must have a dragon in it. The story must involve a quiver of arrows in it. During the story, a character becomes pregnant.

A character hits something in anger. During the story, a character discovers someone has written a book or article about them. The story is set during a sporting event. The story takes place at midnight exactly. During the story, there is a sudden change in weather.

From Seventh Sanctum where there are tons of generators for stories and characters and names and creatures …

Writing Challenge Generator
http://www.seventhsanctum.com/generate.php?Genname=writechallenge

Write a paragraph that begins with a one-word sentence. Followed by a two-word sentence. Followed by a three-word sentence. Keep going as long as you can :-)

From #167 in Unjournaling: Daily Writing Exercises that Are NOT Personal, NOT Introspective, NOT Boring! by Dawn DiPrince and Cheryl Miller Thurston.

“Now I don’t have to listen to those damn drums every morning — and all the dead bodies are gone!”

You’re an investigative reporter and you overheard this. Dig in to find the story behind it. (Of course, if you get inspired in another direction, feel free to go for it :-)

Though the Weekly World News is no more, here’s the headlines from the archives of City Newstand in Chicago, for writing prompts or just for fun :-)

Top 10 Tabloid Headlines from MARCH 1998

1. TORCHED BY AN ANGEL! — WWN
2. GERBIL JUGGLER BRINGS PARTY KIDS TO TEARS — SUN
3. NOW it can be told . . .  Liberace was a rough & tough he-man who spied for the CIA! — WWN
4. Did Castro replace Pope with a Communist double? — WWN
5. SCIENTISTS TO CLONE NEANDERTHAL MAN — FROM 30,000-YEAR-OLD DOO-DOO — WWN
6. GIRL GETS PIG’S ARM — BECOMES BOWLING CHAMP! — SUN
7. 3 out of 5 Americans are reincarnated in Brazil — WWN
8. Prisoner escapes & mails handcuffs back to cops — WWN
9. Medical students expelled — for throwing human brains at each other! — WWN
10. Cursed rocks scare tourists — SUN

On your character’s birthday he or she finds in her pocket a handwritten note on a piece of paper torn from a spiral notebook.

You will have forgotten me by now but have a Happy Birthday! Panvi

So who’s Panvi and why are they sure they won’t be remembered? Write about the forgotten encounter or the characters reaction or search for Panvi. Whatever inspires you. :-)

Though the Weekly World News is no more, here’s the headlines from the archives of City Newstand in Chicago, for writing prompts or just for fun :-)Top Ten Tabloid Headlines from FEBRUARY 1998

1. INVASION OF THE CRAWFISH! — WWN
2. Gal with 36-inch-long fingernails kills herself — WHILE PICKING HER NOSE! — WWN
3. It’s official: Breaking wind can kill! — WWN
4. Getting your teeth cleaned can KILL you! — WWN
5. Man dies after eating 24 mouse heads! — WWN
6. ADS ON TOMBSTONES CUT BURIAL COSTS IN HALF! — WWN
7. DOG GOES CYBER CRAZY! ‘Too smart’ pooch turns into Internet $hopaholic — SUN
8. Bible expert’s shocking claim . . .  SATAN IS GAY! — WWN
9. IS SATAN REALLY A WOMAN? — WWN
10. JESUS vs. SATAN: Who should be on the $1 bill? — WWN

Here’s the first line:

“Surely something that furry couldn’t be …”

Take it from there :-)

(Generated at First Words)

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Write for 10-15 minutes using as many “qu” words as you can.

From #126 in Unjournaling: Daily Writing Exercises that Are NOT Personal, NOT Introspective, NOT Boring! by Dawn DiPrince and Cheryl Miller Thurston.

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We are shaped and fashioned by what we love.

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

So many possibilities! An object? A person? An idea? A moral tale? An immoral tale?

Choose one or more of the following as inspiration for a 10-15 minute writing piece.

telepathic student
dusty fiend
fog-enshrouded altar
cat boy assassin
stolen chronicle
emperor’s tomb
lavender demon
ancient sacrifices

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My daughter saw the results of this idea at school yesterday and she said they were great fun to read.

It’s based on “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” by Laura Joffe Numeroff. If you haven’t read it (the text is in the comments, though it’s well worth borrowing the book to see the illustrations! — there are also several follow ups) it begins with a simple action, which prompts other actions, that become more and more wild as they progress.

So here’s the prompt:

Begin with “If there’s a fire”

and end with “a fish will die.”

There is nothing that will not reveal its secrets if you love it enough.

George Washington Carver   

That’s the theme. You can use the quote in your piece if you want but don’t need to. Just see where the idea takes you.

Here’s two choices for today:

Setting: In a temple
First line: He paced back and forth
Words you must use: bolt, nightmare, sunshine, contaminated

Setting: In a field
First line: I found
Words you must use: poison, velveteen, kettle, trophy

These were generated by Bonnie Neubauer’s Story Spinner which is both online and a nifty wheel you can purchase.

Most of the settings were conventional so if you’d like to use it, you might sit down and brainstorm a list of settings that spark your interest. Or use some from the following:

abyss
alley
altar
attic
bakery
bar
barrier
basement
bazaar
boardwalk
boiler room
breeders
carnival
casino
castle
cavern
chamber
checkpoint
circus
cliff
colony
“con”/convention
construction site
crypt
desert
dock
downstairs
dungeon
field
food court
forest
fumeral home
funeral
furnace room
future
garden
grave
grotto
guardhouse
haven
heaven
hell
hilltop
hollow
inn
island
laboratory
labrynth
lake
library
main street
market place
maze
mine
monastery
mountains
nightclub
outskirts
palace
paradise
pasture
pier
plain
pool
port
prison
private school
pub
pyramid
reef
repair station
restaurant
roof top
ruins
sanctuary
sea
ship
shop
side street
space colony
space station
stall
star ship
stockyard
sweatshop
tavern
temple
theater
tomb
tower
town guardstation
traveling show
tundra
tunnel
underground passages
underworld
university
vale
valley
vault
volcano
war camp
warehouse
waterfall
well
woodland
zoo

There lives a great person who brought peace to his or her land.

What no one knows is that an imp had attached itself to the person and made her or him do this.

Why? Is it a good imp or a bad one? Is it for good reasons or bad? Are there other imps? Is it to benefit the imps or the person or humans (or whatever race the person is)? Why did the person do what the imp told him or her? Sounded good? Threatened? Wanted to be famous?

If you wish, try writing an entry in a diary the person has been working on during the few minutes a day the imp leaves the person alone.

Use this line somewhere in your prompt: “I tried to imagine him naked.”

The challenge, though, is to make the story not sexual. Kids could do this a whole lot easier since their thoughts aren’t locked onto a single track by the word naked! ;-)

As an alternate challenge, use the line to create as many opening scenarios as you can that aren’t about sex.

Here’s a whole year’s worth of writing prompts from 2007 at Toasted Cheese.

Here’s a sample:

He was thankful to be himself again.
You redefine the word ego.
He lifted the corner of the pink chenille bedspread.
She might some day kill a man.
A romantic, futuristic mystery.

While they’re conventional, not specifically geared to speculative fiction, they’re easily adaptable and avoid the introspective type of prompt that irks me ;-)

(Hmmm! Sounds like I like to avoid looking inside! ;-) Either that or I think there are way more inspiring ideas than my best birthday party and the most uplifting experience I’ve had.)

There’s also a monthly calendar where she posts this year’s writing prompts that are collected in a list as they’re posted. The prompts actually go back to 2002 and some more extensive exercises stretch back to 2001 in the archives.

You can use this as a prose inspiration too, but colors tend to make me think of poetry.

List as many things as you can think of that are blue. Then next to each write an emotion. Next to those, write a verb.

Now pick your favorite and see where it takes you.

Today’s and Tuesday’s inspired by Susan Writes where there are a few conventional writing prompts. (Click on the picture, then click again to see a much larger view of the gorgeous colors.)

A wasp is following your character.

It can be an ordinary wasp, of course. That causes extraordinary problems. Or it could be something else. What is it? And why is it following you?

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“Why would anyone spend all that money on an interstellar vacation just to come to someplace so backwards?”

That’s the beginning. See where it takes you. :-)

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Write a news report that includes the following words:

cantaloupe
toothpaste
guitar
flashlight
flip-flops

This is from Unjournaling: Daily writing exercises that are NOT personal, NOT inrospective and NOT boring by Dawn DiPrince and Cheryl Miller Thruston. Which lives up to its title. Kat and I have been dipping into it and though written for kids it can be a lot of fun for adults too. :-)