WRITING PROMPT #1

On a Mote of Dust Suspended in a

Sunbeam
Write about your world today.

“Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it
everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of,
every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate
of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies,
and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and
coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and
peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father,
hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every
corrupt politician, every “superstar,” every “supreme leader,” every
saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of
dust suspended in a sunbeam.”

— Carl Sagan
That’s a longer quote than I usually use for these prompts, but it’s
so perfect that I couldn’t make myself leave any of it out. It’s one I
turn to, when I start to feel overwhelmed by the state of the world.

Every tiny bit of ​everything ​that’s ever made up any part of

human existence originated right here on this little dot in the
universe.

And as tiny as we are in the whole scheme of things, we each have

our little corners of our dot that matter to us. Our own little
spaces. Our world within our world that makes us who we are.

Write about your world today.

If you’re a fiction writer: Take the time to go deep with

your story’s setting. Why did you choose a specific place
for your characters? What if you move your story
somewhere else?
 WRITE PROMPT #2

Round The Corner, There May Wait

Write about crossing the finish line today.

“Still, round the corner, there may wait, A new road or a secret gate.”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

When is your story complete?

How do you know when the road ends?

As an artist, this is a hard feeling to come by, but when you do it’s
the most satisfying feeling. It’s a feeling you can’t experience until
your there and not a second before.

Sometimes it can feel like the ending to your stories journey will
never arrive. Like you’re always looking for “a new road or a secret
gate”. When you get that excruciating feeling of just wanting to be
done, it’s important to remember what it feels like when the story
is actually done.

It’s not a feeling that can be rushed.

Write about a time when you finished something.

If you’re a fiction writer: Write about your story’s end

goal. Where does your main character’s road end? What
will they have achieved when they arrive?
 WRITING PROMPT #3

I’ve Been Absolutely Terrified

Every Moment of My Life
Write about a time when you did something that scared
you today.

“I’ve been absolutely terrified every moment of my life — and I’ve

never let it keep me from doing a single thing I wanted to do.”

― Georgia O’Keeffe

This is one of my favorite quotes, because it is one of my

daughter’s favorite quotes. It makes me think of her whenever I
run across it. And it reminds me to be brave.

Life isn’t about comfort. It’s not about finding your groove and
just settling in there and never leaving. If you’re not scared,
maybe your not trying hard enough.
And if you’re not trying hard enough, then what exactly is your
fear keeping you from doing? What are you missing out on?

Write about a time when you did something that

scared you today.

If you’re a fiction writer: If your hero isn’t taking risks, if

they’re not doing something that scares them, you
probably need to dig deeper.
 WRITING PROMPT #4

A Nice, Mild Slow-Burning

Rapture
Write about your history with stories today.

“Sit in a room and read — and read and read. And read the right
books by the right people. Your mind is brought onto that level, and
you have a nice, mild, slow-burning rapture all the time.”

― Joseph Campbell

Maybe it was because I was first. My mom read more to me than

my brother or sister, because that’s what you do, when you only
have one baby.

By the time I was three and she was pregnant with her third baby,
she taught me to read to myself so she could catch a break from
my insatiable desire for more stories.
If you asked my parents, reading was my thing. Books were my
thing. But really? Stories were my thing. They are still my thing.
They always will be.

Joseph Campbell says to read the right books by the right people
and I say that is left beautifully wide open. Read ​everything.​
Learn from it all.

Write about your history with stories today.

If you’re a fiction writer: Does your story’s main

character have a thing? Some defining history that
everyone identifies with them?
 WRITING PROMPT #5

They’re Secretly Painting Their

Sistine Chapel
Write about the legacy that you will leave behind today.

There’s this building you pass on the subway to Queens.

It’s on the L or the R, or the one that’s green.

It’s covered in tags — bright hieroglyphics —

These fifteen year-olds — they’re so prolific.

I’m commuting, I’m eating my goddamn apple

and they’re secretly painting their Sistine Chapel.

— ​Kait Kerrigan,​ ​Anyway

I’ve been thinking about ​greatness ​a lot lately.

Part of it is because I’ve been working on my novel, working with

one of Donald Maass’s craft books, ​Writing the Breakout Novel.
One thing that he talks about is writing characters who are larger
than life.

We don’t want to read about ordinary people, he insists. The

heroes of our stories should be great at something. At their thing,
if nothing else. In the wide world of people, we need a reason to
listen to them. Something that makes us care about their story. A
reason to stop and listen.

I think this is harder when you’re writing for a YA audience.

You’re trying to walk that narrow line between relatability and
inspiration.

I tend to err toward the side of making my characters too small.

Too much like the millions upon millions of kids who pack into a
high school, day after day, in town after town. Each one full of
worthwhile dreams and ideas and thoughts, each one
extraordinary in their own way, of course.

But they don’t ​splash.​ The way that a debut novel needs to splash.

I try not to extrapolate too much out of this, to figure that my

characters don’t splash because I don’t splash. I ended up
becoming a perfectly ordinary person. If not for my size, I
wouldn’t stand out in a crowd at all. How much I wanted my
stories to be my legacy, to be the one thing I leave behind.

There won’t be kids, or family, or anything like that — all I have

are my words. My legacy lives in my words, in hoping that people
read them and resonate with them. Hoping that, perhaps, if my
words will ever mean something, I too will mean something.

Write about the legacy that you will leave behind today.
What does it mean to you?
If you are a fiction writer: take a page of advice out of
Don Maass’s book, and think about your main
characters. What are their passions? What are they good
at? What are they ​best ​at? And how can you work more
of that into the shape of your story?
 WRITING PROMPT #6

Your Eyes Were Twin Goldfish

Bowls Filled to the Brim
Write a story today about a time when someone else’s
opinion of you mattered.

“Would it please you if I said your eyes were twin goldfish bowls
filled to the brim with the clearest green water and that when the fish
swim to the top, as they are doing now, you are devilishly
charming?”

― Margaret Mitchell

My fourteen-year-old daughter, Ruby, and her two best friends,

both named Abby, had a conversation in the backseat of my car
today. Seems the Abbys saved Ruby’s life. She nearly went out
wearing an outfit that looked terrible. Shorts that didn’t look right
with her new sweatshirt.
Did you think it looked terrible? ​I asked from the driver’s seat.

I didn’t t​ hink​ so,​ she said.

Oh,​ one Abby said​, it really did. Trust me.

And then there was a little flurry of agreement.

You guys are so mean to each other,​ I said.

They’re not being mean, mom. They just don’t want me to look
terrible. They’re being nice.

Why is the way that we’re mirrored back to ourselves through

other people’s opinions so important to us?

Write a story today about a time when someone

else’s opinion of you mattered.
If you’re a fiction writer: Think about how your main
character is impacted by other people’s opinions of
them. How does it affect their behavior? Their choices?
Do they care what the antagonist thinks of them? What
does t​ he antagonist think of them?
 WRITING PROMPT #7

A Rainy Day is Like a Lovely Gift

Write today about your perfect rainy day pass time.

“A rainy day is like a lovely gift — you can sleep late and not feel
guilty.”

-Elizabeth Jane Howard

It was a spectacularly rainy day today in Portland. Not that much

of a surprise as we head into fall, but it made for a very lazy day.

End of summer rainy season is my absolute favorite. I don’t much

like the way it persists well into the fall and winter, but I enjoy
being able to watch the seasons change. Everything looks all nice
and cool, but it’s still warm enough to wear my favorite summer
shorts.
I should feel guilty that I didn’t touch my homework or my to-do
list at all, but do rainy days even count?

Sometimes a rainy day is necessary to reset your brain. It’s an

excuse to curl up with a good book or movie or non-mandatory
creative project and ignore the real world for just a little while.

Write about your favorite rainy day pass time.

If you’re a fiction writer: Do some character building.

What does your main character’s perfect rainy day look
like? What does that tell you about your character? Their
personality? Their put off projects or dreams?

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 WRITING PROMPT #8

Pigs Treat Us as Equals

Write about anthropomorphism today.

“I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs
treat us as equals.” — Winston Churchill

Anthropomorphism is the act of giving human characteristics to

decidedly non-human animals or objects.

We all do it. Talk to our dog or cat like they’re a child or

free-loading roommate. Give our toasters and microwaves, and
cars names.

Living alone only increases my need to anthropomorphize my

belongings. Especially in the case of my pets. We talk daily about
how our day went and ways they could start contributing to the
rent jar (Don’t lie, you know you do it too).
I can’t comment on Churchill’s affinity for pigs, but I think we
humanize our favorite things because sometimes it’s easier to rant
to someone who can only give us unconditional love or toast. Both
are reliable until their not, but we love them anyway.

Write about the things you anthropomorphize today.

Cute puppy stories are a plus!

If you’re a fiction writer: Spend some time thinking

about what your main character really loves. How do
they show their gratitude? How do they interact with
their beloveds?
 WRITING PROMPT #9

I Look At It Until It Begins to

Shine
Write about your favorite word today.

“I know nothing in the world that has as much power as a word.

Sometimes I write one, and I look at it, until it begins to shine.”

― Emily Dickinson

I have a strong memory of being a little girl, maybe eight or nine

years old, and having an epiphany. An honest-to-god epiphany. It
occurred to me, all at once, that I could read any word in the
world and they were all mine. ​All t​ he words were mine. Even the
hard ones that I could only sound out. They belonged to me and
that gave me such a feeling of absolute personal power.
Words are the closest thing I know to real magic. They are more
than the sum of their parts. A word can mean something to me
that it doesn’t to you, and something else entirely to someone else.

And when we string them together? They become whole worlds.

Write about your favorite word today.

If you’re a fiction writer: Is there a word that your

story’s hero or antagonist identifies with? Maybe one
that they say often or one that triggers a response in
them? One that makes them remember something,
perhaps. Words are powerful, remember that when
you’re writing your characters.
 WRITING PROMPT #10

For Others, There Was Never

Enough
Write about what you would do with an eternity today.

“For some, time passes slowly. An hour can seem like an eternity. For
others, there was never enough.” — Natalie Babbitt, Tuck Everlasting

Every American child post-1980s has to remember Tuck

Everlasting. It’s burned on every 5th-grade reading list from then
until eternity. And rightfully so. I remember it being one of the
first books I was required to read in school and really 100%
enjoyed.

The story of Jesse and Winnie has always had me wondering what
I would if I were to stumble upon a fountain of eternal youth. I
don’t think my curiosity could stop me from trying a little.
I’m 100% sure there would be times when I would regret that
spur-of-the-moment decision, but how cool would it be to have all
the time in the world to see and do all the things? Of course,
there’s the argument that eventually I would feel lonely, but who
would really find an eternal fountain of youth and not share it
with their loved ones? I mean, really. Sharing is caring.

There are other caveats to think about if one is able to push past
the initial excitement of finding a fountain of youth. Like, do you
share with the public your finding? What would you do if you
didn’t share this knowledge? How would you hide it? What would
happen if you did share it? What would the world be like without
death? Would it be more united? Or give a reason for an
apocalypse? What would you do with all your endless time? What
would you do when you’ve seen all you can see? Is it even possible
to see everything even with unlimited time?

Write about what you would do with an eternity today.

If you’re a fiction writer: What’s on your main
character’s bucket list? Would they be able to complete it
all in their lifetime? If they were to find an eternal
fountain of youth, who would they share it with?
 WRITING PROMPT #11

Longed For Him. Got Him. Shit.

Write today about the thing you shouldn’t have wanted.

“Longed for him. Got him. Shit.”

― Margaret Atwood

This is my favorite six word story, ever.

Three tiny sentences, each one tinier than the last. The way each
one constricts, tightens, creating tension without extra words.

Shit. The rest is left to our imaginations to fill in — and it will.

With our own experiences. Our own biases. Our own longed for
mistakes.

Write today about the thing you shouldn’t have

wanted.
If you’re a fiction writer: A good story sometimes begins
with a bad mistake. Think about what your character
wants, that they shouldn’t, and what would happen if
they got it.
 WRITING PROMPT #12

Finding Your Strongest Subjects

What about your curiosity today.

“The good Christian should beware of mathematicians. The danger

already exists that mathematicians have made a covenant with the
devil to darken the spirit and confine man in the bonds of Hell.”

— St. Augustine

Perhaps, if you’ve been reading my work long enough, you could

guess that I’m not a math person.

People say things like that all the time. They’re not a math person,
they’re not a book person, or a science person, and so on, and so
forth.
And some people, they’re not ​school​ people. Their highest
ambition is to get out of any kind of education as fast as they can,
and never have to learn anything ever again.

Others, however, recognize that they’re not the best at learning

the way that academia works. They work best with their hands,
with ​doing ​things, instead of reading about doing things.

Everybody’s got their own way of learning. And their own things
they want to learn about. I think everybody has some creativity —
sometimes life and circumstance just strangles it out of you.

I am, by the way, a math person.

I’ve never been very good at the subject. It was one of my worst in
high school. I didn’t find a good math teacher until I was well into
college. Professor Trinity Mecklenburg changed the way I looked
at and thought about mathematics. She made things more
accessible to me.
But even before that, I was always interested in the ideas. I’d
spend hours watching videos on YouTube, learning about
Fermat’s Last Theorem and all sorts of other trippy numbers stuff.

But it was all like some kind of black magic that never clicked into
my brain.

I understand books. I understand stories. I understand a lot of

things. But higher level mathematics will always be an amazing
mystery to me. I don’t know that it will ever be intuitive. But I’ll
always be curious.

What about your curiosity today.

For fiction writers: What things are your characters

passionate about? What questions do they have for the
universe? How has their education informed their
curiosity, and how do they search for answers? And,
directly or indirectly, how does that influence the story
you are trying to tell?
 WRITING PROMPT #13

When Lying is a Kindness

Write about the kindest lie you’ve ever told today.

“Honesty may be the best policy, but it’s important to remember that
apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second best policy.”

— George Carlin

There are some people in the world that, apparently, have never
told a lie — like there’s some kind of moral purity that comes with
that dubious claim.

Lying is bad. It’s something that we get beaten into us from an

early age. But as a kid, sometimes, lying was the only way that I
could protect myself. And, sometimes, lying is a kindness.

We have a number of rituals in our culture where lying is not only

appropriate, but expected. Nobody really wants to know if their
ass looks big in those jeans.
As an essayist, I’ve made a job out of telling the truth. But as a
fiction writer, I’ve made a job out of telling lies.

I’m not trying to imply that lies, in the wrong place and at the
wrong time, aren’t harmful or destructive, because they definitely
are. But the truth isn’t always all that it’s cracked up to be, either?

Write about the kindest lie you’ve ever told today.

If you’re a fiction writer: a bold outright lie can increase

the dramatic tension in your story. How can your point
of view character stretch (or destroy) the truth in order
to further their own ends? And what repercussions does
it have?
 Writing Prompt #14

We Have To Continually Be
Jumping Off Cliffs
Write a time when you did something you didn’t know how
to do today.

We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our

wings on the way down.”

― Kurt Vonnegut

When I was a kid, my dad taught me a lesson that I’ve never

forgotten.

He told me that he never turned down a job that he wanted just

because he didn’t know how to do it. He could always learn.
What would your life look like if you took whether or not your
knew how to do something off your list of decision-making criteria
and started to develop your wings on the way down?

Have you ever done that?

Have you ever have the opportunity and not been brave enough?

Write a time when you did something you didn’t know

how to do today.

If you’re a fiction writer: The mid-point climax of your

story is a good place for your main character to be brave
and do something they aren’t sure they know how to do.
It’s a place for them to have a big win, so jumping off a
cliff and growing wings definitely fits the bill.
 WRITING PROMPT #15

Some Days Even My Lucky Rocket

Ship Underpants Don’t Help
Write about one of those days today.

“You know, Hobbes, some days even my lucky rocket ship

underpants don’t help.”

― Bill Watterson

I had one of those mornings.

The kind where I wake up and realize I’m about 93 percent sure I
need ​cranberry juice, if you know what I mean.

So I go to the grocery store on the way to the office and promptly

lose my keys. I spend half an hour in a panic, looking for where I
dropped them.
And then I find them. In my other pocket.

After which, I’m so discombobulated that I manage to spend ten

minutes ​lost in my own parking garage.

Some days, even my lucky rocket ship underpants don’t help,

indeed.

Write about one of ​those ​days today.

If you’re a fiction writer: Remember that sometimes it’s

a bad day that pushes your main character into the
world of your story.
 Writing Prompt #16

It’s All About Paying Attention

Write about what how your attention is captured today.

Pay attention. It’s all about paying attention. Attention is vitality. It

connects you with others. It makes you eager. Stay eager.

― Susan Sontag

I am enthralled by the idea that what we pay attention to is life.

We all pay attention to ​something, j​ ust not necessarily the same

thing as the people around us. That’s why we could be in the same
place and experience it completely differently.

What if you made a conscious decision to change what you pay

attention to, just for a day?
Maybe you’d decide to notice the glad things, like Pollyanna. Or
pay extra attention to your neighbors, like Mr. Rogers. Maybe
you’d become a conspiracy theorist, looking for dark connections
in every corner. Or spend a whole day paying attention to
something or someone that you’ve been neglecting.

Write about what how your attention is captured today.

If you’re a fiction writer: What does your antagonist pay

attention to? Perhaps it goes too far and tips into
obsession, which leads to their part in your story.
 Writing Prompt #17

Teenagers. Everything is so apocalyptic.

Write a letter to your childhood insecurities today.

“Teenagers. Everything is so apocalyptic.”

― Kami Garcia, Beautiful Creatures

Teen years expose our deepest insecurities that have a tendency to

stick with us through life.

If you’ve overcome a childhood insecurity, how has it shaped who

you are today and how you face other obstacles?

If it’s still something you struggle with, take a look at how it’s
affecting your daily life in unexpected ways.

I was a very anxious child, and while I’ve found ways to live with it
and drown it out at times, it’s always still there. I’m reminded of it
every time I meet someone new on a good day or step out of the
house on a bad day. The ways anxiety has seeped into my adult
life are oftentimes unexpected and require some distance to really
understand how it affects me as a person.

Write a letter to your childhood insecurities today.

If you’re a fiction writer: Make a list of things your main

character’s struggles. How did they get them? Do they
overcome them? Is overcoming them essential to
completing their story?
 Writing Prompt #18

And At All Those Gatherings, We Sang

Write about your daily routine today.

“My grandmother took me to church on Sunday all day long, every

Sunday into the night. Then Monday evening was the missionary
meeting. Tuesday evening was usher board meeting. Wednesday
evening was prayer meeting. Thursday evening was visit the sick.
Friday evening was choir practice. I mean, and at all those
gatherings, we sang.”

— Maya Angelou

I wonder what Maya Angelou learned about her Grandmother

through observing her daily routine.

As creatures of habit, what drives our daily duties?

In many cases it’s religion, school, a job, a family, or any
combination of the four. These daily responsibilities are the things
we do on auto-pilot, often blind to ourselves.

What’s interesting to think about is how your daily routine is

perceived by others. Or, what do others see and take away out of
our auto-pilot state and what does that tell them about ourselves?

Are our daily routines sending the message to others that we are
striving to exhibit?

Write about and reflect on your daily routines today.

If you’re a fiction writer: You have an interesting

outsiders view of your character. Take this opportunity
to think about and observe your main character’s daily
routine. Are you able to learn anything new about your
character based on their routine? How does their
routine hold them back or push them forward in their
story?
 Writing Prompt #19

You Were Born a Star

Write the story of your name today.

“You were born a star; autograph your life with excellent works.”

― Matshona Dhliwayo

When I was a girl, I filled notebooks with my autograph. I signed

my name over and over, practicing until I knew just the way it
would feel to sign it on the title page of book some day.

I knew just where. Under the place where my name was printed.

My own name.

Other girls practiced writing their names with the other last
names — those belonging to their boyfriends or their crushes
(celebrity or otherwise.) Not me.
I knew which name I’d sign on my books some day.

I’m married and I use my married name in my every day life, but
when I write I use my own name. The one I was born with. The
name I dreamed about seeing on a book cover long before I knew
my husband.

Write the story of your name today.

If you’re a fiction writer: Your character’s name matters

​ arents who would
a lot. But think about this: it’s ​their p
name them, not you. So be sure to imagine what they’d
name their baby.
 Writing Prompt #20

I Don’t Want To Die Without Any Scars

Write a story about your scars today.

“I don’t want to die without any scars.”

― Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club

Imagine if the emotional scars — the ones we leave on ourselves

and the ones we leave on each other — were as visible and obvious
as the scars left by physical wounds.

What would you look then?

How would you hide?

Would y​ ou hide? Maybe you’d wear your emotional scars with

pride.
Write a story about your scars today.

If you’re a fiction writer: One of the biggest mistakes a

new writer makes is to write a hero who is too good. Give
your hero emotional scars. We all have them. What’s
wounded yours?
 Writing Prompt #21

It’s Never Too Late To Have a

Happy Childhood
Write about one of your childhood rituals today.

“It’s never too late to have a happy childhood.”

― Tom Robbins, Still Life with Woodpecker

I spent the last week in Portland with my daughter and my sister.

We went to the zoo, we wandered around a rose garden, hiked to a
waterfall, went to the beach, ate ice cream.

It was so fun to spend some time just playing.

My sister and I have a habit that started when we were young. We

haven’t lived together since we were in junior high. I lived with
our dad and she lived with our mom and by the time I was in high
school, we didn’t even live in the same state.

When we were going to be together, one of our favorite things to

do was to pack little boxes full of things to trade with each other.

Just little things — lip glosses and earrings and little toys and all
kinds of little trinkets that we thought the other would like.

Whenever we’re together, still, we trade things. She gave me a

little watercolor painting she made. I gave her my copy of Daisy
Jones and the Six. We bought matching rose garden magnets. We
traded shells we found on the beach.

Write about one of your childhood rituals today.

If you’re a fiction writer: Thinking about your hero’s

childhood is a good exercise, but why not think about
your antagonist’s childhood, too? It’s a great way to
humanism them.
 Writing Prompt #22

It Is The Journey That Matters, In

The End
Write a story about one of your journeys today.

“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey

that matters, in the end.”

― Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness

I’ve spent the last three hours in the O’Hare airport, with my
writer hat on. Observing. People watching.

All of these people, starting in the same place I am. Or for a

moment stuck here. Going home or just on their way on an
adventure.
And as soon as possible, each person will be off in their own
direction, for their own reason. Carrying what they can on their
back, like a turtle. A rainbow of emotions — exhaustion, irritation,
anxiety, elation, joy.

It’s hard to imagine that this is the part that matters. But maybe it
is. Maybe it’s the getting there that makes the being there mean
something.

Write a story about one of your journeys today.

If you’re a fiction writer: Does your hero go on a

journey? How does that journey impact your story?
 Writing Prompt #23

Figure Out What You Have to Say

Write about how you manage writer’s block today.

“Close the door. Write with ​no one​ looking over your shoulder. Don’t
try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out
what you have to say. It’s the one and only thing you have to offer.”

— Barbara Kingsolver

Writer’s block is the excuse you give yourself, when you aren’t
writing.

Only it feels so real. It really ​feels l​ ike there is some reason why
you can’t write. Your muse is on strike or the vibe is wrong or
you’re creative energy is blocked.

You just can’t do it. Only, you have to. At some point, you have to.
Barbara Kingsolver suggests just closing the door.

I usually just refuse to acknowledge that writer’s block is even a

thing, but when that doesn’t work (and sometimes it doesn’t) I
light a yellow candle and ask my muse to show up for me.

Write about how you manage writer’s block today.

If you’re a fiction writer: Being blocked leads to

frustration. Is there something blocking one of your
characters?
 Writing Prompt #24

Setting Your Sights and

Contributing to Your Story
Write about your ultimate goals today.

“I set my sights upon becoming the kind of artist who would make a
contribution to art history.” — Judy Chicago

What do you set your sights on?

What’s your ultimate goal?

Will that goal be a positive or negative contribution to history?

If your goal is to write the next great classic novel, how do you
plan on getting there and what are you doing now to get closer to
your end goal?
Dreaming big is important, but not forgetting about how the little
dreams (and even failures) build-up to your larger dream is even
more important. Every little contribution is still a contribution, so
what are you contributing?

Write a story about your goals and their contributions

today.

If you’re a fiction writer: Do you know what your main

character’s ultimate goal is? Do you know how they wish
and/or will contribute to the field their ultimate goal
resides in? How does the goal affect your character's
story? What are they doing to get there?
Writing Prompt #25

I Am My Own Muse
Write the story of your muse today.

“I am my own muse. I am the subject I know best. The subject I

want to know better.”
― Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo’s idea of muse as the subject that you want to know
better is fascinating, Usually muse is talked about as something
that affects us — something that touches us and inspires
creativity.

But muse as the ​subject​? Now that’s interesting.

It seems healthier, for the artist, too. Because muse as a being that
inspires creation means that if she doesn’t show up, we’re unable
to write.

But muse as the subject we want to know better? Then it’s always
there. Always.
Write the story of your muse today.

If you’re a fiction writer: Do you know what subject your

story’s main character wants to know better? How about
your antagonist? Every one of your major character’s
should have a muse and you should know what it is.
 WRITING PROMPT #26

There Are No Ordinary People

Write the story of one of the immortal people in your life
today.

“There are no ordinary people. You have never spoken to a mere

mortal. Natures, civilizations, cultures, arts, these are mortal. But it
is with immortals that we work, joke, snub, marry, exploit.”

― C.S. Lewis

Anything that doesn’t breathe — that doesn’t love and hate and
grieve and celebrate and experience every single thing in between
— can die and be forgotten.

But the rest of us. Our energy never really dies. We don’t even
have to be remembered. We make an impact that echoes down.
Can you imagine how ancient ancestors whose names you will
never know have impacted your life and that impact makes them
immortal? And when you add your impact to theirs, you’ll become
immortal, too.

Write the story of one of the immortal people in your life

today.

If you’re a fiction writer: Think about how your main

character has been impacted by the people who have
come before them in their life. How do those
relationships shape their story?
 WRITING PROMPT #27

Reality Doesn’t Impress Me

Write an escapism story today.

“Reality doesn’t impress me. I only believe in intoxication, in ecstasy,

and when ordinary life shackles me, I escape, one way or another.
No more walls.”

― Anaïs Nin

A bald eagle flies by my office every afternoon. I’ve named him

Walter Mitty.

Jame Thurber’s short story called “The Secret Life of Walter

Mitty” is about a man who continuously escapes the shackles of
his ordinary life by indulging in deep fantasy.
Everyone has a way of escaping the walls of their ordinary world.
We live in a time of technology — so maybe for you it’s games or
movies or television. Maybe it’s books.

Maybe it’s intoxication, like it was for Nin.

Or pure imagination, like it was for Thurber’s Walter Mitty.

Write an escapism story today.

If you’re a fiction writer: Think about what your hero

does when things get a little too real in your story. They
are only human after all. How do they seek to escape?
You might add this to your dark night of the soul scene at
the end of the second act.
 WRITING PROMPT #28

Being Conventional is Overrated

Write the story of your overrated dream today.

“You and I both know being conventional is overrated.”

― Rebekah Crane, The Upside of Falling Down

We spend so much of our lives in a never-ending quest for

normal.

So much of how we spend our energy is taken up by this pursuit —

comparison, envy, jealousy, desire. All of it boils down to a
bone-deep longing to be ​like t​ he people around us.

The people we feel like we’re on the outside of.

And Rebekah Crane is right, you and I do both know that it’s
overrated. It’s all overrated.
So why do we want it — whatever it is we want — so badly?

What is the one normal thing you want. The one thing you wish
you had right now, that it seems to you ​everyone else ​already has?
Is it overrated? What would your life be like if you could just let it
float way.

Write the story of your overrated dream today.

If you’re a fiction writer: Perhaps at the root your

antagonist’s wounded spirit is a desire to be normal that
festered.
 WRITING PROMPT #29

The Odds of Coming Out With a

Loaf of Bread
Write your shopping story today.

“The odds of going to the store for a loaf of bread and coming out
with only a loaf of bread are three billion to one.”

― ​Erma Bombeck

You can judge a lot about a person, based on what you find in
their shopping cart.

Or, at least, you ​think ​you can.

What could someone tell about you, based on what you put in
your cart at the grocery story every week? How about a random
trip to the hardware store? Your last Amazon delivery?
Maybe you stick to your list and hand over a fistful of coupons.

Maybe you are compulsive, and even you don’t know what you’ll
find in your cart before you rollup to the check out line.

Have you ever taken a look at someone else’s cart and wondered
what kind of person put those items together?

Write your shopping story today.

If you’re a fiction writer: If you’re struggling to get a

handle on a character, try describing them based on
what they have in their shopping cart. Even the worst
villain or the most basic secondary character has to feed
themselves.
 WRITING PROMPT #30

Holy Cow, What Else Am I Missing

Out On?
Write about a time when you discovered a new world
today.

“I’d never heard of the ‘Lord of the Rings’, actually. So I went to the
bookstore and there it was, three shelves of books about Tolkien and
Middle-earth, and I was like, ‘Holy cow, what else am I missing out
on?’”

— Sean Astin

This quote tickled me.

I’m not sure if I 100% believe it.

Is it possible that Sean Astin had really not once heard of The
Lord of the Rings or Tolkien or The Hobbit or any of it?
But if it’s true, it’s a good story and it kind of tickles me.

Because the idea of discovering something like that. My goodness.

Imagine being hired to play Samwise Gamgee and all of a sudden
realizing that Middle-earth exists in the world?

Can you imagine the rush of that?

And what else ​is ​he missing out on?

Forget that. ​What am I missing out on?

What are you?

Right now, somewhere, there exists an entire world you have not
even heard of yet. A whole world. In a book or a movie or an
album or a painting.
Write about a time when you discovered a new
world today.

If you’re a fiction writer: When you start to think about

the third act of your story, you’ll need a twist. If you’re
stuck, ask yourself what your main character discovers
through the course of your story. What did they learn
that they didn’t know before? How can what they learned
— the new world that they didn’t even know about when
the story started — help them get out of their dilemma?
 WRITING PROMPT #31

The Act of Doing What You Can

Write about your resources today, both big and small.

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” — Theodore
Roosevelt

It’s so easy to feel overwhelmed and let that keep you from doing
what you need to do — both for yourself and for others.

If you’re anything like me, you’re so blindsided by the larger

picture that you don’t see all the little things you could do now
that not only are in your wheelhouse but would also get you closer
to the larger goal.

Everyone needs a reminder that you don’t need material things to

do what you can with whatever resources you already have.
Everyone needs a reminder that what they have is always more
than what someone else has. Sharing is caring — whether it be an
extra seat at your dinner table or a pair of helping hands, you have
it and it’s your responsibility to find what you can do with it.

Write about your resources today, both big and small.

If you’re a fiction writer: What does your writer have?

What don’t they have? How do they use their resources
to help others or help their story? What resources must
they seek from other places? How do they handle that
situation?