Writing Prompt #4

Good stories are centered around well-developed characters who interact with the world around them. To begin creating that world for your character, choose one of the following objects, then develop a character who uses or is affected by this object:

- A tarnished silver candlestick spattered with blue paint
- An opened package of Post-it notes with three words inside which are in Polish
- Six spent 12-gauge shotgun shells
- A hymnal with what looks like a phone number on the back cover
- A cheap ball point pen inscribed with “Do not click”

Create Burst - Character Sketch

Name: Will Flood

Born in a small, rural Maine town before being moved by his parents to the city of Portland, William Gustav Flood never knew peace of mind, heart, or hand. He was a troubled boy, a "strong-willed" child that was labeled as a problem child from the time he was old enough to walk and say no to just about everything his parents ever asked of him. Growing up in the city--though not a big city by any means, but still a place that challenged his never-ending imagination--offered Will a place to unfold his personality like a road map and travel the lines, blue ones and red ones, to places he never thought possible. This being because he knew the town he came from and whenever the family would return to visit who was left behind he felt like a part of him was drying up like a discarded banana peel on the floor of a car, rotten, black, stiff. He knew he would never fit in there, never want to return there for any reason. In fact, the family visits and brief holiday stayovers was beginning to push the limits. He felt out of place, alienated by the very people who wanted him to love where he came from and never forget that this place is a part of who he is. No matter what. That thought brought fear into his life. A choking fear that reached a pinnacle when Will was twenty seven, and his life would never be the same after what happened on that New Year's Eve.

Writing Prompt #3

Start a conversation between a character in a coffee shop and another patron who speaks of him or herself only in the third person. What would be the reaction of your character? How would the conversation unfold?

Writing Prompt #2

Start a story around a character who has just discovered that his or her parents have been lying to him or her about something for the character’s entire life. Avoid letting that something be that the character is adopted. Push yourself to be creative here. Be bold and risky.

Creative Burst - There Was This Guy on a Train, Part 3

The voice is that of his high school physics teacher, the one who would do his best to build camaraderie with the students but only managed to lose control of the classroom by boring everyone with detailed explanations of how the most recent "narrow escape" performed by MacGyver broke several laws of physics. Not class-A material for high school freshman. But right now, the Mr. Farley voice emanating from a rodent demands respect and attention regardless of past periods of intolerance.

"E equals MC squared," the ferret mutters, almost MacGyver-matter-of-factly, as if it can prove the equation with a bit of straw, the water dish, and a smidge of the fecal matter strewn around the cage.

"You're a ferret," the guy points out. "Not a physicist."

"E equals MC squared," it repeats looking around indiscriminantly at the inhabitatnts of the other cages.

The guy decides to take a stab at the implied solution to the problem. "Are you telling me to go back to her?"

This time the ferret remains silent soon becoming more interested in cleaning duties. It pushes the half empty water bowl to the far edge of the cage making room for it to spin in circles as it tosses straw and little pellets of poop in various directions. The guy takes one step back. The ferret sees the movement, notices the half-masked look of disgust on the guy's face, and comes back to the edge of the cage.

"Every reaction has an equal and opposite reaction," it says.

"Say no more," the guy says, holding up his hands. "I get it." He turns on his heels, and freezes when he sees the car door slide open.

Writing Prompt #1

Choose one of the following pairs of items and freewrite or list ways in which the two items are similar. Use the result to begin a scene or a poem:

A shirt and a chair

A birthday party and a catfish

Your favorite television program and spaghetti

Lightning and liverwurst

Justice and lava lamps

Swimming and voting