Today's Writing Prompt: Just Start

Sitting in my car not too far from my apartment. It's a quiet moment in between rides.

I pulled out one of my writing books and placed my clipboard and notebook on my lap.

I began to jot down two prompts. I also jotted down a few observations:

"It's overcast today, but still the temperature hovers around 90. A squirrel searches the grass near a tree. It steps. Pauses. Digs its nose in the grass. It lifts its head into the air - eyes scanning. A step. Anothe pause. A step. Head swiveling left and right. Pause. Nose in the grass again. A low-flying small prop plane buzzes overhead. The squirrel plants its four paws into the ground, lifts its head and freezes.
Will it bolt? I wonder. No. Once the plane passes, the squirrel goes back to foraging.
I sit in my car, foraging for rides. It's been 10 minutes. Maybe time to move just as the squirrel has abandoned the spot of grass next to the tree and has moved onto the landscaped flower beds nearby."

And so it goes everyday. Here's today's writing prompt. Over the next 10 hours as I drive all over the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, I will lean on the prompt to kick start my writing. Try it yourself. Just start writing. Start with whatever you have.

"Start with whatever you have: a scene, a snatch of dialogue, a character's mannerism. You can fill in and sort it out later."

Writing Prompt: Write What Frightens You

When I was growing up, I spent many days in the summer with my grandmother while my mother was at work. I spent many nights with her, too. Being a typical young boy, I often found my way into trouble.

My grandmother had a way of frightening me into obedience without lifting a finger. The power of her words and gesticulations as she served up a warning to "behave or else..." was amazing. All she had to do was tell me that some evil spirit was waiting around the corner for me the next time I misbehaved to swoop down and scratch my eyes out.

It worked on me. I remember many of her warnings to this day - stuck in my brain. As a freewriting exercise, write about what frightens you. Make it a little more interesting and write about what has frightened you at different times in your life.

The idea of evil spirits are still scary, but at this stage of life, other things frighten me more: losing my little girl in a crowd of people, or the love of my life, for example.

What frightens you? Place yourself in that scene. Use your five senses as you write.

Romance Writers Use Music Prompts

I'm so not a Romance writer. It's one genre, I recently told a dear friend of mine, that I just don't read. Not trying to knock it, but it's just not my thing.

However, I get it. Many write and love the Romance genre. As I'm sitting at my computer listening to iTunes as I blog, I heard two songs that even inspired me, a non-Romance guy, to think of possible stories revolving around that age old passion that draws men and women: love.

Now love must be complicated. It must be hard. Obstacles are required to make a good story. Lovers just can't meet and then they live happily ever after. They must face obstacles. They must fight for the love they desire - often against seemingly insurmountable odds. That makes a great story.

To spur any would-be Romance writers, I offer two songs as prompts. Listen to them. Use them as prompts to write a story about lovers fighting against the world. Those are the stories that readers want. Two against the world. Another dear friend I spoke to today used the phrase, "Ride or die."

Rather appropriate. It creates conflict. Drama. Passion. Do you feel it? Yes? Then write it. Here are two songs I believe can inspire you to write a tale of Romance:

"Don't Worry Baby," by The Beach Boys.

"A Thousand Years," by Christina Perri.

Check Out This Cool Writing Prompts App

Writers are always looking for prompts. Am I right?

Well, here's an app I was turned onto recently while attending a seminar on how to incorporate iPads in the classroom. It's called "Prompts - For Writers."

And it's free - for now.

Check it out. I've started using it in my writing classes. When I first walk into class, I pull up a prompt from the app and show it to the class on the projector screen. I give them five minutes to write. While they are doing that, I get everything else ready for the rest of class. 

So... go to your App Store and give it a try!