The fantawonderful couple, Paul and the Cocktail Maven, recently proposed a PROMPTuesday idea, which caught my fancy, so I’m making it official here. As they wrote: William Carlos Williams’s poem “This is just to say…” is basically about people who know they are supposed to say I’m sorry and apologize — but skirt…Continue Reading
PROMPTuesdays
PROMPTuesday #17: Get Specific
Today’s PROMPTuesday is lifted from Naomi Epel’s The Observation Deck, and is sponsored by the dog days of summer, the lethargy unleashed after consuming three urns of buttered popcorn, and menstruation-induced anemia. So, from the Observation Deck: Show, don’t tell! — a cardinal rule of writing — is another way of saying “be specific.”…Continue Reading
PROMPTuesday #16: Give ‘Em a Piece of Your Mind
Dear Everyone, You are all fabulous. You offer advice, bolster my confidence, provide support, say you’ll fly with me to New York to stall my inevitable nervous breakdown, AND play with me every Tuesday. I think you’re great. Also, those pants/Crocs/Underoos/chaps really bring out your eyes. Thank you. Love, Mrs. San Diego…Continue Reading
PROMPTuesday #15: One Word Says It All
New to PROMPTuesday? Welcome! Find out more here. Meanwhile, today’s writing prompt is going to be simple (in name only). Write about deception. Whatever that means to you. Can be fact or fiction. As always, here are PROMPTuesday’s rules: You must write your entry in 10 minutes. This encourages top-of-mind, primal…Continue Reading
Never the Same Since
The spider entrenched on my patio door provided an apt metaphor. Its metallic legs dug into my screen, seemingly attempting a break-in. I watched its bulk from the corner of my eye as I dialed number after number into my boyfriend’s pager. I’d been collecting these phone numbers for months. Either I’d seen them appear…Continue Reading
PROMPTuesday #14: Use Your Ears
I’m a big fan of using music for writerly inspiration, and so I thought I’d try that here, with you. To evoke your own inspiration, listen to the song here, then write the pictures that appear in your mind. You don’t need to craft an entire paragraph, although of course you can. Rather, let…Continue Reading
PROMPTuesday #13: Finish It
First time to PROMPTuesday? Read a bit about it here. Want to see what’s been written in the past? Catch up on the PROMPTuesdays archive here. In the meantime, for today’s exercise, I’d love you to add to the sentences provided below. Complete the paragraph and continue the story. ********************************************************************************** “Wait!” I…Continue Reading
PROMPTuesday #12: The Guest Hostess
So my friend The Cocktail Maven, book clubber extraordinaire and creator of the ever popular “Cocktails in Historic Places” group, e-mailed me with the news that PROMPTuesdays inspired her to complete a 2,000-word short story. And I was pleased. So pleasured was I that I thought she should create this week’s PROMPTuesday prompt.…Continue Reading
PROMPTuesday #11: The Infomercial
This week, please humor me by writing an infomercial for this product: OK, go! (But first: Are you going to make this an infomercial for a super-duper jumbo turbo vibratron? Really? Me too!) Well, before you proceed, here are the “rules” (YAWNNNN): You must write your entry in 10 minutes. This…Continue Reading
PROMPTuesday #10: Dream Book
Welcome to PROMPTuesday! Glad you’re here. So, lucky number 10, huh? Right? Holy cridoodle. There’s been 10 PROMPTuesdays already! You’re all growing up right before my eyes. Soon, you’ll be pouring whiskey into Clinique trial hairspray bottles and sneaking into the janitor’s bathroom during your high school homecoming game to get buzzed. But you’ll forget…Continue Reading
PROMPTuesday #9: Poetic Inspiration
Today’s PROMPTuesday keeps it simple. Read this poem (one of my favorites): Disillusionment of Ten O’Clock by Wallace Stevens The houses are haunted By white night-gowns. None are green, Or purple with green rings, Or green with yellow rings, Or yellow with blue rings. None of them are strange, With socks of…Continue Reading
PROMPTuesday #8: You Know What They Say About a Picture
This PROMPTuesday is about what lies beneath. So this week, I’d like you to look at this picture: …and very quickly write down the first three words that come to mind. Now, start writing, using those words anywhere in your story. (Be sure to name the three words in your post or comments…Continue Reading
