Writing Prompt #287: Something Rising

A character gets back something he/she thought was lost.

A relationship? A pet? Trust? A job?

Sometimes just when you give something up for dead, you get it back better. And sometimes, something amazing is held out to you, because Someone Bigger than you thinks you're worth the kind of love you can't possibly earn.

Sometimes life is a lot like Easter.

Happy Resurrection Day! I hope yours is fantastic.

Writing Prompt #286: Sublime Punishment

Your challenge: write a story or a scene where a punishment is a blessing.

Need ideas? Batman has it covered.

Writing Prompt #285: The Outsider

Someone is on the outside of a joke.

Writing Prompt #284: Crushing Fear

I have one friend who, for some reason, attracts people to attack him from behind.

Wherever we're seated, someone will come up to fake-throttle or fake-kick or fake-stab this friend. One night when we were out somewhere he had his back to an unsavory crowd, and I mentioned that it made me nervous to have his back vulnerable to attack because everywhere we went people snuck up on him. And he smiled like I was a little kid and told me that he always heard the people coming.

The friend wasn't being tricked or shocked. He always knew what was going on, and he could read whether or not there was a threat. I didn't need to be afraid.

The next time we were sitting in friendly territory, and someone "snuck up," I saw him smile. His eyes slid over to me, to tell me it was okay. Then he faked all the shock he needed to to satisfy the crowd.

I'm challenging you to write a scene where your character convinces someone not to be afraid. Not a scene where they try. A scene where they succeed.

I hope the friends in your life are as fear-crushing as the heroes and heroines in mine.

Writing Prompt #283: Avoiding Introduction

Have you ever been somewhere with a friend, and an acquaintance of his greets him, and he greets them back and then there's silence, because for some reason, your friend does not want to introduce you to this other person and he is going to let the silence stretch on for as long as he needs to until they leave?

Write a scene where someone specifically avoids introducing people to each other.

Writing Prompt #282: Requesting Exile

Someone asks for something that they don't really want.

Writing Prompt #281: Learn to Read Chinese in 3 Minutes. And French Braid. And Talk to Dogs. ...and Lose 20 Lbs.

Ever notice how much advertising promises that you will do something in a ridiculously compressed time frame? Most of the time, both the advertiser and everyone reading the ad knows that the promise is exaggerated, but we're still drawn in. The promise of accomplishment without effort, however ridiculous, is appealing.

What if it worked?

Write a story about a character who accomplishes something within a compressed time frame.

Writing Prompt #280: Testing the Limits

Someone tests the limits of a power.

A power over themself? A superpower over nature? The power they have over a person?

Make them see how far it will go.

[I was trying to put this in the queue and I accidentally posted it early. So...happy early-prompt day.]

Writing Prompt #279: Over the Line

A character wants something he cannot morally attempt to get.

Writing Prompt #278: Wanting Something

Your character wants something from someone.

Yeah, I know. This sounds sooo basic, right?

When do you do this?

When do you let yourself actually want something from another human being? When do you hope for something from someone else? When you do this, they have a power over you, no matter how small. When do you let this happen, and when it happens inside of you, how do you deal with it?

Is there any right way to get something from someone? Or do you just wait like it's a storm that might break or might not? Does being good, doing right, mean you never move for what you want at all?

Sometimes. For some of us. What about you?

Writing Prompt #277: Allied Antagonist

Create a scene in which someone who is normally your protagonist's ally is an antagonist.

Why is this person blocking what he wants?

Writing Prompt #276: Maintaining Boundaries

Someone deals with an encroachment on their personal space.

Writing Prompt #275: Things You Want to Say

Do you ever have things that you want to say but you can't?

Sometimes I'll be in a big group conversation and there are things I want to say to someone but it isn't appropriate so I'll wait till everyone's loud and I'll whisper the thing really quickly under my breath, and maybe no one heard it, but at least it was said.

Sometimes when I finish a phone conversation I throw the phone down on the bed and jump back like it's a snake, and then I say "I love your voice," or "You're really cool," or "What was that all about and why did you have to call?"

Write a scene where someone says the thing that they don't get to say.

I hope it turns out well for them.

I hope someday I get to say things.

Writing Prompt #274: Honesty, Motion and Whales

I don't get a lot of traffic on this blog, but the three things people have searched for and found Your Brain on Squirrel were "writing prompts on honesty," "writing prompts about motion," and "writing prompts for whales."

SO.

I am challenging you to write a scene regarding honesty, motion, and whales.




You know you want to.

If YOU have a suggestion as to the kinds of writing prompts you'd like to see in the future, comment and let me know. In the meantime, you have a whale to write about.

Writing Prompt #273: Being Real

Today someone told me that they knew I was real, and that I didn't have to hold back from being real for fear they thought I was faking.

I'm still rolling those words in my mouth like a lollipop, holding them close to my heart like heater, spinning around in this idea like it's a bright, new backyard with a sky full of stars and clouds and I can yell to God.

How does your character hold back? How does your character dilute him or herself for the people he interacts with? What does your character have to worry about people misinterpreting or misusing or rejecting or shying away from?

Who does your character get to be real with?

Even honest people have things that they have to hold back, and hopefully, people that they don't hold back with. Write a scene that shows the difference.

Writing Prompt #272: Compliment

How do you receive a compliment? Like, what's the hardest kind of compliment for you to receive?

What are the differences between the compliments that edify you, and the compliments that are uncomfortable? How are you supposed to respond when affirmation seems over the top? When it seems inappropriate? When you think you've been mistaken for your sister?

Compliment a character, and make them grow to receive it, or reject it.

Writing Prompt #271: Independent Thinking

Someone receives advice and opinions from friends, and then makes a decision that goes against that advice.

Sometimes the only way to do the right thing is to do what other people see as wrong. Sometimes it would be more wrong to accept others' opinions for your own than to obey them.

And sometimes the best friends are the ones saying, "When this blows up in your face, I'll still be here."

There's always a risk that they're right and you're wrong. But if you let other people make your decisions, what kind of life are you leading?

Writing Prompt #270: Unorthodox Advice

An elder or parent gives advice that parents normally don't.

Writing Prompt #269: Wrong About You

Write a narrative telling someone how they proved you wrong.

Writing Prompt #268: Running in the Family

Two sides of a family have some difference.

How subtle can you make this?

Writing Prompt #267: Non Sequitur

Today I had a conversation that went as follows.

Gentleman: Why don't you have a watch? You need a watch.
Me: I do have a watch. I just don't like the way it feels. I carry it in my purse.
My sister: I wear a watch.
Gentleman: (to me) This is why you'll get married first.

I do not understand.

Write a scene with a non sequitur; a conclusion that comes out of nowhere. Have fun.

Writing Prompt #266: Command Voice

It doesn't matter that I already have a rapport with the players. It doesn't matter how long I've earned my street-cred. When I stand in front of the ShamRooks chess team, my posture, my movements, my eye-contact have to be the highest level I can make them. I don't walk. I float. I don't speak. I command. I don't look at people. It doesn't matter if I'm exhausted and ready to faint from blood sugar issues; every piece of my performance is targeted to motivate my players and to reassure them that I know what I'm doing.

Command positions require stepping into a role to be what people need. Write a character who steps into a role and has to be more than he is. Is this role a new one? Is it one he takes regularly? Show us the difference.

Writing Prompt #265: Matchmaker, Matchmaker

Someone tries to match-make your character with a person.

This can range from coy to authoritarian, from hideously awkward to don't-laugh don't-laugh don't-laugh funny. Have fun.

Meanwhile my grandmother will be ordering me to sit beside young men she favors.

Writing Prompt #264: Welcome

A character must make someone feel welcome.

If you can give that character reasons not to want the person he's welcoming there, you will have more tension. >:)

Writing Prompt #263: Introduction

The manner in which a person introduces you to their other friends says a lot. The way you introduce someone to your other friends sometimes says too much.

Write an introduction.

Writing Prompt #262: Teacher-Student Problem-Solution

A teacher deals with a problem student.

Writing Prompt #261: Comforting Sufferer

Someone suffering comforts someone else.

Writing Prompt #260: Darker Past

Some story or detail hints that who someone is is not the way they've always been.

This isn't always a big deal. The tee-total-er of your party immediately responds describing how awful daiquiris made from banana peels taste. The gentle teacher takes the opportunity to describe the sound it makes when you break someone's legs with a bat. You run into someone who knew you "way back when."

Write.

Writing Prompt #259: Touch

Someone is comforted by a touch.

Writing Prompt #258: Distracting Aesthetics

Someone is distracted by beauty.

[I'm changing the updating schedule to 8 pm the day before instead of midnight. I hope this will be more convenient for you, reader.

Seriously. Reader. I'm convinced it's all robots and one stranger. Hi, you.]

Writing Prompt #257: Defense

Someone normally thick-skinned responds defensively.

Writing Prompt #256: Unusual Honesty

How often do we actually tell people what we think of them and how much we care?

Write about someone doing that.