Writing Prompt #378: Useless Advice

Someone is given advice that is entirely unhelpful.

Who's giving the advice? Did they expect advice that was more useful? What can they do now?

Writing Prompt #377: Hope in Hardship

A character is hopeful in the face of difficulty.

Not delusional. Not in denial. Hopeful. 

How is that done?

Writing Prompt #376: Hard Questions

The more I do friendship, the more I realize that the stuff that the most wonderful stuff comes out of the moments that are horrible.

The times I said the wrong thing. The times I asked the hard question. The times we're exhausted and rained on and lost. Those are the times when what's really amazing happens.

The worst moments MAKE the best ones.

I'm challenging you to put your characters in a horribly awkward situation, and test and torment and pressure them, and pull out the gold.

Real life will give you all the trials you need to be a hero. Can you do the same for your characters?

Writing Prompt #375: Bad News

Your character has to break bad news to someone. How can make it go easier?

Writing Prompt #374: Blurt

Someone blurts out something really awkward, and it turns out okay.

Make sure they have a reason to blurt. Like being really tired, or really distracted or something.

I was both. I'm happy and alive. Things work out.

Writing Prompt #373: Endearment

Someone uses an endearment.

Is this a moment of courage and stepping out? A leap of faith? A test? What does it say about the characters? What has been changed or gained?

Yes, my prompts are going to be rather mushy for a while.

Writing Prompt #372: Gentleness

Someone goes to an abnormal length to avoid hurting another person.

Writing Prompt #371: Wishes Granted

Someone gets to do something or say something that they've wanted to for a long time.

Writing Prompt #370: Decisions and Boundaries

Do you ever make decisions ahead of time, because you know later you won't be in your right mind?

Write about someone who's done that. They made this decision and now they're in the thick of things and they know they're supposed to keep to the choice they made.

I hope you have fun.

Make good choices!!

Writing Prompt #369: People Watching

Your character makes an assumption about a stranger. It it correct?

Writing Prompt #368: Something Right

Someone does something right.

Nothing held back, nothing half-done, nothing ugly thrown in with the glory. The lines are right, the heart is pure, the action is complete.

Those are the scenes in your own life, no matter how badly they end, no matter how much pain and confusion surrounds them, that you look back on and are glad happened.

So write something right.

Writing Prompt #367: In the Middle of Horrible

Something good happens in the middle of something horrible.

Writing Prompt #366: Fear of Being Let Down

Do you ever confront in yourself the fear that someone's going to let you down? That they won't be the shining example of virtue that you looked up to?

Being let down by a hero is hard. Being betrayed by an example is awful. But the worst is realizing that you're wronging someone who hasn't done wrong and keeping them at arm's length for fear that they'll fail.

Heroes fail. People fail. So what? Can't you trust for the hope and the love and the faith to forgive and help them up?

Being failed by someone you love isn't the worst thing. It's an opportunity to love, to do what's right, to BE a hero. Failing them back would be.

So here is my challenge. Your character looks up to and trusts someone. A friend? A mentor? A lofty personage? That person fails to be really good. Maybe your character has to confront and restore, maybe he has to find the ideals that are bigger than the hero was, but find what is real, find what is true in this experience, and write.

Maybe someday you'll be a hero who falls. What happens then?

Writing Prompt #365: A Year

Your Brain on Squirrel has officially published a year's worth of writing prompts for you. SO.

Write a scene where a person does a thing or visits a place, and then write the same person doing the same thing or visiting the same place a year later.

What has changed? It's probably them.

Enjoy.

Writing Prompt #364: Double-Gifted

Someone gives a gift with a secret meaning.

Writing Prompt #363: Sharing

Write a scene where your character shares a person.

Are they sharing a parent with a sibling? Sharing a spouse with a child? Sharing a friend with someone who needs their attention more?

What makes it important? What makes it worth it? What makes it okay?

Can you create a love for the interloper that makes the interruption, however painful, okay?

Writing Prompt #362: Surrendering a Desire

Someone gives up something they want.

Is it time with a person? Is it a special thing? A meal? A chance to rest? Why? What's more important?

Just because something is right, doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. And just because something hurts, doesn't mean it isn't right.

Writing Prompt #361: Self Promotion

Your protagonist has to see him/herself as something cool and sell that.

Writing Prompt #360: Gut Talk

Today I broke down in tears telling my stomach that I forgave it and it had been doing its best and I was sorry that I'd blamed it when it had been doing the best job it could.

I scared my sister because I was sobbing with sympathy for the emotional plight of my own organs.

So today I'm challenging you to write a scene where someone has a conversation with one of their internal organs.

And I'm just going to challenge you a little more and ask you to be nice to yourself. Because sometimes, when it feels like a part of you is trying to kill you, like, say, your stomach eating your esophagus, it's just doing its best to save your life. Please love every part of you.

~ Joy

Writing Prompt #358: Hiding Gas Stations

Your character conceals portions of a story to avoid upsetting someone.

I don't tell my mom when I had to stop for gasoline at 1 am, or my dad when I get lost. I don't tell my friends when I'm sick or in pain or my brother when I'm sad. I'm really good at hiding the right things from the right people so everyone's okay.

What is your character hiding, and why?

Writing Prompt #357: Second-Person Narration Justified

Have you ever written to someone telling the story of something they were there for?

The first time you met, that thing they thought went terribly, what you were thinking that time when.

I have a habit of writing letters when there were things in the moment that I couldn't say. I don't send them, but I write anyway. I tell people how important they are or how confused I was and what I wish I'd said. I tell them what would be interesting to them; what they looked like, how they sounded, what I'd assumed about them and how I think I was wrong.

Write a story in second-person. The more important you make the story to the narrator, and the more important you make the write-ee to the story, the more gripping it'll be.

Writing Prompt #356: Correspondence Tale

Audience changes presentation, doesn't it? How much you leave out, how much you keep in, what details are important. It changes the way you're able to open up...sometimes in a really, really good way.

Write a story in a letter. How does the writer relate to the intended recipient? What does the recipient already know?

Writing Prompt #355: Blame Game

Two people argue, each claiming that the topic is their fault.

Sometimes you can't win this argument. What do you do then?

Writing Prompt #354: Unexpected Gesture

Someone does something in the moment that is unexpected. A hug? A kiss? A round-house kick? A bow? Why?

Writing Prompt #353: Provoked Discussion

A fictional story provokes a discussion between two people about a topic relevant to their lives.

Is it a movie? A campfire tale? What does one person want out of the other?

Writing Prompt #352: Bad Date

Two people set out to have fun and have a terrible, terrible time.

So how is the outcome positive? >:)

While I've never gone on a date, I did get lost in a parking lot at night in a thunderstorm for an hour with an awesome friend and get soft drink thrown on me by a couple of whack jobs as they sped past.

I think it turned out pretty well. Your turn.

Writing Prompt #351: Definition of Friendship

Recently in a conversation that left me fighting tears and gripping the will to live, I said that a friend was someone who has seen you fail, seen you weak and stupid, seen you be wrong, but still thinks you're worth more than your mistakes.

I'm challenging you to write about a character lifting someone up after they've been stupid. Write about treating someone more valuable than their trouble.

I hope you have people in your life who see the value of you, who dream the best for you when you're at your worst. I hope you have people who see you like Jesus does. I'm glad I do.

Writing Prompt #350: Thanks for the Stones

It's the kind of day where I stub my toe and I'm grateful for the pain just because it distracts me.

I needed to tell someone. But there is no one I can tell without making their day worse or being thought even more of an idiot. So, oh, look! A writing prompt for you, the one anonymous reader.

Someone is thankful for something unpleasant. Why?

I hope your day is better than mine. But whether or not that is the case, I hope your day draws strength and comfort from the same direction mine has. Peace to you. 

Writing Prompt #349: Surprising Support

Your character receives support from an unlikely quarter.

Writing Prompt #348: Revelation of Aid

Your character realizes that someone was helping or protecting them.