Showing posts with label literature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label literature. Show all posts
New Audio!
Featuring classic literature read aloud by author E.S. Wynn, this disc is a definite must-have for lovers of lit as well as instructors looking to give their material more "pop" in the classroom.Track listing:
1. The Windhover (Hopkins)
2. Dulce Et Decorum Est (Wilfred Owen)
3. Tyger (Blake)
4. Kubla Khan (Coleridge)
5. Azathoth (Lovecraft)
6. Chimney Sweeper (Blake)
7. Charge of the Light Brigade (Tennyson)
8. Meeting at Night (Browning)
9. Ozymandias (Shelley)
10. Lady of Shalott (Tennyson)
11. Childe Roland To The Dark Tower Came (Browning)
12. From Beyond (Lovecraft)
Get your copy today! ($8.99) http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/classic-literature-read-by-es-wynn/11477923
Revitalit!
Providing an educational resource of "classics that don't suck" Revitalit is full of all kinds of poetry and prose literature in an easily accessible format combined where possible with audio and video formats as well. Enjoy!
Revitalit: Classics that don't suck.
New Audiobook Clips
Recently I had the privilege of being able to record a few new pieces of audio for those of you who want to get into literature but don't have the time. Both of these pieces are classic works and, in my opinion, beautiful pieces definitely worth listening to.
Azathoth by ESWynn
You can read the original piece in an HTML fulltext here [link]
Meeting at Night by ESWynn
You can read the original piece in an HTML fulltext here [link]
Azathoth by ESWynn
You can read the original piece in an HTML fulltext here [link]
Meeting at Night by ESWynn
You can read the original piece in an HTML fulltext here [link]
Classics that don't suck
Recently I opened a new site providing "classics that don't suck" as a resource for educators working in the middle and high school grades. The idea is to provide not only classics that are more engaging to teenagers, but also to reduce the cost of paper and the impact that printing tons of handouts and anthologies has on the environment, both in trees and in the disposal of hazardous chemical byproducts. With Revitalit, you can save trees by giving your students a link instead of a handout, or even just find a few new classical pieces to fall in love with.
Either way, it's free, so check it out!
Wed. Writing Prompts XXIV
1. Imagine that, through some bizarre twist of fate or science, you were to cross paths with some future or past incarnation of yourself. What would the two of you talk about? Would you recognize each other? How would it effect your life, you decisions? Brainstorm a little, and then write your story.2. You come home to a message on your phone that makes your heart stop for a moment. What is this message? Who left it? What emotions does it evoke within you? Happiness? Fear? Love? Anger? Something else?
3. Do something creative and fun with myth. Write an article meant for the Olympus newsletter, detail the secret life and/or obsessions of a god or goddess from any tradition. Have fun with it, even if it doesn’t go anywhere, use this as an opportunity to try something new and entertaining.
4. Create and detail a band of drifters. Each of them has a different past, a different history, and their own set of secrets tucked away where no one else can see them. Make each character unique and real– make them interesting, explain the bonds that hold them together. Now, throw them into the middle of a frantic situation where one or more of them come under the imminent threat of death. Write their story.
5. Tell the story of a man or woman who is the ultimate fake-artist. In every element of his or her life, something (if not everything) is faked. It’s a survival strategy, it’s how the character gets by– only now, something has gone horribly wrong. What is it? Is there a solution?
6. Write a story about someone who discovers a “crack” in the framework of reality. What is this crack? Is it physical, metaphorical, conceptual? Is it an abstract concept that slips obliquely in and out of view, or is it more concrete and tangible? How does the character in your story react to this fracture? What happens in response?
7. Think about a cultural stereotype that is invisible to most people (like the unspoken standard of what is a “man’s job” or the way in which “whiteness” stands as the default racial identity in mainstream movies and/or television. Now, blatantly expose this stereotype in a short story, either through dialog or by parodying it by overapplying it in your story. Show the world what it is afraid to see.
8. Family stories – we all have them, we all have relatives who like to talk and spin a yarn to rival any novelist. Reflect on one of these from your own experience, and then recast it as the tale of someone else living in some other place and time. Be creative, change elements as necessary, but don’t lose the overall flavor of the piece.
9. Write a story that revolves around a sexy look, a sensual, silent glance that imparts more excitement and meaning than words ever could. What happens now? What was the trigger for the event? Write your story.
10. Some tribal societies claim that the tales they tell as part of their oral mythologies come from patterns seen in fire or in the stars. Spend some time staring at the patterns in clouds, fire, the grain of wood or the wash of silt after a rainstorm. See what stories come to you– then write them.
Dreaming
“Hey,” She says, and I can see the smile in her eyes, the light in the depths of a gaze the color of cobalt glass. Her smile softens a little as she turns back to her work, concentration taking over, mind and soul mingling to guide hand and paintbrush across canvas. I smile reflexively, in love with her drive, her dedication. Fifteen minutes ago, she had stood where I stand now, tired from a day at work, but revitalized at the sight of her canvas, her paints, the cool touch of familiar home. A heap of discarded clothing crouches outside the door of the bedroom, the leavings of the day, hurriedly exchanged for the color-touched tanktop and shorts she wears when she paints.
“What are you working on?” I ask, and she looks up again, grins before she disappears back into the paint, the canvas.
“A family photograph for a client.” She says. “Come here, tell me what you think.”
Setting down my bag, I smile as I cross the floor between us and slide in behind her, hands meeting, arms sliding into place across her waist. “Looks great.” I say, and the words come naturally, a true reflection of the skill she puts into an arena of art I could never grasp or understand. She smiles, closes her eyes as I playfully nuzzle her neck, breathe in the sweet scent there. She sinks into me, whole body loose and soft in my arms. “Their kids are pretty cute.” I say, and she chuckles in response.
“Yeah.” She says, and the smile that slips across her lips is sharper, almost conspiratorial. Moving within my arms, she turns toward me, and the midnight edges of her wild, brutally short hair caress my cheek as she moves. Our eyes lock for a moment as her hands trace lines across my back, meet somewhere behind me, and then our lips touch, and I breathe in the sweet, cool air. To me, she tastes like rain, jasmine, and her scent reminds me of heavy clouds, of rainy breezes that tickle the skin between storms. When the kiss ends, she smiles again, and we breathe shivering, sensual exhales before we touch again, hold one another, connecting silently, gratefully. Moments later, we turn as one to look at her work again, and she says: “They are cute, aren’t they?”
Later, we’re singing opera in the shower, a little piece we’ve practiced and learned specifically for this moment, something from her childhood. We laugh as we forget parts, key sequences, picking up the lines that the other blurs through. Time passes as we move from song to song, old favorites, things and bits from movies and games and memory that linger on in our minds and hearts. Holding each other here, enshrined in the cool cascade of water, there is no fear, no inhibition– the outside world no longer exists for us, only a body and soul that blurs vaguely into two.
That night, as I stare at a half finished page, fingers tapping across well worn keys, I hear the soulful notes of an alto saxophone on the porch as it rises above the quiet, ambient strains tumbling from the radio. I pause, listening, lingering on the rise and fall of that more distant tune as my fingers find the knob and silence the radio, leave only the sound of the sax to hang softly in the night. I smile at the sound of her playing, the passion she has for her art, and as I stand and push aside the chair, she pushes into something gentler, something that reminds me of rain. The boards of the house creak beneath my feet as I cross to her, sit silently behind her and wrap my arms around her waist as she plays. The tempo rises, becomes stronger and more complex as she leans into me again, back against my chest, head coming to rest on my shoulder. I smile again, gently kiss her hair as she finishes.
“Hey,” She says, curling into me, smiling contentedly. “I’m not bothering you, am I?”
“Never.” I smile, and gently move an edge of hair out of her eyes. “Play on.”
Wednesday Writing Prompts XXI
1. History is full of great men and women, explorers and pioneers who did things and went places that others had only dreamed of. Think about one of these driven, amazing figures from history (My personal favorites are Amelia Earhart, Nikolai Tesla, and Magellan) or more than one if you feel up to it, and then try to capture a sense of what made them great in a story. (Maybe– the first woman to fly an aether-powered blimp, etc.) Be creative and see where the writing takes you!
2. Begin a story with the line “I’ll never forget that horrible night.” Think about it, think about where that line could go, and write whatever comes to you.
3. Make up an excuse. It could be for anything– why you were late, why your dog left a hefty hunk of stink on the neighbor’s carpet, etc. Feel free to make it detailed and as improbable as you like (or not) but remember– you’re arguing your case. Why isn’t whatever happened your fault? Now, write a story that includes this excuse.
4. A man hands a package to a woman at a funeral. What is in the package? Does he say anything to her? How does she react? Does she already know what’s in the package, or will she find out later when she opens it? Spend some time trying different scenarios until you come up with one that excites you and makes you want to write right away. Now, write the story of the package.
5. Start a stream of consciousness freewrite after you write the words “If he wasn’t so dense, he might have understood.” See where that line takes you, see where your mind goes with it. After a while, look back over everything that you’ve written and extract the story (or at least the foundation of it) from the freewrite.
6. Take a moment to consider your face, your features and your general physical characteristics. If someone were to spot you in a crowd, is there one or two things about you that would make you stand out? Now– imagine you’re being pursued by a force of people bent on capturing you. (It could be the police, a secret organization, fans, creditors, etc. feel free to have fun with it.) How would you disguise those features and evade capture? Write your story.
7. Think for a moment about a favorite poem, one that you remember and that stands out in your mind in some way or another. Now, write down the last line, then compose a poem of your own that uses that line as its first line. It could be an answer to the other poem, a continuation, a piece that captures a certain image from that line and its poem and incorporates it into its own ambiance, or anything else. Try different things, see what works, and write as much as you feel.
8. Have you ever thought “Well, at least I’m not a...” (Fill in the blank as appropriate)? Imagine for a moment that you suddenly were, that you suddenly became that thing. What would you do? How would life change? What would be different, and how would you fix it? Would you fix it? What would be the ultimate outcome? Spend some time thinking about it, then write your story.
9. Some spiritualists and UFO hunters claim that we may be approaching a point where contact with an intelligent alien species is right around the corner. Take a moment to consider the repercussions of a sudden and irrefutable announcement that someone else is out there. These creatures don’t have to be hostile– they may just be curious, or maybe they’re here to help us. How would you react? How would the government react? How would various religious, social and political groups react? (Goths, Republicans, born again Christians, dictators and rebels in third world countries, etc.) Create a story that focuses either on one person/group’s reaction, or that encompasses a certain number of them into its storyline. What is the ultimate outcome?
10. Write about some massive, far reaching, global event (doesn’t have to happen in our time/on our world/dimension, etc.) as told through the eyes of a survivor looking back on the event. Start with where he/she was when “it” happened, and focus on the emotions, the trauma, the relief, the happiness– whatever the character feels.
Wednesday Writing Prompts XX
1. Between television and novels there lies a middle ground which has gone almost forgotten, simmering steadily in the darkness with its own life and its own undeniable charm. I speak of course of the radio drama, and in its heyday, it was an art all its own. Craft your own radio drama, or at least a script that could be used for one (or perhaps a story that centers around one.) Be creative, give life to this almost forgotten means of telling a story, and see where the intricacies and idiosyncracies of this unique medium take you!2. In today’s world, we worry about time, about money and about events in the future that could suddenly go wrong, but on the whole, this worry is a relatively modern thing. (as far as humanity goes.) Do you think it’s a permanent change? Do you think that people will worry about these things from here on out, or do you think these worries are temporary? Will worrying shift to some other focus (like, say, some unfathomable concept that we cannot currently grasp) or go away altogether? Project yourself into the probable future and write down what you think people will worry about in the centuries to come. Now– work it all into a story.
3. Would you survive as a character in a horror movie? Consider some of the terror flicks you’ve seen in your lifetime and how well you might survive in them. Now, set up your own “horror movie,” featuring you (or a pseudonym) as the star. Write your story– even if it ends in horrible disembowelment and death, put it on paper and run with it. Remember, sometimes in horror, it’s okay if in the end, the bad guy wins and everybody dies.
4. Write a story that begins with a death. (There are a million ways you could go with this.) It could be that the story unfolds at a wake or funeral, it could be that the death is the first step in the main character’s journey, it could be that the death of someone close to the main character triggers the story and the events that are meant to unfold around him or her, or it could be anything else. Think about it for a while, and then write the best idea that comes to you.
5. Anyone who’s really gotten into gardening can tell you stories about “volunteer” plants. The basic idea is that sometimes, some seeds left over from the previous season’s garden (or from a garden that someone else planted there years before, etc.) actually sprout randomly from the soil in the same plot as plants that have been intentionally placed there that season. Write a story about a mysterious volunteer plant that looks like something familiar (a tomato plant, a pumpkin vine, etc.) but ultimately becomes stranger and stranger– not enough to warrant weeding, but just enough to make the gardener curious enough to let it grow.
6. Think about something that you’ve always wanted to do with your life (like becoming a plastic surgeon or going to law school.) Now, imagine every door between you and that goal were suddenly thrown open. How would you go about achieving your dream? What would it feel like? What would you have to do to get there? Now, write your story.
7. Imagine for a moment that some miraculous new source of cheap, renewable, sustainable and zero-emission energy were suddenly discovered either here or somewhere else. What kind of impact would it have on our world? On our economy? What would people do? Would it become widely used, or fiercely regulated? Be creative, try something new, and see where the idea of the ultimate energy source takes you!
8. Working from the premise set by #7, now imagine that, only after all the good and happy, miraculous events had come to pass and society was firmly hooked on this new source of energy, it turned out to have some profoundly terrible secret. Where does it really come from? What kind of horrors are involved in the making and/or processing of it? Is it brokered by some Faustian bargain that ultimately comes with some terrible price tag which humanity has to pay? See where the idea takes you, and feel free to try anything that reaches out and grabs you!
9. Write a story about a transient whose life is suddenly and drastically changed by a discovery he makes while digging through a dumpster. What does he find? How does it change his life? For better? For worse? Are things harder but ultimately more rewarding? Be creative, try a few different ideas before you settle on one and write your story.
10. Brainstorm the basic premise for a movie (Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back or giant robots attack, one man has the secret to defeating them, action ensues, etc.) and then pick real life actors to play the roles (Who’s the boy? The girl? The leader of the giant robots?) Give them defined roles, write down a few pieces of dialog or random quotes from the movie, and then write your story.
Wednesday Writing Prompts XIX
1. Write an action sequence of epic proportions. Focus entirely on the action itself, infuse every sentence with awesomeness, and don’t worry about any other aspects just yet. Leave the science, the character development, the background info and the various explanations for later. For now, write only the action– be the action, live it, feel it. Once you’ve got the scene down, take some time to satisfy that itching need for wordiness, but only after you’ve looked at the piece as it stands and taken the time to truly appreciate the beauty of simplicity.2. Do something truly experimental with your writing as a craft. Create something new and interesting that catches the eye– do something with your writing that you’ve never done before and have never seen anyone else do before either. Take it as far as you can, leave a mark on someone’s life, or at the very least, strive to give someone a WTF moment. Hell, you could even write something in Shakespearean form and then run up to random strangers and read it or something.
3. Write a story in which the main character is directing the action at a distance, like an operator or a Captain relaying orders to troops in the field. Convey and capture the fact that, even though the main character isn’t in the thick of it, he or she is still tied inextricably to everything that the men and women in the field have to deal with face to face. Capture the tension, the fear– show the reader what it means to lead, and what it means to follow.
4. Imagine what it would be like if you suddenly could not sleep. It doesn’t have to be insomnia– it could be any cause of suddenly not being able to sleep– even as far as trying to stay awake in the face of some terror that only comes when you’re asleep. Be creative, do something with this idea that hasn’t been done before, but never lose sight of it in your story.
5. Write the secret life of someone young and successful. Consider what kind of dark and unexpected secret someone like, say, a high powered lawyer or corporate exec might have. Sure, on the outside it’s all business suits and cocktail parties, but what about in his or her alone time? Is there a change of personality, a change of masks or ideologies? Is the leader of some international corporate conglomerate secretly an alien from Proxima Centauri? An ageless creature out of fantasy? Be creative, see where it takes you.
6. Write a story that centers around a hat. It could be any kind of hat, with any kind of story of its own behind it. Be creative, see where your ideas take you, and never lose sight of the hat. It doesn’t have to be your protagonist, but make it a critical enough piece of the story that its removal would leave a gaping hole that could not be filled. Is it a fruit-covered old ladies’ hat? A beat up baseball cap? Something else entirely?
7. Write a story where the fantastic is just outside the walls of the mundane– literally. What kind of a world stirs and sprawls just beyond the tall fence of some surrealistically and painfully average sort of existence? Spend some time thinking about how you could breathe life into this idea– do you take the surreal route of little Timmy with his white-picket fence house that stands as a black and white island in the middle of a sea of rainbows, or do you go with something grittier and more realistic, like the traditional white protestant family that moves into a wild and multicultural neighborhood? Try different things, be creative, look for the third path, but most of all, have fun with it. Don’t let it get too serious.
8. Create some brand new theme restaurant (like Outback, the Elephant Bar, or Bubba Gump) and then set a story there. Don’t just use the restaurant as a flat backdrop– give it life, make the characters interact with it, make it such an integral part of the entire experience that to remove it would ultimately be like removing an entire character.
9. There’s a penetrating ambiance of profound loneliness that sets in when one gets out on the open water in a boat. Think about this as you write a story– how does this sense of utter aloneness touch you? How does it make you feel? (Other than alone) What does it make you think of? Jot down some notes, work a little on it, and picture yourself aboard that boat as the sun dips in the sky and sinks slowly down the horizon. Now, work it all together into a story.
10. Consider the story of Atlantis. Is it a myth? Is it a distorted story with grains of truth embedded within it? Is it something else altogether more fantastic? Write a story that either happens at or involves the tale of Atlantis. Be creative, do some research, and see where the story takes you.
Wednesday Writing Prompts XIV
1. Think about the line: “You are the greatest story that has ever been told.” What does it mean to you? How does it make you feel? Do you believe it? Do you agree? What makes it more real for you? Spend some time mulling it over in your brain, jot down some notes, and then write the greatest story ever told by drawing directly from the events of your own life. Don’t doubt for an instant that you can do it. Just put pen to paper and make it real.
2. Think about a time when magic found its way into your life, when you believed, even just for a moment, that there was something more, something profound, something sublime. Even if there have been many of these moments or even if you live that way as a constant state, think about one especially profound time that still rings with a certain clarity, no matter how long it has been. Now, write about it. Encapsulate that memory, that moment into a story. Give it emphasis and life, breathe into it and create something wholly new from it.
3. Compose a letter to someone that you would never normally write to. It could be someone who is long dead, someone who doesn’t exist, a character from a previous story you or anyone else has written, or even someone alive today who you would not write to for any number of reasons. Make it real, hold nothing back. Now, go back over it– rewrite it as the dialog, the outpouring of someone’s heart to another person in a wholly different setting.
4. What do the words “Winding River” make you think of? Do they set a scene in your mind? Paint a picture in your imagination? Is there a sound, a concept, a moment, a person, and/or any other mentally associated thing that goes with it? Wade in amongst it all, breathe it in, and then use it to kick off a story. (Consider– why are you where you are? Who else might be with you?)
5. Think about a time when you were most in love. It could be a smitten kind of admiration that just can’t be suppressed, a torrid and passionate lust, or anything else that you really felt deeply enough, clearly enough that it has left its mark on you ever since. What was it like? Put poetic metaphor to it. Explain it in the abstract language of feeling and flowers. Be creative, but don’t lose touch with the feelings inside of you.
6. Take a moment to consider your life and all that you have achieved while living it. Think about the achievements that matter most to you, no matter how silly others might think they are (like that song you memorized, or that game you beat six ways to Sunday) Now, pick one that you feel especially proud about, that feels particularly monumentous, and write about it. What part of this achievement brings you the most joy? No matter how small or personal the achievement, make the reader feel the pride, the epic glory of it all.
7. Have you ever seen a ghost? Ever experienced anything that could be classified as paranormal or supernatural? Take a moment to consider a one (or all) of these moments, and then use the “best parts” to create a story. If you need ideas, spend some time researching Reiki healings, ghost photography, and even just stories of the supernatural in general. Be creative. Don't just decide that it's all fake and therefore pointless to write about.
8. Think about what some heavy hitting words like REDEMPTION or JUSTICE mean to you. What kind of images, scenarios, stories, ideas, or even just abstract random thoughts pop into your brain when you hear the word VINDICATION? When you read the word TRANSCEND? TERMINATED? GENOCIDE? EUGENICS?
9. Just for fun, create a crossover. It doesn’t have to be serious or something that you plan on selling or even showing to anyone. Just think of it as a chance to practice using someone else’s tools. Or, get really creative and create a crossover of your own original material using characters that haven’t appeared anywhere else before. (Is it still a crossover if it’s the first story?) It’s up to you to figure out where you want to go with all of it.
10. Spend some time thinking about people you consider to be nuts or crazy (It could be an ex-girlfriend, an ex-president, the current president, me, yourself, your mother... anyone) and then delve into that madness. How is that person crazy? What changes have occurred in that person’s life to make them “nuts”? Were they at one time normal and only changed after they were “damaged” somehow, or were they born nuts? At what point in the descent into madness is a person considered truly crazy? Is anyone truly sane? Explore these concepts in a story, and most of all, be creative! Don't feel like you're confined to only causes that exist it reality.
Wednesday Writing Prompts X
1. Write a story that describes its imagery using terms specific to some other form of art (i.e. describe it as you would describe a painting, point out and talk about brush strokes, the way colors blend into one another, etc.) Describe people in terms of instruments, tools, methods, strokes or musical notes– make the effect pervasive, all encompassing, constant.
2. Look at the ceiling where you are. Truly consider it, study it, and think about what it would be like if it was suddenly your floor, if suddenly your own personal gravity (and nothing else’s) were reversed! What would life be like on the ceiling? Would you have tea parties? Panic uncontrollably? Contemplate mantras of zen buddhism? How would this sudden change in gravity effect your personal life?
3. Write a story where love is created and maintained over a distance. The length and nature of that distance is up to you. It could be the distance between two continents, two cities, or even just between two windows or two rooftops. What lies between, physically and metaphorically? What are the barriers that must be overcome? Are they overcome?
4. Some of the most provocative, interesting, disturbing, and downright experimental works out there take a very different and very interesting look at sex. Try writing a story that approaches sex in a way the reader would not expect, but that still retains interest. You can do it by allusion, teasing, putting other words in, leading the reader to a wholly different situation altogether than they were expecting, yanking the viewer away at the last second, or anything else creative you can think of.
5. Think of the most beautiful and/or interesting place you’ve ever been to and then set a story there. It doesn’t have to be the exact place (i.e. Tahoe, Vegas, Yellowstone, etc.) it can be a place that only exists in your mind, or even a place you’ve only seen before in pictures. Be creative, feel free to set any scene there, and remember– the only limits are the limits you impose on your own creativity.
6. Revisit the atrocities of the past in a story. You can either write it as a historical fiction (i.e. something that happens in the period in which the atrocity was practiced– like slavery, etc.) or as something that’s happening in a different form (with obvious corollaries) today, or in a future setting.
7. Poke fun at a current social or political issue by taking the opposite stance from what you feel and using that side’s own wit (or lack thereof) and “evidence” to undermine the position utterly. Many authors, including Johnathan Swift and Alexander Pope, have taken this same approach in many of their most famous works. It’s effective, it’s funny, and it makes a great way to get your point across while cross examining the validity of your own views.
8. Try writing in a situation or mindset when you would never normally write because you feel like too much of what you write would be garbage (i.e. when you’re really tired, when you’re drunk, etc.) Don’t just write a little, write a lot. Then, put it aside for about a week. Once the week has passed, pick it up again and look through it for nuggets of wisdom to use in your next story. You’ll be surprised what you’ll find!
9. Write a medical triage scene. It can take place anywhere, at any point in the history or past (to the thundering of civil war muskets, under the suppressive blasts of photon cannons, or in the ER of modern day Detroit, etc.) Make the action everpresent, put the feeling of running and rushing into the story, and try to capture the way everything is frantically performed while still being powerful, exact and professional. Or, write about off-hour, and try to capture the lazy boredom experienced by people who know that at any minute, a dozen ambulances could cram into their doorways with payloads of patients in critical condition.
10. Write a story that you are several times removed from. Write a tale of an author, who’s writing a tale about an author, who is also writing a tale about an author. The challenge? Making it comprehensible, interesting, and just the right amount of complex.
My Cat Monkey
For he is passionate as any lover
For he lies about, lethargic in his ways
For his fur is white, his ears and paws brown
For his eyes are blue
For his meow is keen and high
For his nose is soft and inquisitive
For he goes limp and begins to purr
For he loves to be held
For he used to want much for attention
For he used to stink
For he became too distracted by his testicles
For we had to remove them
(If you get this joke, you're either an English Major, or you've spent too much time reading archaic British lit.)
Writing Prompts VIII
1. We as humans tend to use a very small percentage of our brains. Write a story where a psychic or a scientist discovers a way to “use” the brain to perform one particular (or more than one) feat that could be classified as super human (like flying, teleporting, telekinesis, etc.) Does this pioneer choose to share this new technique or try to hide it and keep it from being discovered by the general public? If it becomes common knowledge (and common practice) then how does it effect the workings of the world? The economy? Warfare?2. Go somewhere there are people, but not too many people (like a coffee shop, a class room, an airport terminal, an airplane, or a business meeting, etc.) and then imagine that you are suddenly the only people left on Earth. How does the story unfold? Do you all survive? Does someone die? What happens to this last fragment of the human race?
3. Craft a speech. It could be a future politician’s rallying cry, the war plans of a freedom fighter operating out of the underground, or the lost words of a hero (or villain) from the past. Make it real, make it crisp, strong and full of power augmented by whatever emotion the “speaker” is trying to convey, whether it be anger, pride, or solemn sadness.
4. Write a story about a place that comes into existence only once or on a rare basis, mythical and meaningful whenever it appears. It could be a restaurant, an island, a bar, an outhouse, or anything else. The person (or people) that encounter it can be oblivious tourists totally unaware of the majesty of it all, someone actively hunting for this mythical place, or anything in between. Make the place unique, give it character, make it stand out.
5. Write a high seas, swashbuckling adventure. Consider all the pirate movies you’ve ever watched, all the films where sailing ships and rapiers figure prominently, and write your own pirate legend!
6. Try writing something interactive, an adventure in a story or a book that pulls the reader in and forces them to act to keep the story going. You might even try writing an adventure for RPG use. Whatever it is, make sure there are plenty of options for the player(s) and leave the ending up to the reader’s choice (and skill).
7. Write about someone in your family, someone different, unique, distinctive. Cast them in a story, whether fiction or non-fiction, that reveals, emphasizes and casts a beautiful light on who they truly are.
8. Pick a social issue that bugs you and then blow it all out of proportion in a way that is comedic and not wholly improbably as a possible vision of the future. (If you’re strapped for ideas, consider films like Brazil and Idiocracy.
9. Create a new career and then write about it. It’s a given in any society that, as new technologies and new needs appear, new people will be trained to work with or repair that technology and satisfy those needs. You can write it from a first person, worker’s perspective, or even from the perspective of a pitch. It’s your story. Make it what you want it to be.
10. Write an Indiana Jones-type of thriller, something with a race to get to some ancient object of mystery and power. It can take place in any time period, any setting, any world, but the central idea should center around the action-packed recovery of an object of potentially great importance.
Writing Prompts VII
1. Create a setting where everything seems perfect, beyond expectations, until the characters of your story begin to dig beneath the surface. Soon, everything turns out to be a facade– Luxury gives way to mold and disease, opulence gives way to cheap corner cutting, and what was originally seen as something incredible and perfect is quickly exposed for what it really is.
2. Consider for a moment what it would be like to be directly involved in analyzing a situation or a threat to a population (of humans, bacteria, or other forms of plant or animal life) and addressing a solution of alternative action that could either be a fix (however temporary or permanent) or a preventative measure. Put yourself in the shoes of a professional scientist who considers it to be her or his duty to look at and handle this burgeoning situation, then write your groundbreaking report. If you’re stuck for ideas, create a new disease or “Chronic defect” and then approach it from the observational and detached position of a researcher.
3. People in today’s world have all kinds of strange allergies. Just right now, I can think of three such people, one allergic to red dye #5, one allergic to chlorinated water (as in pools) and one who’s allergic to cucumbers (even in the form of pickles.) Using an existing, but bizarre allergy (or by creating and using a new one) write a story about someone who suffers from it, how it effects their life, and how they ultimately overcome it.
4. Television rules the nation. Write a story where the mainstream media’s domination over the common man is emphasized, where the average populace blurs together, and only a few people are truly aloof and free. What makes them different (besides not watching TV?) How do they view the hypnotized masses? As tools, idiots, or souls to be pitied? Are they interested in change? What will they do to insure it happens (or to keep it from happening?)
5.Some series that have appeared since the advent of entertainment as a medium have become iconic, thoroughly integrating themselves into our society in a way that makes them unforgettable and subject to a massive fan base or instant recognition (like Sherlock Holmes or Star Wars). What is it that makes them so iconic, so popular? What is it that they have and so much else seems to so painfully lack? Try to capture that something and instill it into a story of your own invention.
6.Write a “Chop-Saki.” Think about every Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee film you’ve ever seen, every late night kung-fu flick you’ve ever sat and watched without reaching for the remote and changing the channel. Now, put that knowledge to work! Craft something new, something exciting that’s only cheesy if you want it to be.
7. The idea of being invaded by a hostile force is a terrifying one. Write a story where an invasion (either real, fantastic or futuristic, etc.) is imminent, and the invading force is superior in both equipment and tactics. How do you prepare to meet this invasion? Will you defend yourself? If so, then with what? However far your ingenuity takes you, will it be enough to turn the tide, or will you and your compatriots fall before your foes anyway?
8. A lot of college humor in the last few decades focuses on the comedic way that binge drinking tends to erase all of the memories of the night before and leave a person holding their head, wondering where they left their pants– and their dignity. Write a story where this is the case, but provide a way for the character (or at least the reader) to track back through the night of debauchery until the true list of the previous night’s events are laid bare.
9. Experiment with poetry and form. Try something new, play with it until it all fits together. If you’re strapped for ideas, try a Sestina form, a Fibonacci Sequence or a 26 line poem with lines that all begin with a letter of the alphabet, in proper order.
10. Resisting any impulses you may have of seeing it as morbid, visit a graveyard and check out the grave markers and headstones until you find one that catches you. Write a story about that person’s life, what it might have been like, the kind of things they might have had to deal with.
