Tag: writing prompt

Writing Prompt 1/30/13

First: Think of an object that you lost as a child, an object that was really special to you and that you were never reunited with. My object was a seal fur pin that I left in a gas station bathroom in the midwest on a cross country trip. My grandmother had given it to me. I might have been about seven when I lost it. It still brings me a little sting when I think of it. The object you lost should bring about a feeling like that.

Next: Write a story or poem from the point of view of the person who found that object and what they did with it.   In the case of my seal fur pin, perhaps the gas station attendant threw it away, or maybe he or she pocketed and brought it home as a present for his or her child.

Have fun with this!

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Writing Prompt 1/28/13

Today is the feast day of St. Thomas Aquinas, a famous Catholic scholar and priest who lived in the 13th century. He wrote many many works about God, Jesus Christ, natural law, and human behavior. On his deathbed, he was reported to have mused about his writings, “It’s all straw.”

Play around with this phrase “It’s all straw.” Leaving aside, or not, what you know or think about St. Thomas Aquinas, or religion, define “straw.” Define a world or body of thought as straw. Keeping working on it. Perhaps you could start a poem with that phrase as a first line, or use it as a refrain in a song/poem. Or use the phrase it in a fictional piece in some way.

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Writing Prompt 1/24/13

Make a list of everything you actually do when you can’t sleep.
Make a list of everything you actually could do when you can’t sleep.
Make a list of everything you would never do when you can’t sleep.

Think about these lists when you are creating characters. My guess is that some of your characters suffer from insomnia.

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The Charlottesville Writing Center 2013

Writing Prompt 1/19/13

Think about some of your “favorite” pet peeves. Ask some friends if they have other pet peeves they are willing to tell you.

Write a list of several of them.

Pick one or two and start to frame a character (not yourself) around them. For example, a business executive who really dislikes lukewarm food. Or a movie producer who can’t stand when his son wears his shirt inside out. The sky is the limit here.

© CWC 2013
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