You are driving at night. In your headlights, “it” appears. Write every minuscule detail of “its” gestures, sensory details…. Consider the following questions:
how might “it” reflect you, the driver?
how might “it” be an opposite of you or a foil?
how does the path compare to “it”–i.e., are you on a road, asphalt, dirt, gravel, a futuristic path…?
if you are the protagonist of this narrative, how is “it” your antagonist? If “it” is your protagonist, how might you be its antagonist?
Writing Guidelines
Feel free to incorporate elements from your previous narratives if you like.
You will write a narrative, in ten minutes or less. If at any point, the narrative derivates from the original prompt, let it. Go where your creativity leads you.
Stop writing when the timer stops. Take a break. Stand up. Grab a drink. Keep writing new words if you like or, if not, file the scene/narrative for a later time.
Give yourself at least two days before you edit these new words.
Start the above timer.
One on One Creative Writing Workshop
If you would like to share your narrative, post it to the discussion board below and share it with your course peers. If you end up expanding this narrative into a fuller work and would like written, individualized feedback on it, we invite you to join us for a One on One Creative Writing Workshop.
Below are two options for today: Scaffold writing or “Say Cheese.” You can choose one or both. If you choose to do both, consider writing the prompts in two different sessions.
Scaffold Writing: Before the Timer
Choose two or more of your previous “30 Stories” narratives and combine them into a single, new narrative. You can choose your “Scaffold Writing” narrative if you wish.
Copy paste each narrative into a new document so that you keep your original narratives. In this new document, add the stories separately, like a collection. You might consider using the “Titles” and “Navigation” features in MS Word (or other preferred word processor) to organize the stories and scenes.
Title each scene within each narrative as if titling chapters within a novel. Be detailed in the title, details over witty wordplay. When you see the title, you want it to remind you quickly of characters, strategic details, place, etc.
Next, you are going to decide which scenes are most important in a timed exercise. Reorder each scene within each narrative so that they are in order of most interest to least interest. Start the above timer.
Scaffold Writing: After the Timer
STRUCTURE: Keep the two top scenes, delete the others. (Remember, you still have all your original work in their original documents.)
CHARACTERS: Amalgamate your characters. Merge protagonist details. Merge antagonist details. Merge secondary characters. If any character cannot hold its importance, delete it.
PLACE: Amalgamate your places. You might decide to keep the place or places of in narrative one, marinating a few details from narrative two. You might decide to create a brand new world, using the details from both narratives.
POINT OF VIEW & TENSE: Decide on a single point of view and psychic distance. Decide on a single verb tense. Rewrite both scenes so they share the same point of view, distance and tense. (You can always complicate this further, later in your revisions, but for now, simplify the frameworks so that the merging of the narratives is easier.)
Now, put the merged narrative on the desk and let it rest a few days. Tomorrow, focus on the next writing prompt.
Writing Prompt
Choose two or more of your previous “30 Stories” narratives and combine them into a single, new narrative.
Writing Guidelines
Feel free to incorporate elements from your previous narratives if you like.
You will write a narrative, in ten minutes or less. If at any point, the narrative derivates from the original prompt, let it. Go where your creativity leads you.
Stop writing when the timer stops. Take a break. Stand up. Grab a drink. Keep writing new words if you like or, if not, file the scene/narrative for a later time.
Give yourself at least two days before you edit these new words.
Start the above timer.
One on One Creative Writing Workshop
If you would like to share your narrative, post it to the discussion board below and share it with your course peers. If you end up expanding this narrative into a fuller work and would like written, individualized feedback on it, we invite you to join us for a One on One Creative Writing Workshop.
You have one chance to go back in time and fix one mistake. Write that scene.
Writing Guidelines
Feel free to incorporate elements from your previous narratives if you like.
You will write a narrative, in ten minutes or less. If at any point, the narrative derivates from the original prompt, let it. Go where your creativity leads you.
Stop writing when the timer stops. Take a break. Stand up. Grab a drink. Keep writing new words if you like or, if not, file the scene/narrative for a later time.
Give yourself at least two days before you edit these new words.
Start the above timer.
One on One Creative Writing Workshop
If you would like to share your narrative, post it to the discussion board below and share it with your course peers. If you end up expanding this narrative into a fuller work and would like written, individualized feedback on it, we invite you to join us for a One on One Creative Writing Workshop.
