Writing Prompt: Two Reasons to Write About Departures

Writing Prompt: Two Reasons to Write About Departures

Whether leaving for vacation or a job in a new city, departures can be stressful, exciting, and full of conflict. Use this prompt to reimagine a departure today in your writing time. 

I think there are two qualities about any departure that make them great for writing. See if you agree and try this prompt with me today!

3 Reasons You Should Write Ghost Stories

3 Reasons You Should Write Ghost Stories

Ghost stories have a rich literary tradition, but for most of my life, I dismissed them. I don’t believe in ghosts, and I’ve seen enough horror movies to know I’m not interested in seeing another. However, I just finished Denis Johnson’s Train Dreams, a finalist for the Pulitzer, and was surprised to see a very moving account of a ghost.

It made me realize how many ghost stories are in the literary canon. There’s Poe’s The Raven, Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw, basically all of Nicolai Gogol’s work, and more recently Michael Cunningham’s Specimen Days, among many others I’m forgetting. We love ghost stories!

So here are three reasons to write a ghost story:

Writing Prompt: Use Junk Drawers to Discover Your Characters

Writing Prompt: Use Junk Drawers to Discover Your Characters

Characterization is a huge part of writing, no matter how long the story. You need to know the ins and outs of your character’s personality. What makes them tick? What do they want? Where to do they come from?

Sometimes it’s a little difficult to come up with new character traits and idiosyncrasies that aren’t cliché or contrived.

Today, we’re going to have a little fun with character development. We’re going to think outside the box of character questionnaires and try a writing prompt to help us discover our characters through a different route: What’s in their junk drawer?