Thursday, April 17, 2008
Emotional Arc Writing Prompt
Part of character development is to take your main character on a complete emotional journey, one that follows and is appropriate for the plot and story. In this exercise, try writing a 500-1000 word story that takes your child main character through one of the emotional timelines below:
Emotional Timelines
1. Happiness, disappointment, shock, grief, anger, resentment, acceptance, hope.
2. Sadness, curiosity, confusion, hope, happiness, joy.
3. Anticipation, surprise, fear,disappointment, acceptance
4. Amusement, interest, appreciation,longing, guilt, love, envy.
5. Happiness, hope, patience, surprise, disappointment, confusion, anger, regret,hope.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
A Picture Book Writing Prompt
The way this prompt works is simple: take a well-known story, like The Little Red Hen, and change up the characters, some of the motivations, some key props, and rewrite the story. Here are some prompts:
The Little Red Hen:
Change the HEN to a MONKEY
Instead of a grain of WHEAT, he finds a LEMON
Instead of a theme of hard work and its rewards, the theme is HARD WORK IS JUST PLAIN HARD.
The Three Little Pigs
Change one of the PIGS to a COW
Change another PIG to a HORSE
Change the BIG BAD WOLF to THE ANGRY BUNNY
Change "not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin" to your own catch-phrase
Change the house made of STRAW to the house made of POO
Change the house made of STICKS to the house made of CARROTS
Change the house made of BRICKS to the house made of GINGERBREAD
Little Red Riding Hood
Change the RED CAPE to the RED BANDANA
Change the WOLF to an ANTEATER
Change the WOODSMAN to a TEAMSTER
Change Red Riding Hood's motivation - she doesn't want to visit grandma at all, but is forced to by her well-meaning mother.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Cliches - A Writing Prompt
Cliches sometimes sneak up on us, taking over our writing while we are busily thinking ahead to the next scene, bit of dialog, or hook. Below are some common cliches. The objective of the prompt is to rewrite the cliche, in a sentence or two, or even in a complete paragraph, so that you get the emotion or action across without having to resort to the cliche.
Cliches:
1. Jennifer anxiously paced back and forth.
2. The little rabbit shook with fear.
3. I was as mad as a wet hen!
4. Embarrassed, I prayed for the earth to open up and swallow me.
5. She was so happy, she felt as if she were walking on air.
6. The robot sighed. If only he could know what it was like to be human.
7. A worried Lilly picked up the phone and dialed. She had to tell her father the truth. It was time to face the music.
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