Writing Prompt – Snowed In

Use the following writing prompt in a ten minute free-write. Set your timer and just write. Do not stop to think about where your story is going. It can be enlightening to see where your sub-conscious takes you.

You are in a log cabin in Alaska. It has been snowing heavily all night and you awake to find yourself snowed in. There is no phone (including your cell phone), no electricity, and no transportation to take you into town. You are alone.

Here are some questions to keep you writing:

• What do you notice about your surroundings? Describe the cabin and the immediate area around it.
• How do you survive until help comes, or do you survive?
• What do you do to pass time?
• What thoughts go through your head? Do you relive memories from your childhood, think of survival movies?
• Do you try to leave the cabin or do you stay in the shelter?
• What brought you to Alaska in the first place? Do you live there or are your vacationing?

Writing Prompt Sites

Sometimes you just need a little nudge to get the writing juices flowing. That is the idea behind writing prompts. It gets you writing and sometimes the results of the writing exercise leave you with an idea for a story.

Here are some sites with enough writing prompts to last you for a few years.

Hands - This is only a single writing prompt, but it yields some wonderful and unexpected results. Also, look around the site and you will find a lot of other prompts.

Writer's Digest - This site has several writing prompts that are to be completed in 500 words or fewer. There is a wide variety of topics and witing methods.

Creative Writing Prompts - There are 329 different writing prompts on this site. Just roll your mouse over a number and it shows you the writing prompt.

Daily Writing Prompts - There are prompts for each day in July. Most of the prompts are based on something about that day, like the day E.B. White was born and National Joke Day. On the main page you can select a different month.

Have fun with these, and feel free to post you results.

Writing Prompt - Planting a Garden

I am still reading I Am Legend (which is available at 60% off at Amazon). Did you know that it is a short story? I had no clue until the story ended halfway through the book. The other shorts have slowed me down and I did almost no reading on my vacation. I am hoping to have the review up this week. I am looking forward to the next book,The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun by Tolkien.

In the meantime, here is a writing prompt for those who enjoy them:

In one hundred words exactly, write about a garden you have planted. This can be a garden you planted as a child with your grandfather or a garden you planted this spring with your granddaughter. Did you come across any strange bugs, or injure your back? Maybe you discovered rocks have migrated once again into your yard. It could also be about maintaining the garden. The details are wide open.

The shortness of the story does not make it easier. It makes it more difficult because you must convey everything and create interest in very few words. You must choose your words with care.

When you have finished, post your story in the Comments section to share with others. If it is adequately strange, consider submitting it as a Drabble with the podcast Dabblecast. They read "strange stories by strange listeners" and have a segment devoted to stories that are 100 words.

Writing Prompt - Dialogue Prompt

911 Writer's Block from WEbook is a fun tool to use as a writing prompt. Click the different buttons for different prompts, such as:

• Characters
• Settings
• Endings
• Kill a character

For this week's writing prompt, I am using option number 4, dialogue, on 911 Writer's Block.

Write a story that uses the following piece of dialogue. It may be an important part of the plot, or it may be a passing comment.

"Trust me. You'll be picking 'em up off the floor before this is over"

Share what you come up with.