Saturday, October 4, 2008

I'll Take a Prompt, Please

In the last few weeks I've discovered how much I enjoy writing prompts. That is, when you take the one-word or sentence suggestion from someone and write something about it.

I first followed a prompt here, coming up with a short fiction piece called Shayna's Secret. That particular exercise was a lot of fun, and I got great feedback.

And earlier this week, Angie Ledbetter posted a picture on her blog. In the picture was a brightly painted bus and, if you looked closely at the sign, you could see its destination was a cemetary. Angie called her readers to write a plot blurb about that bus, or the people on that bus, and why they may be going to the cemetary. She considered it a contest, and I found out today I share the trophy with a few others. Thanks, Angie! It was another exercise I really enjoyed. Here's my blurb...


She knew the bus ride was significant, for it represented her transportation between two lives. The destination awaiting her, the cemetery, meant the end of one life, the beginning of another. She’d say goodbye to the woman she used to be, there, at the small headstone engraved with her given name. And there she’d take on her new name, embrace her new self, begin the new life she had no choice but to live...


So it's now that I want to ask my readers for more prompts. Do you have any ideas you'd like to see me flesh out? Give me a word or phrase, or a sentence, and I'll do my best to come up with something. I only ask that you keep in mind what you already know about me, and keep your requests wholesome and clean (scary or offbeat is okay). Depending on the response, I may not be able to use all the prompts, but I'll span them over the course of several days.


So. Have any good ones for me?

12 comments:

Barb Davis said...

Here's one: "You're Never Too Old For Koolaid."

Anonymous said...

You are riding home from school in a school bus. You look out of the window and notice something very odd. A two headed cow. Something else appears... a tractor floating five feet in the air. What happens next?

Marian Perera said...

Here's a simple one. I wish I could draw or paint it but I can only describe it:

A plain wooden box, with hinges. Across the lid are carved the words DO NOT OPEN.

Janet said...

Here is my prompt reply:

The Limit.

Travis Erwin said...

Check out www.thefirstline.com

Anonymous said...

Well ... How 'bout this?

You're on a mission to Mars together with twelve men and eleven other women. Your mission is to establish a colony on Mars, but you're only halfway to Mars when most of the crew have gone mad because of various reasons, and you've lost contact with Houston.

Angie Ledbetter said...

Glad you liked the prompt. Your plot scenario was very good.

Here's another in case you get caught up or your muse is napping:

"It was, simply put, the worst day of my life. But then the mailman came in the late afternoon and..."

Janna Leadbetter said...

Wow, you guys are going to keep me busy! I see some really excited ones... and some overwhelming ones, too... but I'm up for the challenge!

There are some new names here: marian and hakan. Welcome! Thanks for stopping by. :)

Joshua said...

very cool J. might as well throw in my 2 cents too :)

As I looked into the stroller, I noticed not a baby, but a midget smoking cigar......and then things got weird....

Anonymous said...

Sorry I'm late to the comment party. Here is a prompt for you:

I knew he was calling me....again. I told him 35 years ago I never wanted to see him again and yet he still hasn't gotten it.

Anonymous said...

That's an awesome blurb, Janna! Thank you for sharing!

The only prompt I have in my head is The Red Dot.
hugs

Janna Leadbetter said...

Okay, Josh, Aaron, and Kimmi - Got 'em. I'll give some thought to your prompts and post 'em next week!