OK, so I've had some surprising feedback when the Novel Idea hs been shared with others. They're interested! That leads me to think that there's got to be a way to make this easy, doable, and most importantly, FUN. Seriously, this shouldn't be like a grade school assignment - writing should be an enjoyable experience!
SO, it's time to set down some ground rules:
1) There is no obligation to share. If you want to share anything you create, please do so, either in a response post or just messaging me, or anything at all. If you don't want to share - then don't! Above all other things, writing is a personal journey. Where you are on that journey is just that - it's where you are. Any comparison should be only between what you wrote yesterday, and what you wrote today. This is not a competition. The idea is to explore.
2) No critiques - unless you specifically ASK for one, in which case, it will be done in private. Never public. This goes for anyone. Don't do it unless a person asks you specifically to look at it. Respect the fact that someone chose to share their work.
3) I have a list of prompts already, ranging from the silly to the surreal. I was going to do a surprise reveal every day, but that's a lot to spring on a person, and it might feel more like an assignment than like something fun. Besides, if people DID share what they came up with, then it might get tiresome reading a bunch of different takes on the meaning of "Blue Christmas" as sung by Elvis (no, don't worry, that's not a topic I plan on using - I just needed an example). Then, I thought I would just make a calendar and publish it ahead of time so that people would know the dates for each topic. That read like a syllabus, and this is not a college course. So, I'm just going to publish the list, and anyone who wants to pick from the list for any given day can do so. There may be updates to the list throughout the project.
4) Some of the themes/prompts are specific, with difficulties added. They are meant to be challenging, to stretch the boundaries of thinking. That being said, I wouldn't suggest leaving them all to the last few days. I've tried to come up with a few of them, so that there might be one challenging idea a week, as well as some silliness each week, etc.
5) Some ideas look like they are specifically first-person oriented. "You wake to find yourself on a spaceship" type stuff. Don't read too much into that!!! I don't care if you want to make this about "you" or about a random character you create to be in that situation. That's not important....unless of course, that's one of those difficult challenges mentioned above!!! (this may or may not happen)
6) Genres. Virtually no limits on genre, except, please, keep it PG-13. The occasional cussing, etc is fine, of course, and it's sometimes the appropriate thing to do. I get that. But please, generally, keep things mostly clean, ok??
7) Format. Please list the theme/prompt you're doing, your initial thoughts/something you were aiming for, the genre you're writing in, and then, finally, post your entry.
That being said.....here's the list of prompts!!!!
Silly Prompts: (silly ideas that can be pretty light and simple to write about)
Dinosaurs!
Pirates!
Tattoo Shop
Pick a color you hate
Phrase: "There was the device."
Hostages
Earthquakes
The last dream you had suddenly becomes real
person/pet change places
Assassins - R - Us
Thoughtful Prompts (These are a little deeper)
Thankfulness
Forgiveness
Phrase: "The wind shakes me."
The Peddler Man
Magic is real
Multiple personalities
Hospital stay
Phrase: "I'm dead."
The Prophet
life in the fast lane
In-Depth Prompts (these take some pretty deep thinking to pull them off)
The North lost the Civil War
wielding a weapon with which you are very familiar
The world is still "A" Theocracy
Tomorrow is the last day of the world, and you are the only one who knows it.
What if our whole world was a prison, and we just find out about it?
Phrase: "The Red Brick Machine"
Phrase: "There were a hell of a lot of things they didn't tell me when I hired on with this outfit."
trapped in a mirror universe
Pick a random city to be the new capital of the USA after a tragedy occurs in DC.
The primary mode of transportation in the world is the bicycle.
Difficult Prompts
Write from the opposite gender's point of view. Difficulty: First-Person.
All alone on an island. Difficulty: must be all conversation.
Pep Talk. Difficulty: talking someone INTO committing a heinous crime.
World-ending plague. Difficulty: only 5,000 people may live.
Eulogy Difficulty: it's for your funeral.
OK, that's 35 topics, and 30 days, starting November 1st. Yup, there's some leeway built in!!
No comments:
Post a Comment