Writing Prompt

Prompt-and-Share Tuesdays Writing Prompt!

Let's have a little fun with this one. An embarrassing moment - Either recount a tale of one of your embarrassing moments, or put your MC into an embarrassing moment and tell us the story.

Lots of room on this one - 600 word limit

Have fun with it!

Writing Prompt-and-Share #44

Prompt-and-Share Thanksgiving Monday for you Canadians out there in writerland. For everyone else, it's back to the grind.
Character-development Monday is going to meet Dialogue Sunday today. Scenario : Your character just got something they really really wanted. Something life-changing or something small, no matter, as long as it means a lot to the character. I'd like to see a lot of back-and-forth dialogue in this piece please. During the editing/feedback I'll be focusing on proper punctuation for dialogue - which is more for me than for you, because I'm constantly asking myself, "Where does the punctuation go in this line?" So I'll have to look it up as I'm editing/feedbacking.
Submit your flash fiction/short story below in the comments, or on your own stream with a link below. 500 words or less, please :)
Have fun!

Writing Prompt-and-Share #43

Prompt-and-Share Happy Weekend writers! Because it's the weekend, I like to keep things pretty open. This prompt is going to take over the rest of the weekend, so have fun with it.
Today's prompt is a picture prompt, only this time, YOU get to pick the picture. Pick any picture you like, whether it be art or a photograph or merely some scribblings - (Artistic nudity is fine, but please no pornography) Then write a story inspired by the picture you choose.
No rules really, just please try to keep it under 750 words, and woo us with entertainment please :)
Add the picture as a link to the end of your piece too please, so we can see your inspiration.

Writing Prompt-and-Share #42

Prompt-and-Share Happy Friday all!
It came to my attention yesterday that some people are confused as to what the Prompt-and-Share actually is. For those who are wondering, it's a myriad of things, but first and foremost it is a call for short stories/flash fiction. The premise is to take the prompt I put before you and weave a tale to share with others. Feedback and comments on every piece is encouraged! Mainly, the Prompt-and-Share is a probe for your creative muse and a sharpening tool for your skills. Plus it's great entertainment:) That pretty much covers it, but for more detail, feel free to check out the Prompt-and-Share tips, tricks and rules page here: http://writingofanovel.blogspot.com/2011/08/about-writing-prompt-and-share.html

On to today's prompt:
It's another No Swifty Friday! (No adverbs, or in this case, no adverbs ending in ly ) Take a lyrical phrase from any song you like and use it in the piece. Please verify at the end of your post, which line was the lyric and what song it was from. 400 words or less, NO SWIFTIES! :)

Writing Prompt-and-Share #41

Prompt-and-Share: Word Prompt Thursday! Plot is of obvious importance to any story. Though stories can be very different, let’s focus on the basics. There needs to be a character in your story, at least one. It has to happen somewhere, so we need a setting. Finally we need a conflict and a resolution.
So from now on, Thursdays prompts are going to focus on a random word generated Prompt-and-Share centering on plot. That’s right folks, we are putting some rhyme and reason into this chaos of Prompt-and-Share madness! The rules will be a little more strict, please adhere to them, they are there for YOU to learn how to work your creativity within certain guidelines.

Remember:
#1 -At least one character
#2 – A conflict AND a resolution
#3 – Give us a setting
#4 – Your story must include the 3 random words chosen
#5 – No more than 400 words please
#6 – Have fun with it! Today’s random words thanks to
http://watchout4snakes.com/creativitytools/RandomWord/RandomWordPlus.aspx

Groove
Apostle
Errand

For those of you who are new to the Prompt-and-Share, you can find tips, tricks and rules here: http://writingofanovel.blogspot.com/2011/08/about-writing-prompt-and-share.html

Writing Prompt-and-Share #40

Prompt-and-Share Happy Hump Day! Midweek my lovely writers, the weekend is in sight! First Sentence theme continuing on the Prompt-and-Share. We all know how important the first sentence is to any story, it grabs the reader and pulls them in. We've been taking the first sentence of famous novels and writing our own little stories with them. Today we are gonna steal from Jack Kerouac's On the Road.
In 400 words or less, write a short story/flash fiction starting with this as your opening line: I first met Dean not long after my wife and I split up..
Take it away folks!
(Sorry to those who have been doing serials if this doesn't fit your story-line :( )

Writing Prompt-and-Share #38

Prompt-and-Share Hello Monday, don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out!
Character Development Monday is in full bloom. Last week we focused on Fears. That was a creepy day at the Prompt-and-Share... shudders
This week we are going to put your character (or yourself) in a specific situation. Your character is late, he/she's late for a very important date, no time to say "hello", "goodbye" they're late they're late they're late.
400 words or less - Show your character rushing against time.

Writing Prompt-and-Share #37

Prompt-and-Share Friday! Woot woot, Hello weekend :)
We have a bunch of new participants to the Prompt-and-Share which is very cool, diversity rocks! Welcome all!!! Anyhoo... yesterday, setting seemed to be an issue for some folks, so guess what we are focusing on today? You Betcha. Character development. Nyah just kidding, we are focusing on setting.
But that's pretty boring on its own so let's spice it up a notch shall we? Let's hit the 5 main senses (smell, touch (texture), sight, sound and taste). I know what you may be thinking, Setting and taste?!? Is she mad?!?! Well yes I may be, slightly anyway... But that's beside the point. This will help you get all imaginative and stuff. And just because it's Friday, we've gotta make it hard as hell add a little extra fun to it, right? NO TOM SWIFTIES! Which, in this case means very limited adverbs. And since I'm not cool enough to go through and check each sentence for an adverb, for today it simply, easily and obviously means no words ending in "LY".
So there is your prompt folks - it's a toughy... or should I said it's harsh_ly_ difficult!

So a recap:
- Focus on setting
- Use all FIVE of the main senses
- No Tom Swifties! (Words ending in "ly")
Word count limit - 500.

For the new contributors: WELCOME and please leave feedback where you can. Also you can check out the tips, tricks and rules at http://bit.ly/rcsGtF

Writing Prompt-and-Share #36

Prompt-and-Share: Word Prompt Thursday! Plot is of obvious importance to any story. Though stories can be very different, let’s focus on the basics. There needs to be a character in your story, at least one. It has to happen somewhere, so we need a setting. Finally we need a conflict and a resolution.
So from now on, Thursdays prompts are going to focus on a random word generated Prompt-and-Share centering on plot. That’s right folks, we are putting some rhyme and reason into this chaos of Prompt-and-Share madness! The rules will be a little more strict, please adhere to them, they are there for YOU to learn how to work your creativity within certain guidelines.

Remember:
#1 -At least one character
#2 – A conflict AND a resolution
#3 – Give us a setting
#4 – Your story must include the 3 random words chosen
#5 – No more than 250 words please
#6 – Have fun with it! Today’s random words thanks to
http://watchout4snakes.com/creativitytools/RandomWord/RandomWordPlus.aspx

Residue
Master
Parasite

Please don't be offended anyone - this was done all in good fun - and 250 words on the nose!


“Where are we?” Angus asked, as he looked around the motley assemblage in the room.

“Forget where,” Lynn answered taking in Roan’s attire. “My question is, when are we?”

“Indeed,” Bastian agreed, taking in his surroundings.

“Huh?” replied Richard, rubbing his head. He let out a feminine scream as he spotted Alex sitting in the corner. “A monster! A monster! Kill it! Kill it!” he reached for his sword but it was gone. All eyes were on him, rendering him quite uncomfortable. He took a moment to gain his bearings then tried to justify his outburst by stating, “It’s an animal! It could have diseases or parasites or… something…”

The group watched curiously as Alex moved his hands in a fluid and mesmerizing dance.

Richard approached one of the four white walls and smudged his finger in the strange black images before him. “What is this residue?” he asked, smudging the substance between his fingers.

“Ink,” Bastian replied. “Four walls, no doors, and ink. What _is_this place?” he wondered aloud knocking on the wall, testing its material structure.

“What sort of master sorcerer could concoct such a prison?” Mr. Appel marveled.

Bruce leaned casually against Alex, who grunted in disapproval“Maybe it’s like, you know man, like there’s writing, and ink and white stuff. Maybe we are like, in some sort book like shit. Or maybe, none of this is really happening, and that stuff I smoked last night was just primo-shit man. Yeah! That’s it man! Ummm…Anyone got any Doritos?”

(This piece involves a good chunk of the characters that are being developed through the Prompt-and-Share on G+, by different authors.)

Writing Prompt-and-Share #35

Prompt-and-Share Happy Hump Day Writers! - We are officially half way through the work week, if you live in the EST timezone that is...
It's Wednesday's First Sentence theme continuing on the Prompt-and-Share. We all know how important the first sentence is to any story, it grabs the reader and pulls them in. We've been taking the first sentence of famous novels and writing our own little stories with them. Today we are going to steal from Douglas Adams The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Remember to give us at least one setting, character, conflict and Resolution.
In 900 words or less - (let's make a valiant effort to stay under the word limit today) tell us a story that starts with "Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun."
I'm very curious to see where you all take this...

I kinda got a crush on the two characters I created yesterday. So I've renamed them (Bob and Doug could be too easily attributed to the famous duo Bob and Doug Mackenzie) and used them again below

Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun. Almost ninety-three million miles away from the afore mentioned unregarded sun lies an even more insignificant planet. On this insignificant little planet called Earth, lives two patently trivial young busboys in their early twenties: Bruce and Wayne.

In a far more significant Galaxy, for no apparent reason, the Watcher known as Penemue, found fascination with Bruce and Wayne’s mundane lives. Penemue did as his position implied, he watched. At first the two humans irritated him. In their early years, the two young men were responsible for more than a few lumps on his forehead from repeatedly forcing him to smack his skull against the Great Mirror in frustration. Over time though, Penemue became accustomed to their idiocies, and found himself amused by their senseless meanderings… well, most of the time…

But on this specific day, and this specific hour, Penemue was beyond bored from the scene before him. He had risked his freedom, thousands of earth years prior, by bringing knowledge to the humans. Today he despised this prison, the chains that held him to the Great Mirror that aired only one station. At this moment he wanted more than the same routine.

He sat dumbfounded at their lack of adventure. The typical standard scene passed before his eyes. They cleaned dirty dishes form checkered tablecloths. Clouds of steam rose from the silver sinks as they scrubbed away half eaten morsels from porcelain white plates. They stole glimpses at the big heavy clock on the wall waiting for their ten o’clock break. Once break was announced by the heavy hands of time, they would each grab a bag of garbage and a shiny bag of sustenance on their way to the dumpsters in the back parking lot.

Penemue knew what came next. He wished for an accident, a falling meteor, an explosion, anything to break up the monotony of the reruns that had become these boys’ lives. Sadly, nothing of the sort was to happen. His eyes teared with boredom as the day-to-day sequel played on. Wayne would produce the marijuana cigarette, Bruce would light it. They would smoke the long stick in turn, killing brain cells they couldn’t afford to lose and numbing themselves to the mediocrity of their existence. If only he had such a tool.

The busboys would then open their loot-filled crinkly bags. Bruce would open it slowly, crackling the material. Wayne would smash his Dorito bag between both hands causing a loud bang. Penemue always knew what was coming, but would jump at the sound regardless. They would crunch away at the triangular treats repeating the same conversation daily.

“These are so good, dude.” Wayne would say with orange speckles leeched to his teeth.

“I like the jalapeno ones better, man.” Bruce would complain.

“You should get them next time.”

“Yeah I should, man.”

He swore if he were ever released, he would break the mediocrity of Bruce and Wayne’s lives by introducing them to knowledge yet to be understood by their race. Oh yes, he would blow their minds far more than any drug ever had… and then promptly indulge himself in a bag of these Doritos . Upon contemplation, he licked his lips unsure as to which task he would relish in first.

Penemue yawned deeply from boredom as he watched the two dimwits munch away. Suddenly there was a choking sound. He sat on the edge of his seat. This could be it, something to break up the monotony. A death? An epiphany of the afterlife? SOMETHING ??? He dared not dream of things unlikely, but Wayne was not recovering quickly. This was a different choking than what he had witnessed when they smoked the joints. Wayne’s eyes were tearing and his lips were turning blue. Bruce was emphatically thumping on his back. This was it! Penemue was convinced this would be a pivotal moment.

Finally, as quickly as it had come on, the choking stopped. The color returned to Wayne’s lips and he was breathing, though sporadically, and with orange spittle dangling from his chin. Penemue waited, paused in the moment, in hopes that the episode had delivered some enlightenment to the young man. He held his breath as the busboy spoke.

“Wow that was trippy, dude,” was all Wayne had to say about his near-death experience.

Bruce simply nodded.

Penemue sighed in exasperation, shook his head, and sat back at his post. He was left with an overwhelming feeling of desolation. He wanted to weep, scream, tug and tear at his chains. He stood up and paced the few steps his restraints would grant him. He shuffled back and forth and back and forth as he had done countless times before, averting his eyes from the Great Mirror’s screen that he despised.

Consumed by his thoughts and disappointment, he didn’t notice that his encumbrance had slacked. He had taking several steps past his standard pacing path without cognizance. Then it dawned on him. He looked down at his emancipated feet and felt as if his eyes would pop right out of their sockets. A slow maniacal smile edged along his lips as his soul lifted into the light, the recognition and the endless possibilities of freedom.

Writing Prompt-and-Share #34

Prompt-and-Share It's Tuesday! Why is that exciting? Because it's not Monday! Okay... on to today's writing prompt. Tuesdays we've been focusing on senses. Today's sense is "Smell". I know, I know, easy right? We've been playing with new and fun senses like the "sense of time" and the "sense of space" - so let's take this one up a notch. Here's what I'm looking for...
I want the sense of smell to set the mood.
I want to feel a sense of space.
I want dialogue, yes dialogue - I'm not the only one who is going to pay for missing Sunday's dialogue prompt.
And finally, to take it up even one more notch - I want a debate, or an epiphany, I want the characters to philosophize about something ANYTHING! Mundane or supreme, microcosmic or macrocosmic. Have fun with it.
750 word limit

My Submission:

The stench of grease and sweat filled the car as Bob and Doug pulled the old Camero unto the sandy beach. Doug tucked his long stringy hair behind his ears and glanced at the clock on the car stereo. They had finished their shift at the Diner at 2:00am, it was now 2:17am. They had made good time.

He snatched the plastic baggie and some rolling papers from the glove compartment and made fast work of rolling a joint. Bob shut the engine off, turned the key backwards to ignite the stereo, and leaned into his seat. This was the beginning of their nightly ritual, and the thoughts and worries of the day were already drifting away to the sound of Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb.

They didn’t speak, not yet. They never spoke in the car. Doug finished crafting the perfect pinner and handed it to Bob to light, as was the custom. Bob examined the joint, nodded his approval and said a silent prayer of gratitude to whoever may be listening before blazing up. They passed the spliff back and forth, choking and coughing, but never uttering a word. The sweet smell filled the car, masking all previous odors of the greasy spoon they had escaped.

When there was nothing but filter remaining, Bob butted it out in the ashtray. Smoke billowed out of the car as they opened the doors and exited the vehicle. They climbed onto the hood of the car, stretched out and balled up their jackets to use as pillows. They breathed in the cool, crisp lake air and stared at the cosmos above.

“I don’t get time travel,” Doug said.

“What don’t you get, man?”

Doug lit up a cigarette and stared into space. “Well, time is a man-made device, it can’t go backwards.”

“What do you mean, man? Time exists no matter what, it’s not ‘man-made’.” Bob scoffed.

“Well yeah, time itself isn’t man-made. Like, ya know, it would still happen if we didn’t name it but like, it’s like a man-made measurement. You can’t go back an inch ya know? Like if you have a piece of word and it measures an inch, well an inch is an inch. It can’t measure minus and inch or it wouldn’t exist. It’s like time.”

Bob watched as a cloud of Doug’s smoke hazed the starry sky before him. It was a clear night and they were alone on the vast beach. The waves lapped gently at the shore and the smell of dew was already settling in the field behind them. “You’re looking at it all wrong, man. What about those astronauts that travel to space and come back and they’ve only aged a year, when like, everyone else is fuckin’ old.”

“Good point.”

“Yeah man. It’s like the speed of light man.”

“What’s the speed of light got to do with it?”

“Everything man, everything. If some dude gets in like a rocket-type-of-space-ship man, and travels faster than the speed of light, he can like, go far in no time at all to him, but like, it would seem like forever to us.”

“How is that though? That’s what I don’t get.” Doug glanced at the crescent moon and began wondering what it would be look to live in space.

“It’s like this man. If the space rocket dude travels to another like, galaxy, and he’s going so fuckin’ fast, right man? He can make it there in like a couple of weeks ‘cause he’s going so fuckin’ fast! All the while we here on earth are going about our regular business right man? So like, the earth is spinning all normal and stuff, it does its orbiting thing around the sun all regular and shit, right? So, time goes by normal for us but he’s going faster than that man, he’s going faster than it takes for the planet to like orbit the sun man. So when he comes back, we’ve all been puttin’ along normally, aging and shit, but he’s only been gone like a month. So he comes back the same age, and we all grew older and shit.”

Doug nodded along with him. “That’s crazy-assed shit, dude.”

“Brilliant right man?”

“Abso-fuckin-lutely”

As they sat there contemplating their latest discovery, imagining a world far beyond their comprehension, they spotted a bright shooting star cross the horizon.

“Holy shit! Did you see that man?” Bob said as they both sat up straight.

“That was so wicked!”

“That’s what I’m talking about, man. That star probably died out a million years ago and we’re only seeing it now man.” Bob smacked the hood of the car for emphasis. “That’s time travel man, that’s fucking time travel!”

“Did you make a wish, dude?” Doug asked.

“Ah shit, no man, I forgot. Did you?

“Yeah.”

“Well what did you wish for man?”

“Doritos.”

Writing Prompt-and-Share #33

Prompt-and-Share Through all of the computer crap I've dealt with this weekend, including losing all of my writing folders (which included my novel) I kinda slacked on the Prompt-and-Share. I'm still going crazy trying to get my newly reformatted computer to behave properly, but regardless, I'm here to give you your prompt for Character Development Monday! Ain't I a trooper? (that was my passive-aggressive way of begging your forgiveness for missing Dialogue Sundays)
So here is the prompt! You or your character have a fear - at least one I am sure. Give back story on why you or your character have said fear. Use of distinctive dialogue will gain you extra points (there is a point system? Well... no. But work with it) since we missed Dialogue Sundays.
400 word limit


“What’s your greatest fear?”

I just looked at him. What kind of question was that for a first date? He sipped his wine, not once breaking eye contact with me. The question and the intense stare made me nervous, though I was uncertain as to which affected me more.

I forked around the food on my plate and chewed on my inner cheek while contemplating an answer. An honest answer. I would not start another relationship without complete honesty.

Spiders? Yeah they freaked me out. Bugs of any kind really… Falling. That was a fear for sure. My mind probed further, deeper and my throat clenched at the thought of losing my mother. That was a big fear, but I shooed it away and went deeper.

Somewhere inside of me there was a flicker. I remembered how I trusted her and him and him. All of them. The closest people in my life. My heart shivered against my pink blouse as memories of betrayal, murder and lies flooded my thoughts. The people I loved and trusted the most had committed unspeakable acts of terror on my very soul, and here I was, allowing myself to be vulnerable again. Who was to say this man across from me, in his beige Dockers and pressed blue shirt, wouldn’t do the exact same thing?

In a moment of clarity, my fork clanged to the ground and metallic ooze flooded my mouth as I bit my cheek a little too hard. My greatest fear was simple and horrific. I feared my own judge of character.

I fought back the sting of tears as I fiddled to get my fork from under the table. With a deep breath I sat up straight and met Blake’s concerned gaze with a flirtatious smile. I signaled the waiter to bring me a fresh fork and answered his question nonchalantly.

“Spiders.”

Writing Prompt-and-Share #32

Prompt-and-Share TGIF all! Today's prompt is inspired but a suggesting from +Adam Boenig . Though Fridays are busy for Adam (check out his picture prompt) I still expect him to set the example but giving us an awesome piece. (How's that for passive aggressive persuasion? :P )
So the prompt today - Pick an object, any object. Imagine it has all of the senses a human would normally would have. (sense of smell, taste, sight... etc...) and write a scene from the objects Point-of-view.
For those of you who are veterans of the Prompt-and-Share, try to include the skills we discussed on "sense of time" and "sense of space" - just for kicks.
It's the weekend, so have some fun with this - the object can be as wild and crazy as you like. I do not believe I've got anyone on here under 18, so feel free to be crass and crude and vulgar. OR, hmm... I suppose AND/OR celebrate Friday's diety and planet: Venus. Give us something loving and beautiful.
500 word limit

Writing Prompt-and-Share #31

Prompt-and-Share: Word Prompt Thursday! Plot is of obvious importance to any story. Though stories can be very different, let’s focus on the basics. There needs to be a character in your story, at least one. It has to happen somewhere, so we need a setting. Finally we need a conflict and a resolution.
So from now on, Thursdays prompts are going to focus on a random word generated Prompt-and-Share centering on plot. That’s right folks, we are putting some rhyme and reason into this chaos of Prompt-and-Share madness! The rules will be a little more strict, please adhere to them, they are there for YOU to learn how to work your creativity within certain guidelines.

Remember:
#1 -At least one character
#2 – A conflict AND a resolution
#3 – Give us a setting
#4 – Your story must include the 3 random words chosen
#5 – No more than 250 words please
#6 – Have fun with it! Today’s random words thanks to http://watchout4snakes.com/creativitytools/RandomWord/RandomWordPlus.aspx


Downright
Spike
Risking

“Did someone spike your drink or something?” he asked.

“What ever do you mean?” she batted her eyelashes at him.

He brushed her hand off of his shoulder. “What I mean is, we’ve been coming to the same bar for months, I’ve asked you for your number a dozen times and you’ve never even given me the time of day. What’s with the heavy come-ons?”

She shimmied onto the stool next to him and rubbed her thigh purposefully against his. “Can’t a girl just change her mind? Did you ever stop to think,” she licked the straw in her cocktail suggestively, “that maybe I’m just shy?”

He jerked his head around to face her. “You know, maybe at the beginning I did. Maybe before I saw you mount a guy by the pool table. Maybe before I watched you leave with a different bloke every night, maybe then. Maybe then I thought you were shy, but reality kicked in sweetheart,” he snapped.

She wasn’t the least bit phased by his tantrum, in fact she seemed to be enjoying his rage. With the tip of her tongue, she teased the cherry from the end of the yellow plastic sword that garnished her drink. “Well, that’s downright naughty of you to think I’m easy,” she teased with a little pout.

He stood up trying to ignore the twitch in is trousers, slapped a twenty on the bar and looked deeply into her green eyes. He continued to stare her down until she blushed and looked away. He leaned in close, nuzzled her hair and whispered softly in her ear, “I don’t do whores baby, risking disease isn’t my thing.”

Writing Prompt-and-Share #30

Prompt-and-Share It's Wednesday's First Sentence theme continuing on the Prompt-and-Share. We all know how important the first sentence is to any story, it grabs the reader and pulls them in. We've been taking the first sentence of famous novels and writing our own little stories with them. Today we are gonna steal from Ami Mckay's The Birth House.
In 400 words or less, write a short story/flash fiction starting with this as your opening line: My house stands at the edge of the earth.
Take it away folks!

“My house stands at the edge of the earth,” she said, sifting her tiny fingers in the sand.

“It does not!” he countered.

“Does too, there is a big cliff right off the porch and it just falls and falls and falls into the water.”

“No way stupid, the earth is round, there are no edges.”

She sat quietly for a moment, staring at the teeter-totter. Her eyes lit up. “Momma says we don’t live in the middle of nowhere, but she can see it from her bedroom window.”

“See what?”

“The middle of nowhere, silly.”

He shook his head, making tracks in the sand with his toy truck. “You really are stupid. Everywhere is somewhere so you can never be in the middle of nowhe…

“Ack! An ant! An ant! Kill it before it pees on you!” she screeched pointing at his arm.

He flicked the bug away and gave her the oddest look. “What is your problem? Ants don’t just go around peeing on people. Moron.”

“Momma said daddy moved us to a piss-ant town…”

Writing Prompt-and-Share #29

Prompt-and-Share Tuesday Torture! Nyah just kidding... A few weeks back, we discussed an extra sense, the sense of space. It was a fun a prompt - and today we are going to focus on another sense that doesn't fit into the typically "5 senses". The sense of Time.
In 400 words or less, take a character (or create one) into a scene that shows time. Year, time of day, hurried time, prolonged time... any "time" sense you choose to use.

Example: Moonlight rippled across the water as the children snuggled themselves into their sleeping bags, zipping up the sides to ensure security against the mosquitoes and other critters.

Okay not the best example, but you get the idea. Without "telling" we know it's night, or dark enough for moonlight. We know it's summer because of the mosquitoes. We know the scene likely takes place in the present or recent times because of the sleeping bag and zippers. Also the movement of time is slowed, there is no rushing here, children are wrapping themselves up for the night, which slows the pace.

Now it's your turn, show your "sense of time"

P.S. this idea originated from a lesson on senses in the Free online F2K writer's course. If interested, give it a look. I enjoyed it immensely.

Writing Prompt-and-Share #28

Prompt-and-Share Just another manic Monday... First off, I’d like all of you wonderful writers to grab some licorice and start whipping +Matt Hardy with them… or just encourage him to join in…whichever suits your fancy. Yesterday’s dialogue prompt was a BLAST! We will be continuing that theme on Sundays.
Last Monday I really screwed you all with a tough prompt. Sorry ‘bout that. A big shout out to +Nancy Cavanaugh who rocked this prompt, and was the only one other than myself who attempted it.
Since characterization seems to be such a hard angle for so many, we are gonna work on it a little more today. For those of you not worried about an MC, don’t fret, there is a twist.
Prompt: (500 words or less) You or you’re character witnesses a miracle… an honest to goodness, unexplainable in their time, miracle. Describe what you or your character experiences, while focusing on you or your character’s reaction. Not as hard as the prompt from last week, but still a toughie.
Good Luck! (point of view and tense is your choice)

Writing Prompt-and-Share #27

Prompt-and-Share Dialogue. I love reading dialogue, it’s my favorite part of a story, if done correctly. As many authors will attest to, if dialogue IS done correctly, no tags should be required. The character, the scene, the plot should all be visible through the speech text. So let’s give it a go.
This prompt was recommended by +Drew Nicholson
500 words or less, write in dialogue ONLY please.

Hints on dialogue for beginners:
1 – Dialogue is always done within quotation marks Example: “Hello there”
2 – Use single quotation marks when to enclose quotes within quotes Example “Helen said that she was an ‘unfit mother’ before she ran away”.
3 – Always start a new paragraph when a new person is speaking
Example:

“I despise you.”

“Yeah well, I hate you more!”

“No, I hate YOU more!”

Anyhow, you get the idea. GOOD LUCK!

Writing Prompt-and-Share #26

Prompt-and-Share Friday - This prompt comes from +Adam Boenig ! Have fun with it folks! I won't be posting a prompt tomorrow so feel free to take your time with this one. Limit 1500 words! That's right, when Adam says EPIC, we listen!
Take something you do every day; say, making breakfast or cleaning the house. Write a story about it in "epic adventure" style.


My Submission: I tried to kill two birds with one stone on this one. My attempt at the prompt AND an action scene…

Helen shut the door behind her, enclosing her into the white-washed room. She locked the door and rested her hands on the cold white marble surrounding the sink. She checked the mirror and smiled maniacally at her reflection. Like a madwoman she tilted her head back and forth, up and down and side to side, eyes focused on her smile.

After careful inspection, she reached for the cup beside the faucet with stealth and agility. She poured the contents into her hand, grabbing at her first weapon. She had eyed up the enemy long enough, it was time to attack. Pulling the string taught between her hands, she strangled out various forms of her enemy in short calculated strokes. Her weapon weakened and limp, she discarded it in the bin beside her.

Helen wiped the moisture from her upper lip and snarled at the basin. This was war. Slowly, silently, her hand reached for the bane of her enemy’s existence and squeezed a large dollop of foe-killing goo onto the bristles of death. Poised and ready, she winked in the mirror and attacked. Long hard thrushes, quick jabs and smoothly guided strokes caught her nemeses unaware.

There was no doubt in her mind she had won the battle. Her guard was down and her ego was up – a deadly combination for any warrior. Her enemy seized the moment of carelessness and struck her in the chest with a foamy bullet. She screamed in horror at the white splotch on her black sweater. Throwing her weapon, she spit in spite, ridding her battleground of all offensive tactics.

The arena was silent as she decided between moves. Should she tend to her wound or continue her massacre? With a nod at her reflection she had chosen. Drowning in poison would be her final attack. With one swig, she submerged the enemy territory with swooshes and waves. There was nowhere left to run, nowhere to hide. She had them exactly where she wanted them. One short grunt erupted from her chest as she tensed her muscles to spit out the remainder of the opposing army. She watched triumphantly as her microscopic foes twirled around before submitting to their fate and disappearing down the drain.

She removed her injured armor and flung it on the floor. She bared her teeth in the mirror. Smiling widely, she caught the glimpse of amusement and delight as she re-inspected the battleground – the coast was clear.

Helen unlocked the door, and stepped out of the arena, rejuvenated from victory. It was over, she was safe with only a minor loss to nag at her soul. She began to relax when a voice penetrated her inward cheers of delight. “Don’t forget to wash behind your ears dear”. Helen straightened her back and glared towards the door… a warrior’s work was never done.

Writing Prompt-and-Share #25

Prompt-and-Share: Word Prompt Thursday! Plot is of obvious importance to any story. Though stories can be very different, let’s focus on the basics. There needs to be a character in your story, at least one. It has to happen somewhere, so we need a setting. Finally we need a conflict and a resolution.
So from now on, Thursdays prompts are going to focus on a random word generated Prompt-and-Share centering on plot. That’s right folks, we are putting some rhyme and reason into this chaos of Prompt-and-Share madness! The rules will be a little more strict, please adhere to them, they are there for YOU to learn how to work your creativity within certain guidelines.

Remember:
#1 -At least one character
#2 – A conflict AND a resolution
#3 – Give us a setting
#4 – Your story must include the 3 random words chosen
#5 – No more than 250 words please
#6 – Have fun with it! Today’s random words thanks to http://watchout4snakes.com/creativitytools/RandomWord/RandomWordPlus.aspx

System
Specification
Gibberish

My submission:

Nina tried desperately to get Drew’s editing done quickly so he could make his deadline. She often forgot her purpose as the story swept her away to the unfamiliar universe he had created with an artist’s touch.

She sat on the edge of her chair, cramped from hours of work, anxious to get to the conclusion and discover where the tale would take her. The climax was building and the action fast-paced. Her mouth fell open as the screen went black. Then blue. A message appeared stating: System overload. Please reboot with manual’s specifications.

Nina blinked, then blinked again. She smacked her monitor. She kicked her tower. She screamed, thrashed her fists around in frustration and spouted gibberish. After her temper tantrum, she dropped her head into her hands and sobbed. She had let her friend down, and yes that was devastating, but thought was overshadowed by her personal pain of being left in the dark, the characters of the story hanging in peril.

The tears flowed freely washing away the residue that had accumulated on her keyboard since its last cleaning. One droplet landed on her mouse and there was a popping. She lifted her head from her hands and looked around. There was a fizzle and the mouse began to glow. The monitor lit up and the tower choked. She looked at the screen to see the story had returned. She lit a smoke, wiped her eyes and let Drew’s words take her back into his universe, where the heroes would save the day.