The following prompt is by Shannon from Writers in the Grove and a part of our Prompt-a-Day project to support NaNoWriMo during November 2015. Each prompt was generously donated by our Writers in the Grove members. You are welcome to take this prompt in any direction you wish.
Describe your hiding place as a child…one inside and one out in nature.
Make it so rich in texture and senses, you can save it as your “special place” to go to in your mind.
The following prompt is by Everett Goodwin of Writers in the Grove and is a part of our Prompt-a-Day project to support NaNoWriMo during November 2015. Each prompt was generously donated by our Writers in the Grove members. You are welcome to take this prompt in any direction you wish.
Put your character(s) in a situation where they have to explain the difference between good and evil and how it guides their choices.
There were two prompts this week. This is the second.
Write out a description of something or somewhere. Do not name it. Let us figure it out.
It must include 2 colors and one smell.
As usual, our writing prompts are timed to be about 10-15 minutes, so time yourself accordingly.
The prompt this week was inspired by a rash of man-made and nature violence in the news lately.
Take the following statement and write a minimum of 15 minutes.
“We have to get out, we have to go on.”
The following prompt is by Writers in the Grove member, Bev Walker, and a part of our Prompt-a-Day project to support NaNoWriMo during November 2015. Each prompt was generously donated by our Writers in the Grove members. You are welcome to take this prompt in any direction you wish.
What was your character’s favorite childhood toy? Why?
Where did it come from?
What happened to it?
The following prompt is by Mary Jane Nordgren of Writers in the Grove and is a part of our Prompt-a-Day project to support NaNoWriMo during November 2015. Each prompt was generously donated by our Writers in the Grove members. You are welcome to take this prompt in any direction you wish.
This is a simple or complicated prompt. Use it as you wish.
Wind
The following prompt is by Ann Farley, member of Writers in the Grove, and a part of our Prompt-a-Day project to support NaNoWriMo during November 2015. Each prompt was generously donated by our Writers in the Grove members. You are welcome to take this prompt in any direction you wish.
Wake your characters up. What is their first thought upon waking? What surfaces?
Do they remember a dream? Have a plan of action? Face a fear?
The following prompt is by Bev Walker, Writers in the Grove member, and a part of our Prompt-a-Day project to support NaNoWriMo during November 2015. Each prompt was generously donated by our Writers in the Grove members. You are welcome to take this prompt in any direction you wish.
Put your character in a favorite chair. Describe them in the chair and why this is a favorite.
It’s the half way point in NaNoWriMo and our Prompt-a-Day project is also half way through, hopefully inspiring you to look at your writing and characters in a new way.
Writers in the Grove now has 10 members participating. One participated last year, so this is a huge leap and we are so proud of everyone.
Because our group is so diverse in writing subject matter, age, and skills, we’ve made a few adjustments to the NaNoNoWriMo guidelines. Those that are willing to stick with the word count as a score card are continuing to do so, report in to NaNoWriMo’s check in for the region. Those who are intimidated by such accounting have committed to write for a minimum of an hour a day.
The same challenges that face the word count writers face the timed writers. What to write, how to say it, self-doubt, self-worth, and the dark cloud of wonder about how this will ever amount to something. The challenge is to let all of that go and just write. Edit on December 1, but for November, just write and see what happens.
We’ve heard from several people that their goals of plotting first went by the wayside as their characters took over. Now they are pantsing it, just writing by the seat of their characters’ pants, as one described it. “I just hang onto my keyboard and hope they take this thing somewhere.”
In the Portland region, we are getting closer and closer to 16 million words for those keeping score. That’s amazing.
To keep the momentum going, we’ve put together some guides and helpful resources and wanted to share them with you.
Novels aren’t written by muses who come down through the ceiling and shoot magic through your fingers and out onto your laptop’s keyboard. Before NaNoWriMo, some teensy part of me still believed that because writing is a creative act, it should feel easy. But fairies don’t write novels. They’re written with one simple equation:
Time + Work = Novel
Stephanie Perkins on NaNoWriMo Blog on the rewards of not giving up on your story
The following articles and guides should help you get to the half-way point, or help you through the rest of your month long writing experiment. It is an experiment. Sometimes you know where you are going, and sometimes you have no idea, and sometimes, both are true. Edit on December 1 but keep writing through the month and see where it takes you.
Along the way, hopefully the following will help, inspire, and motivate you.
The following prompt is by Gretchen, a Writers in the Grove member, and a part of our Prompt-a-Day project to support NaNoWriMo during November 2015. Each prompt was generously donated by our Writers in the Grove members. You are welcome to take this prompt in any direction you wish.
Put a hat on your character.
What would it look like?
Why would they have a hat put on them?
Would they wear it?
Describe the hat, the situation, and the character’s reaction.
Writers in the Grove 