prompts

A Prompt a Day for NaNoWriMo

To honor NaNoWriMo and members and fans of Writers in the Grove, our members are submitting a prompt-a-day for the entire month of November.

The prompts cover everything and anything. They might include an image for a wordless prompt or a quote or suggestion.

You may do what you wish with these prompts. You may twist them around to meet the needs of your story, characters, or plot. You may use them as a tangent writing project to help you break out of a blocked thought or walled-off idea. The word count still goes into your official ledger.

If you would like to join us for NaNoWriMo, we’ve put together “It’s NaNoWriMo Time: How To, Tips, Techniques, and Survival Advice” to help you ensure a successful month of writing in November.

You will find all the prompts in our Prompts post category. Follow/Subscribe to the site to keep up with these throughout the month of November during NaNoWriMo. You may unsubscribe at your leisure afterward, or keep being inspired by the great weekly prompts and activities from Writers in the Grove.

If you live in the Forest Grove, Washington County, Oregon, area, we invite you to join us. We meet weekly on Monday from 9-11am at the Forest Grove Senior and Community Center, and monthly at the Forest Grove Library, typically the second Saturday of the month at 10AM.

NaNoWriMo Prompts for November

The following will be a list of the NaNoWriMo Prompts on this site for the month of November 2015, starting the morning of November 1.

Come join the fun and write, write, and write some more!

Prompt: A Terrible Tragedy

The prompt this week was suggested by the recent shooting at Umpqua Community College as well as other tragic events.

Write about a tragedy, one that involves risk and fear. Put your character(s) under pressure in the middle of something where split second decisions could make things worse or resolve the issue.

Our hearts and thoughts are with the families and community of Roseburg, Oregon. Forest Grove hosts Pacific University, and we are kindred spirits sharing your pain and loss.

Prompt: Writing Letters You Might Never Send

This week’s prompt talked about how we communicate? What do we use to communicate? Eyes, attention, body language, respect, support, and words.

You can communicate with a person and have it be a very intimate connection. You may also connect with someone and have it be a one way experience.

There are many ways to communicate with each other, as there is with your characters. How do they communicate with each other?

As a writer, how do you connect on a deeper level to your readers? Sometimes you write to a specific person, even if you are writing for many. Others say they write to and for themselves.

The prompt narrowed down to this:

Write a letter to yourself or someone else that speaks the truth, says what you really wish to tell them, no holds barred.

It could be a letter sent, or one that is written and never sent. It doesn’t matter.

If you’d like to experiment with character building, have your main character or any character in your story write that letter.

A Prompt and an Assignment

At the end of last weeks class, a stack of magazines had been offered as the prompt for the class to be held on Sept. 21. It is as simple as leafing through a magazine and finding an image that speaks to you.

Using the image, write freely for 15 minutes.

Feel free to share your writing at the Monday class, or bring images that you select to be passed around as inspiration for others in the group.

You can write by describing what you see, or what the image makes you think about. It could be the emotion you feel, or want others to feel. What the photographer was looking for or what can’t be seen in the picture. Let your imagination run wild.

Also, a reminder that Sept. 21 is a celebration for Patty. She has successfully completed TOPS and has graduated to the KOPS program. Congratulations Patty!

Prompt: Positive or Negative Effects on Love and Kindness

The prompt came from the book “Art as Experience” by John Dewey. In one section he describes that for art to be whole, it has to have its own unity. Each word in a poem has to come from what came before it, and contribute to the words that come after.

The example is an excerpt from Wordsworth’s “The Prelude.”

…the wind and sleety rain,
And all the business of the elements,
The single sheep, and the one blasted tree,
And the bleak music from that old stone wall,
The noise of wood and water, and the mist
That on the line of each of these two roads
Advanced in such indisputable shapes.

The wind as the noun is not described in adjectives but in the descriptions of what followed in the poem, the single sheep, blasted tree, bleak music from the stone wall, noise of wood and water…all paint the sense and emotional quality of the state of the wind.

Part one of the prompt was to write at least 7 words that leave you with a negative feeling, each one building upon the other. Then write at least 7 words that leave you with a positive feeling, building upon the previous one.

Part two of the prompt was to write something about the negative or positive effects on the topic of love and kindness, growing the feeling as the word choices push the reader forward with the growing emotions.

Prompt: Side Effects

The following poem was written by Writers in the Grove member, Paula Adams, in response to reading the fine print on a bottle of the prescription medication Lyrica. It became our prompt for the week, explained below.

Prescription LYRICA is not for everyone

Drug Pill Bottle Top Tell your doctor right away about
any serious allergic reaction that causes

swelling of the face,
mouth, lips,
gums, tongue,
throat,
neck
hands,
legs
and feet,
rash, hives or blisters.
or any trouble breathing

LYRICA may cause suicidal thoughts or actions
in a very small number of people.

Patients, family members or caregivers should
call the doctor right away if they notice

suicidal thoughts or actions,
thoughts of self-harm, or
any unusual changes in mood or behavior.
new or worsening depression,
anxiety,
restlessness,
trouble sleeping,
trouble waking,
panic attacks,
anger, irritability,
agitation,
aggression,
dangerous impulses or
violence, or
extreme increases in activity
or talking.

If you have suicidal thoughts or actions,
do not stop LYRICA without first talking to your doctor. (more…)

Prompt: Crime of Poverty

The prompt this week was inspired from the poem, “What I’ve Learned,” by Stanley Kiesel in his book Prick the Balloon.

Keisel was a kindergarten teacher who went on to five books of poetry and The War Between the Pitiful Teachers and the Splendid Kids,” about his life as a teacher, called “Explosively funny” by Publishers Weekly.

In this particular poem, he ends it with the following line, which became our prompt:

The crime of poverty is not committed by the poor.

From the Prompt Cavort

The following poem was inspired by the prompt called “Cavort.”

Cavort

A shoe found near the front door
The well-worn t-shirt just a few paces later
What was left of Stinky, the favorite bedtime blanket,
was tossed casually amongst the weeds
at the edge of the lane
With holey jeans and unders discarded
The six year old dances buck-naked
in an unexpected summer rain.

Prompt: Cavort

A simple word led Writers in the Grove to come up with a room full of diverse stories and poems.

The group had discussed the arc of a piece and how to take it from the beginning hook, to action, to resolution. It was mentioned that it is like dominoes set to fall in a pattern, each section of the piece needs to connect to the next domino in order for the pattern to fall in succession. Each thing that happens, has to happen for a reason.

The prompt was: Cavort.

See where the word takes you.

August at the Vernonia Library

The Vernonia Library Writing Group met August 20 at 6 pm. We explored the writing practice of Imitation, that is writing about an object or experience in several different ways.

Seeing the moon as a perfect pearl, or a white balloon that had lost its string, or an owl eye without a pupil, or a saucer without a teacup all gave us ideas on different ways to describe a single thought.

The prompt for the group was a sentence of unknown origin, “I will never hide my talent, if I am silent, I am forgotten.” The group was given 15 minutes to free write.

A homework assignment was given to the group. Before the next meeting on Sept. 17, individuals will ‘eavesdrop’ on a conversation and write what they have heard. This practice is designed to focus on not only dialog, but nuances that can change a conversation. Writers are not required to copy the conversation as they heard it, but to see if they can discern and imitate the tone.

Assignments will be discussed at our next meeting scheduled for September 17, 2015, at the Vernonia Library, 7pm.