So we decided to get a motor home, and my husband became married to a motor home online sales site. He searched all the time, sometimes showing me the ones way beyond our price and others within range but not configured the way we wanted. We looked at a few and they were intriguing in…
Everybody has one of those items in their house that they don’t know the purpose of. I once had a slender silver cylinder measuring thingy (received from my husband’s family and sold by him at a garage sale) that was also a music box (say 8 inches tall, base included, and 2 inches in diameter). …
This is more of a change in perspective than an actual topic prompt. What I suggest you do is go sit someplace where you don’t usually go to write. In my class, I have my students sit on the table or beneath it or face a corner. How many teachers ask you to sit on…
we did have the good fortune of having cats in the family prior to those marriages. So what made me think of this? I saw a Siamese cat, a beautiful brown point, sitting on a porch as my husband and I were driving home today from the store. And I just starting thinking about my…
Today I was introducing the idea that interpreting poetry is heavily based in the personal experience and knowledge of the reader. I wanted my students to have a strong grasp on perspective and how it influences how we look at things. So I found several Escher pictures online (http://mcescher.com/) and one by one (via the…
Imagine the sky a different color. In fact, split it right down the middle. To the left the loveliest color in your imaginative arsenal and to the right the most frightening color. Choose one of these questions to get you rolling along in your writing. 1. Who would live under such a sky? 2. What…
I remember when I first starting thinking about writing my book In Times Passed. I worked at a factory and was a product grader. I would pull off the line anything that didn’t meet quality requirements. Doesn’t take much thought or intelligence, just good automaton-like reflexes. I would listen to music, day dream, write letters in…
Frequently description starts wide then slowly narrows down. In this prompt, start narrow, as tight into an object as you can; then move out, not just on the image but on the crux of the story as well. My example: The ridged metal round, a green stripe accenting it, was crimped tightly to the multi-flattened…
