writing prompt – the life mosaic

First Thing Monday #14

04.08. 2013 by admin

Some characters make choices he or she would prefer not to talk about, no matter how much he or she is pressed. Write a story in which your character is pressed to justify or apologize for his or her behavior. The level of pressing from the other character is up to you; could be passive-aggressive, … Read more

First Thing Monday #13

04.01. 2013 by admin

Pranks can go bad and for your character, today is no exception. Write about a character who attempts to pull a prank on a loved one only to have it backfire in their face. But not just once. Again and again, building one snafu upon another. Stretch the reality of the scene and allow the … Read more

First Thing Monday #12

03.25. 2013 by admin

A favorite piece of clothing can invoke tremendous memory. Write a story in which your character comes across a hat, shirt, dress, or other piece of clothing and watch as the associated memories spill into the present. Maybe this was his father’s hat. Perhaps she wore this dress the night she left him. Possibly the … Read more

First Thing Monday #10

03.11. 2013 by admin

There’s no business like show business and your character will do anything to break into it. Write a scene in which your character is in the early stages of dipping his or her toe into Hollywood waters. Perhaps he’s at an audition and can’t stop sweating. Maybe she’s stopped by a casting agent at a … Read more

First Thing Monday #9

03.04. 2013 by admin

What if, despite your character’s best efforts, he or she responded to bad news with an outright tantrum? Write a scene in which your character receives bad news and watch what happens as he or she struggles with his or her tantrum tendency. Will it come out? Will it subside? Is he or she even … Read more

First Thing Monday #8

02.25. 2013 by admin

Your character is interviewing someone and just when things are getting good, something stops him or her from being able to continue. He has to use the bathroom. She’s run out of ink or paper and there aren’t replacements in the vicinity. A car crashes through the front of the restaurant. You’ll probably find that … Read more

First Thing Monday #7

02.18. 2013 by admin

It’s the fifth of forty days of Lent. By the end of your writing today, your character will know in their heart he or she will either make it all the way through Lent with the behavior they are changing intact… or failure is inevitable. He or she will know, period. He wipes the sweat … Read more

First Thing Monday #6

02.11. 2013 by admin

Sunrise sheds light, literally and figuratively, on what your character has just done. Let them soak in the situation as they soak in the first sun rays of the morning. How do they feel? Is there regret she stayed up all night waiting for a man who never came back? Is he prepared to face … Read more

First Thing Monday #5

02.04. 2013 by admin

While filling a container with water, your character is reminded of an incident from the past which intensifies the emotion he or she is already feeling when they start to get water. What the container is, the reason for getting water, and the method of getting water are all up to you – they may … Read more

“First Thing Monday” Begins Tomorrow.

01.06. 2013 by Nate Melcher

Tomorrow sees the start of “First Thing Monday.” Right now, the intention is for the feature to be three things:

A weekly feature at The Life Mosaic.
A writing prompt to get your creative juices flowing.
An exercise designed to require fifteen minutes of work.

This may fluctuate in the future but for now, anticipate the above recipe.

I enjoy writing prompts. I like receiving them in a class or group or seeking them out on my own and I enjoy offering them to other people in teaching, training, and other spaces like this blog. I think any writing prompt allows one to stretch his or her creative legs to walk to places he or she perhaps wouldn’t otherwise travel. Really, that’s “any” writing prompt. Even the bad ones, the cliche ones, even those can take someone to somewhere new if one is open to it. That said, here’s hoping the writing prompts I offer here aren’t “bad” and seldom dip into the “cliche” pool without intention.

One of the key reasons I enjoy writing prompts is