The 2022 Writing Series is a series of daily writing exercises for both prose writers and poets to spark their creative mind and to spur production of new pieces. The writing prompts take the impetus—that initial crystal of creation—out of your hands (for the most part) and changes your writing creation into creative problem solving. Instead of being preoccupied with the question "What do I write about" you are instead pondering "How do I make this work?" And in the process you are producing new writing.
This is not a standard writing session. This is pure production—to keep your brain thinking about using language to solve simple or complex problems. The worst thing you can do is sit there inactive—the point is to push, to produce something, however imperfect. If you don't overthink it, you will be able to complete all of the series' exercises in under 30 minutes.
The Timer Method
If you're going with the timer method (which is certainly not required) I recommend setting four timers (these markers are if you're doing a 30 minute session): The First Timer for 5 minutes for a pre-writing reminder, if you do any planning or thinking on how those things can fit together or how to structure what you're doing, or to revisit your writer's notebook to remind yourself of anything you might have noted to write about 'in the future'. But mostly, to remind you not to overthink, not to delay the actual writing process. You should think at least a little about what the point of the piece will be (more in the third timer section) The Second Timer for 15 minutes which is the main writing time. Remember, don't overthink during this section. You're knocking out the piece. When this timer goes off it's not the end, but a signal that you'll be trying to wrap it up soon. The Third Timer for 5 minutes which is time to wrap up what you're writing. This is where you're making sure that you're tucking in any 'loose narrative threads' and getting to your conclusions. Remember, pieces should have some takeaway or 'point'. Some 'why'—a thing that the reader can point to if they're asking themselves "why did I read this?". The Fourth Timer for 5 minutes which is time for editing, for going back over the piece and giving it a 'once over' for typos. I highly suggest reading it aloud once at the beginning of the five minutes (or prior to starting the last timer). Then you'll use the time to fix things early on that you later changed, and to sprinkle in 'crumbs' which foreshadow or work well with later metaphors so that the piece feels more united.
#1(a) 'Wedding' Multi-Prompt 1
For today's writing exercise you actually have 4 choices! In the spirit of a wedding needing "Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed and Something Blue." The first offered prompt is one from Notebooking Daily's past, the second is a brand new prompt for the day of one prompt theme or another, the third prompt is a 'borrowed' prompt from one of Sparked's 'Prompting Partners', and the fourth prompt is a wildcard riffing on the idea of 'Something Blue'. Take a look and dive in! First thought, best thought for these prompts.
The 2021 Writing Series is a series of daily writing exercises for both prose writers and poets to keep their creative mind stretched and ready to go—fresh for your other writing endeavors. The writing prompts take the impetus—that initial crystal of creation—out of your hands (for the most part) and changes your writing creation into creative problem solving. Instead of being preoccupied with the question "What do I write" you are instead pondering "How do I make this work?" And in the process you are producing new writing.
This is not a standard writing session. This is pure production—to keep your brain thinking about using language to solve simple or complex problems. The worst thing you can do is sit there inactive. It's like taking a 5 minute breather in the middle of a spin class—the point is to push, to produce something, however imperfect. If you don't overthink it, you will be able to complete all of the exercises in under 30 minutes.
#365(c)
How to... 28
For today's prompt we are focusing on imperative directional pieces. What does that mean? A "How to"! You don't have to title your piece "How to ..." (though you certainly can if you'd like to), you could write a prose piece that merely includes someone giving another directions or you could make it a step by step process like a recipe, however you want to interpret the prompt, the process that is the 'how to' should merely be described at some length during your piece, in some fashion.
The 2021 Writing Series is a series of daily writing exercises for both prose writers and poets to keep their creative mind stretched and ready to go—fresh for your other writing endeavors. The writing prompts take the impetus—that initial crystal of creation—out of your hands (for the most part) and changes your writing creation into creative problem solving. Instead of being preoccupied with the question "What do I write" you are instead pondering "How do I make this work?" And in the process you are producing new writing.
This is not a standard writing session. This is pure production—to keep your brain thinking about using language to solve simple or complex problems. The worst thing you can do is sit there inactive. It's like taking a 5 minute breather in the middle of a spin class—the point is to push, to produce something, however imperfect. If you don't overthink it, you will be able to complete all of the exercises in under 30 minutes.
For New Year's Eve I'm including a new prompt every 8 hours instead of just once a day. 3 for the price of... well, none.
#365(b)
Title Mania "Toy Piano"33
For today's writing exercise you will write a piece of poetry or prose that utilizes one of the following titles, and if you want extra 'bonus points' also include the three items from below the title list. These titles all come from the awesome Dean Young poem "Elegy on Toy Piano" which is featured in Poetry Out Loud.
Titles:
The Unseeable
A Honeycomb
Charge into the Burning Tower Then Charge Back Out
The Injured Gazelle
Wild Enjambment
When Something Becomes Ash
Bonus Exercise: Three Things
(Your piece must also include the following three 'things', if you choose this option)
A Pony
Honeycomb
A Diamond
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If you'd like some background music try this "Lost Tales: Our Secret Place" lofi mix.
The 2021 Writing Series is a series of daily writing exercises for both prose writers and poets to keep their creative mind stretched and ready to go—fresh for your other writing endeavors. The writing prompts take the impetus—that initial crystal of creation—out of your hands (for the most part) and changes your writing creation into creative problem solving. Instead of being preoccupied with the question "What do I write" you are instead pondering "How do I make this work?" And in the process you are producing new writing.
This is not a standard writing session. This is pure production—to keep your brain thinking about using language to solve simple or complex problems. The worst thing you can do is sit there inactive. It's like taking a 5 minute breather in the middle of a spin class—the point is to push, to produce something, however imperfect. If you don't overthink it, you will be able to complete all of the exercises in under 30 minutes.
For New Year's Eve I'm including a new prompt every 8 hours instead of just once a day. 3 for the price of... well, none.
#365(a) First Line Bonanza 29
For today's writing exercise write a piece that begins with one of the following first lines.
1) In a matter of minutes one hundred became five. 2)Mastering the violin does not happen in just a few hundred hours. 3) We watched the superheroes destroy our city without a thought and wondered if we'd been cheering for the wrong non-humans this whole time.
4) He had three first names.
5) The brilliance of the winter sun on that snow-covered hill blinded me.
6) We built contraptions from broken toys that would make Rube Goldberg smile.
7) No one was safe.
8) The mystery box would not be opened.
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Bonus 'constraint': You must include a paragraph/stanza in which the all sentences or lines begin with the letter "A" (at least 3) and the piece must include three smells.
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If you'd like some background music to write to, try Don Robertson's remastered 1982 album "Starmusic" (remastered in 2019)
The 2021 Writing Series is a series of daily writing exercises for both prose writers and poets to keep their creative mind stretched and ready to go—fresh for your other writing endeavors. The writing prompts take the impetus—that initial crystal of creation—out of your hands (for the most part) and changes your writing creation into creative problem solving. Instead of being preoccupied with the question "What do I write" you are instead pondering "How do I make this work?" And in the process you are producing new writing.
This is not a standard writing session. This is pure production—to keep your brain thinking about using language to solve simple or complex problems. The worst thing you can do is sit there inactive. It's like taking a 5 minute breather in the middle of a spin class—the point is to push, to produce something, however imperfect. If you don't overthink it, you will be able to complete all of the exercises in under 30 minutes.
#364
In the kitchen Anaphora—Repetition Files 25
For today's writing exercise you will write a piece of poetry or prose which focuses on repetition. In this instance we will work with anaphora. It's a handy little bit of poetic craft that goes a little something like this:
the repetition of a word or words at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or lines to create a sonic effect.
Take a moment and read the above-linked Poetry Foundation article, even if you know the term. For even more fun check out this longer article called Adventures in Anaphora.
Your mission is to use the following phrase to begin at least 5 sentences.
The word or phrase we'll use for our exercise today is:
"In the kitchen"
Bonus Exercise:Include these five words into your piece "Flour" "Oven" "Window" "Brown" and "Mint".
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If you'd like some 80s throwback synth background writing music, try this: SOTD on NTS 1 #73 [New Age / Ambient / World / Electronic / Synth / Psych / Jazz Music Cassette Mix] which was a radio show from 2020 from somewhat new background music friends of the blog, Sounds of the Dawn.
The 2021 Writing Series is a series of daily writing exercises for both prose writers and poets to keep their creative mind stretched and ready to go—fresh for your other writing endeavors. The writing prompts take the impetus—that initial crystal of creation—out of your hands (for the most part) and changes your writing creation into creative problem solving. Instead of being preoccupied with the question "What do I write" you are instead pondering "How do I make this work?" And in the process you are producing new writing.
This is not a standard writing session. This is pure production—to keep your brain thinking about using language to solve simple or complex problems. The worst thing you can do is sit there inactive. It's like taking a 5 minute breather in the middle of a spin class—the point is to push, to produce something, however imperfect. If you don't overthink it, you will be able to complete all of the exercises in under 30 minutes.
#363
Ekphrastic Fantastic 30
For today, we're pairing images for you to respond to. The two images will be contrasting and it will be up to you how they can interact, how your writing can make the two pieces of art meet.
Or, just pick one of the images and run with it if you'd rather. I'm not here to tell you exactly what to do, just to help you get the ball rolling. But if it was me, I would look for commonalities or how one image could be an imagination or memory or media within the other image, or if they exist in the same 'world', how you can get from one point in space and time to the other. But you do you boo-boo.
Image 2: "Approaching Storm” (1864) by French landscape painter Eugène-Louis Boudin
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How do these two artworks play off of each other in your mind? Is the second image where the 'angel' is resting? Does the 'angel' from the first image have something to do with the approaching storm? Is the second image preceding the first, whether a memory or on a different 'plane of existence'? Something totally different? How might they be connected? Are they completely unrelated? You decide. Don't overthink it, take a couple minutes perhaps, but dive in and make this happen! And always remember that if you're onto gold—run with it.
You got this!
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If you'd like some 80s throwback synth background writing music, try this: SOTD on NTS 1 #50 [New Age / Ambient / World / Electronic / Synth / Psych / Jazz Music Cassette Mix] which was a radio show from 2018 from somewhat new background music friends of the blog, Sounds of the Dawn.
The 2021 Writing Series is a series of daily writing exercises for both prose writers and poets to keep their creative mind stretched and ready to go—fresh for your other writing endeavors. The writing prompts take the impetus—that initial crystal of creation—out of your hands (for the most part) and changes your writing creation into creative problem solving. Instead of being preoccupied with the question "What do I write" you are instead pondering "How do I make this work?" And in the process you are producing new writing.
This is not a standard writing session. This is pure production—to keep your brain thinking about using language to solve simple or complex problems. The worst thing you can do is sit there inactive. It's like taking a 5 minute breather in the middle of a spin class—the point is to push, to produce something, however imperfect. If you don't overthink it, you will be able to complete all of the exercises in under 30 minutes.
#362
Micro 101 Episode 24
For today's writing exercise you will write a few micro-poems or micro-fictions. These will be either poems under 20 lines or stories under 250 words.
Check out all of the prompts and pick a couple to write. Once you've done that, focusing on one at a time, read the full prompt twice before you start writing because you're looking to keep it minimal, so have ideas. If your first draft is longer don't fret. Hone it down. And the piece will be what it is. I've started out with a goal of 100 words but hit on something and had to cull the end result from 1350 to 1200 for a contest because I loved the result. So each story will be its own beast, but we're ideally aiming for 20 lines or 100-250 words with these. And if they grow into something much larger, hey, you've got something longer!
Micro Exercise 1: Roadkill 1. Write a short piece in which your narrator sees a specific animal dead in the road. The narrator should imagine why that animal was crossing the road as they continue their drive. Micro Exercise 2:Mystery Box 1. Write a very short piece in which a person enters an empty train or subway station to see a large gift-wrapped box the a sign that says "Open Me". Does the person open it or not? What's in there (if we find out)? Make the atmosphere nice and creepy. Micro Exercise 3: Mystery Box 2. Write a micro piece in which you describe an 'it' in ambiguous and vague, but interesting ways. Never explicitly tell us what 'it' is. Micro Exercise 4:Toy Box. Write a micro piece in which two characters fight over the same toy in a toy box. They should not be related, but should be very familiar with each other, and they should insult each other as they each try to get the desired toy. Be sure that we know exactly what that toy is Micro Exercise 5: Roadkill 2. Write a very short piece where a person lives on a busy street and is cataloguing the various instances where they've discovered dead animals hit by cars in front of their house. Be sure to have one other aspect to the piece, something which the roadkill list plays off of, or helps add depth to. Micro Exercise 6: Mystery Box 3. Write a piece which is under 100 words which includes a person speculating what a wrapped birthday present contains, based on knowing who the gifter is and who the birthday person. Have your narrator leave the party before the present is opened.
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If you'd like some background music to write to, try this cat-inspired lofi mix "Home is where the meow is".
The 2021 Writing Series is a series of daily writing exercises for both prose writers and poets to keep their creative mind stretched and ready to go—fresh for your other writing endeavors. The writing prompts take the impetus—that initial crystal of creation—out of your hands (for the most part) and changes your writing creation into creative problem solving. Instead of being preoccupied with the question "What do I write" you are instead pondering "How do I make this work?" And in the process you are producing new writing.
This is not a standard writing session. This is pure production—to keep your brain thinking about using language to solve simple or complex problems. The worst thing you can do is sit there inactive. It's like taking a 5 minute breather in the middle of a spin class—the point is to push, to produce something, however imperfect. If you don't overthink it, you will be able to complete all of the exercises in under 30 minutes.
#361 Dueling Six Word Shootout 32
For today's writing exercise write a piece that includes one or both of the following sets of 6 words. Don't front-load them all into the beginning of your piece, save at least one or two for somewhere to 'aim' your piece. Remember sestinas have 6 different end-words, but don't let me tell you what to write. Just use all 6 (or twelve) words in a fashion that isn't throw-away. Don't put them in in a way that you'll definitely later edit them out because they don't add to the piece. Make them important. This might require a little brainstorming at first. Don't be afraid, you can do it!
Set 1:
1) Drift
2) Con
3) Polyp
4) Glitter
5) Dragnet
6) Welsh
Set 2:
7) Flyover
8) Quagmire
9) Hawaiian
10) Gelled
11) Married
12) Bumpy
--- Bonus Exercise: If that's not enough, also include the following three things: A Jellyfish, A Slingshot, and Arsenic (poison).
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If you'd like some background music to write to, try this "the abyss" lofi mix.
The 2021 Writing Series is a series of daily writing exercises for both prose writers and poets to keep their creative mind stretched and ready to go—fresh for your other writing endeavors. The writing prompts take the impetus—that initial crystal of creation—out of your hands (for the most part) and changes your writing creation into creative problem solving. Instead of being preoccupied with the question "What do I write" you are instead pondering "How do I make this work?" And in the process you are producing new writing.
This is not a standard writing session. This is pure production—to keep your brain thinking about using language to solve simple or complex problems. The worst thing you can do is sit there inactive. It's like taking a 5 minute breather in the middle of a spin class—the point is to push, to produce something, however imperfect. If you don't overthink it, you will be able to complete all of the exercises in under 30 minutes.
#360
Three Things, Five Words 32
For today's writing exercise you will write a piece of poetry or prose which contains the following three things, and these five individual words. The three things should be important to the piece, not just a throwaway reference used because it has to be. This is prompt time, baby!
If you're not sure where to start, begin by finding a connection between two of the 'things'—whether that is a shared appearance, locale, one of the things might interact with another (or all three), some way that the two are likened or could be physically together. Use one of the things with two of the 'words' in the beginning of the piece and explore for a bit, knowing that you're aiming at the second ''thing' (where the two 'things' have their connection) about 1/3-1/2 of the way through what you imagine the length of the piece (which may be totally off). By then you should have a direction and it's off to the races, with that third 'thing' in your pathway to the finishing line.
'Three Things'
Confetti
Ice Cubes
A Bridge
'Five Words'
Include these five words in your piece:
Push, Notch, Lush, Bottled, Mellow.
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If you'd like some background music to write to, try this "Cozy Winter" lofi mix from the channel formerly known as Chilled Cow, now Lofi Girl for that sweet, sweet SEO.
The 2021 Writing Series is a series of daily writing exercises for both prose writers and poets to keep their creative mind stretched and ready to go—fresh for your other writing endeavors. The writing prompts take the impetus—that initial crystal of creation—out of your hands (for the most part) and changes your writing creation into creative problem solving. Instead of being preoccupied with the question "What do I write" you are instead pondering "How do I make this work?" And in the process you are producing new writing.
This is not a standard writing session. This is pure production—to keep your brain thinking about using language to solve simple or complex problems. The worst thing you can do is sit there inactive. It's like taking a 5 minute breather in the middle of a spin class—the point is to push, to produce something, however imperfect. If you don't overthink it, you will be able to complete all of the exercises in under 30 minutes.
#359 'Wedding' Multi-Prompt 21
For today's writing exercise you actually have 4 choices! In the spirit of a wedding needing "Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed and Something Blue." The first offered prompt is one from Notebooking Daily's past, the second is a brand new prompt for the day of one prompt theme or another, the third prompt is a 'borrowed' prompt from one of Sparked's 'Prompting Partners', and the fourth prompt is a wildcard riffing on the idea of 'Something Blue'. Take a look and dive in! First thought, best thought for these prompts.
Something Old:Complete a Piece Saturday: Person Place and Thing(Published on Notebooking Daily on 5/7/2016, this very detailed prompt has you write a piece taking place at a carnival, a particular person and object, with multiple additional details you choose).
Something New:Three Things (include these three things in a piece): Santa Claus, A Coffee Cup, The Vietnam War.
Reminder, this piece can be sent to Sparked Lit Mag! It doesn't have to have been written when the issue was currently reading.
Something Blue:Write a piece which includes a house that has blue Christmas lights and someone wearing a blue 'jean jacket'.
Something Christmas:Write a piece which takes place on Christmas morning, of one of the following years: 1999, 2010 or 2025. It should also include either a soccer or football, and it should mention one song by its title.
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If you'd like some background music to write to, try this "santa's workshop" lofi mix from friends of the blog The Jazz Hop Cafe.
The 2021 Writing Series is a series of daily writing exercises for both prose writers and poets to keep their creative mind stretched and ready to go—fresh for your other writing endeavors. The writing prompts take the impetus—that initial crystal of creation—out of your hands (for the most part) and changes your writing creation into creative problem solving. Instead of being preoccupied with the question "What do I write" you are instead pondering "How do I make this work?" And in the process you are producing new writing.
This is not a standard writing session. This is pure production—to keep your brain thinking about using language to solve simple or complex problems. The worst thing you can do is sit there inactive. It's like taking a 5 minute breather in the middle of a spin class—the point is to push, to produce something, however imperfect. If you don't overthink it, you will be able to complete all of the exercises in under 30 minutes.
#358
Erasing Roger Ebert 48 "Staying Alive"
For today's exercise we have split paths for fiction and poetry, though I highly recommend that even fiction writers try the poetry exercise, because erasures can be a blast!
Roger Ebert has been the archetypal film critic for decades, and he's written thousands of reviews. Because of their nature, almost their own bit of ekphrastic art, this series of erasures will be lots of fun!
An Erasure/Blackout is really simple: you take the given text and remove many words to make it your own new piece. One way to go about the erasure that I like to do is to copy the text and paste it twice into your document before you start erasing or blacking out (in MS Word set the text background color to black), that way if you get further into the erasure and decide you want a somewhat different tone or direction, it's easy to go to the unaltered version and make the erasure/black-out piece smoother. Another tip is to look for recurring words, in this example 'bingo' occurs multiple times and could be a good touchstone for your piece.
Fiction or (poetry): If you insist on fiction (or just feel like writing a "Title Mania" piece), write a piece with one of these titles taken from this section:
A Big Disappointment
It Isn't Really a Movie At All
A Walkman for the Eyes
Their Lives are Clichés
Emotional Countercharges
Flashing Lights and Laser Beams
Nobody on Stage is Singing
Vulgar Showdowns with his Family
Erasure Selection:
Roger Ebert's review of "Staying Alive"
"Staying Alive" is a big disappointment. This sequel to the gutsy, electric "Saturday Night Fever" is a slick, commercial cinematic jukebox, a series of self-contained song-and-dance sequences that could be cut apart and played forever on MTV -- which is probably what will happen. Like "Flashdance," it isn't really a movie at all, but an endless series of musical interludes between dramatic scenes that aren't there. It's not even as good as "Flashdance," but it may appeal to the same audience; it's a Walkman for the eyes.
The movie has an extremely simple plot. Extremely. Six years have passed since Tony Manero (John Travolta) gazed longingly at the lights of Manhattan at the end of "Saturday Night Fever." Now he lives in a fleabag Manhattan hotel, works as a waiter and a dance instructor and dates a young dancer (Cynthia Rhodes) with the patience of a saint. He's still a woman-chaser. But he meets a long-haired British dancer (Finola Hughes) who's his match. She's a queen bitch who takes him to bed and jilts him. Meanwhile, he gets a job as a dancer in her new show and when her lead dancer falters, Tony gets the job. Does this all sound familiar?
The movie was co-authored and directed by Sylvester Stallone, and is the first bad movie he's made. He remembers all the moves from his Rocky plots, but he leaves out the heart -- and, even worse, he leaves out the characters. Everybody in "Staying Alive" is Identikit. The characters are clichés, their lives are clichés and God knows their dialogue is clichés. The big musical climaxes are interrupted only long enough for people to shout prepackaged emotional countercharges at each other. There is little attempt to approximate human speech.
Like the Rocky movies, "Staying Alive" ends with a big, visually explosive climax. It is so ludicrous it has to be seen to be believed. It's opening night on Broadway: Tony Manero not only dances like a hero, he survives a production number of fire, ice, smoke, flashing lights and laser beams, throws in an improvised solo -- and ends triumphantly by holding Finola Hughes above his head with one arm, like a quarry he has tracked and killed. The musical he is allegedly starring in is something called "Satan's Alley," but it's so laughably gauche it should have been called "Springtime for Tony." Stallone makes little effort to convince us we're watching a real stage presentation; there are camera effects the audience could never see, montages that create impossible physical moves and -- most inexplicable of all -- a vocal track, even though nobody on stage is singing. It's a mess. Travolta's big dance number looks like a high-tech TV auto commercial that, got sick to its stomach.
What I really missed in "Staying Alive" was the sense of reality in "Saturday Night Fever" -- the sense that Tony came from someplace and was somebody particular. There's no old neighborhood, no vulgar showdowns with his family (he apologizes to his mother for his "attitude"!) and no Brooklyn eccentricity. Tony's world has been cloned into a backstage musical. And not a good one.
The movie has one great moment. A victorious Tony says "I want to strut!" and struts across Times Square while the Bee Gees sing "Stayin' Alive." That could have been the first shot of a great movie. It's the last shot of this one.
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If you'd like some calm background music to write to, try this "Alone with myself" playlist brought to you by friend of the blog Dreamy
The 2021 Writing Series is a series of daily writing exercises for both prose writers and poets to keep their creative mind stretched and ready to go—fresh for your other writing endeavors. The writing prompts take the impetus—that initial crystal of creation—out of your hands (for the most part) and changes your writing creation into creative problem solving. Instead of being preoccupied with the question "What do I write" you are instead pondering "How do I make this work?" And in the process you are producing new writing.
This is not a standard writing session. This is pure production—to keep your brain thinking about using language to solve simple or complex problems. The worst thing you can do is sit there inactive. It's like taking a 5 minute breather in the middle of a spin class—the point is to push, to produce something, however imperfect. If you don't overthink it, you will be able to complete all of the exercises in under 30 minutes.
#357
Beginning, Middle & End 32
For today's writing exercise you will write a piece of poetry or prose which begins with one image, scenario, line of dialog or place, includes another thing or event somewhere beyond the first and before the last stanza/paragraph, and ends with another required 'thing'.
Begin With: Someone Christmas shopping for a child.
Somewhere in the middle: A hamster running on an exercise wheel.
End With: Someone swimming in the ocean. Extra Credit Requirements: Your title or first line must include the word "Belongs", and you should include the following five words: Glorified, Floral, Limb, Ghost, Plopped.
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If you'd like some background writing music try this lofi playlist "Night walks on the rooftops" brought to you by friend of the blog Dreamy.
The 2021 Writing Series is a series of daily writing exercises for both prose writers and poets to keep their creative mind stretched and ready to go—fresh for your other writing endeavors. The writing prompts take the impetus—that initial crystal of creation—out of your hands (for the most part) and changes your writing creation into creative problem solving. Instead of being preoccupied with the question "What do I write" you are instead pondering "How do I make this work?" And in the process you are producing new writing.
This is not a standard writing session. This is pure production—to keep your brain thinking about using language to solve simple or complex problems. The worst thing you can do is sit there inactive. It's like taking a 5 minute breather in the middle of a spin class—the point is to push, to produce something, however imperfect. If you don't overthink it, you will be able to complete all of the exercises in under 30 minutes.
#356 Between a Fact and an Exact Place 23
For today's writing exercise you will write a piece of poetry or prose which contains the following place (either as the setting, referenced or some aspect of it described) and the following fact in some way (its discovery, used as a metaphor, witnessed etc).
As an additional assignment, should you choose to incorporate it, is as follows: Also include the words "Engine" "Drab" "Essence" "Verified" and "Polo".
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If you'd like some background music, try this Prithvi - "Lullabies For Night Owls" lofi album brought to you from our friends at Dreamhop Music.
The 2021 Writing Series is a series of daily writing exercises for both prose writers and poets to keep their creative mind stretched and ready to go—fresh for your other writing endeavors. The writing prompts take the impetus—that initial crystal of creation—out of your hands (for the most part) and changes your writing creation into creative problem solving. Instead of being preoccupied with the question "What do I write" you are instead pondering "How do I make this work?" And in the process you are producing new writing.
This is not a standard writing session. This is pure production—to keep your brain thinking about using language to solve simple or complex problems. The worst thing you can do is sit there inactive. It's like taking a 5 minute breather in the middle of a spin class—the point is to push, to produce something, however imperfect. If you don't overthink it, you will be able to complete all of the exercises in under 30 minutes.
#355
Title Mania "Christmas Mail"32
For today's writing exercise you will write a piece of poetry or prose that utilizes one of the following titles, and if you want extra 'bonus points' also include the three items from below the title list. These titles all come from the awesome Ted Kooser poem "Christmas Mail" which is featured in Poetry Out Loud.
Titles:
In Each Mailbox
Driving the Snowy Roads
The Little Tin Door
Shepherds and Wise Men
Ever into the Distance
A Hint of Hazelnut
Bonus Exercise: Three Things
(Your piece must also include the following three 'things', if you choose this option)
A Mail Box
Sheep
A Styrofoam Cup
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If you'd like some background music try Anne Williams - Sky Dance [1986] from our friends Sounds of the Dawn.
The 2021 Writing Series is a series of daily writing exercises for both prose writers and poets to keep their creative mind stretched and ready to go—fresh for your other writing endeavors. The writing prompts take the impetus—that initial crystal of creation—out of your hands (for the most part) and changes your writing creation into creative problem solving. Instead of being preoccupied with the question "What do I write" you are instead pondering "How do I make this work?" And in the process you are producing new writing.
This is not a standard writing session. This is pure production—to keep your brain thinking about using language to solve simple or complex problems. The worst thing you can do is sit there inactive. It's like taking a 5 minute breather in the middle of a spin class—the point is to push, to produce something, however imperfect. If you don't overthink it, you will be able to complete all of the exercises in under 30 minutes.
#354
How to... 27
For today's prompt we are focusing on imperative directional pieces. What does that mean? A "How to"! You don't have to title your piece "How to ..." (though you certainly can if you'd like to), you could write a prose piece that merely includes someone giving another directions or you could make it a step by step process like a recipe, however you want to interpret the prompt, the process that is the 'how to' should merely be described at some length during your piece, in some fashion.
The 2021 Writing Series is a series of daily writing exercises for both prose writers and poets to keep their creative mind stretched and ready to go—fresh for your other writing endeavors. The writing prompts take the impetus—that initial crystal of creation—out of your hands (for the most part) and changes your writing creation into creative problem solving. Instead of being preoccupied with the question "What do I write" you are instead pondering "How do I make this work?" And in the process you are producing new writing.
This is not a standard writing session. This is pure production—to keep your brain thinking about using language to solve simple or complex problems. The worst thing you can do is sit there inactive. It's like taking a 5 minute breather in the middle of a spin class—the point is to push, to produce something, however imperfect. If you don't overthink it, you will be able to complete all of the exercises in under 30 minutes.
#353 First Line Bonanza 28
For today's writing exercise write a piece that begins with one of the following first lines.
1) The entire house smelled like smoke. 2)Mac and cheese and peanut butter sandwiches—the lunchtime of champions. 3) Keyboard warriors battled their teenage nemeses.
4) Wile E. Coyote chased the Roadrunner on the television and outside, a comet bared down on the Earth.
5) The party's theme was never decided upon, yet it was still a success.
6) Leather bracelets and mohawks, distorted guitars and racing drums.
7) Green lasers lit up the fog.
8) The rusted fire escape might give way at any moment.
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Bonus 'constraint': You must include a paragraph/stanza in which the all sentences or lines begin with the letter "W" (at least 3) and the piece must include three emdashes (—).
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If you'd like some background music to write to, try his "Lost in Reflections" lofi mix from Dreamhop Music.
The 2021 Writing Series is a series of daily writing exercises for both prose writers and poets to keep their creative mind stretched and ready to go—fresh for your other writing endeavors. The writing prompts take the impetus—that initial crystal of creation—out of your hands (for the most part) and changes your writing creation into creative problem solving. Instead of being preoccupied with the question "What do I write" you are instead pondering "How do I make this work?" And in the process you are producing new writing.
This is not a standard writing session. This is pure production—to keep your brain thinking about using language to solve simple or complex problems. The worst thing you can do is sit there inactive. It's like taking a 5 minute breather in the middle of a spin class—the point is to push, to produce something, however imperfect. If you don't overthink it, you will be able to complete all of the exercises in under 30 minutes.
#352
In the dark Anaphora—Repetition Files 24
For today's writing exercise you will write a piece of poetry or prose which focuses on repetition. In this instance we will work with anaphora. It's a handy little bit of poetic craft that goes a little something like this:
the repetition of a word or words at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or lines to create a sonic effect.
Take a moment and read the above-linked Poetry Foundation article, even if you know the term. For even more fun check out this longer article called Adventures in Anaphora.
Your mission is to use the following phrase to begin at least 6 sentences.
The word or phrase we'll use for our exercise today is:
"In the dark"
Bonus Exercise:Include these five words into your piece "Carbonated" "Tough" "Alone" "Rammed" and "Serrated".
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If you'd like some background music to write to, try this "L O F I Christmas" mix from Akira the Don which uses a lot of classic Christmasy samples.
The 2021 Writing Series is a series of daily writing exercises for both prose writers and poets to keep their creative mind stretched and ready to go—fresh for your other writing endeavors. The writing prompts take the impetus—that initial crystal of creation—out of your hands (for the most part) and changes your writing creation into creative problem solving. Instead of being preoccupied with the question "What do I write" you are instead pondering "How do I make this work?" And in the process you are producing new writing.
This is not a standard writing session. This is pure production—to keep your brain thinking about using language to solve simple or complex problems. The worst thing you can do is sit there inactive. It's like taking a 5 minute breather in the middle of a spin class—the point is to push, to produce something, however imperfect. If you don't overthink it, you will be able to complete all of the exercises in under 30 minutes.
#351 Dueling Six Word Shootout 31
For today's writing exercise write a piece that includes one or both of the following sets of 6 words. Don't front-load them all into the beginning of your piece, save at least one or two for somewhere to 'aim' your piece. Remember sestinas have 6 different end-words, but don't let me tell you what to write. Just use all 6 (or twelve) words in a fashion that isn't throw-away. Don't put them in in a way that you'll definitely later edit them out because they don't add to the piece. Make them important. This might require a little brainstorming at first. Don't be afraid, you can do it!
Set 1:
1) Party
2) Spurt
3) Top
4) Popped
5) Flop
6) Copped
Set 2:
7) Knock
8) Pocked
9) Lock
10) Lop
11) Mock
12) Clock
--- Bonus Exercise: If that's not enough, also include the following three things: A Cinder Block, Kelp, and a Broken Thumb.
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If you'd like some background music to write to, try this "relaxing holiday vibes with taiki" lofi mix
The 2021 Writing Series is a series of daily writing exercises for both prose writers and poets to keep their creative mind stretched and ready to go—fresh for your other writing endeavors. The writing prompts take the impetus—that initial crystal of creation—out of your hands (for the most part) and changes your writing creation into creative problem solving. Instead of being preoccupied with the question "What do I write" you are instead pondering "How do I make this work?" And in the process you are producing new writing.
This is not a standard writing session. This is pure production—to keep your brain thinking about using language to solve simple or complex problems. The worst thing you can do is sit there inactive. It's like taking a 5 minute breather in the middle of a spin class—the point is to push, to produce something, however imperfect. If you don't overthink it, you will be able to complete all of the exercises in under 30 minutes.
#350
Ekphrastic Fantastic 29
For today, we're pairing images for you to respond to. The two images will be contrasting and it will be up to you how they can interact, how your writing can make the two pieces of art meet.
Or, just pick one of the images and run with it if you'd rather. I'm not here to tell you exactly what to do, just to help you get the ball rolling. But if it was me, I would look for commonalities or how one image could be an imagination or memory or media within the other image, or if they exist in the same 'world', how you can get from one point in space and time to the other. But you do you boo-boo.
Image 2: Page 6, from “All the Year Around” by James Whitcomb Riley (1912) by Gustave Baumann.
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How do these two artworks play off of each other in your mind? Is the second image somewhere nearby where the pixelart is but at t he same time? Is that house where the drought is happening but beforehand? Afterward? Is the drought the memory of someone that lives in that house? Something totally different? How might they be connected? Are they completely unrelated? You decide. Don't overthink it, take a couple minutes perhaps, but dive in and make this happen! And always remember that if you're onto gold—run with it.
You got this!
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If you'd like some 80s throwback synth background writing music, try this: SOTD on NTS 1 #47 [New Age / Ambient / World / Electronic / Synth / Psych / Jazz Music Cassette Mix] which was a radio show from 2018 from somewhat new background music friends of the blog, Sounds of the Dawn.
The 2021 Writing Series is a series of daily writing exercises for both prose writers and poets to keep their creative mind stretched and ready to go—fresh for your other writing endeavors. The writing prompts take the impetus—that initial crystal of creation—out of your hands (for the most part) and changes your writing creation into creative problem solving. Instead of being preoccupied with the question "What do I write" you are instead pondering "How do I make this work?" And in the process you are producing new writing.
This is not a standard writing session. This is pure production—to keep your brain thinking about using language to solve simple or complex problems. The worst thing you can do is sit there inactive. It's like taking a 5 minute breather in the middle of a spin class—the point is to push, to produce something, however imperfect. If you don't overthink it, you will be able to complete all of the exercises in under 30 minutes.
#349 'Wedding' Multi-Prompt 20
For today's writing exercise you actually have 4 choices! In the spirit of a wedding needing "Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed and Something Blue." The first offered prompt is one from Notebooking Daily's past, the second is a brand new prompt for the day of one prompt theme or another, the third prompt is a 'borrowed' prompt from one of Sparked's 'Prompting Partners', and the fourth prompt is a wildcard riffing on the idea of 'Something Blue'. Take a look and dive in! First thought, best thought for these prompts.
Something Old:Fall Writing Exercise Series #53: 3x5x10+ Wordbank 08(Published on Notebooking Daily on 10/23/2019, this precursor to 'Sentence Calisthenics' style prompts has you write quickly and then construct a piece from some of those sentences or fragments in 5 steps).
Something New:Three Things (include these three things in a piece): A Love Seat, The Golden Gate Bridge, James Dean.
Something Borrowed:Furious Fiction January 2021 (The Prompt Requirements:Each piece has to begin at sunrise. Each piece has to use the words SIGNATURE, PATIENT, BICYCLE. Each piece has to include a character who has to make a CHOICE.).
Reminder, this piece can be sent to Sparked Lit Mag! It doesn't have to have been written when the issue was currently reading.
Something Blue:Write a piece which includes The Smurfs and Blue Raspberry Kool-Aid (or a Blue Raspberry Icee).
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If you'd like some background music to write to, try this "Winter Lofi Holiday Mix 2021" lofi mix
I believe strongly that keeping a notebook of snippets and interesting tidbits of information, dialogue, quotes, observations etc. is of great use to a writer. For one, I think the act of writing it down strengthens your memory of the thing you thought might be memorable enough to write, despite the inability to sit down at the given time to write an entire piece. It also serves as a reservoir of fragments to draw from when you are writing. David Kirby spoke well to the idea of a writer's notebook in an interview with Stephen Reichert of Smartish Pace when he said:
I’d have the young poets maintain a stockpile of linguistic bits: stories, weird words, snatches of conversation they’d overheard, lines from movies they’d seen or books they’d read. Most young poets will say something like, “Well, I have to write a poem now. Let’s see; what can I write about?” And then they end up writing about their own experiences, and, let’s face it, we all have the same experiences. So what all poets need is a savings account they can raid from time to time
This site is both a general writing blog, and one to help spark the writer's mind for ten to thirty minutes a day with short exercises which may not be full stories or poems, but will hopefully serve as a reservoir for future works.
I'm a writer living and teaching in San Diego. I received my BA from California State University, Long Beach, and my MFA from The University of Washington where I was the coordinating editor at The Seattle Review as it transitioned into its current "Long View" form. My writing has appeared in The Southern Review, The North American Review, The New York Quarterly, Permafrost, Bayou, 5AM, The California Quarterly, The Evansville Review, The Georgetown Review, Dark Matter, Cutthroat, Cairn, Miller's Pond, Pearl and The Lullwater Review among others and is forthcoming in ONTHEBUS's long awaited double issue, The Cape Rock and Exit 7. I've been once nominated for a Pushcart Prize and once did not receive a Pushcart Prize. I'm giving facial hair a go now too. Go figure.
If you have a piece that you really need another's opinion on, I may be able to help. Email zebulonworkshops@gmail.com if you would like to begin a correspondence. Critiques begin at $39 for 2 rounds of edits on a single poem and publishing advice.
