My disdain for writer’s prompts should be obvious by now, but I won’t discount their value completely. I did have one professor that was able to use writing prompts very effectively. They were challenging without being limiting. And most of all, they were not cheesy. The rest of the world of writer’s prompts may not be able to make these claims.
Trying to remain opened-minded, I have sought out the best the internet has to offer in terms of writer’s prompts and will be making the attempt to live up to their inspiring potential.
-- Writer’s Prompt: Nancy Kincaid and Dan Carey meet five years into the future. One of them is anti-social. Write these characters’ story based on this quick plot: giving her a cellphone turns out to be a big mistake.
“Hey, can I use your cell phone?” Nancy Kincaid asked.
Dan Carey, who had noticed that Nancy’s behaviors did not support or conform to the norms and laws of society, hesitantly said, “I don’t know…”
“Aww, come on, please?” Nancy begged. “I mean, after all, it’s 2011 and in this day and age, a person needs to make important phone calls so much more often than five years ago.”
Dan was convinced. He handed the phone to Nancy, who immediately hit him in the face with the cell phone. “Hah!” She yelled. “Big mistake.”
The End
- - Writer’s Prompt: What story can you come up with from this quick plot: A secretary has a weird way of classifying files.
“Where the heck is the Johnson file?” Mr. Streeter remarked rhetorically as he searched the J section of t he filing cabinet.
“Oh, sorry” his secretary chimed in when she overheard his mumbling. “I guess I should have told you to look under F for Frank. I file the client’s files under their first names.”
Streeter simply furled his brow and thought in concept That bitch is weird, based on what I know about her filing system.
The End -
Writer’s Prompt: While at the grocery store you bump into an oddly familiar face–it’s your evil twin! The evil twin follows you home and tries to convince your family (or friends) that she’s you. How did you prove to your loved ones that you are the real you and the twin is an imposter?
“Ouch!” I cried as I bumped into an oddly familiar face. Who would have thought I’d run into, quite literally, my evil twin Shauna while at the grocery store. “You…” She said with hatred in her voice as she rubbed the bump on her forehead. “It’s not bad enough I’m forever linked to a goody-two-shoes like you, but now you have to slam right into my oddly familiar face. This will not stand.”
I walked away without another word, knowing that apologizing would only make matters worse. Evil people are not fans of manners or niceties. Determined to finish my shopping, I continued down the aisle. As I rounded the end of the cereal aisle, I tentatively glanced over my shoulder and saw exactly what I feared may be. Shauna was following me. She was there in the dairy aisle. She was there in can goods. She was there in produce, always just 10 steps behind me, making no effort to conceal her trailing me. She even went so far as to give me the old finger slowly-pulled-across-the-throat nonverbal death threat in the frozen food section.
She was two people behind me in the checkout line, so I though I may be able to shake her once my purchase was complete, but as the last bag was placed into my cart and I made for the door, Shauna abandoned her cart in the line and followed me out the door. In the parking lot, I didn’t see her VW parked anywhere near me and lost track of where she had gone in the parking lot. My hopes of avoiding her wrath were crushed soon after I pulled out of the parking lot.
I looked in the rearview mirror and saw that Shawna was following me home. I was fairly worried as I wondered what fiendish plot she was putting into motion, her being my evil twin and all. We both pulled up to my house and she leapt from her Nazi-designed automobile, running up to the front step before I got there. She turned and waved her fist at me, yelling “Ha, I shall now, once and for all, ruin your do-gooder life! I will go in there with your family (or friends) and claim that I am the real you and they have been duped by the evil twin, that you have usurped my place in their lives and that I am back to reclaim my rightful place. The real beauty is in the fact that even if they do not believe me completely, I have created a doubt that will haunt them forever. In every interaction with you in the future they’ll wonder Am I talking to the evil twin now or the good one? Should I trust what I am hearing? You’ve instantly lost all trust and credibility with your family (or friends)!” “Okay, go ahead,” I said without worry. Her plot had a fatal flaw.
Shauna burst through the door into my living room, where a number of my family (or friends) were gathered. “You’ve been fooled!” She yelled and pointed her finger at me as I walked in the door. “This is the evil twin, the one who has taken over my life and led you all down a dark path of deception. Who knows what this evil person had [planned to do with the trust you were all led to give so freely! At last, though, I am here to take the veil off the charade and take back my life, freeing you all from the web of deception!” “Uh, Shawna…” one of the members of my family (or friends) spoke up. “We know it’s you. You’re Sean’s evil fraternal twin, you moron. I mean, at least take off the high heels and summer dress before trying to convince anyone you are really your brother. Maybe a fake beard, too.”
The End
Writer’s Prompt: Write a news story based on this headline: Magician Defies Odds and Escapes From Local Prison.
Westville, IN – On the evening of October 24, 2006, an inmate of Westville Correctional Facility, David Magician, escaped just after shift change. Magician was apprehended within two hours of his escape. Despite his name, there was no trickery involved. Magician simply climbed the fence during recreation. Suspension of the sleeping correctional officer manning the nearest guard toward was effective immediately.
The End
