Write Forward

(Post by Kirsten) We've reached the end of our (short) road today, as this is the last of my spring break (and so the last of my spring break writing blog posts). I hope you've enjoyed writing with this blog over the last two weeks, and also that you have come away from the experience with some new work, some motivation to keep writing, and some inspiration to experiment on the page in the future. This last post is--as promised--the third part of a three-part series of prompts. In the first part of this series of prompts, I asked you to think about character; yesterday I asked you to think about setting; and today, as you've likely guessed, I'm going to ask you to think about plot. Plot is, to be honest, the most difficult part of story-writing for me. It often falls together after I have a clear sense of character and setting, and it's not at all unusual for me to have written a nearly full first draft before I really know what I want from my plot. Plot...

(Post by Kirsten) * Photo credit It's time for part-two of our three-part exercise! Today's exercise is focused on creating setting. As writer Elizabeth Bowen famously said, "Nothing can happen nowhere." It's important to remember as you write that your reader can only see what you describe for her. If you don't intentionally create setting, the characters and plot you've taken pains to paint vividly will still feel flat and colorless. They can only exist if they exist somewhere.  More than that, setting not only gives characters a place to be and plot a space in which to happen, it enriches, develops, and is integral to who  your characters are and why  they act and react as they do. (Just think for a moment, for instance, about how different you would be if you'd grown up in an entirely different location or a different time period. How does where you live and when you live influence the way you see the world, yourself, and others? ...

We're nearing the end of the spring break weeks, and so I'm going to begin winding down this blog, at least for  now. Today will be the first of the final three posts, these three linked. Write them as separate pieces, or view these next three prompts as separate components of a single piece. (Post by Kirsten) * Photo credit Today's component is a biographical sketch. Focus on creating a character and conveying that character to your reader in a compelling, brief description. To write that description, think about the central ways writers show character: appearance, dialogue, exposition (an explanation from the narrator of the character's background or behaviors, likes or dislikes, etc.), action or gesture, and thought (the character's own thoughts, the thoughts of other characters about  your central character, or the thought of an external narrator about that character). Below are several examples of character introductions in familiar texts. Read...

(Post by Finn, a middle school writer) Today's writing prompt is a little different from the ones I've done in the past. Instead of multiple small writing prompts, this time there's only one. Imagine that you are the captain of a boat, airplane, space ship, or some other large vehicle. Write the captain's log, starting at day 23, and answer some of the following questions: -Where is the vehicle you're in charge of trying to go, and why? -Why has the log started on day 23? Why has it taken so long to get where you need to go? -Who else is on the vehicle? What do they think about how long the journey has taken? -Who hired you to go on this journey? Or, if you weren't hired, who do you work for? Or if you don't work for anyone, why are you on this journey in the first place? Have fun writing!

(Post by Kirsten) This week I tuned into the first episode of the television series (on Amazon Prime) "Tales from the Loop." This show is moving, weird, and visually stunning. There's a clear emphasis on visual imagery, and there's a striking use of contrasting imagery to create a sense of emotional tension. Reading up on the show , I learned that it drew its inspiration from the artwork of Swedish artist Simon Stälenhag. I had never seen Stälenhag's work before, but it is--like "Tales from the Loop" the show--visually evocative, eerie, and surreal. Here are a couple of images pulled from online: * Credit * Credit These images are sci-fi in nature, but (like a lot of great sci-fi) they're compelling because they evoke a fantastical but also very familiar vision of our own world. They do this, in part, by making use of contradictory images, by suggesting story, and by utilizing color to create moody atmosphere. Another artist whose wor...

(Post by Kirsten) * Photo credit Today I'm thinking about distance. According to a quick web search, distance comes from the Latin distant,  which means "the stand apart." We use the word, of course, to mean both a literal and a metaphorical "standing apart." Here are a few examples: - To "be distant" = to emotionally reserve oneself from others, or to be emotionally unreachable - To "distance yourself" = to intentionally cut off communication with another person - To "get a little distance" = to give time or space to an idea about which you're not certain - "Across the distance" = to feel emotionally connected, even when you're apart from someone else How have other artists thought about the concept of distance? Well, here's an Emily Dickinson poem on the topic. And here's an old favorite from the band Cake: Now, what do you have to say about distance? Today's prompt is...

* Photo credit (Post by Kirsten) Oh no! It's late, and this post nearly got away from me! Do you find yourself losing track of what you thought you had a hold on? I'm struggling with this more and more, the longer our social isolation period continues. Not only has time begun to lose its shape for me, but so--apparently--has the physical world. I've lost my glasses twice today. This morning I misplaced the coffee cup from which I was, just a moment before, drinking. And forget about ideas! (No, really -- forget about ideas.) We're all under a little more stress than usual, and stress can negatively impact memory.  (But don't worry--your memory will bounce right back as soon as you're under less stress.) Today's writing prompt borrows from this phenomenon: * Write about a person who has lost something. What is missing? Where is it? Why was it lost? How does the person feel about the loss?  You can read "lost" here as "mis...

(Post by Finn, a middle school w riter... again) Hello again! Here's three more Sci-fi and Fantasy writing prompts! Enjoy! (Or not. It's your choice.) 1. The Dreamwalker:  Strange things are happening inside of the Guardian Lake Hospital. Patients have been reporting seeing a strange man in their dreams, and when the doctors start seeing the man as well, the government reluctantly sends a team of paranormal investigators to help. 2. The Machine:  When two brothers find a strange, spherical machine in the woods behind their school, they accidentally release an ancient deity who was trapped inside. 3. The Virus:  A strange computer virus is sweeping through town; one that can somehow jump from computers to people, taking control of their minds. Who is behind the virus, and who will stop them?

(Post by Kirsten) * Photo credit "One night, the skyline as I left New York/was a garden of neon flowerbursts/the celebration of a history." ~ from "Flying," by Sarah Arvio There's a pull during these long afternoons at home--the pull of a warm bed, soft sheets, welcoming pillow. How many of us are taking more naps than usual these days? And how many of us are dreaming vivid dreams? (There's conversation about this online, actually--#pandemicdreams has become a thing, probably due to so many people taking so many extra naps!) What happens in dreams that makes our brains rearrange, reconfigure, and reimagine the world? And what can we do with these reassembled realities when we wake? Literature has a long, rich relationship with the world of dreams. The just off-center (and sometimes completely off kilter) imagery of dreams, as well as the freedom and limitlessness of time and structure one experiences in dreaming, have long been great fodder for...

(Post by Finn, a middle school w riter) “The wonderful thing about writing is that there is always a blank page waiting. The terrifying thing about writing is that there is always a blank page waiting.” ―  J.K. Rowling. Have you ever wished you could just have an amazing idea whenever you wanted? Well, you can't. Sorry. But that's why writing prompts exist! To help writers who just can't seem to think of anything to write. So, here are ten Sci-fi/Fantasy prompts to help you start writing again. Also, if you know someone who can have ideas on command, tell me. I want to figure out how they do it. 1. Spirit FM: A child accidentally tunes his radio to a station used by the spirits of the dead. what does he hear? 2. The Midnight Clock: Somewhere, a clock strikes midnight. But this is no ordinary clock. Where is this clock, and what makes it so strange? 3. Project Fallen Angel:  A strange underground research facility has been accidentally unearthed...

April is National Poetry Writing Month (Post by Cam) Today is the first day of National Poetry Writing Month! (NaPoWriMo for short). Are you wondering why there’s possibly an entire month dedicated to writing poems? Where did the idea come from? And again, why? NaPoWriMo was inspired by its literary sibling, NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). NaNoWriMo’s premise is simple: write a novel in one month (yeah, so simple…) In 2003, a poet by the name of Maureen Thorson decided to write daily poems for a whole month and post them to her blog. Within a few years, it was a global poetry writing experiment. The idea is to write 30 poems in 30 days. Maybe you’ll write eight. Fifteen poems. Three. I think the crux is to engage with words and know there’s people around the world doing the same! Songwriting aside, poetry is the medium I’m overwhelmingly drawn to as a writer. I can’t fully explain why. And that’s okay. Ironically, as a reader I’ve always been drawn t...