Create a scene in which your character experiments with something new.  This scene should not necesarily be about learning a new skill.  Instead, imagine an activity in which your character would normally never dream of engaging.  Write 500 words in anticipation of the activity, 1,000 words in which the activity is occurring, and another 500 words about the character’s reaction to his/her daring.

Let me know how it works for you!  Here’s to 15,000 words by the end of day Monday.

Create a scene in which your character sees something s/he should not have.  Write 1,000 words describing the act of seeing and what was seen.  Write another 1,000 words in which your character reacts to what s/he has seen.

First line of a scene:  He thought he had made himself clear.

Prompt #11

A character’s food choices can reveal a lot.  Find out what your character likes to eat. Write a scene with at least two characters, close third-person to the one who is doing the cooking.  Put the characters in a pressure cooker: despite the great care the cook has taken, the second character detests the meal.

In eighth-grade, Sara got knocked up by Kenny Watts. That’s a lie: it wasn’t Kenny. Her mother’s boyfriend finally left too much evidence behind, so Sara destroyed the evidence; I went with her.

We met before sunrise at the crossroads of Tipton and the highway. We walked until my mouth was dusty, and smells of Balsam River were caught in my hand-me-downs. We were hitchhikers that day. A woman who smelled like apples and pig shit pulled over and we drove mostly in silence. Finally, she said “girls could get in trouble walking on the roads alone like this.”

Instead of an original prompt, this week’s prompt comes from literary journal The First Line.

Waiting for change always seems to take longer than you would expect.

Be sure to visit The First Line site to learn more about their submission process.  Submissions (opening with the above first line, of course) are accepted until November 1, 2009.

Thank you to all who entered the ORW 100-words contest.  The winner will be announced soon!

First line of a scene:  She heard the thunk of the lock.

There is still time to enter the Open Road Writing 100-Words Contest!  Submit your entry by Sunday, September 20th for a chance to win a free manuscript review (up to 20 pages).

What is your character’s favorite way to travel?  Write a scene in third person p.o.v. in which your character is taking a journey via a favorite mode (car, plane, train, horseback, etc.) that s/he has anticipated with delight .  Unfortunately, a fellow traveler is intruding on the pleasures of the journey for your character. What happens?

There is still time to enter the Open Road Writing 100-Words Contest!  Submit your entry by Sunday, September 20th for a chance to win a free manuscript review (up to 20 pages).

Consider setting this week. Write a scene with only two characters, third-person point of view.  Your characters are visiting the house in which one of them grew up.  Go overboard with description.  Use all senses: what does the air smell like?  What sounds do the characters hear?  How do things feel?  Does the tap water have a particular taste?  Re-write the same scene from the first-person point of view of each character.  How does the description differ between the character who lived there and the one who did not?  What details does each notice?  What details are not noticed by each character?

Have some fun with second person point-of-view.  Take a character you’ve already written, or create a new one, and write a scene in the second person.  Need some parameters?  There is something in the character’s pocket s/he feels obliged to share but compelled to hide.

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