Day 30: Fun Voyage

"The voyage is part of the fun," he said with a grin. 

—Writing.Com

Word Count: c. 1,000

Eneh Akpan,
June 30th, 2014

Day 29: Shredder

Write from the point of view of a stack of paper a few inches from the shredder.

—CreativeWritingPrompts.Com

Word Count: 1,000+

Eneh Akpan,

June 29th, 2014

Day 28: Accidentally Bossy

Daydreaming on your way to work, you get into a car accident. Frustrated because you will be late for an important meeting, you curse and yell as you get out of the car. When you go to confront the other driver, you find out it is your boss. Write this scene.

—WritersDigest.Com

Word Count: 1,000+

Eneh Akpan,
June 28th, 2014

Day 30 Prompts

IntShoWriMo 2014 Daily Prompts

Day 30 Prompts:

The snow is coming down and school has been canceled. Your brother, who has an important government job, has asked you to watch his kids during the day so he can go to work. While watching his kids, they reveal something top secret about your brother’s job—and it’s something, for the sake of your family, that you need to stop.—WD

"The voyage is part of the fun," he said with a grin. —WDC

The promise of a new year is laden with expectations. Much of the conflict and drama that propels stories forward stems from a character’s passions and expectations. Some of those expectations are achieved, others bring heartbreak and despair. Write a scene in which your protagonist deals with unfulfilled expectations. Describe in detail his or her reaction, whether it is expressed by a simple downward gaze or a violent tirade. Contending with failed expectations reveals much about the inner worlds of our characters.—P&W

Day 27: Rusty Razor on Edge

Effective listening is imperative to effective writing. Listening carefully while sitting on a crowded subway, drinking coffee in a lonely diner, or asking a stranger for directions can lead to new characters, settings, and story lines. It is also important to listen to your own characters. Make a list of ten questions to ask a character you are developing. Listen to your character’s answers, diction, and inflection, and write down what you hear and see in your imagination. Most people, including fictional characters, will tell you who they are. You just have to ask.

—PW.Org

Word Count: 1,000+

Eneh Akpan,
June 27th, 2014

Day 26: Old Flames Burn Deep

You call an old flame from high school whom you still have feelings for and ask to meet up. The flame says, “Sure, how about noon at the pub by your house.” While waiting at the pub, your flame walks in—wearing a wedding dress (or tuxedo). The flame looks at you and says, “I’m supposed to be getting married today, but …” What happens? Write this scene.

—WritersDigest.Com

Word Count: 1,000+

Eneh Akpan,
June 26th, 2014

Day 25: Downsized

Dieting is the most common New Year’s resolution, and the most difficult to stick to. Sure, we essentially know what’s healthy and what to avoid overindulging in, but when a doctor or nurse tells you to change your eating habits it weighs much heavier on your conscience. Does one of your characters have a diet that is putting his health in jeopardy? Try writing a scene in which that character is told by a healthcare professional to overhaul his eating habits. How does this character react? If this character can no longer have some of his favorite foods, how does this affect his mood and his day-to-day routine?

—PW.Org

Word Count: 1,000+

Eneh Akpan,
June 25th, 2014

Day 24: Visual Terms

What happens when two friends visit an old house that one of them inherited from a distant relative? In the house, there is a 100-year old mirror that has never been broken.

—CreativeWritingPrompts.Com

Word Counts: 1,000+

Eneh Akpan,

June 24th, 2014

Day 23: Cerebral Report

Write a story or poem about a broken promise. 

—Writing.Com

Word Count: c. 1,000

Eneh Akpan,
June 23rd, 2014

Day 22: Her Chapter

While you're having coffee at Starbucks, a strange woman pulls up a chair next to you and says, "You must write my life story," and... 

—Writing.Com

Word Count: c. 1,000

Eneh Akpan,

June 22nd, 2014

Day 21: Prof's Invention

When you return to school for a conference, you bump into one of your old professors, who is rambling on excitedly about a new discovery. He asks you to follow him to his office—he has something he wants to show you. What is the new discovery? Why is your professor so excited? Write this scene.

—WritersDigest.Com

Word Count: 1,000+

Eneh Akpan,

June 21st, 2014

Day 20: The Zone

Spring can at times seem like one long daydream. Does one of your characters have the habit of drifting off into a fantasy world? This week, write out one of these daydreams. Use plenty of surreal elements that make it clear this is a fantasy sequence and not just the character re-imagining a scenario working out a different way. "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" by James Thurber is a perfect example.

—PW.Org

Word Count: c. 1,000

Eneh Akpan,
June 20th, 2014

Day 19: Avalanche

After a skiing mishap, you dig your way out of an avalanche and find yourself in a totally different place. 

—Writing.Com

Word Count: 1,000+

Eneh Akpan,
June 19th, 2014

Day 18: Billie Jean

A clown appears at the back of the garden during a birthday party but nobody else sees him...

—Writing.Com

Word Count: 1,000+

Eneh Akpan,
June 18th, 2014

Day 17: Shambler

Put an athlete, artist and a fitness instructor in a museum. Add in a broken window and a crooked painting. One of the three panics. Write out the scene.

—CreativeWritingPrompts.Com

Word Count: c. 1,000

Eneh Akpan,
June 17th, 2014

Day 16: One Ill Turn

You are a world-renowned mystery writer living a life of seclusion. A random email informs you of a great story, the next bestseller. Unfortunately, you find the details to be a little too close to home. Write a scene where you confront this mysterious informant, who seems to know a little too much about your personal life.

—WritesDigest.Com

Word Count: c. 1,000

Eneh Akpan,

June 16th, 2014

Day 15: Implications

Write a story in which the phrase 'I don't know' occurs at least thrice, each time having a different implication or hidden meaning.

 —Writing.Com

Word Count: c. 1,000

Eneh Akpan,

June 15th, 2014

Day 14: Digital Ghosts

Motels are frequently depicted in novels, TV, and film. This week, write a scene that takes place in a motel. Perhaps it's a seedy, roadside fleabag; a clean, well-maintained establishment with a dark history; or simply a familiar setting for a dramatic turning point in your narrative. You can weave it into a short story or use it as a starting point for a new piece. It can be inspired by your own experience or entirely imagined.

—PW.Org

Word Count: 1,000+

Eneh Akpan,

June 14th, 2014

Day 13: A Knife's Life

Write from the point of view of the knife inside a thief`s pocket.

— CreativeWritingPronpts.Com

Word Count: c. 1.000

Eneh Akpan,

June 13th, 2014

Day 12: Firewalled

Write from the point of view of a virus about to infect an important document.

— CreativeWritingPrompts.Com

Word Count: c. 1,000

Eneh Akpan,
June 12th, 2014

Day 11: Angie's Dilemma

Make this the first line of your story: Catching the signal from one of her friends, Angela brushed her skirt, took a deep breath and walked towards where he was sitting.

—CreativeWritingPrompts.Com

Word Count: c. 1000

Eneh Akpan
June 11th, 2014

Day 29 Prompts

IntShoWriMo 2014 Daily Prompts

Day 29 Prompts:

Your computer won’t shut down when you are getting ready to leave work at five. Instead, it is looping a message, and then attempts to tell you something. What is your computer doing? Write this scene.—WD

Someone you have never met suddenly punches you. —WDC

Write from the point of view of a stack of paper a few inches from the shredder.—CWP

Day 28 Prompts

IntShoWriMo 2014 Daily Prompts

Day 28 Prompts:

Take out your high school yearbook and pick someone from your class. Write about what you think he or she is doing now. Go ahead and fictionalize that person.—CWP

Your friend discovers an alternative fuel and the car makers try to kill him. —WDC

Daydreaming on your way to work, you get into a car accident. Frustrated because you will be late for an important meeting, you curse and yell as you get out of the car. When you go to confront the other driver, you find out it is your boss. Write this scene.—WD

Day 27 Prompts

IntShoWriMo 2014 Daily Prompts

Day 27 Prompts:

Sherry Wilcox and Scott Gainer meet during a wedding. One of them receives a letter.—CWP

Write a letter from the happiest person in the world —WDC

Effective listening is imperative to effective writing. Listening carefully while sitting on a crowded subway, drinking coffee in a lonely diner, or asking a stranger for directions can lead to new characters, settings, and story lines. It is also important to listen to your own characters. Make a list of ten questions to ask a character you are developing. Listen to your character’s answers, diction, and inflection, and write down what you hear and see in your imagination. Most people, including fictional characters, will tell you who they are. You just have to ask.—P&W

Day 26 Prompts

IntShoWriMo 2014 Daily Prompts

Day 26 Prompts:

You call an old flame from high school whom you still have feelings for and ask to meet up. The flame says, “Sure, how about noon at the pub by your house.” While waiting at the pub, your flame walks in—wearing a wedding dress (or tuxedo). The flame looks at you and says, “I’m supposed to be getting married today, but …” What happens? Write this scene.—WD

Use the following words in a story: college student, crumpled paper, train, laptop—CWP

Your tree falls on a neighbor's house, starting a neighborhood feud. —WDC

Day 25 Prompts

IntShoWriMo 2014 Daily Prompts

Day 25 Prompts:

Dieting is the most common New Year’s resolution, and the most difficult to stick to. Sure, we essentially know what’s healthy and what to avoid overindulging in, but when a doctor or nurse tells you to change your eating habits it weighs much heavier on your conscience. Does one of your characters have a diet that is putting his health in jeopardy? Try writing a scene in which that character is told by a healthcare professional to overhaul his eating habits. How does this character react? If this character can no longer have some of his favorite foods, how does this affect his mood and his day-to-day routine?—P&W

What was the worst meal you`ve had? Write about it as if the event is taking place right now.—CWP

Pick a 'product' around you and write about its life, from the day it was made, til the day it appeared in your life. —WDC

Day 24 Prompts

IntShoWriMo 2014 Daily Prompts

Day 24 Prompts:

Shadows on a blind reveal a crime being committed. —WDC

What happens when two friends visit an old house that one of them inherited from a distant relative? In the house, there is a 100-year old mirror that has never been broken.—CWP

You’ve been playing cards with your friend at a Las Vegas casino for a couple of hours now and he’s up big. Suddenly, a pit boss grabs you and your friend and hauls you both off to a back room, where several rough-looking guys are waiting for you. “What’s going on?” you ask. “Your friend has been counting cards, and we don’t approve of that here.” Write this scene.—WD

Day 23 Prompts

IntShoWriMo 2014 Daily Prompts

Day 23 Prompts:

In David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest, mother Avril Incandenza is remarkably devoted to her houseplants, so much so that she calls them her "green babies." Does one of your characters have a green thumb? Or does she dislike being responsible for houseplants? Think about what this might reveal in terms of the character's personality. What drives someone to take something meant to live outside and bring it inside? Is it a desire to cultivate beauty in her life, or does she prefer a more controlled environment to the wilds of nature?—P&W

Write a story or poem about a broken promise. —WDC

If you could invent something to help mankind, what would it be?—CWP

Day 22 Prompts

IntShoWriMo 2014 Daily Prompts

Day 22 Prompts:

Reality television might not be that in touch with “reality," but it is still a source of entertainment for many people. Whether or not you enjoy The Real Housewives of New York (or Beverly Hills, Atlanta, etc.) or any other shows of that nature, there might be something to learn about characterization through watching these people battle it out on screen. This week, create a character that you think would be perfect for one of those types of shows. Then put your character in a scenario in which he or she must go through a dramatic, emotional struggle publicly, in front of millions of viewers, with another person or group of individuals. The key is to really amp up the drama and imbue the scene with as much nail-biting tension as you can muster.—P&W

While you're having coffee at Starbucks, a strange woman pulls up a chair next to you and says, "You must write my life story," and... —WDC

You return home from work to find a Dear John letter on your kitchen table. Oddly enough, it’s from one of your favorite pieces of furniture. What does the letter say?—WD

Day 21 Prompts

IntShoWriMo 2014 Daily Prompts

Day 21 Prompts:

A baby isn't quite what it seems. —WDC

When you return to school for a conference, you bump into one of your old professors, who is rambling on excitedly about a new discovery. He asks you to follow him to his office—he has something he wants to show you. What is the new discovery? Why is your professor so excited? Write this scene.—WD

Give 8 good reasons it is OK for men to lie.—CWP

Day 20 Prompts

IntShoWriMo 2014 Daily Prompts

Day 20 Prompts:

Spring can at times seem like one long daydream. Does one of your characters have the habit of drifting off into a fantasy world? This week, write out one of these daydreams. Use plenty of surreal elements that make it clear this is a fantasy sequence and not just the character re-imagining a scenario working out a different way. "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" by James Thurber is a perfect example.—P&W

One morning you awaken to find your old dog has changed his breed, and become a puppy as well. —WDC

Write about someone you would love to see put in jail.—CWP

Day 19 Prompts

IntShoWriMo 2014 Daily Prompts

Day 19 Prompts:

There’s a knock on your door. When you open it, you find a cowboy—complete with the hat, boots, spurs, six-shooter, the accent, everything—standing on your front step. He claims he has no …—WD

What if you`re going to write a story about power with a policeman as the main character and an old pair of shoes as the key object? Set your story in the operating room.—CWP

After a skiing mishap, you dig your way out of an avalanche and find yourself in a totally different place. —WDC

Day 10: I, Akam

Today’s Prompt: Write about five things you would do to entertain yourself if you did not see a soul for 7 days.

— Courtesy: CreativeWritingPrompts.Com

Word Count: 1,510

            “You go ahead and survive in there for 7 days and you can walk away a free man. All debts cancelled.”

It was a large building past its glory days. It could have been an apartment or a hostel once. But it had long since served its purpose and its ghost defaced the landscape like an unsightly landmark. All the inlets and outlets had been boarded up not with wood but welded with metal. The main entrance provided the only access into the building. My captors pushed me inside, slammed the doors shut and reinforced it with chains. Even if there really was another way out, I knew death alone awaited him on the other side of the steel doors.

            The men who dropped him off had given me this odd challenge as the only alternative besides immediate death. All I had left was a prayer—which is the direct English interpretation of my name, Akam (/arkham/), anyway.

            “Survive 7 days in there and you walk,” they told me and drove off, heading south of my location. I had spotted one or two security cameras mounted within the perimeter. A single path led to the house and the weeds prowled it. I stepped into the wide corridor of the structure.

            “Piece of cake,” I said. “There’s bound to be a master bedroom in this place with a giant-sized double bed somewhere in here. All I gatto do is find it.”

Find it, I would but I, Akam was about to learn a vital lesson about beds; they weren’t always vacant and especially, not always inviting even in an abandoned house. I walked along the corridors, feeling the walls, working at my first tour of the place—my new residence.

            “Since I’m gonna be hanging around for 7 whole days, I better acquaint myself with the settings. Wouldn’t want to get lost in the dark,” I said.

I spent the first day in that place of death doing a tour and trying the doors which to my amazement, were mostly locked. I tried kicking some in but they won’t budge. One however, yielded but it was stuffed with cleaning and maintenance tools. I’d found the broom closet. Great, I thought. Now I’ll set to work and get this place cleaned out in 7 days. I shut the door in disgust and wandered on searching for the master bedroom. By sunset, it had become apparent I, Akam would spend the night in the corridors on the cold floor. I never found the master bedroom that day.

The second day, I resumed my ‘touring’ as I have tagged it. Sheez, I thought. I’m not gonna spend 7 whole days sleeping in the corridors on this cold tiles. This is not some kind of prison, is it?

While trying the locks on one of the top floor rooms, I opened the door to a large bedroom. It was a wicked mistake cause I spent the day entertaining myself in a most unusual way. Of course, it was the master bedroom. I suspected it was flanked by some kind of office/study because there was a view of the lake and yes, there was a giant-size double bed. Big, nice, cozy and almost sparkling clean if you ignored the layer of dust, that is. It was almost like the previous owners left in a hurry. A body lay on the bed. It was guarded by a dog whose skin clung to its bones. The body was a skeleton but it wasn’t my problem, the dog was. The bones probably, belonged to a vagrant who came here to pass time and then passed on in his sleep. A thought occurred to me which rearranged my psyche, What if these bones once shared the same fate which have been tossed into my bosom? But as it was, the guy wasn’t available to take questions. The gnarl of the dog threw me out of my reverie. Suppertime, that gnarl seemed to say and, what took you so long?

            “I’m just gonna turn around and walk away and you can forget you ever saw me cause I’m gonna do the same thing.” I booked for the door.

The skinniest dog I’d ever seen in my life had other plans. It made a dash for me while I hung around. I spent the entire day fighting off the dog and got bit several times but eventually, I put it out of its misery. I was spent. I’d gone two days without a meal and water. I fell on the floor beside the dog and slept off. I awoke by midnight but it was too dark to see anything and to do much else but walk into walls so I slept some more.

On the morning of the third day, I awoke to a drip-drip sound. A storm raged outside. Rainwater poured in through the roof, no surprise there. I took off my clothes and washed where the leaking was heavy and then I found a bowl in the broom closet, rinsed out the muck and fetched a bowlful of rainwater. That would serve me as drinking water for a few days, I thought. But the rain wouldn’t let up. It continued to pour through the ceiling. The water came up and there was a little flood in that place about ankle-deep. I spent the day in bed with the bones which I eventually pushed off into the rising water. Thank God, the power supply to the house had been cut off or I definitely will not be writing this story. By the fourth day, I was way too famished to do anything, I had almost emptied the bowl which contained the rainwater. I went downstairs but couldn’t beyond the last four steps. Everything that wasn’t under water floated. I wrote a quick mental reminder, ‘Don’t come down here in the dark.’ I think if I had to choose, I’d pick death by starvation over drowning any day. I spent much of Day Four sweeping leftover flood out of the master bedroom. It was tough. I had gone four days without a meal. But I did it just to while away time and to keep from thinking too much about food.

There was no rain on Day 5 but there was plenty of sunshine. Way too tired and racked out of my mind to notice, I went around that room tapping the walls. I can’t tell what exactly I was looking for or even if I was looking for anything at all, until I came on a hollow sound. I thrust my weight into it and heaved. A low creaking gave way to a loud crack! and the wall ceded. A gap appeared and as I pushed further I saw what it was; a secret portal. On the other side was voila! The office I anticipated earlier. There was a paraffin lamp on the study table. I found a matchbox in the top drawer. When I lit the lamp I spotted a book lying closed on the edge of the table. I noticed the odd hand writing on the cover and I considered it a record book of some kind but a closer examination threw a jump into me.

WARNING: DO NOT GO BEYOND THIS PAGE IF PRONE TO HEART ATTACKS

I have no record of heart attacks in my family; I didn’t think the warning applied to me. I opened the book. It didn’t take long to see the need for the warning.

            ‘Night after night, it came. At first, it came for the children, scaring and teasing them and we thought it was the monster stories their parents told them at bedtime that gave them a scare. We forbade those stories after the screams which were becoming louder wouldn’t cease. It did little to improve the situation. Then one morning, after a night session of terrible, hair-raising shrieks, we found a child’s bed empty. We checked under his bed and there he was whimpering with pain. “He said he’s coming for me, said he’d take me away next time. He had claws.” We tried our best to put it out of his mind by telling him it was a nightmare. The next day, it came and took Danny away; ripped him to shreds, it did.’

One by one, whatever it was took them away. It came a time they couldn’t stand the sight of the corpse and they boarded up the rooms with the corpse inside. I can’t tell what exactly this place used to be in its time but I, Akam have taken the liberty to bring this book out into the open so the world may know the evil that took place here probably, centuries before. Much of this might have been mixed into local legend, perhaps. I don’t have much time to live much longer; the rabies from the dog bite is taking its fatal toll with no medication and all so I remind of the book writer’s warning: This is not for the faint of heart.

Eneh Akpan

June 10th, 2014