IntShoWriMo 2016 Prompts: Day 4

Unexpectedly dying people start yelling, screaming and crying before they take their last breath. Your brother just died, he screamed "I see him! He's coming for me!" in a terrified voice as he died. — Reddit

Feathers flew from the chicken coop and squawks rang out across the farm yard. — Writing.Com

Try your hand by first writing about what comes to mind immediately: perhaps the changing colors and textures of autumn leaves outside, or everyday details about upcoming holidays and visiting family. Try not to pause or edit yourself. Gradually let your mind progress into an associative stream of consciousness. Take a look at what you’ve written and, using your favorite elements, write a short short story with a seasonal theme, allowing it to be nonsensical, absurd, or surreal. — PW.Org

At first it's like any other day. You wake up, shower, start to brew your morning cup of coffee, and that's when you notice—outside the window, there's nothing there. Just an endless black void. What happened? Where are you? How do you get back to reality? — Writer’s Digest

IntShoWriMo 2016 Badge

IntShoWriMo 2016 Badge

Welcome to IntShoWriMo 2016!

The badge is all yours for the taking.

This is my 5th year of taking a shot at writing 30 stories in 30 days. I hope to make the best of it and I believe you'll put your back to make it work out fine on your end.

Once again, welcome to IntShoWriMo 2016.

Thank you.

Akpan

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 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 18 Prompts

IntShoWriMo 2014 Daily Prompts

Day 18 Prompts:

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

You’re leaving your favorite restaurant after eating breakfast when a stranger taps you on the shoulder. But this tap leads to a conversation—and adventure—that leaves you with one item that you never …—WD

Why would an antiques dealer leave town?—CWP

Day 17 Prompts

IntShoWriMo 2014 Daily Prompts

Day 17 Prompts:

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.—CWP

What do you see on the other side of the door when you look through a peephole?—WDC

“In literature as in love, we are astonished at what is chosen by others.” This quote from French author André Maurois underscores the importance of knowing who you are as a fiction writer. As in love, readers can’t genuinely fall for an author’s work unless the writing is sincere, open, and truthful. Clear your head. Forget about your significant other, your editor, and your audience. Place your protagonist and antagonist in a location familiar to you, and write six hundred words about their interaction. The characters are people unto themselves, but your mind creates the attitude, style, and tone of the world in which they live. In fiction, the writer is nowhere, and everywhere, at all times. This is the authorial being that readers come to love.—P&W

Day 16 Prompts

IntShoWriMo 2014 Daily Prompts

Day 16 Prompts:

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.—WD

Think of a deceased historical figure and make a list of his or her qualities and attributes. Then try to conjure a modern version of this person in a five-hundred-word story. For instance, a character based on Jean-Jacques Rousseau might be on a walking tour of a city; a character inspired by Marie Curie could be working in a lab. Make this figure your own by weaving in imagined details and context.—P&W

What if you`re going to write a story about greed with a CEO as the main character and a chess board as the key object? Set your story in a hospital.—CWP

Day 15 Prompts

IntShoWriMo 2014 Daily Prompts

Day 15 Prompts:

There's a beautiful scene in Markus Zusak's novel The Book Thief during which Max, who is hiding from the Nazis in the basement of a German family's house, asks Liesel, their daughter, to tell him what her eyes see when she goes outside. What he gets is an almost magical description: the view of the world through a child's eyes, beautifully unaffected by the dark cloud of World War II looming on the horizon. This week, try to describe something through the eyes of a child. It could be a day, a landscape, an object, a person — anything with a bit of hidden magic only a child can tap into.—P&W

Use this metaphor to spark a poem or story: a chest of childhood—CWP

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

Day 14 Prompts

IntShoWriMo 2014 Daily Prompts

Day 14 Prompts:

A garden scarecrow quietly observes its surroundings—WDC

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.—P&W

I once dreamed about...—CWP

Day 13 Prompts

IntShoWriMo 2014 Daily Prompts

Day 13 Prompts:

The computer screeched and the screen turned blue when he hit the submit button. —WDC

Parades are usually exciting occasions for children and a source of aggravation for commuters. This week, write a story or scene centered around a parade. Try to show contrasting reactions to the event. Draw from your own memories of parades at different times in your life.

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