Writing Prompt: The Journey to Each Other

 


As academic and/or creative writers, we need to strengthen our skills daily. Often we have projects with deadlines that we need meet, so those writing assignments become our priority. When we only focus on one style of writing, however, our work can become predictable and dull. We stop growing as writers. In order to grow, we need challenges that push us to think outside of our normal patterns. Here's a writing prompt to help you challenge yourself a bit: 

Write a scene at least 400 words long (longer if possible) that highlights the thoughts of two characters. One character is on a train coming to meet the other character. Both characters' thoughts need to be shared with the reader.

You can define how these characters know each other (friends, family, classmates, peers through work or a project). 

You can also define their relationship with the tone of their thoughts: are they angry with each other, in love, trying to forgive each other, starting life together, about to end their relationship, about to face a joy or a sadness together? 

Decide how these thoughts are shared with the reader. Do each of these characters have someone they are talking to? Are they journaling or texting? Are they quietly thinking to themselves without actually speaking or writing the words? 

The setting—other than the train—can be up to you. You can choose the location, the year, the season. 

Have fun! Share your work with someone!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

While Pencils Move: A Short Story for Mothers

Image
While Pencils Move ©Chris Pepple 2013                It’s that time of day again. It’s two o’clock in the afternoon. The laundry smells fresh from the scent of my fabric softener I used this morning. A warm spinach and feta cheese aroma lingers in the kitchen from our pizza we completely devoured. The cats have settled into their comfy spots for an afternoon siesta. My daughters are stretched out in the floor in front of me. One has an open math book. The other one has her history book opened to a section on World War II. She is reading and taking notes.                These moments are times I cherish. I look over my computer screen and watch my daughters learning and growing. I remember when their legs didn't stretch out this far. I also remember when their homework involved mostly coloring or cutting and gluing. Now they thi...
Read more

November 5 Writing Challenge

Greetings! Welcome back to another week of writing challenges. Here are some questions to make you think: Are you setting aside time to write daily if you have big projects you are working on? Are you reading daily? Are you writing in a setting that works well for you? Are you willing to revise what you write? Here’s a challenge for you to consider: Set aside one writing project you are working on for at least a full day. When you read through your writing after the day has passed, try to look at the piece with fresh eyes. Do you think your piece still flows well? Do you see edits that need to be made? Now, back to other business…This week, let’s talk about secondary or minor characters in a book. All books start with main characters that readers can sympathize with or relate to. Books and stories also need the supporting cast, however. These can be friends or enemies of the main character. Consider allies, enemies and mentors to be the supporting characters in a story. Allie...
Read more

October 15 Writing Challenge

Greetings again, young writers! Hope you enjoyed writing your short stories or your thoughts for a novel. We are moving through this semester course quickly. Keep reviewing notes from what we have discussed in previews weeks. Remember--if you get stuck and hit that writer’s block where no words are coming, first step away for a bit. If you come back to your work and still have writer’s block, try some of the free writing exercises. Let’s look this week at connecting feelings to your characters in short stories or future novels. Characters cannot be flat, emotionless creations. To have strong writings, your characters need depth--they need to feel and to think. When we begin as young writers, we often tell our audience exactly what our characters feel. We simply say things like, “He was sad when he heard of her death.” Consider how much stronger this statement is, however: “He wept uncontrollably as he ran from the house, feeling as if the walls were falling around him as the word...
Read more