A special Halloween edition writing prompt from Charity Hume. BOO! Whether it’s the Bates Motel, or the stairs down to the cellar where you once saw a snake, some houses remain with us as spooky, mysterious, or “haunted.” In To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem and Scout run by Boo Radley’s house rather than be caught …
This week’s writing prompt to get your creativity flowing: The Hiding Place. I was a member of a large family, and throughout my childhood I found various “hiding places” where I could escape the busy clamor of siblings and parents. I sought out places where I could lose myself in books, reading for hours in trees, …
This week’s writing prompt is that juicy word – Betrayal. What are the most significant motivators for human beings? There are primal moments in our lives which touch on the deeper feelings inside us, and draw us into action. Moments of betrayal between husband and wife, friends or siblings, form the heart of drama. These …
In this week’s writing prompt, “Fevers,” Charity Hume encourages the writer to explore something we’d rather avoid in life. Novelists have sometimes used sickness as inspiration: Camus in The Plague, Thomas Mann in Magic Mountain, Geraldine Brooks in The Year of Wonders. Write about illness, either by researching one you have read about in an …
A new writing prompt from Charity Hume In Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Harrison Ford gets a laugh when, after riding through Amazonian rapids, stealing a grave idol, fighting off warriors and flying through the air like Tarzan, he then confesses that he’s mortally afraid of snakes. We may not all …
From The Canterbury Tales, to Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, the transformations that happen when we hit the road and leave our daily routines behind can open a whole new dimension of experience. In the course of a journey, we meet new characters, experience obstacles and solve the challenges that unfold in the course of …
Charity Hume with this week’s writing prompt. Write on! One of my favorite “war stories” was written by Tim O’Brien, in a collection called The Things They Carried. A veteran of the Vietnam War, O’Brien’s narrator recalls the decision to enlist, and his desire to run away from the draft. In a beautiful story told …
This week’s writing prompt from Charity Hume – Pas de Deux. The Pas de Deux is a dance for two. The great ballet duo, Rudolf Nuryev and Margot Fonteyn, danced to world acclaim for many years; you can still see their famed Pas de Deux from Romeo and Juliet on YouTube. The dance lasts a …
This week’s writing prompt from Charity Hume: true wealth. Who were the people who made you who you are? Was there a teacher, a neighbor, someone in your family, who said something to you and helped you find your path? Was there a companion in a time of uncertainty? When I was ten years old, …
Liar Liar! Another productive and useful writing prompt from Charity Hume. The lies we tell can reveal character and motivation. In Casablanca, Ilse Lund evades Rick’s offer to pick her up on the way to the train, by saying lightly that she has errands to run. Only later do we realize she was trying to …
This week’s writing prompt urges you to look into your bliss! In the movie Groundhog Day, Bill Murray’s character is trapped in an endless repetition of his worst day. At one moment, despairing of being able to ever escape from the dull repetition of his most tedious chores, he describes a day in his memory …
When we focus on a particular image, sometimes the results can be surprising.
This week’s writing prompt from Charity Hume I remember hearing William Styron, the American novelist, speak at a dinner in New York; the phrase I most remember from his talk has stayed with me: “A novel is a progress toward an event, after which nothing will ever be the same again.” A turning point reverses …
Charity Hume with this week’s writing prompt Stories of the return are epic and magical. Odysseus endures hardships, war, obstacles and shipwreck before he ultimately evolves into the warrior who can regain his stolen home. But a return doesn’t have to be from a literal journey or separation. In one of the West African folk …
Another helpful writing prompt from Charity Hume. When I was a child, my father’s barn seemed to be a world unto itself. He had a gift for working with wood, and the tools above his workbench were mysterious and intriguing; there were hand planes, wood clamps, a rip saw for cutting across the grain, and …
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