Small Town Mysteries. Big Time Suspense.
Although fall doesn’t officially start until the equinox in September, the last day of August seems like a suitable day for a prompt to write a poem for the summer of 2026. Here’s mine.
An unexpected extra summer with my son home from college.
An unexpected vacation to Maine.
An unexpected opportunity for my next novel.
Maybe I should expect the unexpected?
Here are more writing prompts for poems.
Readers had so much fun with last week’s photo about how they would cast the intimidating man in the photo against type. So I have another photo prompt asking you to cast this character against type. This young woman seems to radiate “mean girl.” So how would you create character that breaks that mold?
Here are more writing prompts for characters.
I always like subverting steretypes when I create characters. The wealthy family that owns the town factory actually isn’t corrupt and doesn’t run the town. The nice head cheerleader at the high school. The smartest guy in calculus is also a star athlete. So how would you cast this character against type? Leave your inspiration in the comments.
Here are more writing prompts for creating characters.
I found this abandoned mansion on a trip to Maine. I don’t want to tell you anymore about it because I don’t want to suggest anything that might hamper your imagination. What kind of story can take place here?
This month on JPC Allen Writes, I’m covering aspects of writing that didn’t fit neatly in the previous monthly themes. The posts will be a hodge-podge and so will my Monday Sparks. I’ll be posting whatever writing prompts come to mind. First up, write a haiku about August. I love haikus, falling for them when I was in sixth grade. Haikus usually involve nature, but write about any part of August you want.
Sun, dust, bugs, sweat, grime–
Summer’s losing its appeal,
But do I want school?
Here are more writing prompts for haikus.
JPC Allen Writes
