Monday Sparks Writing Prompts Archives

Since I’m focusing on writing scenes this month on JPC Allen, my prompt today is to ask you to write the next line of this scenes. I love photos that suggest stories, and this one suggested one as soon as I saw it. Here’s the beginning.

*****

“Sophie?” I stared at the girl hunched over the table in my favorite coffee shop. I should say young woman, if it was Sophie. We’d graduated high school six years ago.

She whipped her head up from using her phone. “Alex,” she said in a kind of yip. “What are you doing here?”

“I moved here about seven months ago.” I gestured at the empty chair in front of her.

She stared at it, like she hadn’t noticed it before, and then jerked a nod.

Taking the seat, I said, “I majored in international finance at OSU and got my first job with here with a software company, What have you been doing? Getting music gigs?”

She gave me a feeble smile. “Band was always my favorite class.” She looked past me, as if peering through the huge wall of windows behind me. Her dark eyes bolted wide open.

“Sophie, is something wrong?”

She hunched back over the table and said …

*****

So let me know how you would write the next line of this scene.

Here are more prompts for writing scenes.

My theme this month is about how to write different kinds of scenes, so my prompt is a bookish question: recommend books with the best action scenes. Of course, everyone will interpret “best” in their own way. For me, the best action scenes let me feel what the POV character is experiencing during the action while also being perfectly oriented in the story world. Even if the action gets chaotic, I understand which characters are involved and what setting they’re in.

The fantasy “Watershed Down” by Richard Adams has some exceptional action that meet the above qualifications. The remarkable thing about these action scenes is that the POV characters are rabbits. And yet Mr. Adams has created such vivid characters that I’m carried along with the emotions of the action scenes.

So put your recommendations for books with the best action scenes below.

Here are writing prompts for scenes for novels.

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?

Tag: Monday Sparks Writing Prompts

Write the Next Line of this Scene

Cast This Character Against Type

How Would You Cast This Character Against Type?

What Kind of Story Can Take Place Here?

JPC Allen Writes

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Thank you for your response. ✨