Tag: Monday Sparks Writing Prompts

Provide a Plot for This Conversation

Provide a plot for this conversation

My writing prompt of today is to provide a plot for this conversation, which is typed below. What’s the story behind this situation?

*****

“I don’t know why you’re putting up so much resistance.” I rested my elbow on the back of the bench. “It’ll work.”

Naomi stared at across the park as moms with preschoolers and babies played near the duck pond. “You have a lot more confidence in your plan than I have. So many things could go wrong.”

“I know.” I rubbed my forehead. “I have thought this through. I know the risks. It can work and work fantastically. All our problems will be solved.”

“If we pull it off.” She crossed her legs. “If we don’t …”

I closed my eyes. “I know that too. We don’t need to cover it again.”

“Maybe we should.” Naomi still didn’t look at me. “We should remind ourselves what failure means.”

“Not trying at all is worse.”

Her head swirled to me. “You really think–” She gasped, uncrossed her legs, and picked up her phone from where she’d set it on the bench. She said to the screen, “Noah just entered the park.”

My spine turned to ice, but without any hurry, I pivoted in my seat, removing my arm from the back of the bench. Shielding my eyes from the noon sun, I gazed to the duck pond, then snuck a quick peek to my right.

Noah and two other guys stood in the gate to the park.

*****

I can’t wait to read your inspiration for the plot behind this conversation!

For more prompts about writing plots, click here.

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Twist the Plot with this Photo Prompt

Twist the plot with this photo prompt

Everyone loves a plot twist. How would you twist the plot with this photo prompt? What unexpected way could the plot turn in this scene? I’ve used this photo a long time ago, but I still enjoy the twist it inspired. 

*****

The wrecked cards littered the road like dead leaves, just as the people who’d escaped from them described. The fog rolled in, thick and heavy. My breathing matched it, coming in labored spurts, as I picked my way through the debris, my senses on high alert for any sign of the creature who’d done this.

I walked on and on, my footsteps lonely, when an enormous shadow loomed in the fog.

I crept to a stop, the air seeming to grow too thick to breathe.

The dark form vanished as if it were a black mist.

I waited, straining for another sign of the creature. I only heard the blood pumping through my–

The shadow again. Closer this time.

Clearing my throat scraped it like a razorblade, but I went ahead and said, “Dad?”

*****

For more writing prompts for plots, click here.

How does the photo inspire you to twist the plot?

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What’s the Plot Point?

What's the plot point?

What’s the plot point you can develop from this photo? You take it anyway you want–humorous, scary, poignant, suspenseful. In the comments, tell me your inspiration. Here’s mine.

*****

Somehow the woods look deader in March than in the fall. Maybe because all the fall color has been washed away in the winter snows. And with the overcast skies threatening spring snow or sleet, the woods appear even deader, if that’s a thing, on the day of the spring equinox.

Hitching the straps of the backpack, I head down the trail. Grandma said The Man with the White Umbrella can always be found on this trail on this day, when the boundary between the two worlds is equal and easy to pass from one to the other.

There he is, up ahead, his white umbrella startling against the lifeless browns and grays.

I break into a jog, my loaded backpack bumping my spine.

I have to reach him. Before he disappears for another six months.

*****

For more prompts for plot ideas, click here.

2

Writing Inspiration from Photography

writing inspiration from photography

Since my amateur sleuth, Rae Riley, is an amateur photographer, I had to include a prompt about writing inspiration from photography.

I’ve always loved photography, so it was easy to create a main character with that love. Her passion gives my amateur detective an eye for detail, which is important for anyone investigating a crime. Because I write Rae Riley Mysteries in first person POV, her interest in photography also allows me to create vivid descriptions which are within character.

I’ve used photography for my writing in other ways like taking photos of wildflowers so I know which ones are blooming in the which season and capturing landscapes that I can use for future settings.

Like the one I took of the river by my house one evening in March.

I haven’t taken photos of interesting faces I see. I think that would be intrusive, but I have gained inspiration from characters scrolling through portraits on Pixabay.

What writing inspiration have you found in photography?

For more tips and prompts from this month of using other arts in our writing, click here.

3

Writing Inspiration from Mediocre Movies

Writing inspiration from mediocre movies

Since this month’s theme is about how other arts can inspire our writing, you might think that the best movies would provide the best inspiration. Many times, but not always. Often, I find writing inspiration from mediocre movies. These are movies that have something good about them, like evocative characters or an intriguing setting or some nifty plot twists. But other parts of the movie are average or worse. The reason I find mediocre movies inspiring is that their deficiencies can catch my attention better than a movie that has its artistic act together, and I imagine what I would do to improve the mediocre parts.

In the prequels to the original Star Wars trilogy, Ian McDiarmid is perfectly cast as the evil future Emperor. I think the writers should have enlarged his part, giving him more screen time to seduce Anakin to the Dark Side.

Since I don’t work for Disney and can’t work on a remake, I can use this missed opportunity to create my own smooth, sinister, insinuating villain.

Your turn. What movies or shows have you seen that inspire you to want to improve them?

To see my previous prompts and tips for this month, click here.

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