A few years ago, I got the idea to write five stories from one writing prompt to demonstrate how words can be interpreted differently.
I had a lot of fun writing about a green sweater. The next year, I invited another writer to help me out. Since that time, I’ve asked more writers to try their hands at interpreting a specific prompt. The results are always fun and informative.
You probably remember writing prompts from school. These prompts are a bit different because I’m not asking anyone what they did during their summer vacation or if they have any pets. Prompts can be a question, specific quote, or a sentence that starts the story or guides the plot.
Writing prompts are an important tool because they make us think. They encourage us to find a unique way of interpreting a set of words. If I’m writing five different stories about one prompt, or if I know four other people are writing about the same prompt, I must be creative and find a unique way of telling my story.
Will I choose fiction or nonfiction? First person or third person? Maybe I’ll write an essay, poem, or pretend it’s a journal entry. Who will be my audience, kids, YA, or adults? What’s my setting, genre?
See how many choices I have?
Unlike a work in progress that takes weeks, months, or years to complete, a prompt is an assignment with a due date and often a time limit. In my writing group, we usually have fifteen minutes to complete a prompt. Writing on demand is a useful skill to learn. It’s effective against procrastination and the dreaded “writer’s block.”
This month our writing prompt is a quote from E.B. White, “Always be on the look out for the presence of wonder.”
I asked fellow writers from our Tuesday evening Iron Writing Circle to lend me a hand this year.
I hope you enjoy each writer’s unique spin on the concept of wonder!