Writer's Digest blog - Promptly

Remembering Jim Carroll in Prompts

Hey writers,

Here’s to poet, memoirist and rock n’ roller Jim Carroll, who recently died, reportedly working away at his desk. Carroll is perhaps best known for the chronicle of his heroin addiction and youth, The Basketball Diaries, which was raw, disturbing and poignant.

Thus, today, I offer a pair of Literary Roadshow prompts from Carroll’s Fear of Dreaming. If you’re looking for more on Carroll, check out CatholicBoy.com, a site loaded with some great articles about the author from the last few decades.

Also, after three concrete swag-offs and insightful feedback from a few of you, I’ve decided to suspend the competitions angle of Promptly and refocus a bit. Since the beginning, the ongoing competition has cast a bit of a shadow on the blog, and perhaps detracted from what it’s really all about: the prompts, and spurring creativity.

I’ve always wanted Promptly to be a hub where you can come to help break block by picking up some writing ideas, feeding off the creativity and wisdom of others, and delving into some rambling on the writing world by yours truly in the process.

To that end, we have some stirring goods in the works for the near future (including Q&As with authors and guest prompts, Your Story prompts that can land your work in WD magazine, prospective interactive challenges, and more), and of course, your pieces are always welcome in the Comments section of the blog, if you’d like to post them there for your colleagues’ inspiration, thoughts and comments.

Moreover, what would you like to see in Promptly? How could we take things a step further? Give me a shout at writersdigest [at] fwmedia [dot] com with the subject line “Attn: Promptly,” and no matter what you do, have an excellent weekend.

Onward!

Zachary

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WRITING PROMPT: Something To Cry About/The Siren
Literary Roadshow: Proving that one author’s stray sentences can be another’s writing exercise gold. Feel free take the prompts home or post your stories in the Comments section below.

Write a story inspired by or containing the following, from Jim Carroll’s Fear of Dreaming:

“There, now you really have something to cry about!”
He looks back over at me after a moment of silence, and we begin laughing again. I throw my arms around him and lay my head to his shoulders, continuing to laugh until my tears fall down the lapel of his suit.

[and/or]

When the traffic is still, I lower my hands and pass through.
I arrive before the siren, through the Post Office doors …
yet the siren has been broken, some jealous women explain, and I am far too late.

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The October issue of WD is now on newsstands. Check out our community issue here, featuring writing forums, online collectives, bestsellers riffing on writers’ organizations, and even the keys to making the most of a nightmare conference. What’s worth your time these days?

Literary Roadshow

Friday, September 25, 2009 9:03:47 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

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Monday, August 24, 2009

Monday Creativity Wake-Up Call: Cynic!

Hey writers,

In a Monday Kentucky State Fair hangover of nachos and cheese, midway games (I won a stuffed banana, which I claimed, perplexed), blue grass poultry, blue and white cows, Pineapple Whips, super-sugar-enhanced lemonade, a roomful of prize rabbits, a flea market with miracle products galore, a Bald Eagle, tater tots, a 1,000-pound pumpkin and death-defying rides held up by wooden blocks, I forgot to put a photo prompt from the fair on my flash drive this morning.

Thus, I’ll offer up a Literary Roadshow prompt today, and I’ll be back Wednesday with the photo—and the swag recipient for our favorite story from the last month.

Yours in writing,

Zachary

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PROMPT: Cynic!

In 500 words or fewer, funny, sad or stirring, write a story inspired by or including the following (from Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle):

“What a cynic!” I gasped. I looked up from the note and gazed around … “Is he here somewhere?”
“I do not see him,” said Mona mildly. She wasn’t depressed or angry. In fact, she seemed to verge on laughter. “He always said he would never take his own advice, because he knew it was worthless.”

Literary Roadshow

Monday, August 24, 2009 4:23:35 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [5]

Monday, August 17, 2009

Your Monday Creativity Wake-Up Call: The Ultimate Secret
Hey writers,

I stumbled upon some old essays this weekend, and came across one of the most intriguing craft quotes I’ve ever read, courtesy of George Orwell and his piece “Why I Write”:

“Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand.”

Thus, I revisited my haggard copy of 1984 and dug up an Orwellian Literary Roadshow prompt below.

Here’s to the writing angels and demons,

Zachary

PROMPT: The Ultimate Secret
In 500 words or fewer, funny, sad or stirring, write a story inspired by or containing the following (from Orwell’s 1984):

“Julia.”
No answer.
“Julia, are you awake?”
No answer. She was asleep. He shut the book, put it carefully on the floor, lay down, and pulled the coverlet over both of them.
He had still, he reflected, not learned the ultimate secret. He understood how; he did not understand why.

Literary Roadshow

Monday, August 17, 2009 5:55:04 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

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Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Promptly Kick-Off Part 2: The Doctor is In
Hey writers,

Welcome to part two of the Promptly Kick-Off Breaking-Block Challenge. (I’ve been considering making the title even wordier, but have thus far resisted all tantalizing options.) The first prompt has generated some great responses from a broad range of voices and styles, and it’s been a thrill to read everyone’s interpretations. If you haven’t checked any of them out yet—or posted your own—drop by the comments section.

Let’s try something different today, something that spawned from a discussion about how many fascinating lines can be overshadowed in our favorite books. How about a “Literary Roadshow” type approach—I’ll pull a random, seemingly unimportant, out-of-context line from a book, and use it as prompt fodder. Like “Antiques Roadshow,” one author’s tiny line from the past might become another’s gold.

Thus, from Albert Camus’ The Plague (one of my all-time favorite books):

PROMPT: The Doctor is In
In 500 words or less, funny, sad or stirring:

“He was going to make them right with a couple of pills or an injection, and people took him by the arm on his way to the sickroom. Flattering, but dangerous.”

Now, he takes your arm. Who is this doctor? Reveal him in scene.

Literary Roadshow

Wednesday, July 15, 2009 6:26:35 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [29]

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