Denise E Lindquist
Bio
I am married with 7 children, 28 grands, and 13 great-grandchildren. I am a culture consultant part-time. I write A Poem a Day in February for 8 years now. I wrote 4 - 50,000 word stories in NaNoWriMo. I write on Vocal/Medium daily.
Stories (1208)
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Two Native American Elders Visiting
Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter — What if? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers prompts — The Exercise — Begin a story from random elements such as two characters, a place, two objects, an adjective, and an abstract word. If you are not in a class, give this list to someone and have them provide you with the words so you will be surprised by them. If you are in a class have the class make up a random list. Then everyone must use these elements in the first two pages of a story. The Objective - To exercise your imagination, to prove to yourself that all you need is a trigger to get you started writing. And if you care about the story you start, the finish will take care of itself.
By Denise E Lindquistabout a month ago in Writers
Roots And Branches
Roots and Branches Challenge: The Prompt - Write a poem about roots and branches, what grounds you and what carries you forward. For this challenge, we’re asking you to think about what grounds you and what pushes you forward. Roots and branches are one way to imagine it: where you come from, what keeps you steady, and how you keep growing. Your poem might stay close to the earth, grounded in memory, family, or tradition. Or it might stretch outward, imagining growth, change, and possibility. Both directions matter, and the tension between them can give the poem its shape.
By Denise E Lindquistabout a month ago in Poets
The Wife And The Girlfriend
Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter — What if? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers prompts — The Exercise — A man is having an affair with his secretary. He goes to bed with her in a motel room. When he wakes up in the morning, he’s in the same motel room, but the woman next to him is his wife. Two pages of dialogue. A few lines of action. We can assume the description is already in place. The Objective — A writer needs to be able to imagine an improbable scene and bring it to life. This is a separate issue from making up a story.
By Denise E Lindquistabout a month ago in Writers
A Letter To My First Love
The Prompt - Write a poem on endings, using flame or fire as your central image. This is the final challenge in our Vocal+ Fall Poetry Series, and it’s all about endings. Flames fade, fires burn out, and what remains is ash, memory, or the promise of something new. Your poem might take fire as destruction, as warmth, as memory, or as transformation. However you approach it, let the flame guide you to what it means to reach an ending, whether it arrives with silence or with a burst of light. Write like you are watching the last fire fade.
By Denise E Lindquistabout a month ago in Poets
The Storage Room
The Forgotten Room Challenge: Write a fiction story that centers on a room that hasn’t been entered in years. This prompt is about the spaces we avoid and the stories they hold. A room that has not been entered in years is more than just four walls. It can be a vault for memories, a keeper of secrets, or a place where time feels strangely preserved. What happens when someone finally steps inside? Does it unlock the past, change the present, or blur the line between the two?
By Denise E Lindquist2 months ago in Fiction
Dropping Out Of College
Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter — What if? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers prompts — The Exercise - You're a senior in college writing home to tell your parent(s) that you're dropping out of school for your last semester; you can't promise that you will ever go back. You want them to understand, if not exactly approve of, your reason(s) for leaving. Make these as specific as you can - and as persuasive. The second half of the exercise is to write the answer, either from one or both of the parents. Limit: 550 words The Objective - To get inside the head of another person, someone you have invented, and assume her voice to vary your narrative conveyance.
By Denise E Lindquist2 months ago in Writers
Do You Remember Ann Landers?
Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter — What if? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers prompts — The Exercise — Collect Ann Landers columns, gossip columns, and stories from Weekly World News or True Confessions that seem to you to form — either partially or wholly — the basis for a story. Often, these newspaper accounts will be the “end” of the story, and you will have to fill in the events leading up to the more dramatic event that made the news that day. Or perhaps the story leads you to ask what is going to happen to that person now. Clip and save four or five items. Outline a story based on one of them, indicating where the story begins, who the main characters are, what the general tone (that is, the emotional timbre of the work) will be, and from whose point of view you elect to tell the story. These articles can be used for shorter or focused exercises. For example, describe the car of the person in the article, or the contents of his wallet. Or have the person from the article write three letters. The Objective — The objective is threefold. One is to look for an article that triggers your imagination and to understand how, when you dramatize the events, the story then becomes your story. The second is to increase the beginning writer’s awareness of the stories all around us. And third, to practice deciding how and where to enter a story and where to leave off.
By Denise E Lindquist2 months ago in Writers
50,000 Words In November
NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month is no longer. Some other writing spots have begun in response to NaNoWriMo no longer being there for this purpose. The one I looked at has to be all written into their program as new writing, and edits don't count. And I'm sure it costs.
By Denise E Lindquist2 months ago in Poets
Someone Is Walking Around In My House. Top Story - November 2025.
Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter — What if? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers prompts — The Exercise — You're taking a shower in your house or apartment. You are not expecting anyone, and the front door is locked (the bathroom door is not). You hear a strange noise in a rooom beyond the bathroom. Now, take it from there for no more than two pages. This can be in either the third or the first person. Don't spend any time getting into the shower; you're there when the action begins. The Objective - To tell a convincing story centered on speculation and terror.
By Denise E Lindquist2 months ago in Writers
