Prompts
Work With Children
Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter - What If? Writing Exercise for Fiction Writers prompts The Exercise - This exercise should be done with two or more people; one to read the instructions aloud while the others concentrate on recalling the experience. Red slowly and pause between sentences and paragraphs; the whole process should take at least five minutes. Shut your eyes. Go back in your mind to some summer or part-time job you had in the past. Look at the surroundings in which you were working. See the place in which you worked: factory, schoolroom, restaurant, hospital, store, library, whatever. Or perhaps it is an outdoor scene: beach, road, garden, construction project, ranch, cafe. Notice the shapes and colors of what is around you. Look at the materials with which you are working, note their shapes and colors. Now look at the other people who are present in this scene: coworkers, boss, customers in the restaurant or shop, children at camp, or a babysitting job. Choose one person and observe her closely; notice what she is wearing and the expression on her face. What is she doing as you watch? What gestures is she making? Now begin to hear the sounds that belong to this scene. The clank of machinery, the sizzle of hamburgers cooking on the grill, the splash of water in the pool, the ringing of phones, the thump and hum of music, whatever it may be. Listen to the voices: what are they saying? Perhaps you will hear a line or two of dialogue. What is the person you especially observed saying, and what do you or someone else say in reply? Now allow yourself to experience the smells that belong to this scene: food cooking, fresh-cut grass, motor oil, sweat, flowers, disinfectant, whatever. If you are working in a restaurant or bar, or eating on the job, you may want to become aware of taste too: the lukewarm bitterness of instant coffee in a plastic cup, the sugary chocolate slickness of a candy bar hidden in your desk drawer. Look around you at this point and become aware of the climate of your surroundings. Is it winter or summer? If you are working outdoors, what is the weather like? What time of day is it? If you are outdoors, is the air stuffy or fresh, smoky or clear? What can you see out the window? Next, become aware of the sense of touch, of the textures of the things you are working with: soft or rough, smooth or fuzzy, wet or dry. Notice heat and cold: the damp, icy feel of a glass of soda, the warm or silky texture of a child's hair, the hot, oily parts of a broken lawnmower. Now turn your sense of touch inward; become aware of the motions you are making and the sensations in your muscles; the strain off liftiing sacks of dirt or cement, the pleasure of stirring cake batter around a big stainless-steel bowl, the weight of a tray of drinks on your shoulder. Finally, notice your emotions. Do you like this job or hate it? Are you interested in what is going on around you, or are you bored? Are you tired and depressed or in good spirits? Where will you go when work is over for today? Do you like or dislike the people around you? What do you feel about the person you chose to observe? What do you think she feels about you? What would you like to say to her? If you said it, what would this person probably say or do? When all these things are clear in your mind, but not until then, open your eyes and record them as rapidly as possible. Write in the present tense. Don't bother about legible handwriting, complete sentences, or spelling words correctly: the point is to get this material down on paper while it is still fresh and vivid in your memory. You are not composing a story, only making notes. The Objective - To make some experience as vivid as possible, to recall it in full sensual and emotional detail before you begin to write.
By Denise E Lindquist19 days ago in Writers
Sky Diving
Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter — What If? Writing Exercise for Fiction Writers prompts The Exercise - Using the first person, describe an event or action you are fairly sure you will never experience firsthand. Be very specific - the more details you incorporate the more likely it is that your reader will believe you. Include your feelings and reactions. Limit: 550 words. The Objective - Writing what you know is all very well, but it certainly does restrict most of us within narrow confines. You must also be able to write what you don't know, but can imagine. This is what your imagination is for. Let it fly.
By Denise E Lindquist21 days ago in Writers
Is There Anyone You Hate?
Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter — What If? Writing Exercise for Fiction Writers prompts The Exercise — Week one - write a scene that brings to fictional life someone you hate. Make the reader hate her. It might be someone who annoys you-- someone whose manner you can't stand, whose voice grates on you. Or it might be someone who has offended you or done you some harm, or someone to whom you have done some harm - there are many reasons to hate people. If you have the courage, take on someone who is evil on the grand scale. It can be someone you know, someone you know about, or best of all, invent a real nasty. The Objective: Story and only story is the peaceable kingdom where you and I and the next fellow can lie down on the same page with one another, not by wiping our differences out, but by creating our differences on the page. Only on the page of a story can I look out of your and my and the other fellow's eyes all at the same time.
By Denise E Lindquist24 days ago in Writers
Not Funny At The Time
Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter — What If? Writing Exercise for Fiction Writers prompts The Exercise — Write about something that happened to you that didn't seem at all funny at the time, for example, being stuck in a traffic jam and having a bee fly in through the car window or the time your tenant set your stove on fire and the firemen wrenched it from the wall and tossed it into the backyard. Bring the incident under the humor spotlight and transform it so as to emphasize things that will make your reader smile or laugh.Pacing is important, as are crucial details, and your own confidence that the story does not need analysis or authorial nudging. The last thing you want to do is tell the reader that you're about to lay a funny story on him. Limit: 550 words. The Objective - Because humor resides largely in what attitude you assume toward your material, you must be able to discover and exploit those elements that highlight the comic, the exaggerated, and the unlikely. Keep in mind that you could just as easily take the bee story and make it tragic (bee bites driver, driver crashes into another car, killing infant in back seat).
By Denise E Lindquist25 days ago in Writers
I light a candle to St. Lucia (or Lucy), the Christian martyr from Syracuse, Sicily.. Top Story - December 2025.
St. Lucia (or Lucy) was a Christian martyr from Syracuse, Sicily, who died in 304 CE during the Diocletian persecution. Her name means “light”, and she became associated with vision, clarity, and illumination.
By Novel Allen28 days ago in Writers
Georgia And The Black Sea
Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter - What If? Writing Exercise for Fiction Writers prompts The Exercise - Choose a country where you have always longed to go but haven't yet been and set a story there. Read old and new Fodor's guides as well as other recent travel guides and National Geographic; buy a map; study the country's politics, religion, government, and social issues; read cookbooks - always, always looking for the persuasive detail, something you would almost have to be there to know. The Objective - To write with authority and conviction about a place you have never been to.
By Denise E Lindquist28 days ago in Writers
My Pet Hilda
Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter - What If? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers prompts The Exercise - Write a composition on the subject "My Pet." The only requirement is that this must be a pet you have never owned. It can be anything from a kitten to a dinosaur, from a fly to a dragon. Describe what your pet looks like, how you acquired it, what it eats and where it sleeps, what tricks it can do and how it gets on with your family, friends, neighbors,or the people at the work. The Objective - To expand your conception of characters and relationships.
By Denise E Lindquistabout a month ago in Writers
Reframing English Words. Top Story - December 2025.
Reframing is a popular psychological tool. It helps people see a situation, thought, or problem in a new way. The goal is to shift your thinking. Instead of focusing on the negative, try to see it in a more positive or realistic way.
By Calvin Londonabout a month ago in Writers
Fear, Anger, Pleasure
Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter — What if? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers prompts — The Exercise — Write three short paragraphs, the first "fear," the second "anger," and the last "pleasure" without using these words. Try to render these emotions by describing, physical sensations or emotions. Try to make your language precise and fresh. The Objective - To learn to render emotional states without a falling back on tired and imprecise language.
By Denise E Lindquistabout a month ago in Writers
