"Writing teaches ..."

The king will return

The king will return

What's a warm up?

Y?

Photo from Wikipedia

Here are some common English words that contain no other vowel except y. Use them all in a writing piece.

• cry
• crypt
• fly
• gypsy
• hymn (song praising someone or something, most familiarly the Christian God but can be any deity)
• lymph (can also mean pure water in addition to the clear liquid in blood)
• lynch
• lynx
• myrrh
• myth
• nymph
• pry
• pygmy
• rhythm
• scry (predict the future with a crystal ball)
• shy
• sly
• spy
• sphynx (hairless cat breed)
• spry
• sync
• tryst
• wyrm (a dragon without legs)

and if you can fit it, just because it's a cool word ;-)

• syzygy

And some short but less inspiring words you may want to sprinkle in:

• by
• my
• dry
• fry
• gym
• ply
• sky
• sty
• try
• why
• wry

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There are more words at List of words in English without vowels but most are pretty odd, obscure or specialized (like srsly in text-speak). The page is part of a larger collection of English words with uncommon properties, like words with alternating consonants and vowels (honorificabilitudinitatibus for instance), q not followed by u (which gets its own whole page!), kangaroo words (words that contain the letters in the right order of a similar word like masculine/male, observe/see), pyramid words (where one letter appears once, another letter twice, another three times, like banana and sleeveless).

Seven Doors Hotel

Seven Doors Hotel

What's a warm up?

"One nice thing ..."

Background by ValerianaSTOCK

Clown in the mirror

Clown in the mirror

What's a warm up?

Dear John

Dear John,


I know it's been 127 years since we last saw each other ...


Take it from there!

Why has it been 127 years? Was it supposed to be 100? Was it supposed to be 5?

Did their previous encounter(s) cause the long lives or is that normal for their species?

Was the last time they met right before a classic "Dear John" letter?

Does "John" need to be a man? Human? The same species? On the same time line? What if the writer or John is a self-aware machine?

Hmm, John is Sherlock Holmes's companion's name ....

Fermenting enchantress

Fermenting enchantress

What's a warm up?

"It's better to write ..."

Men, Martians and machines

Men, Martians and machines

What's a warm up?

Classy characters

As with most images, they lead somewhere when clicked!

Anyone who's familiar with role playing games knows about the class system of thieves, warriors, priests, sorcerers and various others and combinations that you choose from for your characters. The following are humorous classes generated at Seventh Sanctum. Generate your own Humorous Fantasy Class or pick one or a few of the following and let them inspire you. You could write a typical scene for such a character, or a run in with the character currently working with in a story, a series of gag comics, epic poetry ...

Mercenary/Traveling salesperson
Enchanter/Manicurist
Alchemist/Cook
Plumber/Shaman
Inquisitor/Maid
Stripper/Swordsman
Nanny/Ninja
Priest/Streetsweeper
Pirate/Decorator
Launderer/Sorcerer
Assassin/Tailor
Comedian/Prophet
Druid/Groundskeeper
Warlock/Knitter
Matchmaker/Mystik
Thief/Conceierge

If you'd like to add in some generated personality quirks, try the Detailed Character Generator at Serendipity. (You can just ignore the profession.) Where you'll get stuff like:

This calculating, impulsive spinner has golden skin, brown eyes, and red hair. She is delicate, with a heart-shaped face. She is married, with a single son.

This irresponsible, melodramatic fisherman has brown skin, green eyes, and dark brown hair. She is muscular, with a long, mournful face. She is unmarried.

This man is slender, with pale skin and a square-jawed face. He has long, silky, black hair and amber eyes. He is a physician who is cynical by nature, though polite.

This man works as a dyer, although his real interest is romance. He has hazel eyes, and his hair is shoulder-length, straight, silky and brown. He is delicate, with a small-featured, delicate face. He is stubborn and clever.

This platinum blond-haired, green-eyed man is a historian with a fragile build and round, bland face. He is contrary, and is interested in travel and children.

This serious, wary thatcher has nearly black skin, green eyes, and black hair. He is big-boned, with a round, cheerful face. He is newly married.

Last of the independents

Last of the independents

What's a warm up?

"I can’t help but to write ..."

What's next to the moon

What's next to the moon

What's a warm up?

The secrets of witchy women

Viewers watching NTV's Witchy Women were likely on the edge of their seats when the host delivered the following spiel: "Please welcome a young enchantress who's going to divulge a heck of a secret, even though it could cost her dearly in terms of employment."

So what secret did the enchantress reveal?

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The above is a paragraph from an article at Daily Yomiuri Online where a more mundy world secret was revealed. (It's also in the comments in case it disappears.) I loved the fact the show is called Witchy Women and the announcer called her an enchantress :-) Though perhaps both are Japanese terms and the translator is responsible for the inspiration!

Blasphemous rumors

Blasphemous rumors

What's a warm up?

"Those who write ..."

Fly on the windscreen

Fly on the windscreen

What's a warm up?

A day in the life of a monster

Describe an ordinary day in the life of a monster. It might be ordinary activities -- like brushing teeth, eating breakfast, taking a bath-- done in monsterly fashion or ordinary activities for a monster -- like collecting a daily quota of 5 brains, creating new crop circle designs.

Victim of changes

Victim of changes

What's a warm up?

"The art of writing ..."

Three imaginary boys

Three imaginary boys

What's a warm up?

All parents must die!

"This cannot end well for them." Photo ©Rich Thomas

Whoa, bit over the top there with the title!

It's a common complaint about Disney movies that they're fond of killing off parents. The problem is that parents have an annoying habit of stopping their kids from risking life and limb so it's hard for kids to save the world when the parents want to lock them up safe and sound. ;-) So the parents tend to be red shirts.

A commenter on The Not So Grand List of Overused Fantasy Cliches mentioned making parents inept is another cliche way of preventing parents from interfering.

It's cool when parents treat their kids' ideas as worthy with enough sense not to want to kill themselves even while taking risks ;-) The Addams Family parents were awesome at supporting their kids. :-) I can also remember Encyclopedia Brown's mother treating his desire to solve mysteries with respect, though he wasn't exactly risking his life. ;-) But I'm pretty sure Danny Dunn had some grand dangerous adventures and his mother was cool about it.

Kids want to read about kids taking charge and tackling their problems.

So what ways can you think of for parents to not interfere? Come up with a list. :-) Come up with your own ideas and collect the ideas of how other authors have tackled the problems.

I'd love to see your collections :-) If you'd like, you can post them in the comments.

Accidentally like a martyr

Accidentally like a martyr

What's a warm up?

"Imagination is more important ..."

Rebellion in dreamland

Rebellion in dreamland

What's a warm up?

Oh, noes!

I had to get one of those job things! One that pays you to spend your time doing stuff other than what you want. (Though if they teach me how to decorate cakes, that won't be so bad!)

I love creating the prompts so to continue, I'll slow down to one regular prompt a week. It won't be forever! But it will be for a while :-(

Prepare for takeoff

Byrony felt someone watching her as soon as she stepped aboard the afternoon shuttle for Mars. Glancing surreptitiously, she saw no one she knew and no one watching her. Which was good since she wasn't supposed to be here and must be the source of the feeling. Hefting her backpack higher onto her shoulder she continued down the aisle, the feeling accompanying her.


Keep it under 1000 words and include the following words. It can be helpful to spread them out rather than trying to cram them all in at the beginning! :-)

marmalade

chessboard

mandatory

blister

furor

mythology

Journey of the angels

Journey of the angels

What's a warm up?

"A writer should write ..."

Minstrel in the gallery

Minstrel in the gallery

What's a warm up?

Lay out the clues

Click here THEN the magnifying glass THEN the zoomer
for a GINORMOUS picture of this magnificent clutter.

Show. Don't tell.

You've heard that before! And it's advised because people love mysteries. They like assembling the clues to draw conclusions for themselves.

So pick one of the following and drop the clues. Allow the reader to experience one of these without ever telling them what they're experiencing. Let them draw their own conclusions.

The shuttle craft was old.
The weeboo missed his dead mate.
The zombie was fresh.
The kitlish was hungry.
The room was cold.
The empath enraged Cordan.
The basement was cluttered.
The priest made Melandra nervous.
The ordogron was hungry.
Honora loathed Eldreth.

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Here's some excellent discussions about showing not telling I stumbled across while collecting prompts:

Wordplay: Never Name an Emotion "As readers, we don’t care what the characters are experiencing so much as we care what we experience through the characters."

Wordplay: Helping Writers Become Authors: Most Common Mistakes Series: Are Your Verbs Showing or Telling? "Every time you write that a character saw/smelled/heard/felt something, see if you can reword the sentence to show the reader just what it is the character is seeing/smelling/hearing/feeling."

Kidlit.com · What “Show, Don’t Tell” Really Means "One kind of knowing, you get by reading facts in the newspaper. You are a passive recipient of information. Another kind of knowing, the kind you practice every day in your life, is the detective work kind. You have to do some reasoning, some sleuthing, you have to actively pay attention to what’s going on around you — what the world is showing you — in order to figure people out, judge a situation, make your own assumptions and decisions about things."

Show, Don't (Just) Tell (Dennis G. Jerz, Seton Hill University) "Don’t just tell me your brother is talented… show me what he can do, and let me decide whether I’m impressed."

Temple of the absurd

Temple of the absurd

What's a warm up?

"A writer lives at best ..."

Strangeways Pigg

Continuing with the name theme 3 or more (or all of them!) are part of a group. Any group. A subversive knitting club. An "I hate my parents" club. A rebel fairy family. A wizarding detective agency. Throw them together and see where their names inspire you to take them.

Primrose Goo
Preserved Fish
Silence Bellows
Strangeways Pigg
Orange Marmalade Lemon
Cashmere Tango Obedience
Fairy Clutter
Fountain Wetmore Rainwater

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These came from Odd names (as did a few from Tuesday). Feel free to browse for more.

The ballad of naked man

The ballad of naked man

What's a warm up?

That's Mr. Fangboner to you!

Here are some odd English surnames gathered from various places. Come up with first names for each. They can be goofy or attempts by parents to overcome the eccentricities of the surname. They can be Harry Potterish. (JK Rowling was fortunate to be immersed in a land of colorful names!) Whatever inspires you. :-)

Fangboner
Teabaggy
Feeblebunny
Barebones
Beaglehole
Babblejack
Hamburger
Drinkwater
Ducklebottom
Mankiller
Stubblefield
Deadman
Smallbeer
Earwhisper
Weatherhog
Ticklepenny
Wolfpits
Titcomb

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If these few sparked a need for more, here's a collection of English surnames divided up by category like body parts, food, animals. The first half is the categories. The second half is all the names listed alphabetically: Of certain English surnames and their occasional odd phases when seen in groups by C. F. Lordan

Independent worm saloon

Independent worm saloon

What's a warm up?

"The writing itself ..."

Something for nothing

Something for nothing

What's a warm up?

Fable time!

Fables are moral tales staring anthropomorphized animals -- animals with human characteristics.

Go to Animal Character Generator and generate two random animals. (If the link disappears, I generated a bunch and put them in the Comments.)

For a creativity challenge, take the first two. :-) Or generate a few until you find a couple you like. Though don't think in terms of fables! Let the animals reveal their story to you :-)

Think about how the descriptor and animal combination emphasize certain aspects in each other. Like a "sheep angel" brings out gentleness, patience, whiteness. Perhaps flock also of angels and sheep. Or like "turtle drunkard" emphasizes the slowness and careful gate aspects of each. (Would you even know if a turtle was drunk?)

Now, what happens when you put them together? Who would be teaching the lesson to who? (And of course it needn't be a serious lesson!)

Planet caravan

Planet caravan

What's a warm up?

Alpha the Bet

For every pair of letters in the alphabet come up with an epic two part name like Yonnik of Zandraster and Wardam the Xenophobic. You could try coming up with names for a favorite series. If the creativity wants more than 13, try doing a male and female list. Perhaps do one in reverse to get different letter combinations.

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Sorry the posts have been delayed recently. I keep sitting down in the morning to push through a project then look up and it's dinner time! If you're curious, it's here. (The art does get better as it goes along! And more complex when it really needs to get simpler so it doesn't take so long!)

Plague in Lucifer's mind

Plague in Lucifer's mind

What's a warm up?

"My purpose is to ..."

Eleven blue Egyptians

Eleven blue Egyptians

What's a warm up?

Superhero Plus!

A dwarf in purple spandex?

A cowboy with a red cape who refuses to carry a gun?

A togaed Roman with a utility belt.

An African tribal nebish who secretly saves his people from the European invaders.

A Klingon with a (Klingon equivalent of a) K across her chest and a penchant for dramatic entrances.

Take the superhero genre and combine it with an unexpected genre. If you're stumped for a new genre, there's a randomizer at the Great Expectations post.

If you need to brush up on your superhero conventions, cliches and tropes, there's a huge list of Superhero Tropes at TV Tropes. (Warning, TV Tropes can make several hours of your life disappear.)

Dance in the smoke

Dance in the smoke

What's a warm up?

Sacred cowboys

Sacred cowboys

What's a warm up?

Discreet compliment

I was reading an article and halted at the mention of "pore over" for scrutinize. I supposed I knew it was pore rather than pour, but it looked odd since it made me think of skin pore.

So here are some more commonly mistaken homophones. Write a sentence for each pair ... about time travel. :-)

compliment (flattering remark)
complement ("a full complement" amount, "the perfect comlement" accompaniment)

discrete (separate)
discreet (careful, circumspect)

hoard (stock of valuable items)
horde (large group of people)

pour over (dump liquid over)
pore over (careful study over)

principle (a truth)
principal (first in importance)

site (area of ground)
cite (to quote)

effect (result)
affect (influence)

free rein (freedom, from loosened reins to allow a horse free movement)
free reign (the phrase often used mistakenly for free rein so can mean whatever you want it to mean)

Saints in hell

Saints in hell

What's a warm up?

"I only write when ..."

Goddess of chaos

Goddess of chaos

What's a warm up?

Wolf zombies quickly spot the jinxed grave.

Photoshopping by ThreeProngs

Wolf zombies quickly spot the jinxed grave.

And what happened next? And why were they looking for a jinxed grave? I want to know!!

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It's the new and way more colorful, "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog."

Sentences that use every letter in the alphabet are pangrams. A previous prompt featured Pangrams from around the world. There are links to more there. And some more here, that are Not Safe For Work.

Oookay, it's a zombie kitten not a wolf. But, come on, Zombie Kittens! Way cuter than zombie wolves! Though there are plenty of zombie animals at Animal Zombies and Animal Zombies 2, some of which are dogs and wolves. Warning: They're really well done Photoshopped collections of gross!

Iron Goddess of Vengeance (plus a wizzard of a blizzard more!)

Iron Goddess of Vengeance
Death race
Gates of Gehenna
Heading out to the highway
High speed GTO
Into the night
Celestine
Live free or die
March of the skeletons
Octane Gypsy
Red desert skies
Out of control
Strike of the viper
Shooting star

What's a warm up?

(Nearly every White Wizzard song. As I read through them I pictured a big epic fantasy -- with muscle cars! Or could be an epic poem if you're still in poetry mode. :-)

Steal this rhyme scheme

Sculpture by Jason Freeny

Okay, one more! I had an extra sonnet idea but ran out of days in April. 

Steal a rhyme scheme from a sonnet and create your own poem around it.

Another possibility is to come up with 7 rhyming pairs. And then work the sonnet around them.

Here are some rhymes stolen from Shakespeare. I eliminated words that were archaic and most of the ones where the words no longer rhymed. As usual I ended up with too many! So there are four collections here and a bunch more if you click on Comments.

Helen Hayes relates in her memoir that she got rid of her southern drawl by reciting Shakespeare's sonnets.

If you'd like to browse through on your own, the full collection, all on one page, is at Shakespeare Sonnets. If you'd prefer to steal from modern sonnets, try Sonnets.org.

time

wights

rhyme

knights

best

brow

express'd

now

prophecies

prefiguring

eyes

sing

days

praise

possessing

estimate

releasing

determinate

granting

deserving

wanting

swerving

knowing

mistaking

growing

making

flatter

matter

paws

brood

jaws

blood

fleets

time

sweets

crime

brow

pen

allow

men

wrong

young

dead

bell

fled

dwell

not

so

forgot

woe

verse

clay

rehearse

decay

moan

gone

From Extraordinary Poetry Writing p 120.

Turd on the run

Turd on the run

What's a warm up?

"A good rule for writers ..."

White wizzard/Calling card

White wizzard
Calling card

What's a warm up?

(Sic wizzard. Blame White Wizzard. :-) I intended to find rhymes but, hey, wizards handing out calling cards!)

Stonnets

More fun with the sonnet form: Stonnets! Stories retold in sonnet form. If you want to turn the story into the character's thoughts on why they did what they did to keep the argument aspect of the sonnet, go for it :-) Or if you want to play around with the mechanics, you can rework the story into the rhyme scheme and meter of the 14 line sonnet form.

Try a fairy tale, nursery rhyme, favorite story from history, movies, books.

When you're done, Graeme King has played with the form to create a bunch of them at Funny Sonnets at Kingpoetry. (Where there are funny poems of many different forms, too.)