Shot in the dark

Shot in the dark

What's a warm up?

Sand painting

#7 17 Images you won't believe aren't Photoshopped

Ded Moroz

This is Ded Moroz. He is the incarnation of the winter holiday. So who is he? What does he do each winter holiday? What ways does he interact with the people celebrating? What is his history? What if he began as an evil figure? Why was he evil and what changed him?

Create a Wikipedia article about him.

---

For the real story, Wikipedia has a good article on Ded Moroz.

I wish I had an angel

I wish I had an angel

What's a warm up?

Black and White Christmas

#16 17 More images you won't believe aren't Photoshopped

Accidental minstrel

Snow Soldier by The Paper Lady 42 

For each set of 5 words create a sentence about winter or your favorite winter holiday. (Feel free to tamper with word forms.)

✵ rumble minstrel mist accident heart
✵ flash tremble vanity tease soldier
✵ cold shard crumble navigate reporter
✵ nunnery rumple dampen silver cling
✵ gypsy embrace temper shade obey

(Sorry for the delay. It was time for a new computer. And time to discover new software often has a distaste for old files.)

This is both cool and kind of creepy! Google created this automatically from the picture and stuck it in my notifications.

My guitar wants to kill your mama

My guitar wants to kill your mama

What's a warm up?

Apicem rhoncus

#12 17 Images you won't believe aren't Photoshopped

(Hmm. Clearly I was struggling for titles when I scheduled these a few months ago. Google translates it as "peak pricing", though it also says rhoncus can mean "range" or "the range" which is obviously what I meant. But, I have no idea why I chose it. And, really, it just comes across as snooty rather than intriguing! Sorry about that!)

Mental slavery

Mental slavery

What's a warm up?

Critical mass

#15 17 Images you won't believe aren't Photoshopped

Greenplanet

In the Icelandic sagas, it is said that Norwegian-born Erik the Red was exiled from Iceland for murder. Along with extended family and thralls, he set out in ships to find a land rumored to lie to the northwest. After settling there, he named the land Grœnland (translated as "Greenland"), supposedly in the hope that the pleasant name would attract settlers. (Wikipedia)

With the advent of inexpensive faster than light travel, many new planets have been found suitable for human colonization. Some, more pleasant than others.

Your family has found a planet that is less than a paradise. You fully believe with some work it could be a really great place to live but it needs the right people and the competition for new places to live is high.

Write a promotional piece to encourage people to come settle on your planet. Emphasize the quirkiness. Or the challenge. Give it a good coat of "green" wash.

Some of the things you'll need to "sell" are:

"Spiders" the size of kittens.
Frequent dish-rattling earthquakes.
There are 12 tiny moons.
Occasional drops in oxygen.
All day all the time. Except on the other side of the planet.

Into the arena

Into the arena

What's a warm up?

Going down

#21 21 Images you won't believe aren't Photoshopped

Best Thanksgiving episode ever

For your favorite series, create a Thanksgiving episode.

What's the goal? To get everyone together? To survive? To find something to be thankful for?

Be sure to include a unicorn.

Colour of life

Colour of life

What's a warm up?

Birth

#5 19 Images  you won't believe aren't Photoshopped

No thanks

Use at least 15 of the following words in a piece that is NOT about the Thanksgiving holiday.  (Just like eating a Thanksgiving feast, it helps to pace yourself rather than try to cram them all in at the beginning!)

pie
turkey
thanks
giving
cornucopia or horn of plenty
family
fall
feast
gravy
relatives
harvest
oven
squash
Thursday
tradition
pudding
pilgrims
gather

Spy in the night

Spy in the night

What's a warm up?

Instigation: Creative prompts on the dark side

I've referenced Michael Arnzen's horrifically twisted writing prompts a couple of times.

Instigation: Creative prompts on the dark side is a book of 500 of them. For all of NaNoWriMo month -- November for those who haven't discovered NaNoWriMo yet! ;-) -- it's half off. (Since it's usually only $3.99, if you miss the special, it's still affordable. :-)

From his website: "This ebook is available for all reading devices (including .pdf) and features 500 "prompts" and includes special help and articles for all you binge writers madly typing away on a novel in the month of November. Offer ends Dec 1st at Midnight, so act quick:  Get your copy now for just $1.99."

Beached

#6 19 Images you won't believe aren't Photoshopped

Fool's errand

by Julian Totino Todesco

As part of your wizard training, you've been sent on a Fool's errand.

Who is the Fool?

What does the Fool want?

Why is following the request of a Fool a useful training exercise?

Moscow is calling

Moscow is calling

What's a warm up?

Tree spirits

3D Projections on Trees – Clement Briend in Cambodia

(There are several more of these art installations at the link.)

Valued values

I can't believe I never posted a list of abstract values. Unless I called it something weird so it doesn't show up in a search.

Well if I didn't, here's a list. The values are divided into 5 basic categories: Aesthetics, Mental, Power, Practical, Social, Spiritual. Each also is identified by a type. The types span categories, so there are, for example, Aesthetic, Social and Spiritual ways to form Connections. (Categorized according to Gordon Allport's scheme in Allport-Vernon-Lindzey Study of Values. I changed the words used for the categories since his language was outdated.)

If you'd like to sort them, Story Sculptor comes with a spreadsheet version. The Values sheet does some other nifty things like a randomizer and the ability to check off the ones that match your character. (The list is also larger with over 400 values. Which is probably way more than anyone needs! ;-))

AESTHETICS
Beauty	Beauty
Balance	Calm
Comfort	Calm
Contentment	Calm
Equanimity	Calm
Peacefulness	Calm
Silence	Calm
Solitude	Calm
Tranquility	Calm
Nature	Connection
Romance	Connection
Sensitivity	Connection
Sensuality	Connection
Sexuality	Connection
Tradition	Connection
Adventure	Energy
Creativity	Energy
Optimism	Energy
Passion	Energy
Youthfulness	Energy
Freedom	Individualism
Independence	Individualism
Individualism	Individualism
Individuality	Individualism
Liberty	Individualism
Originality	Individualism
Entertainment	Joy
Happiness	Joy
Hopefulness	Joy
Humor	Joy
Play	Joy
Pleasure	Joy
Satisfaction	Joy
Wit	Joy
Order	Order
Perfection	Purity
Purity	Purity
Charm	Style
Dignity	Style
Looking good	Style
Simplicity	Style
Change	Variety
Richness of living	Wealth
MENTAL
Intuition	Cleverness
Inventiveness	Cleverness
Curiosity	Curiosity
Awareness	Thought
Impartiality	Thought
Logic	Thought
Reason	Thought
Truth	Thought
Understanding	Thought
Wisdom	Thought
POWER
Aggressiveness	Aggression
Ambition	Aggression
Assertiveness	Aggression
Boldness	Aggression
Competitiveness	Aggression
Control	Aggression
Power	Aggression
Winning	Aggression
Fame	Attention
Popularity	Attention
Respect from others	Attention
Status	Attention
Strength	Attention
Leadership	Thought
PRACTICAL
Coolness	Attitude
Self-control	Attitude
Self-reliance	Attitude
Stability	Attitude
Confidence	Determination
Discipline	Determination
Perseverance	Determination
Resilience	Determination
Steadfastness	Determination
Competition	Energy
Determination	Energy
Endurance	Energy
Industry	Energy
Persistence	Energy
Tenacity	Energy
Cautiousness	Exactness
Diligence	Exactness
Meticulousness	Exactness
Vigilance	Exactness
Thrift	Frugality
Foresight	Growth
Purposefulness	Growth
Success	Growth
Cleanliness	Health
Fitness	Health
Longevity	Health
Security	Health
Education	Knowledge
Experience	Knowledge
Intelligence	Knowledge
Knowledge	Knowledge
Maturity	Knowledge
Wealth	Prosperity
Autonomy	Self
Family security	Self
National security	Self
Self	Self
Conscientiousness	Skillfulness
Discernment	Skillfulness
Efficiency	Skillfulness
Flexibility	Skillfulness
Mastery	Skillfulness
Organization	Skillfulness
Preparedness	Skillfulness
Readiness	Skillfulness
Speed	Skillfulness
Usefulness	Skillfulness
SOCIAL
Acceptance	Connection
Belonging	Connection
Citizenship	Connection
Commitment	Connection
Connection	Connection
Cooperativeness	Connection
Dependability	Connection
Faithfulness	Connection
Family	Connection
Helpfulness	Connection
Loyalty	Connection
Remembrance	Connection
Respectfulness	Connection
Responsibility	Connection
Service	Connection
Sharing	Connection
Altruism	Fairness
Charity	Fairness
Duty	Fairness
Equality	Fairness
Fairness	Fairness
Forgiveness	Fairness
Generosity	Fairness
Justice	Fairness
Lawfulness	Fairness
Philanthropy	Fairness
Sacrifice	Fairness
Selflessness	Fairness
Tolerance	Fairness
Bravery	Heroism
Courage	Heroism
Heroism	Heroism
Fidelity	Honesty
Honesty	Honesty
Honor	Honesty
Integrity	Honesty
Trustworthiness	Honesty
Conformity	Peacekeeping
Correctness	Peacekeeping
Humility	Peacekeeping
Meekness	Peacekeeping
Modesty	Peacekeeping
Morality	Peacekeeping
Non-violence	Peacekeeping
Obedience	Peacekeeping
Patience	Peacekeeping
Peace	Peacekeeping
Peaceful world	Peacekeeping
Privacy	Peacekeeping
Prudence	Peacekeeping
Restraint	Peacekeeping
Sportsmanship	Peacekeeping
Tactfulness	Peacekeeping
Temperance	Peacekeeping
Sincerity	Truthfulness
Truthfulness	Truthfulness
Compassion	Warmth
Consideration	Warmth
Courtesy	Warmth
Friendliness	Warmth
Friendship	Warmth
Gentleness	Warmth
Gratitude	Warmth
Hospitality	Warmth
Kindness	Warmth
Love	Warmth
Mercy	Warmth
Openness	Warmth
Politeness	Warmth
Thoughtfulness	Warmth
SPIRITUAL
Salvation	Belief
Spirituality	Belief
Transcendence	Belief
Tradition	Connection
Unity	Connection
Abstinence	Practice
Chastity	Practice
Detachment from things	Practice
Devoutness	Practice
Faith	Practice
Mindfulness	Practice
Moderation	Practice
Piety	Practice
Reverence	Practice
Ritual	Practice

Super Alpha

by Andrey Pavlov

For each later of the alphabet create a superhero name. They can be alliterative -- each word of the name starting with the same letter -- or just the first.

Flames of love

Flames of love

What's a warm up?

Cloud deformations

#19 19 Images you won't believe aren't Photoshopped

Mad reaper

Reaper mimes

A grim reaper has gone rogue. The world of death is abuzz with the news.

Why? What idea or practice is this grim reaper rebelling against? Is it about the job? Is it personal? Why now? What has changed to prompt it? Why her or him?

Has a reaper rebelled before? If not, why? If so, why? What was the outcome then? How will it affect how the death world responds to this reaper?

What would "going rouge" mean for a reaper? Typically reapers collect the souls of the dead. Is the reaper not collecting? Not delivering?

Is that all reapers do in the world you're imagining? Do they have other tasks? Has something become more important to this reaper than collecting souls?

Are deaths pure chance or does someone or something determine how long someone's life is? Is that process part of the reaper's choice to go rogue?

If you want blood

If you want blood

What's a warm up?

Escape from hell

#12 17 More images you won't believe aren't Photoshopped

Megaload of character flaws

Character flaws can come from traumatic events, a crummy childhood or cultural beliefs (family, community, religion).

I stumbled across a good therapy-based resource of childhood-based damage that can be useful for character flaws.

If you want to jump right in, it's pretty straightforward.

If you want to dig deeper to connect the ideas to enrich your backstory, that needs some explanation. I'll try to organize the pieces so you need to read as little as possible to use it, but so it all fits together into an understandable whole :-)

To find flaws for your character there are 2 sets of lists. The first, Flawed Thinking, is common attitudes. The second, Flawed Coping Strategies, is common strategies for coping with a life someone feels powerless to change, including 2 lists of flawed thoughts that reflect a coping strategy. You can use either or both.

Flawed Thinking 2 questionnaires. The titles is scary. The questions aren't! Schema Questionnaire long form (has more questions) short form (easier to score. Though t's not necessary. (Described below.))

Flawed Coping Strategies A list. There are 3 main strategies, Surrender, Avoidance, Overcompensation. Each is broken down into more specific strategies. Common Maladaptive Coping Strategies And 2 questionnaires. These thoughts connect (through the scoresheets) to the above strategies. (Surrender has fewer ways it plays out.) Avoidance questionnaire And a scoresheet. Overcompensation questionnaire And a scoresheet.

All 3 questionnaires list feelings, thoughts, actions that your character may say are true views of himself, others, and how he acts to make his life work. Scan through them to find a few statements your character would say, "Definitely me! That's true a lot of the time," to. What you're looking for is a few seeds to grow your story from.

Samples from the questionnaires "I have to take care of the people around me." "I don't feel much when I remember my childhood." "I try to do my best; I can't settle for 'good enough.'" "I get defensive when I'm criticized."

Most people have some of these thoughts occasionally. But when a person filters his life through them, they turn into shackles limiting what he'll allow himself to do, preventing him from becoming who he could be.

Example If someone bases her self worth on how much others need her, she may inflate how necessary she is, unconsciously trapping herself in her role (as leader, as mother, as the go to person). She can't take a break because she believes everything will fall apart without her. She also can't take a break because subconsciously she fears everything won't fall apart, that people will carry on just fine without her. Or she may make herself necessary by holding tight to essential information that would allow those dependent on her to be independent.

The statements might be enough to create the inner demons that will plague your character as he works towards what he wants.

Or you could dig deeper into why he bound himself. What lies ahead is fascinating but dangerous territory! ;-)

---

Digging deeper

Warning
Digging deeper is dangerous for two reasons. First, it seems like a great idea to create a full person then let them play out their life. But a story is the greater whole created by the resonance between flaws, journey, and character transformation. To get the pieces to resonate with each other, each needs to be loose enough to adjust to changes in the others. A life, on the other hand, is a random collection, like musical notes thrown on a page that only pure luck will make a song.

Second, because the juicier the background, the more tempted you'll be to write about how your character became flawed. As much fun as it is for a writer to explore who a character is, it's not so much for the reader. The reader wants to know how your character handles getting her heart's desire while handicapped by demons, not how the demons formed. (Though telling the backstory can make a great extra for your author website!)

Backstory creates a richer flaw for your protagonist to overcome. But backstory in the story should be like an iceberg: a few provocative sentences revealing it but mostly hidden beneath the surface.

Moving on ...
Well, that warning out of the way -- which I still find tempting to ignore ;-) -- the "truths"your character chose from the (Schema) questionnaire tie to unmet needs in her childhood in two ways. (You can score the questionnaire to find this stuff out, but first an explanation of what it tells you.)

Humans are born with the expectation that their needs for food, security, affection, belonging will be met while they're young and dependent. (The first 4 levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.) For tiny humans all are as essential for growing straight and true as the first.

Warping world view (Maladaptive Schemas)
So, firstly, if a child's expectations are repeatedly crushed, to cope she may warp her view of the world, of other people, of herself. The warping affects her expectations and how she interprets what happens to her.

These are Early Maladaptive Schemas, 18 different ways to warp world view. Don't be frightened by the title. ;-) Think warping lens.

She might see the world through Abandonment, shutting down trust that others will be there for her. She might see the world through Subjugation: knowing life will be much easier if she keeps her needs and emotions hidden.

Coping with a warped world view (Maladaptive Coping Strategies)
Then, secondly, the child might disfunctionally cope with her world view in three ways, by Surrendering, Avoiding or Overcompensating (as mentioned up at the top of the post). (The link gives lots of examples, all of which you'll recognize like aggression, manipulation, withdrawal.) These choices lessen the pain but don't fix the situation and may, overall, make life worse.

If she Surrenders, she accepts she has no control over how people see her or treat her. She might, for example, become dependent, a people pleaser, conflict avoidant.

If she Avoids, she escapes or blocks out what she doesn't want to deal with by, among others, withdrawing, drugs, hyper-busyness.

If she Overcompensates, she pours extra energy into something she can control or excel at to compensate for lack of control or failure in another area. This might be things like hostility, status seeking, neat freak.

Pulling out more from the Schema questionnaire

The harder pull, if you filled out the Schema Questionnaire completely (which really is overkill) you can rank each of the schemas by doing some adding and dividing, described here. This is where the short form is easier since to find an average, you divide each section by 5. For the long form, there's a different number of questions for each schema. It's all described at the link.

The easiest pull is you may have noticed small letters beneath groups of questions on the long and short Schema Questionnaire. Each refers to one of 15 (out of 18) Early Maladaptive Schemas (mentioned above.) Wherever your character has the most true statements, that's the lens that dominates how she views the world.

There's only 15 because they identified 3 more schemas after creating the questionnaires. The 3 that aren't included are:

• Approval-Seeking/Recognition-Seeking
• Negativity/Pessimism, and
• Punitiveness. 

So you'll need to run those "manually" past your character to see if she perks up at any of them. (They're described on the Early Maladaptive thingy linked above.)

Also ...
Additionally there's a Parenting Inventory to get a picture of each parent's role in warping their child's view. And a scoresheet.

And finally ...

There's a book, Reinventing Your Life: The Breakthrough Program to End Negative Behavior and Feel Great Again, that walks you through your own character flaws -- or your character's character flaws. There are also many case studies in the book for a clearer grasp of how all these ideas play out in real live people.

Her mother's eyes

She had her mother's eyes.

Literally.

Take it from there.

Or play with it. Get a big sheet of paper. Write "She had her mother's eyes." in the center. Scribble down possibilities for who "she" might be. For who her mother might be. For "had". For how. For why.

Why her? Why her mother? Why eyes?

Change she to he.

Change mother to father. Or sister, brother, cat, king, ship, mentor, boss ....

Change eyes to hair, wand, hands, cargo ... liver ....

Jovo can hear

Jovo can hear

What's a warm up?

ET call home

#14 17 More images you won't believe aren't Photoshopped

The dog days of summer

“What happens when your dad finds out you've been dead all summer?”

What kind of dead person is being asked? Who is able to speak to this dead person? Or is it a rhetorical question? Or is it not a person? Not a human?

The obvious answer is Dad would be unhappy. But what if he isn't? What if he's happy? What if he's relieved it's finally happened? What if he's royally pissed? At the dead offspring? At the killer?

---

Quote from Vampire Diaries.

Horned is the hunter

Horned is the hunter

What's a warm up?

Finger of God

#3 15 More images you won't believe aren't Photoshopped

Tweebio

In 160 characters or fewer, write your favorite characters' Twitter biographies. The characters can be yours or not.

Try juxtaposing your hero and your antagonist's bios. Have them write up bios for each other in response. Have your secondary characters write bios for themselves and the main characters.

A handy tool is Characters Counter that keeps a running count as you type. (If that disappears, Google "160 character counter". Yes, apparently bios get 160 characters. Tweets are limited to 140. But wouldn't that mean a long bio would get truncated if retweeted? Hmm.)

---

Of course people are collecting best Twitter bios! 20 of the World's Most Clever Twitter Bios is a good start with links to several other collections.

Here's a sampling:

• I was named after a mythological being ... how would you feel?
• A man of mystery and power, whose power is exceeded only by his mystery.
• Marc is a man with a dream. A very simple dream, mostly involving nachos and beer, but a dream nonetheless.
• Currently starring in my own reality show titled, A Modern Cinderella; One Girl’s Search for Love and Shoes.
• I’m Kail, I was given a girl’s name when I was a baby because my parents are idiots.
• Former military guy & cop.  Leprechauns freak me out.
• I have been called a PollyAnna, sugar-coated idealist. I like to think of myself as more optimistic than that
• Darth Vader: Community Manager for Sith Lord but tweets are my own. Asthmatic. Dad to two rambunctious Jedis. Love scrapbooking, Beyonce, and galactic domination.
• Hillary Clinton: Wife, mom, lawyer, women & kids advocate, FLOAR, FLOTUS, US Senator, SecState, author, dog owner, hair icon, pantsuit aficionado, glass ceiling cracker, TBD ...
• Tome Hanks: I’m that actor in some of the movies you liked and some you didn’t. Sometimes I’m in pretty good shape, other times I’m not. Hey, you gotta live, you know?
• Weird Al: You know... the Eat It guy.
• Anna Kendrick: Pale, awkward and very very small. Form an orderly queue, gents. Location: probably by the food.
• Lucy Hale: I drink too much coffee. And laugh too loud.

When you're done, have fun with the Twitter bio generator.

I for an eye

I for an eye

What's a warm up?

Gundammit

#9 15 More images you won't believe aren't Photoshopped

Steam Wars

Steam R2D2 by Sillof

Pick one of the Star Wars cross genres, or be inspired to invent your own. Write how your favorite scene would play out in that genre. Or write character sketches of each character as they would be in this new genre.


Sillof has also created Roman Wars, Faster, Empire! Strike! Strike (based on Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!), Cyber Wars (has elements of Cyberpunk, the Matrix, Akira, Ghost in the Shell). Pages for those sets have images of the individual characters but no handy group shot.)

A dead man's robe

A dead man's robe

What's a warm up?

Pagantastic

It was hard to pick one! So I picked three and you can pick one. Or go to Creative Costumes of Still-Practiced Pagan Rituals to suffer the same dilemma.

Are they beasts? Are they humans? If human, what's the purpose? Are they wearing the uniform of a tribal role such as shaman or hunter? Is it for a yearly festival or ritual? Or something else? Is their world as primitive as their outfits? (Isn't it great being a writer? :-))

---

French photographer Charles Fréger spent 2 years traveling across Europe documenting pagan rituals that are still being carried on which he's gathered for Wilder Mann: The Image of the Savage.

Take a spin

Mike Luckovich

For each of the headlines you came up with last week for your favorite movies, come up with a succinct political spin the Leader's Press Secretary puts on each. The purpose might be to distance the Leader from any connection with the event, to turn a negative into a positive, or other alternate take on the events.

The church bizarre

The church bizarre

What's a warm up?

Ducky dock

#11 17 More images you won't believe aren't Photoshopped

Take a header

For each of the big events in your favorite movie (book, video game ...), write a newspaper headline. Or two. Or a dozen. The stories can be disaster stories. Or human interest. Or what's-behind-this event? ...

Loose cannon commands flagship

Secret peace keeping weapon hijacked

17,000 KILLED IN SAN FRANCISCO ATTACK

Head of Star Fleet a terrorist?

---

The best way to get a feel for great headlines is reading lots of headlines, good and bad. That said, I did stumble across a couple of pages from the University of Iowa School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Writing Good Heds, What Does a Good Headline Do?, Headline (or "Hed") Jargon

Quli

Quli

What's a warm up?

Lighter than water

#16 17 More images you won't believe aren't Photosphopped

Characters with potential

Mimi and Eunice

So you know better who your character is and why from Wrangling your character into story worthiness. You've identified some weaknesses and delved into backstory and future obstacles that could prickle those weaknesses with Strong flaws and flawed strengths. Now the question you want answered is Who will he become?

My character has the potential to be _____.

If he has lots of potential, make a list!

If you can't think of how he could possibly be cooler, greater, better than he is, you may have created him too close to his full potential. Begin with who he was before he cleared out all the baggage that weighed him down.

Test his greatness. Push him beyond his limits. If he's happy and content, what can you take from him, put beyond his current reach, that would bust his balloons? If he's confident, what could rattle that confidence? If he's found his niche in life what would make him realize he's wrong?

Take him in the opposite direction. If he's a moral person, what could push him to become immoral? What threat to what he loves would he betray his values for, break his moral code for? What could cause him to do evil for morally-justified-to-him reasons? What would he kill for to get, to keep, to protect?

Once you have some ideas of who he could be, push who he is at the beginning -- his profession, his personality, his belief or value system, his personality, his station in life -- further away from that.

Who is as much different than who he could be at the end? Make him work hard to get to his potential!

Next: Preventing him from reaching his goal and potential. (Next Friday hopefully.)

Dragon tales

Spin a bedtime scary story ... as told by a dragon to his nest of hatchlings. What do dragons most fear? What do kid dragons most fear? What are the monsters-under-the-bed for dragons?

That idea could extend to other dads: werewolf, sea monster, vampire, ghost, orc, monsters under the bed ... What are monsters-under-the-bed for monsters-under-the-bed? You could write a whole series of short monster stories.

Polyester man

Polyester man

What's a warm up?

Deadly reading

#15 16 More images you won't believe aren't Photoshopped

After losing a couple hours of my life to becoming better informed of the world's weirdnesses through Cracked -- which when I was a kid was a lesser version of Mad Magazine -- I decided to repurpose that time to turn several of their "Images you won't believe aren't Photoshopped" into Sunday extras. Since these are taking next to no time at all, I won't pass them off as writing prompts I've put time into ;-) but they're nonetheless intriguing.

Toxic quality

"Once you realize you're not going to die or get covered in toxic sludge, it's pretty relaxing." *

Take it from there.

Try the 5+1Ws and 1H of journalism. (The extra W, the What if?, is non-standard for journalism but can help you did deeper.)

Who
Who is the speaker?
Who is the listener?
Who else might be listening?
Who else is doing this activity?
Who is interested in doing this?
Who is worried about the activity?
Who else might be connected to the place or activity?
Who is involved in this activity
Who else is asking questions about the activity?
Who is affected by the activity, by the questions and by the answers?
Who will benefit?
Who will be harmed?

What
What activity is relaxing?
What is this potentially covering toxic sludge?
What makes the activity deadly?
What created the sludge?
What created the area?
What makes the activity safe or prevents it from being deadly?

Where
Where is this toxic sludge that won't cover you?
Where is the place the toxic sludge was created?
Where is this place that looks deadly?
Where is the speaker?
Where is the listener?

When
When was this person speaking?
When did the speaker last do this activity?
When did the toxic sludge happen?
When did people start doing this activity?
When did some people start to believe it wouldn't affect them?

Why
Why is it assumed toxic sludge and death are connected to this activity?
Why is there toxic sludge?
Why would someone want to do this activity?
Why is this activity done here rather than in a place that doesn't look deadly?
Why is the activity okay here?
Why is the speaker telling a person or people about the activity?
Why do some people believe it's deadly?
Why does the speaker believe it's okay?
Or is the speaker lying? Why?

How
How did the toxic sludge and deadly quality happen?
How did the speaker come to try this activity?
How did the speaker and the listener(s) meet?
How do people do this activity?
How do they get to this place?

What if?
What if the toxic sludge hadn't happened?
What if the speaker hadn't tried the activity?
What if the activity didn't exist?
What if the listener hadn't asked?

---

* Quote from a news article. (I didn't include the article title since it might limit the free range of your thoughts.)

(Oops, sorry, this should have been the Wednesday post and the writer craft one on Friday.)