I’m writing this post on a day when our projected low temperature (after wind chill) is -47 Celcius (that’s -53 Fahrenheit). I despise the cold at the best of times, but on a day like this… I let my daughter stay home from school because I didn’t want her waiting at bus stops and I canceled an important appointment I had so I wouldn’t have to go outside.

I worked out, had my breakfast and then put on my coat and shoes and filled my bird feeders.

That’s right. I wouldn’t go out for an important appointment, I let my daughter miss school and I still went outside when it was so cold the air was physically heavy, to feed chickadees and sparrows.

It helps that filling the feeders only takes a couple minutes, but still, I think it says a little something about me, too.

What about your characters? What would make them go out in the cold? What do they really, truly willing to be be uncomfortable for? Or, if we take the idea a step further, to suffer or die for? What would they run into a burning building for?

Write a story or poem which includes a wickedly cold day or a winter storm. See how your characters react to it, and find out what (if anything) they are willing to open the door for (or to… dun dun dun!).

~Rhonda

If you could relive your junior high or high school years what would you do differently?

Pick three or four things and write a letter to a younger brother, sister or friend about to enter junior or high school giving them advice based on your expiriences and what you’d do differently. Make sure you give them enough details to really make your point.

(For non-Canadians junior high is grades 7-9 and high school is 10-12… or 13, depending on your province)

Exercise adapted from an essay topic suggestion in “The Writing Process” by John M. Lannon and David B. Parson.

~ Rhonda

Amber asked me if I’d like to do a prompt every other week and I said sure. That means you’ll still be seeing my name up here now and then. I hope you’re not too disappointed

In trying to decide what to do I thought back to some of the prompts I enjoyed the most in the past and which received the biggest responses. One of those things was the ‘Roll Your Own Story’ type prompt. Looking at the calendar provided the perfect subject for this one.

The idea is simple. Get a six-sided die and then roll it four times, once for each category below. Each category has six options so each die roll will correspond to one of the options. Voila. Once you’re done rolling you’ll have a random writing prompt that is sure to help get your creative juices flowing.

Genre:
1- Speculative
2- Literary
3- Humor
4- Mystery
5- Writer’s Choice
6- Childrens

Character:
1- Dog
2- Teacher
3- Cookie/Candy Cane
4- Parent
5- Child
6- Writer’s Choice

Verb:
1- Lost
2- Found
3- Wished
4- Died
5- Transformed
6- Writer’s Choice

Holiday:*
1- Christmas
2- Hanukkah
3- Kwanzaa
4- Writer’s Choice
5- New Years (any culture)
6- Solstice

I left things quite open and that was intentional. I didn’t want to box anyone in, in fact, that’s the opposite of what I was aiming for.

Please feel free to share your rolls and/or stories with us

If you need a random number generator there is one here. It’s the one I always use. It’s not better or worse than any others, but clicking that link would save you a google search

*If I missed your favourite holiday I apologise, I only had room for 6

~ Rhonda

We had so much fun a few months ago with first lines I thought we could work on some more. Below are some first lines. Rewrite them to make them more engaging to hook the reader.
~Amber

• The dog belly flopped into the pool.
• An alien zapped me with laser beams from his eyes.
• I couldn’t believe I was standing in front of my hero.
• Hail pelted the windows.
• We were going to be rock stars at any cost.

I’m a week late in posting my writing prompt for Monday. I hope you have fun with this one.

Write a story which involves a fortune teller machine. If you’re working on a novel, you can even write it into a scene.

Good luck!
~Amber

Use the following first line for your next story or novel. “I shouldn’t have opened the door.”

Good luck!
~Amber

Use one of the following images as inspiration for a short story or poem:

~Rhonda

Use the following starter line to inspire a story. This line was submitted by Lilacfield

As she pushed open the door to the ladies room, she heard a low giggle from one of the cubicles.

You can submit your starter lines to be used in this ongoing project by commenting here.

Use the following starter line to inspire a story. This line was submitted by Lilacfield

Attending his own funeral was less interesting than he had expected.

You can submit your starting lines to be used in this ongoing feature by commenting here.

Use the following starter line to inspire a story. This starter was submitted by HeatherBird

The frog jumped into the patient’s open chest cavity.

You can submit your own starter lines to be used by commenting here.