Hi, if you didn’t know I’m a creative writer.
When I was like 17 or 18, I made a little story on my wattpad account (that absolutely no one in my life will ever have access to for as long as I live). I called it Fuck Around, Have Fun. It initially served as a way for me to throw the finger to my freelance writing job because it was such a soul sucking experience to use all my creative energy to write for everyone except myself. Over time though, it became a staple in my writing process, and now it’s how I bring forth my most creative energy.
It goes like this:
I flip a coin. Heads: story continuation, Tails: New Story
If it’s heads I pull out a number generator that goes from 1 to however many stories I have in the document I have dedicated to this writing exercise and begin a 30 minute writing sprint that adds onto the story that the generator chose.
If it’s tails, I go into my little writing prompts board on Pinterest
Since all of my writing prompts are separated by sections, I start with my setting photos. I see how many pins I have, and then I go into my number generator and input a scale that goes from 1 to however many pins I have. When it gives me a number I scroll through my pins until I find the one I counted to. (I typically do this on my phone in wide mode so I can count the pins individually.)
I then do a new generator that goes from 1 to 6. This determines what type of prompt I’m going to use.
Then, whatever board section it lands on, I put in the number of prompts on that board and count to the number the generator gives me.
Then leave my prompts board and go into my character building board. I repeat the number generator process.
Now I have a setting, a character, and a prompt. I open a document, I put on a 30 minute timer, and I write whatever the hell I can think of under the parameters of my prompts in 30 minutes.
Got it? Good. Here’s what I ended up with this week:
When I was a kid I used to imagine myself running away to the forest and hiding out in little mushrooms as homes. I’d pictured myself as the first brown smurf the world would ever see. I pictured a lot of things about living in the woods. My current circumstances were not one of them.
I look over at Gwen with her permanent scowl staring straight ahead at the dark, dying trees that were bending over themselves like they either wanted to protect us, suffocate us, or find someway to be taken out of their own misery.
“I still fail to see how this is going to solve any of our problems.” I told her.
“You needed plants. We’re finding plants.”
“I can think of at least 12 different ways we could have gone about this that didn’t involve marching our way into the dead leaves.”
Gwen huffs, and looks at me with a look of disdain that makes me want to shrink back. “Then why don’t you go do it yourself?”
“Because the only other person who would have been able to help me has his life on the line and I don’t know my way around the way he does.” I feel my chest constrict. Feron’s unconscious body makes my pulse quicken. If I can’t save him, I’ll never forgive myself. “Believe me, if I didn’t need the help, I wouldn’t have asked.” My voice is quiet, but when I make eye contact with Gwen, her face softens.
“He’ll be ok,” She promises
I shake my head. “You don’t know that.”
“I do.” She walks over and puts a hand on my shoulder. I flinch at the touch. I’m not used to her getting this close to me. Gwen and I have never really gotten along. She’s much too serious, and I’m too technical. Anything we say to each other might as well be compared to a phone conversation with two completely different topics because the signal kicked out but both people want to finish their story.
She pushes on my back gently, trying to lead me into the forest. I dug my heels into the brown, shriveled, leaves that blanketed the forest floor.
“Oh my god, you’re so dramatic.”
“No, I’m cautious.”
“You’re literally walking like a corpse.”
“Well, did you bring us here to die?”
She lets out a groan and removes her hand from my back. I tumble backwards and fall onto the ground, looking up at her as she wipes her hand on her pants and continues walking into the forest.
“Obviously,” she said.
“I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not,” I responded, scrambling to my feet and running after her.
I looked around at the trees that seemed to stare down at me. I jump at the sound of something thudding to the ground, just to notice it’s an abnormally large pinecone.
“I’m astounded every day by your fear of nature.”
I huff at the accusation. “I’m not scared,” I say.
I look up, I notice the world around us gets darker as the trees become more dense. I’m practically wading shin deep in the leaves, and I can’t help but feel that this is almost similar to walking in water, and I shiver at the idea that something could swim in here like they would in an actual body of water.
Maybe I am scared.
If any of my fellow writers decide to give this set of prompts, or this way of making a prompt a try, let me know! I’d love to see what you guys all manage to come up with.
Sometimes, it feels like the words fly right out of me, and then sometimes, I have moments like today where I’m struggling to squeeze my braincells together to make something.
Either way, it get’s the creative juices flowing.
This also might be a good time for me to mention that my Wednesday and Friday posts will be paid subscriber posts starting next week! On that note, I’ll see you guys tomorrow for a Cozy Reading Update.
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