Time Rift

Wormholes, portals, time rifts, tear in time and other magical gateways make for interesting possibilities in the world of fiction. Today's prompt will make use of this concept.

Pumping Your Muse Prompt:
Develop a character within a short scene of two-three paragraphs. Then with the use of a portal of some kind transport them to another time. It can even be the same place, but doesn't need to be.

This prompt will most likely require a little research if you want to be authentic.

If you wonder where to start here are a few ideas to play with:

• WWII soldiers carried to battle in the Civil War
• Career woman of the 1990s transports to New York of the 1890s
• A tired mother of three has the chance to visit her great-grandmother
• A middle-aged business man without family and few friends travels to the future

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To support the author of this blog, consider buying her books.

Pumping Your Muse (Creative writing book)

Windwalker (Fantasy)

Beyond the Fifth Gate (Fantasy)

Create mood with setting

If you write character driven fiction, it's easy to overlook setting details that add to your character's mood. Today's prompt practices pulling details from the world around you and using them to set the mood. For example, yesterday I noticed a bird:

Charcoal clouds blanketed the sky where it met with the pale yellow horizon. The silhouette of a single bird flapped steadily toward the light. Does it feel as alone as I do?

When I saw the bird, I didn't feel alone. I thought the bird might feel alone. No flock. This opening creates a lonely, perhaps dark feel but offers hope (the light). It provided potential as a great story starter.

 

Today's Pumping Your Muse prompt

Throughout the day, practice looking at the world around you. Look for small details that might otherwise go unnoticed like the yellow mushrooms above, and pull them into a sentence or two to create mood within a setting. What made you notice the detail? Was it a sound, color, a fragrance, or the way the light hit it? These small details engage the reader.

Save your sentences in your story starters file to use when you need a jump start for a new story.

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About The Inheritance by Donna Sundblad

Written within the allegorical tradition of classics like Pilgrim's Progress, The Inheritance offers a literal but symbolic story for today's fantasy enthusiasts. This cleverly devised tale doesn't tell you what to think, but stimulates thought as to why you believe what you believe in your own quest for the Eternal City. The Inheritance is an ideal discussion starter for youth groups, homeschoolers, and families who enjoy meaningful discussions. 

 

The Inheritance is available on Kindle, paperback on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo (Christian fiction), Smashwords and Google Books. When you read it, be sure to leave a review! Thanks for your support. 

 

Coming soon! Dragonborn by Donna Sundblad

Dragonborn conjures up a winning fantasy with dragons, humans, time travel, and magic. Follow the journey of the young prisonguard, Ervig Greenfields, as he seeks out dragons to remove a curse. The dragons offer him access to the Labyrinth of Times, which will purge the dark magic. But there’s a catch. Erving must take the Dragon Oath that requires allegiance--to fight alongside dragons for centuries, never to return to his own time. He and a handful of others take the selfless oath and become Dragonborn. The Dragonborn and their dragons become seeds of change, in this epic tale, of sacrifice for the greater good. Ride along with them as they slip through a tear in time to the past to change the future.

Don't Go There

How often have you read a book or watched a movie where a character heads into the dark cellar, up to the rooftop, or steps outside to check out a noise and your mind screams, DON'T GO THERE. If that has happened to you, then the writer has done their job. They've laid the groundwork to create that tension and conflict. Today's prompt will help you practice those skills.

Today's Pumping Your Muse Prompt:

Create a scene involving risk. If you don't have an idea, use one of the following story prompts:

*Character peers through a crack in the curtains
*Door banging in the wind
*First babysitting job
*Meeting a blind date
*Look for missing pet
*Running from one bad situation into another
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To support the author of this blog, consider buying her books.

Pumping Your Muse (Creative writing book)

Windwalker (Fantasy)

Beyond the Fifth Gate (Fantasy)

For more about the author of this blog check out Theinkslinger.net.

I'm Late

Collecting details from real life offers realism to your writing. The trick is to learn to pay attention to those details so you can incorporate them. In the busyness of the holiday season, it's easy to get caught in traffic, a long line, or have the phone ring when you're walking out the door.

Pumping Your Muse Prompt:

Keep a notepad with you and keep notes on running late. (This can give you something to do when your stuck in traffic, or even waiting in line.) To collect the details, answer the following questions:

• How do you feel physically?
• What thoughts run through your mind?
• How do you feel toward those around you?
• How do you treat those around you?
• Do you do or say anything you regret later?
• How do you deal with the stress?

These kinds of details can help deliver an active, engaging scene even when you're character is standing still.

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To support the author of this blog, consider buying her books.

Pumping Your Muse (Creative writing book)

Windwalker (Fantasy)

Beyond the Fifth Gate (Fantasy)

For more about the author of this blog check out Theinkslinger.net.

Light and Shadows

The use of light and shadows makes for an interesting setting. Today's photo prompt doesn't offer a lot of detail for setting. Use light and shadow to create a paragraph or short story based on this Pumping Your Muse photo prompt.
If you need help, ask yourself these questions:

Where is the person going?
Where are they coming from?
How do they feel?
What do they smell?
Why are they there?
Are they from this world?

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If you enjoy prompts, check out Pumping Your Muse. The prompts included in this creative writing book challenge the imagination to take new direction and if followed to the conclusion of the book, provide a detailed outline along with completed scenes and developed characters for one novel, as well as a solid start for a second novel. Also available in ebook.

Also check out my fantasy novels: Windwalker and Beyond the Fifth Gate.

Three word writing prompt

The first story and only mystery I ever had published came about from a three word prompt. These three unrelated words become embedded in the story threads. It's a fun way to pump your muse to head in directions it might not have otherwise considered. Readers will never know where your inspiration came from!

 

Today's Pumping Your Muse 3-word prompt

• Nose
• Yellow
• Sour

 

Photo credits: Anita Gould, pxhere.com

* * *

About The Inheritance by Donna Sundblad

Written within the allegorical tradition of classics like Pilgrim's Progress, The Inheritance offers a literal but symbolic story for today's fantasy enthusiasts. This cleverly devised tale doesn't tell you what to think, but stimulates thought as to why you believe what you believe in your own quest for the Eternal City. The Inheritance is an ideal discussion starter for youth groups, homeschoolers, and families who enjoy meaningful discussions. 

 

The Inheritance is available on Kindle, paperback on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo (Christian fiction), Smashwords and Google Books. When you read it, be sure to leave a review! Thanks for your support. 

 

Coming soon! Dragonborn by Donna Sundblad

Dragonborn conjures up a winning fantasy with dragons, humans, time travel, and magic. Follow the journey of the young prisonguard, Ervig Greenfields, as he seeks out dragons to remove a curse. The dragons offer him access to the Labyrinth of Times, which will purge the dark magic. But there’s a catch. Erving must take the Dragon Oath that requires allegiance--to fight alongside dragons for centuries, never to return to his own time. He and a handful of others take the selfless oath and become Dragonborn. The Dragonborn and their dragons become seeds of change, in this epic tale, of sacrifice for the greater good. Ride along with them as they slip through a tear in time to the past to change the future.

 

Character interview questions

When you start a new story or get bogged down in a work in progress, this creative writing prompt can help you get to know your characters on a new level. Whether you interview your protagonist, antagonist, or a newly forming secondary character, it may draw out the detail that sparks your creativity and not only to further develop your character but adds fodder to pull from as the plot unfolds. 

Today's Writing Prompt: Character interview questions

These character interview questions are broken into three categories: relational, personal, and a which-describes you best section.
 
Relational:

1. How old are you?
2. Where were you born?
3. Who do you look like? Your mother, father, or someone else?

   

   Creating Character Arcs Workbook

4. Do you have any brothers or sisters?
5. Are you married or single?
6. Do you have someone you care about?
7. Did you or do you know your grandparents?
8. Is anyone in your family famous?
9. Are your parents still living?
10. Are you adopted?

Personal:

1. What do you like to drink?
2. Are you a morning person?
3. What are your hobbies or interests?
4. What do you do for a living?
5. What is your education level?
6. What's your favorite food (or drink)?
7. Where did you grow up?
8. What do you hope to accomplish in the future?
9. Do you like to read?
10. Where are you going?

Which describes you best?

1. Nervous or calm
2. Teacher or student
3. Leader or follower
4. Brave or fearful
5. Religious or superstitious
6. Humble or proud
7. Tall or short?
8. Long hair or short?
9. Honest, stretch the truth when necessary, or all out liar
10. Introvert or extrovert

If you have other questions or suggestions to add to this list, please be sure to comment.

Some links in this post are affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to amazon.com and affiliate sites.

 

Thanks so much for being part of our success.

Photo credits: pixabay, pixabay

* * *

About The Inheritance by Donna Sundblad

Written within the allegorical tradition of classics like Pilgrim's Progress, The Inheritance offers a literal but symbolic story for today's fantasy enthusiasts. This cleverly devised tale doesn't tell you what to think, but stimulates thought as to why you believe what you believe in your own quest for the Eternal City. The Inheritance is an ideal discussion starter for youth groups, homeschoolers, and families who enjoy meaningful discussions. 

 

The Inheritance is available on Kindle, paperback on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo (Christian fiction), Smashwords and Google Books. When you read it, be sure to leave a review! Thanks for your support. 

Coming soon! Dragonborn by Donna Sundblad

Dragonborn conjures up a winning fantasy with dragons, humans, time travel, and magic. Follow the journey of the young prisonguard, Ervig Greenfields, as he seeks out dragons to remove a curse. The dragons offer him access to the Labyrinth of Times, which will purge the dark magic. But there’s a catch. Erving must take the Dragon Oath that requires allegiance--to fight alongside dragons for centuries, never to return to his own time. He and a handful of others take the selfless oath and become Dragonborn. The Dragonborn and their dragons become seeds of change, in this epic tale, of sacrifice for the greater good. Ride along with them as they slip through a tear in time to the past to change the future.

Verbal Brushstrokes

Have you ever happened upon an artist with their easel set up painting the local scenery? Today we're going to do much the same with verbal brushstrokes.

Pumping Your Muse Prompt:
Today's photo prompt is an exercise in introducing your setting. Over and over, we are warned to show not tell. Today's prompt is no different. Show this scene on paper. Feel free to incorporate characters, for one of the best ways to actively introduce detail is through a character's eyes. Within the scene you develop answer these questions:

*Why are they there?
*What do they see?
*How do they feel?
*What do they smell?

Of course you can answer plenty more questions if the scene takes off.

* * *

If you enjoy prompts, check out Pumping Your Muse for Kindle. The prompts included in this creative writing book challenge the imagination to take new direction and if followed to the conclusion of the book, provide a detailed outline along with completed scenes and developed characters for one novel, as well as a solid start for a second novel.