Add a new element discover a different story

Changing one element can transform a single scene into a whole new story. Today’s prompt is inspired by my interrupted sleep the last couple of nights. Two nights ago, my sleep was interrupted by slashes of red emergency lights swirling through the cracks in the window blinds, followed by a bright white light. I peeked through the blinds to see an ambulance in the neighbor’s driveway. It is the third ambulance visit in two months. I could go on and tell you more, but I’m not telling the story, I’m just including a few of the elements that kept me awake for two hours before finally going back to bed.

The next night, stormy weather blew through with a vengeance. Rain, wind, lightning--and the cat was outside. I hurried to the door. When I opened it, he ran up the stairs, grumbling at me with each step. I wiped him off with the cat towel, gave him a few treats, and headed back to bed. I just about drifted back to sleep when the cat stood at the bedside wanting to go out. Furious gusts of wind rattled the windows. “You’re not going out right now.”

He disagreed. The driving winds and rain were freaking him out.  And so I was not going back to sleep for the moment. Finally, the storm subsided and the cat went out and I went back to bed.

Both of these stories take place at night, when I should have been sleeping. Different life elements entered the scene and changed the story. That’s what today’s writing prompt is going to help you discover.

Change the weather—change the story

For today’s writing prompt, choose an existing scene from your WIP or a stale story you've set aside. If you don’t have one, write up a quick one based on one of these story starters:

• Changing a tire
• Going to the grocery store
• Teaching someone to drive
• Looking for your pet outside

Now, take your scene and rewrite it adding a change in the weather. If it was a summer scene, make it a winter scene. If it had been sunny, make it rainy. You get the idea. What you change is up to you. It doesn't have to be an opposite, just something different.

Element ideas to add:

• Wind: blustery wind, a light breeze, no wind, tornadic wind, calm
• Rain/snow: driving rain, rain showers, a rainbow, lightning, thunder, rain mixed with sleet, blizzard, first snow, dirty snow, melting snow
• Sun/Moon: Partial sunlight/moonlight, noonday sun, clouds with no moon or sun, lighting other than sun or moon (spaceship, comet, vehicle headlights, etc.)

Changing a single element can help you discover something new. It may even add a layer of complexity to your character or plot.  

About Donna Sundblad's Dragonborn

Contact dragonbornbooks @ gmail for a free review copy of Dragonborn.