The Story Behind the Lyrics

Songs are inspired and inspiring. Today, we'll use a song as the prompt. Turn on the radio or use one of the following songs as the springboard to develop a new short story or maybe a poem. I've picked songs with plenty of possibilities. Have fun!

Today's Pumping Your Muse Video Prompts:

Spring Is In the Air

After enduring winter's cold, snow, and winds for months, we all look forward to spring! Here in NW Georgia splashes of color decorate the dead-looking landscape as the first signs of spring bloom. Daffodils, Bradford pear trees, and even dandelions renew that feeling of hope that comes with the newness that bursts forth.

Yesterday was the first day of Spring and while buds and blossoms burst on the scene, that doesn't mean the cold is gone. I've learned not to put my garden in until April, because covering the plants to protect them from the hard frost is not--well let's say it's not fun.

Pumping Your Muse Prompt
Spring will be the platform for today's prompt. The setting is Springtime. Where you are in the world is up to you. The element to add to your story: Irony.

The definition: "a technique of indicating, as through character or plot development, an intention or attitude opposite to that which is actually or ostensibly stated." (Dictionary.com)

Write three to five paragraphs. This one should be fun!

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

Pumping Your Muse (Creative writing book)
Windwalker (Fantasy) - Check out the latest 5 star review at Amazon
Beyond the Fifth Gate (Fantasy) - Check out the latest 5 star review at Amazon

The Birds

We've enjoyed some much needed rain here in NW Georgia, and yesterday afternoon when the sun decided to come out for a little while the cacophony of bird calls was amazing. When I moved to FL I experienced a whole new world of feathered friends, and now in GA my feeders attract even another variety. Today's prompt is inspired by these beautiful creatures.

Pumping Your Muse Prompt

Different birds frequent different parts of the world. That in itself can be used as a way to introduce where your characters live. Their reaction to the creature can also tell the reader something about the story. For example, if your character sees their first bluebird ever, that tells you they are new to the area, and it also introduces the setting.

The character's reaction can also introduce more personal details. If the bluebird brings to mind the song "Hey Mr. Bluebird" that gives a clue to the character's age, or a relationship with an older person who taught them the song. If the bird's striking colors amaze them as they watch it land in the bare branches of a tree in the back yard, it gives an idea of season.

Write a scene or short story in which you use a bird to introduce details of the story.

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

Pumping Your Muse (Creative writing book)
Windwalker (Fantasy) - Check out the latest 5 star review at Amazon
Beyond the Fifth Gate (Fantasy)

Subtle Sounds

Incorporating details that feed the reader's sensory receptors draws them into the story and helps them live within the pages. The trick is to feed the senses in a way that the reader can experience what is happening rather than telling them what is going on. For today's prompt we'll use a subtle sound as a springboard.

Today's Pumping Your Muse Prompt:

Use one of the following sounds to introduce your story:

*Dripping water
*Stomach growling
*A sneeze
*Clearing the throat
*Blood pulsing in the ears

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

Pumping Your Muse (Creative writing book)
Windwalker (Fantasy) - Check out the latest 5 star review at Amazon
Beyond the Fifth Gate (Fantasy)

Enter the Unexpected

Have you started a story that you like, but don't know where to take it? Has your interesting character lost his/her flavor? Today's prompt is designed to help you get that story unstuck and infuse the plot with an unexpected element of conflict that will increase tension and the need to for resolution.


Today's Pumping Your Muse Prompt

Take an unfinished scene or short story that remains incomplete because you don't know what to do with it. Pump new life into it with the unexpected. Add one of the following unexpected elements and see where it takes you:

*Lost job
*Pregnancy
*Lost child
*Puppy
*Car wreck
*Death of a loved one

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

Pumping Your Muse (Creative writing book)
Windwalker (Fantasy) - Check out the latest 5 star review at Amazon
Beyond the Fifth Gate (Fantasy)

The Story You See - Video Prompt

Today we'll try a video prompt. As individuals we take in sensory information and our imaginations absorb what we see guiding each of us down different creative paths. Watch the following video without sound. Based on what you see, write a short story or scene.

Today's Pumping Your Muse Prompt:

Watch the following scene without sound. Based on what you see, write a short story or scene. Be sure to include the senses--including the sense of smell.



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

Pumping Your Muse (Creative writing book)
Windwalker (Fantasy) - Check out the latest 5 star review at Amazon
Beyond the Fifth Gate (Fantasy)

Welcome to My World

Where do you start your story? Once you write the first draft of a story, it's not unusual to find the hook in the third paragraph or even the third page. Before you can identify the hook, though, you have to write the story. Today's prompt gently carries us into a new scene or short story, and then identify your hook. Determine where the story really starts and cut what isn't needed.

If you want to write a novel, a prompt introducing your world may produce an exciting scene that ends up in the middle of your book. For example, in my fantasy novel Windwalker, my protagonist heard a noise. Something large crashing through the forest. The ground rumbled beneath his feet. When I started writing, I had no idea what made that noise.

Whether you're writing a short story or a novel, the key is to write!

Today's Pumping Your Muse Prompt

Use one of the following to introduce your world:

*A leaf falling from a tree
*A deer raising its head, ears alert
*A butterfly dancing on a summer's breeze
*The sound of water trickling
*The smell of smoke

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

Pumping Your Muse (Creative writing book)
Windwalker (Fantasy) - Check out the latest 5 star review at Amazon
Beyond the Fifth Gate (Fantasy)

Wake Up Call

It's almost time to change the clocks again, and we lose and hour. Not that we really lose it, but we shuffle it around in way that thrusts us into the dark when the alarm goes off. Marking this "special" occasion today's prompt is a first sentence prompt.

Today's Pumping Your Muse Prompt

Write a scene or short story using the following sentence as your first sentence:

Dawn's light crept across the cold floorboards and in the distance the old rooster crowed.

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

Pumping Your Muse (Creative writing book)
Windwalker (Fantasy) - Check out the latest 5 star review at Amazon
Beyond the Fifth Gate (Fantasy)

Childhood Nightmares

As children, things that go bump in the night can be very real. I have one sister who refused to sleep next to the wall for years following a Twilight Zone 1962 episode Little Girl Lost where a girl slips though the wall next to her bed into another dimension. When her father hears her cries and figures it out, to his dismay he realizes the hole is closing. Can he pull her back to her life in the real world in time?

Today's Pumping Your Muse Prompt

Travel back to the fears you lived as a child. Pull one of those from the memory shelf in your mind, dust it off and pump it up with a dose of high adrenaline imagination! Now take that fear and put it in a setting where it can grow. Write a scene that makes your fear real to anyone who reads it. BOO!

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

Pumping Your Muse (Creative writing book)
Windwalker (Fantasy) - Check out the latest 5 star review at Amazon
Beyond the Fifth Gate (Fantasy)

Beyond Writer's Block

Some writers say there's no such thing as writer's block, but for others it is a REAL dilemma. Today's prompt offers three ways to get beyond writer's block.

Today's Pumping Your Muse Prompt:

If you're experiencing writer's block, choose one of the following to inspire your muse:

Challenge yourself to write 100 words a day for 7 days on any subject
Choose a character from your work in progress and interview them
Write a scene from your work in progress from another character's POV (point of view)
Choose a scene from your story and rewrite it at another time of day

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

Pumping Your Muse (Creative writing book)
Windwalker (Fantasy) - Check out the latest 5 star review at Amazon
Beyond the Fifth Gate (Fantasy)

Three Word Writing Prompt

Following a three word prompt is a great way to discover a story you never knew was in you. While the words may seem unrelated at first glance, once they find their way into your prose you may be surprised by the world and characters they generate.

Today's Pumping Your Muse Prompt:

Use these three words in a short story:

• smile
• test
• dog

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

Pumping Your Muse (Creative writing book)
Windwalker (Fantasy)
Beyond the Fifth Gate (Fantasy)

F E A R

Fear. A real emotion that affects people in different ways. Sometimes it's a motivator and for others it may paralyze.


Pumping Your Muse Prompt:
Today's prompt is to write a four-paragraph scene dealing with fear. The first paragraph should begin with the, letter "F", paragraph two with the letter "E", number three with "A" and the concluding paragraph with the letter "R".

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

Pumping Your Muse (Creative writing book)
Windwalker (Fantasy)
Beyond the Fifth Gate (Fantasy)

Family Photo Prompt

Family photos freeze a moment in time--though many of them are quite unnatural, little hits can tell the real story. Today's prompt takes an old family photo. Your challenge is to tell a story based on what the photo shows you.

Today's Pumping Your Muse Prompt:

Write a short story based on this photo.

If you're wondering where to start pay attention to the following:

*Whose coat is buttoned and why?
*Are shoes shined?
*Where are their hands?
*Who is smiling--or trying not to smile?
*What does the body language tell you?

Every family has it's little secrets and those who know them can tell a very good story. Have fun!

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

Pumping Your Muse (Creative writing book)
Windwalker (Fantasy)
Beyond the Fifth Gate (Fantasy)

The Unexpected

Today's prompt is inspired by the news. Did you hear the story about the man making his first skydive who found himself strapped to an instructor who died midair from a heart attack? Talk about the unexpected!

The skydiver drew from what experience he did have to survive: army training not to panic and what he learned from TV about pulling toggles to steer the parachute.

What can we take from this true story?

Fictional characters draw on past experience to make it through the unexpected.

 

Today's Writing Prompt: The Unexpected

Place your character in an everyday situation where things go wrong. This will be a "growing" experience. It stretches them beyond their original parameters and leaves them changed. It also creates conflict within the plot and draws a reader in to find out what happens next.

Choose one of the following situations (or one of your own), add an element of the unexpected and bring your character through it. Create the element of conflict and tension and bring it to resolution.

*First date
*Learning to drive
*Babysitting
*First day on the job
*Deep sea fishing

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

The Inheritance (Christian Fantasy)

Dragonborn (Epic Fantasy)

Story Starter

Engaging the senses as a writer is an important element whether you're writing fiction or non fiction. Some senses are more neglected than others. One of these is hearing. In chapter 3 of my book, Pumping Your Muse, I include an exercise to help develop sensory balance in your writing. It doesn't always come naturally, but with practice it will.

Consider this: If you write a scene with no sound...no smells, it's not a realistic world and you give your readers and incomplete experience.

Today's prompt is a "First Line" prompt that includes a sound. As subtle as this sound is, it can be used to create suspense, introduce humor...well I won't say more. I want it to be your idea. The flavor of the story will depend on the characters. Who is making the sound and who is hearing it. I'd love to hear what you do with this one!

Pumping Your Muse Prompt:

Footfalls shuffled across the hardwood floor.

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

Pumping Your Muse (Creative writing book)
Windwalker (Fantasy)
Beyond the Fifth Gate (Fantasy)

Character Reputation

New writers often hear from editors that their character's are "thin" or "two-dimensional". Part of developing a character is to create a reputation that comes through on the written page. It helps the reader form an opinion of whether or not they like or trust the character. This doesn't mean you tell the reader that your protagonist is a tough guy or a sweet girl. Instead, the key is to let the reader rub elbows with your characters so they walk away with their own impressions.

Pumping Your Muse Writing Prompt:

Today's prompt challenges you to create a character's reputation. It may or may not reflect who they really are, but that's not issue for this prompt.

Write up to three paragraphs which introduce a character. Visually develop the character's reputation--but here's the snag. Write this scene without the use of dialog. Instead use:

*Setting
*Body language
*Manner and style of dress
*Other people's reaction to the character

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

I Remember

At a recent Writer's Guild meeting we did an exercise called, "I Remember". This exercise prompted a number of good story ideas, and it amazed me how I started with one memory and ended up recalling things long forgotten and seemingly unrelated to where I started. For today's prompt, we're going to remember prompted by topic.

Pumping Your Muse Prompt:

Choose one of the topics below. Take five minutes to write your memories. If you choose politics, you may start with: I remember where I was when Kennedy was shot. Your memories don't have to stay on topic, but instead each one will be used as a trigger. For example, if you were in seventh grade when Kennedy was shot, your memories may include: the name carved in my desk or the fountain pen I used. Let the memories flow. Here are the topics to get your started:

• Politics
• Family
• Childhood
• Work
• Vacation
• Things that scare me

Once you finish your list, choose one memory and write one to three paragraphs on the subject.

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

Pumping Your Muse (Creative writing book)
Windwalker (Fantasy)
Beyond the Fifth Gate (Fantasy)

Simple Pleasures

When you read the title of today's prompt what came to mind? I don't want to say too much to color you're thoughts, but will give you the example that inspired this prompt.

I live in northern Georgia where the weather is usually moderate. Last night we had a dusting of snow that had disappeared by morning, but it's still below freezing. My son-in-law sprayed part of the driveway with water to form a slick surface and this morning the grandkids are slipping and sliding. A simple pleasure.



Today's Pumping Your Muse Prompt:

Close your eyes and recall your childhood. Things that thrilled you then that may seem "childish" or "mundane" may actually shine the creative light on simple pleasure. For example, I used to have a specific bedtime, but one night a week I was allowed to stay up and keep my mom company and watch Twilight Zone and the Untouchables. The rest of the kids were in bed. I shared popcorn and TV with mom. A simple pleasure.

Here are a few idea prompters:
*Playing outside (pick a season)
*Tasty delight
*Using your imagination
*Favorite place to go
*Your bedroom
*Favorite toy

Once you decide on a single simple pleasure write a paragraph or two describing the experience. Include the senses and write it from a child's POV.
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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)

Unprepared

Conflict is part of every good story. One way to introduce this element is to create a character who is unprepared for upcoming circumstances. It's a form of character flaw that makes room for the growth that will take place on the hero's journey. In fact, this is one of the ways many literary heroes are born. They're unprepared on the front end of the story which leads to failure in some sense...but this failure or flaw is the catalyst for growth. Most often it is the first step toward change and equips the hero with skills needed at the story's climax.

Pumping Your Muse Prompt:

For today's prompt, will play with the front end of this concept. Let's create a character who is unprepared. Here are a few prompts to get the ideas pumping. Just place your character in one of the following scenarios or choose one of your own:

*snowfall in a moderate climate
*bump into the "ex" who is with someone else
*accidentally locked in a small room (claustrophobic)
*pet goes missing
*coworker has a gun in the desk drawer
*car spins out on ice

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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)

Current Events

In my book, Pumping Your Muse, you'll find a writing exercise that deals with watching the news to help you develop your evil character. For today's prompt will turn to the news one more time.

Pumping Your Muse Prompt:

Choose a news story that really grabs your attention? As yourself why? Why do you care?

Now take this element and weave it into a story. Start your character in the ordinary world and use your news element to thrust him into the special world that will test him.

For example, if the story is about people held hostage, the story may grip you because you fear for the people. That's the element you would want to bring to your story. You would create a slice-of-life scene that gets turned upside down to grab your readers because they fear for your character's lives.

Let me know if you have questions on this one. I know it is a little outside the box.

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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)