Details and Setting

In writing, small details make setting come to life. They draw the reader in with visuals. These details can also set the scene within a time in history.

For example consider something as simple as a clock. If you read a scene about a young wife winding her clock before climbing into bed, or staring at the second hand sweeping over glow in the dark numbers and falling asleep to the steady tick-tick-tick...when you move on to show she is thinking about her husband in the war and longing for a letter to arrive by mail the small details put you in the past to WWI or WWII...maybe the Korean war or even the Viet Nam War.

On the other hand, if the young wife checks the clock in the lower right hand corner of her computer screen and double checks her email one more time for a message from her husband who is away at war...the clock and other details helps set the time of the story to more recent history.

Pumping Your Muse Prompt

For today's prompt write 2-3 paragraphs for one or more of these items. Set each paragraph in a different time.

Clock

Coffee maker/pot

Getting the news

Shoes

Donna Sundblad
Author of Pumping Your Muse

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Check out my latest interview at Stories That Read You.And my 4 star review for Beyond the Fifth Gate at Teens Read Too!

Feed the Senses

Using sound is one way to reach your audience's senses and pull them into your story. Today's prompt is a first sentence that includes sound:

Pumping Your Muse Prompt

Start a short story with this sentence:

Hot bath water seeped into my ears and magnified the sound of my rushing heart with a steady swish, swish, swish.

Scary Story

Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha. It's the time of year for scary stories. Whether you write fiction or nonfiction there's just something fun about trying to write a scary story with a beginning middle and an end that leaves your readers thinking and maybe even a little creeped out. Today's prompt is going to challenge you to do just that.

Pumping Your Muse Prompt:

Write a story based on this photo that is told from a ghost's POV, but try not to let that secret out until the end of the story.

Have fun!

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Check out Donna Sundblad's latest interview at Authors Unleashed

Buy Donna Sundblad's books:
Windwalker
Beyond the Fifth Gate
Pumping Your Muse

Character Depvelopment

Character development is an important aspect of any story, whether it's a short story or a novel length project. For today's post take an existing character from a work in progress or use it to start a new story.

Pumping Your Muse Prompt

Write a scene that offers a visual image of your character and also reveals something about the inner character. Link the character's appearance to their personality.

If you don't have one in mind, use this image to pump your muse.

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Check out my latest radio interview: Back Story - The Behind the Scenes Look at Writing

Fact Stranger than Fiction

Many days I hear things in the news that make me think, "If this happened 30 years ago, people would say, 'That would never happen.'" Today's prompt will be stimulated by news I came across in recent days.

Pumping Your Muse Prompt

If you want to write a political thriller there's plenty of fodder in the news to use as a springboard, but for the rest of you out there here are a few possibilities to oil your muse's gears.

Secret tunnels under the city

Helmsley's Dog Gets $12 Million in Will

Girl Sues Dad over Grounding -- and Wins

Choosing Your Baby's Gender

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Check out Donna Sundblad's latest interview at Authors Unleashed

Buy Donna Sundblad's books:
Windwalker
Beyond the Fifth Gate
Pumping Your Muse

Pumping Your Muse Story Starter

It's a holiday weekend and what a great time to write a story. Here's a story starter prompt for today. Place your story in this setting:

Pumping Your Muse Prompt

In a kingdom of secrets, in an era of danger and lies, two travelers and a philosopher hope to participate in the greatest fighting tournament of history.

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Check out my latest radio interview: Back Story - The Behind the Scenes Look at Writing

It's Alive

Before we talk about today's prompt, I want to point you to a story based on the Flyswatter prompt from last week. The Day of Small Things can be found on "My Scattered Stories". It has a Twilight Zone feel to it, so if you like that kind of thing, be sure to stop by for a break from reality.

Today's prompt is inspired by my childhood when I believed my toys came to life at midnight while I slept. I used to line up stuffed animals on my pillow until there was no room for my head. After all I wanted them to be comfortable! I converted other kids in the neighborhood to be believers. Mothers would call my mom to complain their children would not go to sleep at night because they were waiting for their toys to come to life!

Pumping Your Muse Prompt
Many a horror movie depicts inanimate objects that come to life. We have the car in Christine...houses that take over with garbage disposals, stoves and other items taking charge, or the classic Frankenstein. In space, things like the computer Hal takes over in 2001. I could make a list of such stories, but I don't want to tarnish the path your muse will follow for this one. For today's pumping your muse prompt, breathe life into something unexpected. If you choose something from the plant world give it the ability to reason and make it mobile. The same goes for choosing anything from the insect world. This can be fun, scary or somewhere in between. Enjoy!

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Check out Donna Sundblad's latest interview at Authors Unleashed

Buy Donna Sundblad's books:
Windwalker
Beyond the Fifth Gate
Pumping Your Muse

Dirty Water

Writing prompts that include a verb and noun that don't seem to logically go together can stimulate new creative paths that grow into an interesting plot or storyline. Today's prompt was inspired by an old song I heard on the radio this morning when my dreams met the half-light of dawn.

Pumping Your Muse Prompt:

Here are a couple of word combinations that will collide to ignite your muse!

• Love that dirty water.
• Itch I don't want to scratch.

Write a paragraph or scene based on one of the above.


Today's photo provided by SEPpics's

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Check out my latest radio interview: Back Story - The Behind the Scenes Look at Writing

Flyswatter Prompt

Sorry I've been absent. I'm immersed in writing the sequel to Beyond the Fifth Gate and working on a non-fiction book for the homeschool market on top of my freelancing...and then there's family, the garden...well you get the drift.

Even with all that, I've thought of a few different prompts that I should have stopped by to post. Here's one to have fun with.

Pumping Your Muse Prompt
Write a story based on a man or woman obsessed and carrying a flyswatter. I don't want to say more or I may taint your imagination rather than inspire it. Have fun with this one.
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Check out my latest interview at Stories That Read You.And my 4 star review for Beyond the Fifth Gate at Teens Read Too!

One Sentence

 While helping my husband apply film to our south-facing windows today, I stared at my image as I grasped the sheet of film with my hands over my head. I held and he sprayed it with water. My image reflected clearly but adding the water changed the reflection. As he sprayed, it shimmered like in a pond...but clearer. Of course my mind went to the possibility of a fantasy story. In my book, Dragonborn, some characters have the ability to scry--to see or predict the future by means of visions seen in water or a ball of crystal. What they see can be encouraging, frightening, and at times even confusing.

 

Today's Pumping Your Muse Prompt

Your challenge today is to use this sentence in a short story. Don't just tell what your character sees, but show how they feel. How does it affects their actions based on their feelings and decisions. Write from a first person point of view, or change things up and show it from a different POV.

"The image shimmered as if in a liquid mirror. "

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News to Muse

You never know what it is that strikes inspiration into the heart of the muse. We have an intersection near our home that is dangerous. Hills that make it hard to see, narrow roads, only a two way stop. Driving through that intersection has planted the seed for a story, but my story involves time travel. The ways of the muse are marvelously creative.

Pumping Your Muse Prompt:

Today we'll expose our muse to the news. Take a look at the following headlines and see which one tickles your muse. Write down ideas as they come to you and write an opening paragraph to capture the idea generated by the news story.




-->

• Mysterious, Glowing Clouds Appear Across America’s Night Skies
• Solar Eclipse Pits Superstition Against Science
• 3 Men Injured by Falling Tree During Sonoma County Triathlon
• San Diego Judge Orders Seals Out of Artificial Cove

There are a variety of choices here. I'd love to hear where your muse takes you on this one!

Donna Sundblad
Author of Pumping Your Muse

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Check out my latest interview at Stories That Read You. And my 4 star review for Beyond the Fifth Gate at Teens Read Too!

Then and Now

Today's writing prompt we're going to use history to help develop a scene. This prompt was inspired by the most recent Twilight Zone marathon. One of the episodes had a scene of children playing. Some on a teeter totter, a few jumping rope, and other such activities. Simple...active and having fun. I thought of children today and how the scene might be in front of a screen of some sort...TV, computer, maybe even a game of some sort to which they are plugged in electronically.

Pumping Your Muse Prompt

Today's prompt will will generate two scenes. One "Then" and one "Now". Have fun with it. If you want to go back to the 1940's, medieval times...or whenever you want, that's fine. OR if you want to flip the exercise you can go into the future for your "Then" scene. Use the following triggers for an idea, or create one of your own.

*Eating Dinner
*Going to a place of worship
*Getting married
*Buying groceries
*Visiting a hospital

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Check out my latest interview at Stories That Read You.And my 4 star review at Teens Read Too!

Video Prompt: Night Moves

Yesterday I heard this song on the radio and was actually listening to the lyrics. Images of life flashed memories of other times and then the song surprised me. It applied to today...but that's for me. It stimulated my muse to write an inspirational story. Not that I'm saying that's what you'll write, but I challenge you to listen to this whole song and while you do, jot down your thoughts. From that list of thoughts develop a story or poem.

Pumping Your Muse Prompt:


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Check out my latest interview at Stories That Read You.
And my 4 star review at Teens Read Too!

Picture Prompt: The Doll

Subtle details weave through a story line to give readers the information they need to know, to engage them, as they not only wonder what happens next but also what has happened in the past, Such a detail may lead to the ah-ha moment that brings the entire plot together. I think of the Planet of the Apes when they found the doll that said, "Mama."

Pumping Your Muse Prompt:

Today's prompt is The Doll. Write a three to five paragraphs scene based on this photo. I'd love to hear what you did with this one!

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Stop by Dayana Knight's blog for my guest post on The Why Behind the Setting.

Pacing and Sentence Structure

Good writers use varied sentence structure for effective pacing. When you use repetitious sentence patterns it is much like talking in a monotone...boring.

Pumping Your Muse Prompt

For today's prompt choose something you've already written and check your sentences. The most common pattern you see is a simple subject and verb sentence. Include shorter sentences to add tension, While working on your sentences check for the following:

Omit the and how, or and then

Check your pronouns to be sure they reflect back to the correct noun

Look for awkward sentences -- these become clear when you read your work outloud

Vary the length of your sentences to keep the story interesting and moving forward.

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Stop by Dayana Knight's blog this Friday where I'll be stopping by for a guest post on creating an effective setting.

The Itch

Learning to show rather than tell your story takes practice. Today we'll use an itch to practice this skill. Today we'll take a little itch and use it as a prompt to help develop a scene that challenges you to show the itch.


Pumping Your Muse Prompt
Think about it. If you say your character has an itch people know what that means, but they don't necessarily feel it or understand if it is a slight sensation that's going away or something more. Is it a deep itch that almost drives your character crazy? Is it a foreshadowing of something more to come? Such as the first symptom of a pandemic? Or something less threatening like lice or poison ivy?

Write a short scene or story based on the itch.

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Check out my latest interview at Stories That Read You.And my 4 star review at Teens Read Too!

Beyond the Norm

When I was a kid my imagination often crossed the barriers reality tried to keep in place. As a writer, prompts help me cross those barriers today so I can tap into that carefree imagination. Today we're going to kindle our senses with the use of various settings.

Today's Pumping Your Muse Prompt
Use the following settings to tickle your senses. Write down the smells, sounds, and less noticeable sights you'd see.

*Fresh water lake
*The gym
*Church
*Cafeteria
*National park

When your done, make a list of possible story ideas that come to mind.

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Check out my latest interview at Stories That Read You.And my 4 star review at Teens Read Too!

First Sentence

I received good news from one of my Pumping Your Muse Prompts followers. She has had a story accepted! The only way to have a story published is to write and submit! Congratulations Amy

Pumping Your Muse Prompt:

Today we have a first sentence prompt. Use it as the first sentence of a short story. This one can take all kinds of directions. Have fun.

First sentence: Angela wanted to cry.

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Check out my latest interview at Stories That Read You.And my 4 star review at Teens Read Too!

3 Words Writing Prompt

I know I've been more sporadic than ever with posting prompts, but I must confess--the characters in my Beyond the Fifth Gate sequel have taken me captive! The working title for the new book is Lost Cantos and I'm loving the creation process--but it certainly is time consuming. In the meantime, I just have to post a prompt.

Pumping Your Muse Prompt:
It's been awhile since we've done a three word writing prompt. I have a fondness for them because such a prompt was behind one of the first stories I ever had published. The idea is to use these three words in a story:

*spark
*garden
*phone call

OR

*tooth
*broom
*television

Have fun!

Laughing at Back Trouble

Back trouble is not a laughing matter in real life, but it can be used for comedic effect in your writing. Placing a character in an unexpected situation can cause conflict, growth and all that, but if you use it right, it can make the reader laugh. Writing for comedic effect is like breathing for those who have the knack, but for those of us who like to laugh but don't have that gift, it takes some work. Today's prompt is designed to help us flex our comedic writing muscle.

Pumping Your Muse Prompt:

Place your character in a setting where they think they are asserting their independence--and then it strikes--back trouble. They can't straighten up, or can't walk. Can hardly move. You get the picture. If you don't know where to start, try one of the following settings:

*The garden
*The shower
*A public restroom
*A job interview
*Camping
*The kitchen

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Check out my latest interview at Stories That Read You.And my 4 star review at Teens Read Too!