Category Archives: WP 2011

Archive of Daily Writing Prompts
from TC’s Calendar

December 2011
Daily Writing Prompts

Posted on December 31, 2011 by TC Editors

1. A maintenance man with Tourette syndrome.
2. A Klezmer band.
3. Write a poem or short story woven around your three favorite colors.
4. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter
   1. Use the following five words: glazed, splinter, quiet, stare, overhead.
   2. Fill in the blanks: “are you ____ or not _____?”
   3. Use the phrase, “I feel like a cog in a machine”.
5. “Do you want me to go home?”
6. We knew the river was rising and the rain would continue.
7. He drank Scotch, she Fresca.
8. It was so quiet an acorn’s fall was startling.
9. A person who collects hats.
10. Let the change of seasons reflect your m/c.
11. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter
    1. Use the following five words: prior, making, squinted, mud-caked, although.
    2. Write about something that is made up of (or can be broken into) three or more parts.
    3. Use the phrase, “Is there anything sadder than an unmade pot of coffee?”
12. He took pride in collecting National Geographic magazine.
13. “That woman is a verb short of a sentence.”
14. A recycling bin, 2 fans, and a small propane tank.
15. We were alone in the cold and clammy darkness.
16. Describe the sound(s) of disappointment.
17. Does the temperature ever change in your Utopia?
18. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter
    1. Use the following five words: front, Quasimodo, bass, impatiently, polka (bonus: proximity)
    2. Fill in the blank, “Giving billions to the rich is like ___________ to the poor.”
    3. Include the phrases “Meet you at the party, Richter” and/or “What harm could there be.”
19. Play with math today. See if it can help your creativity.
20. Avoid the letter i today.
21. He looked as fragile as a baby blue bird.
22. Celebrate your ancestry today.
23. Describe a piano to someone who has never seen one.
24. The smell of an old leather bound book.
25. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter
26. Is a paperless world possible? Write about it.
27. Write about the opposite of what this day is for you….weather, emotion,,,
28. He always said blue was his favorite, yet never wore the color. Why?
29. Write about the beauty of one who did not survive a holocaust or genocide.
30. Be a mental grammar maven today, Listen to everyone with that in mind.
31. Time to think about your 2012 writing resolutions.

November 2011
Daily Writing Prompts

Posted on November 30, 2011 by TC Editors

1. Jellyfish tentacles drift through the water
2. Write a story or poem based on an old wives’ tale
3. Set your action during an unexpected early snowstorm
4. “What are you going to do with all of that?”
5. A strip of film negatives found marking a place in an old book
6. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter
   1. Use the following words: enlightenment, disposal, names, smiles, offer
   2. Use the phrase “curious arrangement.”
   3. Write about a reunion.
7. The drive leading to the building could only be described as “treacherous.”
8. Use water or another liquid as a theme or metaphor
9. A box of tissues and a bottle of camphor on a bedside table
10. Camping on a cold, clear autumn night
11. A letter to Santa
12. Use an item within your reach as a clue to a character’s personality
13. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter
    1. Use the following words: control, shape, floor, critical, worried
    2. Use the phrase, “Where did this come from?”
    3. Write about falling behind.
14. Try writing a story or poem in future tense
15. Write a conversation among football players on a field
16. Use in a story/poem: stuff, energize, invade
17. Find an abandoned piece and rewrite, cutting as many adjectives as possible
18. Your MC is shocked by the arrival of a letter or email
19. Open your story with weather different from today’s real weather
20. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter
    1. Use the following five words: morning, slide, seemed, never, dreaming.
    2. Write about illegible handwriting.
    3. Use the phrase, “more than I need”.
21. Follow a character’s morning or evening rituals
22. Write a comic panel or strip
23. The story behind your character’s good luck charm
24. Create the story of a character’s first time doing something
25. Your MC fears someone will discover her/his secret obsession
26. Write the story of a theft from the thief’s perspective
27. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter
    1. Use the following words: time, task, genuine, machine, increased
    2. Use the phrase “I can’t keep track.”
    3. Use the phrase, “not this time.”
28. Fall clean-up: physically clean your writing space & organize your documents
29. Write a memoir pp about a pet you had or fiction about one you wish you had
30. An automatic light that fails to come on prompts the MC’s anxiety

October 2011
Daily Writing Prompts

Posted on October 31, 2011 by TC Editors

1. Dead of Winter Writing Contest opens.
2. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter.
   1. Use the following five words: where, course, survival, situations, slacks.
   2. Fill in the blanks: “you want ____, you got ____”.
   3. Use the phrase, “A funny place to stand.”
3. His good manners were not natural to him.
4. The emotional pain was greater than the physical.
5. Her words were lost in the wind.
6. A clinkery of beer bottles.
7. Use leather, rust and peppermint in a short story or poem.
8. “Give Blood, Play Hockey” Create a t-shirt slogan.
9. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter.
   1. Use the following words: threads, door, cloudy, stops, watch
   2. Write about an experience for which the character has no words.
   3. Fill in the blank: “When in doubt, _____”
10. If you take away knowledge, you create myth.
11. Describe a band setting up for a gig in a new venue.
12. She wore her anger proudly.
13. The path was covered with gem-hard ice.
14. He was so good looking and so unattainable I wanted to weep.
15. The words she spoke, when we woke, still haunt me.
16. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter.
    1. Use the following five words: under, lying, mudcaked, imagination, thought.
    2. Write about running into the same person again and again.
    3. Write about being chosen.
17. He was a famous, but quirky, footnote in history.
18. The invisible connection of friendship.
19. I have grown older and wilder.
20. Write a poem or short story that contains the title of 3 books.
21. Share a meal with your m/c today.
22. Our family tree had poisoned roots.
23. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter.
    1. Use the following words: hands, signs, first, tighter, upward
    2. Write about poor incense management.
    3. Use the phrase, “and that’s what saved my life.”
24. Protected by the purity of nature.
25. Ice covered bushes glittering like chandeliers.
26. An abandoned house with curling shards of paint.
27. I have learned by being burned by misinformation.
28. His apartment decor was economic eclectic.
29. A door covered with peeling peach paint.
30. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter.
    1. Use the following five words: gently, chorus, imagination, himself, burning.
    2. Use the phrase, “My, you’ve changed.”
    3. Fill in the blank: “Is there anything sadder than _____ “.
31. Few believed her, but everyone loved her.

September 2011
Daily Writing Prompts

Posted on September 30, 2011 by TC Editors

1. She eats peach cobbler for breakfast.
2. Two guys ordering Flaming Doctor Peppers.
3. “I have to give the cat her medicine.”
4. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter
   1. Use the following five words: adults, hitting, still, trees, moonlight.
   2. Use the phrase “by the dozen.”
   3. Write about being distracted by a ring or other item someone is wearing.
5. A character who speaks only in cliches.
6. A parent who accompanies his/her child to university.
7. Start with a tweet from a dead writer.
8. If I could live anywhere (real or imagined), it would be…
9. Use a vintage photo as inspiration.
10. “They want to treat the symptoms instead of the cause!”
11. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter
    1. Use the following five words: failure, driving, deeper, rhapsody, orange.
    2. From @bsteitler: ” ‘Just let me finish this train of thought,’ she said, swallowing her beer.”
    3. Write about observing a tradition whose justification is no longer valid.
12. They went to the fair and ate deep-fried Pop-Tarts.
13. A present-day character who repairs typewriters for a living.
14. A room empty except for an unmade bed.
15. MC unable to resist sales on leftover back-to-school supplies.
16. Write about the process of making your favorite meal.
17. “I think my best friend has joined a cult.”
18. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter
    1. Use the following five words: pathways, twirling, maple, surface, before.
    2. Your character is (self-?) introduced in a handful of words.
    3. Write about not being able to remember someone’s name.
19. Finding a shoebox full of Polaroids.
20. Write about a literal or metaphorical quilt.
21. A worn paperback hidden under a mattress.
22. Start with a hashtag that’s trending right now.
23. September Equinox — write about early fall or spring.
24. “Everything’s better with bacon.”
25. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter
    1. Use the following words: curling, unbalanced, frame, without, today
    2. Write about a name-dropper.
    3. Use the phrase: “It doesn’t work that way.”
26. A birthday cake sprinkled in glitter.
27. Cougar (mountain lion) attacks one of your characters.
28. Write about a familiar place now and then.
29. A problem is solved with a handful of jellybeans.
30. MC decides to self-publish or stick rejected 1st novel in drawer.

August 2011
Daily Writing Prompts

Posted on August 31, 2011 by TC Editors

1. She wept mascara.
2. We passed each other without a word.
3. He didn’t have much to do, or any place to do it.
4. Procrastination is the thief of time.
5. “I hope she’s with a good man.”
6. Let your favorite artist inform your writing today.
7. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter
   1. Use the following five words: number, major, gently, spent, them.
   2. Fill in the blank: “A day that will live in ________.”
   3. Write about Zombie X, where X is something zombies usually aren’t.
8. All I woke up with was a hangover.
9. Three times that day she smelled the musk of skunk.
10. They were twined together in a terrible partnership.
11. “Love life and live well.”
12. A pair of sculpted gold hoop earrings on the neck of a wine bottle.
13. The mood was slowly shifting to cheerfulness.
14. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter
    1. Use the following words: reason, origins, credit, impossible, caution
    2. Fill in the blank: “I am a _____”
    3. Write about choosing among more than two options.
15. She had a juicy red face.
16. Inside voices children, inside voices.”
17. The chaos of goodbye.
18. Her blouse was the vivid artificial green of Astroturf.
19. He was no friend, rather a bitter muse.
20. Write a poem or short story about a dying garden.
21. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter
    1. Use the following five words: formation, thump, slowly, inhabit, critters.
    2. Write about something happening in a parallel/dream world.
    3. Use one of the following two phrases: “I’ll buy you a jar of mustard if you’ll be quiet.” Or, “But you guys *said* we were married!”.
22. “This is my sanctuary.”
23. Burglary is thrilling.
24. Kippered herring and saltines kept me alive during my unemployment.
25. He was harder to get rid of than a summer cold.
26. There was no destination in that journey with her.
27. If yesterday had been a fish, I would have thrown it back.
28. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter
    1. Use the following words: certain, liquid, edges, kicked, detail
    2. Use “tone of voice” to describe something that’s silent.
    3. Write about a superpower.
29. He did not take action, he was a result.
30. Write about your favorite color as a texture.
31. He looked like a bulldog with a permanent.

July 2011
Daily Writing Prompts

Posted on July 31, 2011 by TC Editors

1. Write longhand… in a spiral from the inside to the edges of the paper
2. “It’s like I played leapfrog with a herd of unicorns.”
3. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter
   1. Use the following five words: differences, satisfied, taking, large, prevail.
   2. Write about the return, in a new context, of an often uttered phrase.
   3. Write about regrets inspired by forgetfulness.
4. Setting: a hayride during a display of shooting stars
5. “It’s 9:24 on a Tuesday night. Where else do you think I would be?”
6. Write an (alternative) ending to a weird news story
7. Use yesterday’s prompt work as a beginning for a new story/poem
8. W/o planning, write immediately after listening/watching any version of this
9. Write a story/poem about something in your fridge or freezer
10. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter
    1. Use the following words: metal, uniform, false, regardless, gazed
    2. Write about a retail transaction or sale.
    3. Write about multiplying or copying something.
11. Find a song that evokes unique emotions. Listen on repeat while writing.
12. A character carries a $5 bill, two baby teeth, and a bent key
13. Google your first name. Use a result as an opening line or plot complication
14. “I’m sick of being told I’m wrong, especially when I’m not.”
15. “It’s not a seven year itch. It’s a three year glitch.”
16. A warm jar of Nutella with two plastic spoons
17. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter
    1. Use the following five words: leather, necessary, little, being, spirit.
    2. Use the phrase: “for no one.”
    3. Use the phrase “In the fullness of time.”
18. Use a pet peeve as the impetus for the action of your story or poem
19. The answer is more troubling than the question ever was
20. She loves her iguana more than her fiance
21. MC is a florist whose romantic partner is a mortician
22. “Her Facebook profile pics are always either fairies or cats.”
23. Use the a story/poem: blade, dance, edge, curse, leap
24. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter
    1. Use the following words: table, essence, progress, track, night
    2. Write about weeds.
    3. Write about regional/exotic food.
25. The story invented after the fact of the tattoo that tells it
26. He buried his money in canning jars along the edge of a swamp
27. Setting: a traveling chapel in the trailer of an 18-wheeler (articulated lory)
28. “The end of my rope is somewhere up there. The knot unraveled.”
29. An online photo of her pedicure draws the admiration of foot fetishists
30. Eve of Harry Potter’s birthday: Write about turning 11.
31. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter
    1. Use the following words: spent, still, entombed, noting, seethrough.
    2. Bob: make something or someone go poof
    3. bo: Incorporate at least two of the following three — a person, a place, and a pet — using the given fragments: person = “were-[something]”, place = “… of doom”, and pet = “… laser cat …”
    4. sabeth: Fill in the blank: “There’s nothing like _______”
    5. ana: “Zydeco,” she said, and slammed the door.
    6. janra: Include some music that hasn’t been heard for a very long time.
    7. toxicfur: Use the phrase “Where’s the capybara?”
    8. aethucyn: It’s the end: write about death, graduation or closing credits.

June 2011
Daily Writing Prompts

Posted on June 30, 2011 by TC Editors

1. A chorus of lawn mowers and leaf blowers.
2. Use rock, study and parking in a short story or poem.
3. A gray haired man and woman in matching warm-ups.
4. The smell of bacon cooking.
5. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter.
   1. Use the following words: obviously, locked, sitting, degree, meaning
   2. Write about a power failure.
   3. Write about returning to somewhere you haven’t been for a while.
6. He was a man who liked the rhythm of routine.
7. A day when cell phones stopped working.
8. “I’m fed up with being an invalid.”
9. The most dangerous thing in the world is too much safety.
10. A lonely man in crisis.
11. Her smile puffed with importance.
12. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter.
    1. Use the following five words: exact, drifting, wailing, where, needed.
    2. Supply a value for N in the statement: “There are N kinds of people in the world.”
    3. Use the phrase, “The only way I stay in touch with (him/her) is…”.
13. The thick, swirling mist of unknowing.
14. She was comfortable but not content.
15. “Your work is not your life.”
16. The dark fugue of grief.
17. “Do I have to wait long to see you again?”
18. Earth kissed by the fragrance of orchards.
19. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter.
    1. Use the following five words: diagonal, shape, crescendo, little, quiet.
    2. Write about doing something at an unusual time.
    3. Use the phrase, “Ran off with my ______”.
20. Her worry was parasitic, eating her away from the inside.
21. He suffered from personal anarchy.
22. “If I don’t start walking, I’ll lose my balance.”
23. His eyebrows quivered.
24. Any thing outdoors was his life.
25. Use 3 dogs, a wheelbarrow and a box of matches in a poem or short story.
26. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter.
    1. Use the following words: starting, connection, stars, forth, gradually
    2. Write about passing on a message.
    3. Fill in the blank: “______ and love.”
27. Make a collage with your favorite words.
28. Kudzu made the trees look like green ghosts.
29. She was only happy at night.
30. Use the verb career in a poem or short story.

May 2011
Daily Writing Prompts

Posted on May 31, 2011 by TC Editors

1. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter
   1. Use the following words: break, water, left, pause, burned
   2. Write about a near miss.
   3. Use the phrase “just the beginning.”
2. “I’ll have a Coke with no ice and two straws.”
3. Use in a story/poem: laugh, scoop, thrust.
4. Setting: an urban ghost town’s underground tunnels.
5. Work with this as character flaw: temperance.
6. Pink stretch pants and a cup of cold coffee.
7. Write a modern fairy tale or rewrite a classic for today.
8. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter
   1. Use the following five words: bench, drifted, across, weight, shovel.
   2. Write about borrowing or lending something of significant value.
   3. Use the phrase “an abomination would be better.”
9. “If you don’t housebreak that dog, I’m selling it.”
10. Use in a story/poem: display, feather, luminescence.
11. Setting: the interior of a ship.
12. Work with this as character flaw: patience.
13. Three children sneak out of a first floor window.
14. Begin to write a monologue or one-act play.
15. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter
    1. Use the following five words: maple, thick, undulating, smell, seemed.
    2. Write about interrupting someone who’s busy.
    3. Use the phrase “I forgot to say it was a dog.”
16. “We’ll need flashlights, bungee cords, and a tarp.”
17. Use in a story/poem: discipline, mouth, interest.
18. Setting: an idyllic park in a college town.
19. Work with this as character flaw: photo-perfect memory.
20. Cheating on an unwritten test.
21. Find a story fragment and rewrite or continue it.
22. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter
    1. Use the following five words: survival, destiny, portion, right, spirit.
    2. Write about planting corn.
    3. Use an impossible metaphor, such as “it tastes blue, only rounder.”
23. “His money’s so old, it comes in colors.”
24. Use in a story/poem: drink, quench, violet.
25. Setting: the bedroom of a ten year old redheaded boy.
26. Work with this as character flaw: compulsion to be honest.
27. Opened boxes on a porch as a light rain falls.
28. Base a story/poem on one of today’s most popular tweets.
29. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter
    1. Use the following five words: mixing, bottle, trench, glazed, slowly.
    2. Use the phrase “part of me wanted him to be right” (with apologies to @postsecret).
    3. Write about birdsong.
30. “She’ll never remember, no matter what method you try.”
31. Use in a story/poem: cusp, explosion, verify.

April 2011
Daily Writing Prompts

Posted on April 30, 2011 by TC Editors

1. A garden sculpture carved out of a tree stump.
2. His aftershave reminded her of chocolate and basil.
3. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter.
   1. Use the following words: constant, watch, frame, pulse, better
   2. Use the phrases “Can you _____?” and a sarcastic repetition: “*Can* I?”
   3. Write about missed timing.
4. Write a limerick about 1st grade.
5. Light penetrated her blondness.
6. A woman sitting at a bar looking anxious.
7. Describe your m/c’s imaginary Adonis.
8. Uneasy awareness shading into panic.
9. “I’ll never trust a preacher again.”
10. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter.
    1. Use the following five words: untainted, brown, inside, right, therein.
    2. Fill in the blank: “I never thought I’d say this, but _____”.
    3. Write about a toy found out of place, for example, a rubber duckie at sea.
11. Her nervous giggles were irritating.
12. He tried to paint a majestic rainbow.
13. A homeless person stirring a mud puddle.
14. “Leave my mind alone.”
15. A saxophone player in a public park.
16. Three heads of broccoli left by the front door.
17. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter.
    1. Use the following words: twelve, nose, arrived, little, vapor
    2. Write about fidgeting.
    3. Write about turning something on or off.
18. Use 3 quarters, sunglasses and a faded house dress in a poem or short story.
19. “Technology sucks.” Why?
20. Their dance in the fading light reflected their lives.
21. “It’s time to kick out the dog and find a brand new cat.”
22. Listen today and find a story.
23. His memories of her had vanished.
24. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter.
    1. Use the following five words: gripped, remembered, motions, slowly, mother.
    2. Fill in the blanks: “All ____ and no _____.”
    3. Use the phrase “the green was on the inside.”
25. Adopt a new word today.
26. A sunbather drowsing on a beach towel.
27. “All I want to do is go fishing.”
28. She judged people by the way they walked.
29. A day at the zoo.
30. “There’s little time, lassie.”

March 2011
Daily Writing Prompts

Posted on March 31, 2011 by TC Editors

1. MC is asked “What would you have me do?”
2. A dog sitting on a stoop with a cigarette in its mouth.
3. A guitar case in one hand, a bag of Chinese takeout in the other.
4. Getting unstuck: change (or remove) a character’s religious beliefs.
5. A couple repainting a bedroom together.
6. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter.
   1. Use the following words: unending, remain, mirrors, smaller, differences
   2. Describe drawing a diagram to help figure something out.
   3. Write about a shift in balance.
7. Her nails are short but her hair is long.
8. Work with your MC’s perceived greatest weaknesses… are they true?
9. A plate of chocolate-dipped strawberries and Jello shots.
10. “I told you it was rotten. You wouldn’t listen. Now look what’s happened.”
11. She returns early from the groomer because they’re out of pink dye.
12. An antique globe, smashed into seven pieces.
13. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter.
    1. Use the following five words: smoldering, diagonal, which, crossed, light.
    2. Time marches forward. Or does it?
    3. Write about being unable to apologize.
14. “Even for a five year old, he’s remarkably stubborn.”
15. Get unstuck: your MC discovers a letter/email thought to have been lost.
16. Snow falling past an orange-bulbed streetlamp.
17. A bartender closing up on St Patrick’s Day finds a loose $100 bill.
18. MC on holiday desperate to discover the local delicacy.
19. Celebrating her half-birthday, Lucy demands a two-tier cake.
20. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter.
    1. Use the following words: matches, chalk, wrong, geometry, fewer (bonus word: incommensurability)
    2. Write about choosing a personal crisis.
    3. Fill in the blanks: “I’ve got ____ but I’m not a _____”
21. Open a story with a sudden & unexpected change in the weather.
22. MC quotes a movie to someone who doesn’t get the reference.
23. Write what you don’t usually write: fiction, poetry, essay, CNF, etc.
24. A cloud of violently yellow smoke fills the train.
25. Two children digging in a sandbox suddenly scream and run away.
26. “After this, I’m off to Jamaica and, no, I’m not bringing you a souvenir,”
27. Get today’s Sunday Brunch Prompts at Twitter.
    1. Use the following five words: turned, overhead, maybe, exact, towards.
    2. Write about being interrupted.
    3. Use the phrase, “If all else fails, read the instructions.”
28. “That’s the most evil-looking cat I’ve ever seen, which is saying something.”
29. Write something inspired by a “random article” click at Wikipedia.
30. “You should’ve fought for me!”
31. Use “spiritualism” as inspiration for story / character (not “spirituality”).