Category Archives: WP 2012

Archive of Daily Writing Prompts
from TC’s Calendar

December 2012
Daily Writing Prompts

Posted on December 31, 2012 by TC Editors

1. Create a brand-new character today.
2. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter
   1. Use the following words: approach, road, tablet, spare, constant
   2. Write about something the wrong color for its surroundings.
   3. Fill in the blank: “This is the way we ______ now.” (bonus points for using a noun in the blank)
3. Include a nonsense song lyric.
4. Use these words: gold, reverie, jewel, coffin, mermaids.
5. Sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn’t.
6. Introduce a character named Lykos Holgersen.
7. A date that will live in infamy.
8. Write about amusement.
9. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter
   1. Use the following five words: walked, thick, damage, destiny, further.
   2. Write about a hiding place.
   3. Write about whiskey.
10. Use the phrase: “the wizard cries.”
11. Write about waiting for someone or something.
12. Use these words: secret, garden, moon, snow, fireflies.
13. It’s all about holding your mouth right.
14. Write with a pen or pencil today.
15. Write about a checkerboard.
16. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter
    1. Use the following words: border, spent, recognize, grown, nostalgia
    2. Use the phrase, “I imagine I made your day.”
    3. Write about putting off a decision.
17. A child repeatedly asking “Why?”
18. Write about earning a necessary qualification.
19. Same idea; all the details are different.
20. Use the phrase: “rhetorical moves.”
21. Sun comes up the day after the end of the world.
22. Write about making do with less.
23. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter
    1. Use the following five words: sound, watched, twirl, lover, crescendo.
    2. Write about a sudden transformation.
    3. Use the phrase, “you have me at a disadvantage.”
24. “The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” -Oscar Wilde
25. an unhappy holiday.
26. Write about desertion.
27. Leftovers.
28. Use these words: sea, pearl, glass, oppression, fractured.
29. That’s it! You’re done!
30. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter
    1. Use the following five words: remember, tinkerer, hooked, dishonest, sensibly. Bonus: swooned.
    2. Include the line, “I am haunted by humans.”
    3. Write a middle, an end, and a beginning, not necessarily in that order.
31. No one to kiss at midnight, except…

November 2012
Daily Writing Prompts

Posted on November 30, 2012 by TC Editors

1. “Left, Right, Left, Left, Left, Left…”
2. What are you waiting for?
3. “Two, counting them both that is.”
4. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter
   1. Use the following five words: massive, spirit, arms, fatalistic, longer.
   2. Write about someone wearing a uniform.
   3. “I know the innkeeper.” and/or “That might or might not be a good thing.”
5. Listen to the sound of a pen scratching on paper.
6. Start a journal for a specific topic or project.
7. “Film at 11.”
8. Select 5 objects in your house. Put them together in a scene/story.
9. If Friday’s not the 13th, are both of them bad luck?
10. You quit your job to travel. Write about where you’ll go.
11. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter
    1. Use the following words: decades, money, relied, influencing, night
    2. Write about a celebration.
    3. Fill in the blanks: “Why is there a _____ in your _____?”
12. Use these words: Frankenstein, subtext, peacock, iridescent, bubbles.
13. Someone knows uncannily too much about you.
14. Start with the topic of today’s featured article at Wikipedia.
15. Doing something familiar in an unusual setting.
16. Writing a novel this month? Include yourself as a minor character.
17. “I’m not translating that.”
18. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter
    1. Use the following words: cracks, build, track, deeply, grand
    2. Fill in the blank: “I’ll miss ______ most of all.”
    3. Write about a distinctive piece of clothing.
19. “Let there be… well, not light exactly.”
20. Write about a book that was given to you or your MC.
21. Everyone else has things to do, people to see.
22. Write about a historical event.
23. Turning three pages instead of one.
24. Use these words: jingle, astronaut, mathematics, simplicity, razor.
25. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter
    1. Use the following five words: fingers, carried, after, survival, amber.
    2. Use the phrase, “I think that should fit.”
    3. Write about interrupting something important for something trivial.
26. Start with any topic that’s trending on Twitter right now.
27. “Can this be over now?”
28. Opposite day! Have your MC do the opposite of what they ordinarily would.
29. Compare a problem to pulling out long-running roots of weeds.
30. Try drawing a scene you’re stuck on (don’t worry about what it looks like!).

October 2012
Daily Writing Prompts

Posted on October 31, 2012 by TC Editors

1. “We’re *finally* done with September.”
2. Interview yourself.
3. “Well, we’re legal here, but on the other side of the border…”
4. Start with: “things I am afraid to tell you…”
5. It seems to be broken.
6. Take your laptop or notebook to a public place & write about what you see.
7. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter
   1. Use the following five words: twisting, lungs, major, gripped, mercurial.
   2. Write about breaking something down into its component parts.
   3. “I’m the kind of friend who only gets in touch when I want something.”
8. Write a review of the last book you read.
9. “Nobody volunteered to do it.”
10. a real estate project uncovers a midden.
11. Describe the shape of a pain.
12. What’s in your toolbox?
13. Remember to breathe.
14. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter
    1. Use the following words: warned, inventing, sheen, lingering, personal
    2. “Oh. I should think up a ______.” (Fill in the blank.)
    3. Write about discovering that you’re missing something that you thought you had.
15. A content-free e-mail message.
16. Sign: EVERYTHING MUST GO. EVEN THE FIXTURES.
17. Can’t sleep; clowns will eat me.
18. Start with: “When I’m writing, I feel _________.”
19. “I need it by the 19th.”
20. a vintage tea tin with something unexpected inside.
21. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter
    1. Use the following five words: flutter, mother, massaged, portion, small.
    2. Use the phrase, “You think that’s a good idea?”
    3. Write about developing a recipe or other procedure.
22. Go for a walk. Take 10 photos. Write a story about them.
23. She said/she said.
24. Write about your non-writing passion(s).
25. Describe a living space in the corner of a warehouse.
26. Describe the Bizarro version of yourself.
27. Write about that other personality you’re hiding.
28. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter
    1. Use the following words: first, control, earthquakes, bell, infected.
    2. toxicfur: Your character is too tired to care about [fill in the blank]
    3. Xore: Your character wakes up and realizes someone else is moving around in the next room.
    4. bo: Rewrite a previous section in the passive, being sure to use clear passive markers, such as “… by zombies”
    5. sabeth: Write about something that can’t be predicted.
    6. bob: A foul smell.
    7. ana: Fill in the blank: “Nobody expects _____.”
29. “Let’s go find out.”
30. Start with: “right now…” or “currently…”
31. “Man up!” “I’m not actually a man.”

September 2012
Daily Writing Prompts

Posted on September 30, 2012 by TC Editors

1. Start your Mini-Nano! Write 167 words today.
2. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter
   1. Use the following five words: beneath, restlessly, stopped, deeper, talking.
   2. Write about something with several layers.
   3. Write about ordinary obnoxiousness.
3. Shopping for school supplies.
4. Write about discouragement.
5. Setting: a house decorated in all-white.
6. “What about me?”
7. A character finds an old diary.
8. The anniversary of an unfortunate event.
9. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter
   1. Use the following words: peculiar, patches, explorations, night, common.
   2. Write about doing something awkwardly.
   3. Write about loving something that’s bad for you (or for someone else).
10. “They said nothing good would come from _____”
11. A ferry ride on a foggy morning.
12. A baker’s dozen.
13. Start with a line from a book you disliked.
14. “What if today were only Thursday?”
15. The scene: a power lunch. Describe the people at the table.
16. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter
    1. Use the following words: spring, taught, drowned, motion, extraordinarily.
    2. Write about the left hand of something that has no hands.
    3. Have a character say something out loud that’s usually written instead.
17. Make an inspiration board for your current project.
18. A really nice pair of slippers.
19. Write about something discarded.
20. “It will be here within the hour.”
21. Stocking up on firewood for winter.
22. “I can see it. Why can’t you see it?”
23. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter
    1. Use the following five words: adults, stars, until, slowly, stymied.
    2. Write about miscalculating how long something will take.
    3. Write about doing something because nobody else is doing it.
24. Talking aloud to an inanimate object.
25. Start a journal (paper or blog) in your MC’s voice.
26. “Better finish your breakfast. It’s almost dinner time.”
27. A trip around the world.
28. Not as many beds as people.
29. A tiny, isolated cottage in the woods.
30. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter
    1. Use the following words: spoke, number, another, concerned, dressed
    2. Use the phrase, “More confused than usual.”
    3. Fill in the blanks: “which is why _______ does not ________.”

August 2012
Daily Writing Prompts

Posted on August 31, 2012 by TC Editors

1. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter.
   1. Use the following five words: light, however, settle, wanted, flutter.
   2. Write about destroying something to make way for another thing.
   3. Fill in the blank: “It’s different for _____.”
2. A mother cat with kittens.
3. Go to an office supply store + buy a small item that inspires you to write.
4. Use the following words: textbook, prickling, diddle, unlink, grandioso.
5. The reflection of one building on the glass wall of another.
6. A character who has the kind of job only movie characters have.
7. A nun who is a teacher.
8. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter.
   1. Use the following five words: remembered, vertical, muck, picked, moment.
   2. Write about doing something for someone they could do for themselves.
   3. Fill in the blank: “I freely admit I’m a ________.”
9. Coincidence? I think not.
10. A major announcement in a short tweet.
11. What do you mean, you can’t read my mind?
12. I think you misread that.
13. Can’t find coffee in a strange kitchen in the morning.
14. Animal bites.
15. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter.
    1. Use the following five words: raised, however, stars, orchestra, mantra.
    2. Use the phrase “Her laughter was brittle.” (thanks to muse_prompts.dreamwidth.org)
    3. Write about something used improperly, or at the wrong time.
16. Give another writer a compliment about their writing.
17. A character who pretends to be a an architect.
18. A room covered in peeling floral wallpaper.
19. Sunlight through flower petals.
20. Use the following words: doe, rosy, advertise, literatim, aslant.
21. Your characters go on a picnic.
22. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter.
    1. Use the following words: reflect, buzzing, balance, space, season
    2. Tell about the time you didn’t.
    3. Use the phrase, “See you on the other side.”
23. A bystander helping at an accident scene.
24. It sounds happy, but with a dark undercurrent.
25. Just in time, but for what, exactly?
26. Trying to catch up after a vacation.
27. “You take the dog.” “No, *you* take the dog.”
28. “It seemed the best thing to do at the time.”
29. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter
    1. Use the following five words: jacket, imperative, flaky, mixing, differences.
    2. Fill in the blanks: “like ____, but more/less _____”
    3. Write about finding courage in an unlikely place.
30. Steal a sentence or paragraph from a piece of writing you’ve abandoned.
31. A cold drink dripping with condensation.

July 2012
Daily Writing Prompts

Posted on July 31, 2012 by TC Editors

1. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter.
   1. Use the following five words: light, however, settle, wanted, flutter.
   2. Write about destroying something to make way for another thing.
   3. Fill in the blank: “It’s different for _____.”
2. A mother cat with kittens.
3. Go to an office supply store + buy a small item that inspires you to write.
4. Use the following words: textbook, prickling, diddle, unlink, grandioso.
5. The reflection of one building on the glass wall of another.
6. A character who has the kind of job only movie characters have.
7. A nun who is a teacher.
8. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter.
   1. Use the following five words: remembered, vertical, muck, picked, moment.
   2. Write about doing something for someone they could do for themselves.
   3. Fill in the blank: “I freely admit I’m a ________.”
9. Coincidence? I think not.
10. A major announcement in a short tweet.
11. What do you mean, you can’t read my mind?
12. I think you misread that.
13. Can’t find coffee in a strange kitchen in the morning.
14. Animal bites.
15. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter.
    1. Use the following five words: raised, however, stars, orchestra, mantra.
    2. Use the phrase “Her laughter was brittle.” (thanks to muse_prompts.dreamwidth.org)
    3. Write about something used improperly, or at the wrong time.
16. Give another writer a compliment about their writing.
17. A character who pretends to be a an architect.
18. A room covered in peeling floral wallpaper.
19. Sunlight through flower petals.
20. Use the following words: doe, rosy, advertise, literatim, aslant.
21. Your characters go on a picnic.
22. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter.
    1. Use the following words: reflect, buzzing, balance, space, season
    2. Tell about the time you didn’t.
    3. Use the phrase, “See you on the other side.”
23. A bystander helping at an accident scene.
24. It sounds happy, but with a dark undercurrent.
25. Just in time, but for what, exactly?
26. Trying to catch up after a vacation.
27. “You take the dog.” “No, *you* take the dog.”
28. “It seemed the best thing to do at the time.”
29. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter
    1. Use the following five words: jacket, imperative, flaky, mixing, differences.
    2. Fill in the blanks: “like ____, but more/less _____”
    3. Write about finding courage in an unlikely place.
30. Steal a sentence or paragraph from a piece of writing you’ve abandoned.
31. A cold drink dripping with condensation.

June 2012
Daily Writing Prompts

Posted on June 30, 2012 by TC Editors

1. A vintage silver Mercedes.
2. He left a $100 tip for a $6 meal.
3. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter.
   1. Use the following five words: hill, danced, entire, rather, makes.
   2. Is the glass half empty or half full?
   3. Fill in the blank: “Give somebody 35 seconds and they’ll just naturally think of _________.”
4. The life of a window washer.
5. Explore the notion of entropy.
6. Sea foam like beer from a tap.
7. Wind whistled through the needles of the pine trees.
8. “Look me in the eyes.”
9. Sunflowers transformed her kitchen.
10. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter.
    1. Use the following words: abuse, thin, truth, points, elements
    2. Write about not following conventional wisdom.
    3. Fill in the blank: “Go ________ yourself.”
11. Her hair and skin were greasy with oil, her bare feet bloody.
12. The grin died on his mouth.
13. Three helicopters hovering like insects to the sun.
14. Create a story with the setting as the main character.
15. His face was lost in thought.
16. “I think we’ve had the same conductor punch our tickets.”
17. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter.
    1. Use the following five words: child, clinging, first, black, newly.
    2. Write about something that was once alive.
    3. Use a quotation from another character of your own.
18. Faint morning sunlight slipping through the window.
19. Food was abundant, fresh water scarce.
20. Three broken vases.
21. Use a fern, a red baloon and pearl earrings in a short story or poem.
22. Her pessimism about the world evaporated.
23. Describe a strange museum.
24. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter.
    1. Use the following words: wild, burnt, go, time, whip
    2. Write about a piece of bad advice.
    3. Fill in the blank: “the end of _____ as we know it.”
25. “He has the personality of an earthworm.”
26. A character who is widowed three times in succession.
27. A ________ built out of Lego.
28. Volunteer your writing skills to help someone else.
29. Water droplets on a leaf.
30. Exiled for one’s politics.

May 2012
Daily Writing Prompts

Posted on May 31, 2012 by TC Editors

1. Finding your parents in a compromising position.
2. Describe your favorite food.
3. Taking a picture of yourself for the internet.
4. Base a story on a news headline.
5. An armed escort.
6. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter.
   1. Use the following words: combination, song, entrance, heat, hanging
   2. Use a phrase in a foreign language.
   3. Write about a piece of nostalgia from two decades ago.
7. Use three words with more than 8 letters.
8. Listen to some music from a non-English speaking country.
9. Write an accent.
10. The view from the back seat, middle, of the car.
11. Write a dialog scene using only quotes from movies.
12. A very small surprise that makes a big difference.
13. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter.
    1. Use the following five words: brown, swaying, massive, swell, moment.
    2. Write about a mirror or other polished/reflective surface.
    3. Use the phrase “better than fighting with the vacuum.”
14. A wild weather event.
15. A foggy path.
16. Beware the Ides of… May?.
17. Tell a story involving an animal and your writing.
18. Change the color in a common phrase, e.g. “Green as night”
19. Sleeping in on a Saturday.
20. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter.
    1. Use the following five words: cigarette, seemed, amongst, mercurial, stomach.
    2. Write an interior monologue.
    3. Use a made-up expletive.
21. Use the following words: passage, unrestricted, busk, coastwise, outasight.
22. Imagine you’re a songwriter & write the track list for your first album.
23. Prep your writing space the night before.
24. Your characters move to a commune.
25. Still life with old books.
26. Shake up your writing routine: write by hand instead of typing or vice versa.
27. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter.
    1. Use the following words: river, close, bats, inside, increased
    2. Write about something that’s black and white.
    3. Use the phrase “the future is …”
28. Use these words: connector, wrenching, counterweight, overtired, capriccioso.
29. Canoeing in the Olympics.
30. An express train.
31. A character who practices alchemy.

April 2012
Daily Writing Prompts

Posted on April 30, 2012 by TC Editors

1. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter.
   1. Use the following five words: Diagonal, stopped, circle, rising, Swiss.
   2. Write about a map (real or metaphorical).
   3. Write about new energy for the spring—April fuels.
2. The gray tones of winter gave way to a gentle tide of green
3. A restaurant with its own herb garden.
4. The glint of light on broken glass
5. He considered a woman running barefoot sexy.
6. A day in the life of a trolley car driver.
7. The dusk purpled our room.
8. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter.
   1. Use the following words: know, roof, quick, crowd, discarded
   2. Write about a childhood nightmare.
   3. Write about an increase in temperature.
9. He moved like a flash of light.
10. She enjoyed the sensation of fear.
11. Three large motorcycles parked in front of a bar.
12. A backpack tucked underneath an azalea bush.
13. A character with an unusual style of beard/mustache.
14. A freshly sharpened pencil.
15. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter.
    1. Use the following words: flakes, floor, future, front, filled
    2. Write about two or more people doing something in unison.
    3. Incorporate a famous quote from a movie or TV show.
16. A character with poor table manners.
17. A set of nesting bowls.
18. A field of tulips.
19. A character must make a choice. Write the scene two different ways.
20. Start with the lyrics to a popular song & turn them into a story.
21. Find a nice place to sit & think about your WIP for 15-30 min. Then write!.
22. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter.
    1. Use the following five words: repeat, through, college, kamikaze, breeze.
    2. Fill in the blanks: “Never ______ with a _____”.
    3. Use the phrase (thx Neil Gaiman) “Events are cowards. They run in packs.”
23. Write the same scene in 1st, 2nd & 3rd person.
24. The perfect day job for a writer is…
25. Start with a line from a favorite poem.
26. Imagine winning a writing award. Outline the steps you’ll take to get there.
27. Record yourself reading your work aloud. Listen to it, then revise.
28. Put on a silly hat and/or pair of shoes. Now write!
29. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter.
    1. Use the following words: absorb, lines, welcoming, anger, bends
    2. Write about creating a monster.
    3. Write about two options that are bad for different reasons.
30. Go write in an unusual location.

March 2012
Daily Writing Prompts

Posted on March 31, 2012 by TC Editors

1. Use a current popular song as a prompt.
2. Click the link and pick a photo to write about.
3. Failing health.
4. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter.
   1. Use the following words: silver, factory, house, guess, ancient
   2. Use the phrase “I thought it was extinct.”
   3. Fill in the blank: “I’ve been ______ my whole life.”
5. Watching a kitten play with string.
6. Miscommunication of quantitative information.
7. The next layer of subtlety.
8. Getting a hand-out. OR Moving away.
9. Going without something important.
10. Unexpected visit from an old friend.
11. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter.
    1. Use the following five words: well, slide, welcoming, cicadas, lips.
    2. Write about counting (or a Count)
    3. Use the phrase, “Speaking of apocalypses…”
12. Collision between two parts of a character’s life.
13. “Tell me why.”
14. “That color is not on the rainbow.”
15. Beware the Ides of March.
16. Sandals in the snow.
17. Look up “synecdoche” and use one.
18. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter.
    1. Use the following words: mixing, destination, slowly, reached, often.
    2. aethycyn: Add a breakfast food.
    3. Sue: whooping cough, potting soil, killer, amazed and cinnamon
    4. bo: In honour of Rush Limbaugh: write about (a) wearsluts and/or (b) bewaresluts
    5. ana: Use the phrase “pretend for an hour life made sense.” (Thanks to NC Weil)
    6. toxicfur: In honor of Sir Terry Pratchett, use the following phrases: “tincture of night” and “soup of the afternoon”
    7. Bob: “Piddle and payment don’t go together.”
    8. devtrash: Write about waking up in an empty hotel pool, bloodied and bruised.
19. finishing what you start… or not.
20. peeking at what someone’s reading on their ereader.
21. Spring clean your writing space.
22. Try a different genre or medium.
23. Write about a yearning for something.
24. Focus on the present year, month, week, day, hour, moment.
25. Get today’s Sunday brunch prompts at Twitter
    1. Use the following words: raining, anticipation, hummed, stop, pursue
    2. Write about a recycled hat.
    3. Use the phrase, “On the next day, …”
26. Describe your imagined audience.
27. Steal the title of an existing book & use it as a starting point.
28. Go to Wikipedia, click ‘random article’ & write about that topic.
29. Be inspired by a non-writing activity you like to do.
30. Being too cold or too hot.
31. Out like a lamb.