WRITING PROMPTS - Where do you get them?

The term  “prompt writer” sounds scary, but in reality, every serious writer has his or her own prompts.

How does that apply to a writer?  What prompts us to write the way we do?  Where do we get our ideas for our stories? 

Any given instance can be a prompt to a writer.  Example: 

You’re at the park, let’s say, and you’re sitting on a bench reading a newspaper.  As a writer you’re always open to ideas for your next  - hypothetical - best seller. Now you’ve been there for about an hour and, out of the blue, something happens.  You’ve been hearing kids in the background playing, as they normally do, but then suddenly you hear a blaring siren, almost on top of you, loud enough to turn your attention away from the newspaper.  As you look, to see what all the commotion is about, you witness the kids clambering to one side of the park. As a writer, your curiosity gets the better of you and you fold the paper and go to investigate.  As it turns out there’s a woman lying in the street, apparently the victim of a hit and run. 

Hidden beneath all this assorted information you’ve written down, is your (prompt) for a story.  It may not be a full-fledged novel, but it could be a short story, novella, or whatever.    

Not only am I an author, but I’m also an editor.  Recently I edited a manuscript from a writer in Texas.  Her title was called – Ice Cream in the Snow.  After editing her work, I asked her what her prompt was for writing it.  This was her response.  I was sitting in an ice cream parlor, watching patrons going in and out, while I sat there eating my sundae.  I pulled out some paper and jotted down some notes.  When I got home I started to assess what I’d jotted down, and for the next four hours I wrote out an outline.   

That story is now 270 double-spaced typewritten pages with over 50,000 words, and it was prompted by nothing more than having an ice cream sundae, in an ice cream parlor. 

The easiest way to get a prompt lies within your own world.  What is your space?  Where are you ?  As a writer, always be aware of what’s around you, for you never know where a prompt will appear.  You can’t just say, I’ll go to the park and find a prompt for my next novel.  Always carry a small notepad with you, for prompts come up in the weirdest of places, and if you’re like me, your memory is not always a reliable alternative.  For the younger people, you spend time at malls.  Malls are a great place to get prompts.  Why?  Because there is such a diversity of people and situations you see at malls, that you wouldn’t see at the park.   

Get your prompts from things you know.  Writing about subjects you’re familiar with makes your first attempts at writing a lot easier.  If you’re into camping, being out in the wild can give you a number of prompts for stories.  If you’re into sports, there again lies a vast world of prompts for you to work with. 

For writers, prompts are nothing more than ideas that we can use to create our stories, stories we want to share with the world. 

When you see something you’d like to use for a prompt for a story, what should you write down? 

1)      Be brief but concise.  You’ll never use the exact scenarios you been a witness to, so the notes you want to jog down, should be just that, notes.  You want the prompt to be the key element.  The prompt itself will be what fuels the story you’ll create. 

2)      Different prompts require different kinds of notes, but the finality lies with this: What will give you enough information to start a rough draft of a story, or in effect - outline?  Every writer needs more or less information than someone else, so when you’re jotting down notes, only YOU can decide what information is needed to keep the prompt alive so you can get the story down. 

I want to be a romance writer, so what should I do if I see a prompt that would be a mystery? 

1)      This has to be your choice.  When you see something that would be a prompt in a genre other than what you want to write in, remember this.  There are a lot of stories written today that don’t hinge on a single genre. My book, Destiny of the Divas is a good example.  It’s written in three different genres – Paranormal, Fantasy, and suspense.  Mystery could also be included as well.  I won’t tell you to jot down every prompt you see, because you could easily spend all day taking down notes.  If you’re a romance writer, or that’s the target of your writing endeavors, most romance novels delve into other genres.  Ice Cream in the Snow is a good example.  It’s a Romantic/Suspense novel.  My latest book, Let Freedom Ring is a Romantic/War story.   

How do I take my prompt, from simple notes, to seeing them as a first draft of a novel? 

1)      This is a hard question for me to answer.  Depending on how many notes you have, and what information you’ve written down on those notes, depends on how you personally attack a first draft.  Before you even start to write the first draft, for a new writer I’d suggest you do this:  Grab four pieces of paper.  On the first, title it THE GRABBER – on the second, title it PLOT,  on the third, title it THE CLOSER, and on the fourth, title it CHARACTERS 

2)      The GRABBER is the opening of your book, or the part of the book that grabs the reader; hence the GRABBER.  This is more critical than the plot, for it’s this part of the book that an agent or publisher sees first.  Take your notes (from your prompt) so that you know what notes you need to use for the opening chapters.  On this page jot down scenes, locations, all the information you need to start your story except for characters. 

3)      The PLOT is another key segment of your book.  Here you jot down the notes pertaining to your plot. Nothing is etched in stone here, but just putting down how you plan it to go. 

4)      The CLOSER – The final key segment of your story is the ending, or the closer.  Here’s where you jot down how you want to see the story end.  There’s nothing worse than having a great GRABBER, and a helluva plot, then you get to the end and it’s as flat as a pancake.  Take your time in all three areas, and LET YOUR PROMPT LEAD YOU.  I’ll expand on that statement in my closing words. 

5)      CHARACTERS – at this point what you need to jot down here are the main characters you aim to use.  Along with their names, jot down their vital stats; age, height, weight, color and style of hair, etc.  You might not use all the information, but if at any given point, while writing the story, and you need it, you don’t have to sit there scratching your head, because you’ve got it written down. 

Now you’re ready to start your first draft, and that should be nothing more than a basic outline of how the story should progress from the opening page to the end. 

I said I’d expand on a statement I made earlier.  Last November I was involved with NaNoWriMo.  That’s a competition to write a minimum 50 thousand word novel in 30 days or less.  No, you didn’t need it perfect, just written.  It didn’t need to be edited or grammatically correct, but just finished.  The object of the challenge is to get people to write, even if it was nothing more than garbage.  I started at one second past midnight on November 1^st, with only some handwritten notes that was legally allowed for the challenge, and in ten days I met the challenge at about 52,000 words.  In the following 12 days I finished the story at 65,000 words.  I took a break until December first and started doing the editing on it, and finished with 55,000 words when it was done.  The point I want to make, about that challenge, is this.  When I started the story, LET FREEDOM RING, my only prompts were That I’m Cherokee Indian, and I was in the military.  I wanted to tell a war story about four Cheyenne Indians who grew to become warriors in their tribe, and then joined the Army and became warriors for the country.  Because I let my prompts lead me, it went from a simple war story to a romantic war story taking turns I never expected.  Let Your Prompt Lead You.  You may be surprised where your story will end.  

Why use a prompt?   Because prompts, no matter where you’ve taken them from, were taken from realistic situations.     Your notes are taken from events that you’ve been a witness to.  

Do I have to use a prompt to write a good story?      No!  Prompts are a good way for you to familiarize yourself with different aspects of a given situation, but you don’t have to have a prompt to write a story.  Not every writer needs to be PROMPTED, to sit down and write. 

You may wonder if I use prompts.  My answer would be both yes and no.  One of my two present novels was because of a prompt, as weird as it was. I’m involved with a writing group, online, and during one recent discussion, I’d seen stories, real stories, about the support – or lack thereof – by family members.  I could easily relate, as I got no support for my writing efforts by my last two wives.  As I read the different stories, my inner thoughts became entranced by this phenomena, and started jotting down notes.  Then I started a brief outline.  I’m presently working on SAMMY WILKINS – Road To The Top, about a black teenaged boy who went from a simple home, but was a whiz in school, to become a polished author.  

The road to the top is not filled with sugar and honey, so if you think that you can go out there, as a novice, and be recognized in a flash, you’ve got another thing coming. Can it happen?  Yes.  Are the chances good it will happen – NO!  Can I become a published author?  If this is the profession you’ve chosen, much like plumbers, carpenters, lawyers, or whatever, it takes dedication, patience, perseverance, and luck.  Being skillful in this profession, is just as important as in any other profession.  The better writer you are, the better your chances. 

How long could it take to become published, and be an author?  With the modernization of the computer age, and the influx of the internet, you could easily be a published author within hours after you’ve completed your story.  I know that sounds crazy, but it’s true.  However, To be published by a conventional publishing house, and have your books on shelves in bookstores around the country, that could easily take anywhere from two years on up.  Some people, who’ve been writing for years, never reach that plateau, for whatever reasons.  The publishing industry, today, caters to authors who’ve established themselves as money-makers for them. An example would be – Why would they purchase the rights for a book from Ernie Johnson, a hypothetical unknown in the writing world, when they have a Stephen king, or a Normal Mailer, or a Dean Koontz, in their stable of established authors?