Comments | write_away: Friday Prose Prompt

smeddley in write_away

Friday Prose Prompt

Jan 12, 2007 14:31

Ah, it's Friday again! And it's also the cusp of a three-day weekend for me. Because of MLK day. And inspired by that, I'd like you to write a short piece (let's say between 100-500 words) that begins with:

"I [have/had] a dream..."

( Replying to my own prompt always makes me feel weird, but hey )

feature: friday prose prompt

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smeddley January 12 2007, 21:43:09 UTC

It was supposed to be silly. :) I was going for a rather scatter-brained hyper-caffeinated character, not really trying for anything plot-like.

I think that's an interesting point. I consider prompts something to get your imagination going - you can write all the weird, bizarre things and they don't have to have any sort of meaning at all. In fact, I like it when people really twist things, make them something you wouldn't expect - even if it's something silly or odd. So I'm only looking at them as an exercise in creativity, not so much anything serious (evident by my little 5-minute brain dump, here!).

Also, I think you could use them to work on one aspect of your writing. Say that I had trouble getting realistic-sounding rambling speech in my writing. Well, I could post this and say, "I know the plot is silly, and so is the 'dream' itself, but what I really want to know is does this sound like someone? Would you believe this if you saw it or heard it? Do I have the cadence right?" And try to get feedback on that.

Hm, yeah, people shouldn't be afraid to ask specific questions about their writing. Also, if the person says, "Look, I know the dialogue is dull, but what I'm working on here is the attributions - I have a nasty habit of over-embellishing my 'he said' and 'she said's and I want to know if this works." the critiquers should be able to overlook the dialogue (because it was just filler) and comment on what's important. Because maybe the person is working on something that they're not ready to share, and don't want to spend a lot of time thinking up witty banter but do need help in the...

Sorry, sorry. I'm rambling. ::hangs head:: It was just an interesting point! :)

And thanks for the compliment. I should be able to do rambling, you know... :)

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