forbidden

Sometimes all we need is a quick jolt to get us, or our story, started. A kick in the pants is just what Lou Willett Stanek, Ph.D., delivers in her Story Starters. The book is geared towards the fiction writer, but any writer could use the ideas she explains and the prompts she provides. Not convinced? I'll give you an example, oh Doubting Thomas.

Try the following prompt from Story Starters:

"Every day your character walked past the place he (she) was forbidden to go. Then one day he opened the door."

So, suppose you're not writing fiction, and you don't have a character. Then what? (I am imagining the voices of my students even now.) Then take the concept of the prompt and use it to jumpstart a creative nonfiction piece or a poem. The concept? What happens when we finally give in to temptation, when we indulge in the forbidden? (Of course, there are always other ways to go when you're talking concept, like why is the forbidden so alluring? or why is it --whatever it is--forbidden in the first place?) Go ahead--open the door.

posted by lit lover at 9:39 AM