Need help with writing prompt?

Question

I have to write a short story for class, but I don't know what to write it about. I tried asking my sister, who is really good at writing, but she just lectured me about how ideas don't just come like that! Do you have any good writing ideas? Make sure it is as close to the present as possible! thnx.

Answer 1

I recently read an article on a writing exercise in creating ideas.

Sit down for at least thirty uninterrupted minutes alone, without distractions. Be very relaxed and comfortable. Start listing ideas, any ideas you can. Don't self-censor just because you might think the ideas are silly. Write them down anyway.

Now after you complete a list of ideas, look them over and select a few and ask "What if . . .?"

Example:
Idea: A girl leaves small town to go to college in big city.
What if: What if she picks up a hitchhiker, another female, on the way? What if the hitchhiker is an older, grandmother type and seems safe? What if the older, grandmother-type hitchhiker's purse spills onto the car floor and a pistol, a knife and a set of brass knuckles spill out?

See how that works? Try it!

Good luck.

§♥♥♥§

Answer 2

I teach creative writing courses at writing conferences and often use this to get people's imagination going. I ask them to take an index card out doors. Once there they are to drop the card and write about whatever they find underneath. It can be fantastical (ants that talk, magical gum) or it can be more reality based (an envelope that contains the DNA saliva of a thief).

Answer 3

Rowanoak is correct. Use a personal experience as the foundation, change the names, and even change the storyline to fit the plot you wish. It is your creation so you can go off on any tangent that you wish.

Personal experiences vary, of course. Consider your part when a family member suffers illness and how you coped with it. Another is how you overcame a difficult hurdle in your life. Think about your life's experiences and choose from one of them that will excite and keep the reader glued to the story. You can always change it to reflect other possible routes.

Answer 4

I always think it's fun and most interesting to turn the most mundane of daily activities into a real adventure story --

consider "I had to walk to school today, and what I witnessed while I was walking was..."
and insert anything (real or fictional) that can be juiced up!

(and here's the hint, *anything* can be juiced up to be interesting, provided that you as the author are getting excited about it!)

Answer 5

autobiographical material is a good place to start.
change the names if you worry about that sort of thing.

Answer 6

This should give you a hand. http://www.seventhsanctum.com/generate.php?Genname=quickstory