PROMPT 36 – HAZARD DUTY
 
            Novels, television, and movies are filled with stories about police, fire-fighters, soldiers, and lawyers. These seem to be the professions people consider the most dangerous or dramatic. While in some cases that might be true it doesn’t need to be for the story you are writing.
            Pick a profession and then think of a storyline that puts the character into danger or an otherwise interesting situation. The problem could be fantastic, or mysterious, or even mundane and funny. Selecting an occupation which you have worked will allow you to draw from your personal experience. In not, the story will develop out of your research about the chosen profession.
            These professions were taken from the Dictionary of Occupational Titles.
 
            - Dump Grounds Checker (Sanitary Landfill Worker)
            - Laserist (Creates laser light shows)
            - Rug Cleaner
            - TNT Line-Supervisor
            - Senior-Commisary Agent in Air Transportation
           
 
One Man’s Garbage – Working at the dump was slow, dull, and stinky. Just the way James liked it—except for the smell. The important thing about it was that his job was blissfully void of any excitement which might over-stress his weak heart. That is, until he noticed that the trucks from one specific company were entering the dump empty and leaving it full. The situation gets worse when he discovers the trucks are being driven by aliens from outer space. Now he has to convince someone in the Federal government that Earth has been invaded before he has a heart-attack or the aliens catch him?

            PROMPT 35 – PLAY IT BACKWARD
 
            Endings are incredibly important. If an author nails the ending then readers are going to be psyched for the next book. Get it wrong and you have the chance of losing your readers. This writing prompt places the ending front and center during the story creation process.
            Start by writing a killer ending. Maybe you have one in mind, a scene that screams award-winning finale. If not, take a look at stories that ended strong. See if they give you any ideas. You can even examine stories that failed to deliver a satisfying ending. How would you end them differently? Once you have an ending, decide how the characters reach that point. In other words, write the story backward, from end to beginning.
 

            My killer ending ends with one word—Oops.
 
Manic Pressed Destiny – Dash has two problems. The first is that he enjoys life—all of it. There simply isn’t enough time to go everywhere and experience everything. That is until the personification of Destiny recruits him for a mission to save the universe. Breath-taking views, beautiful damsels in minor situations of distress, wickedly cool bad guys, and opportunities for daring adventure. Unfortunately, there’s that second problem. Dash is a total klutz.
 

            PROMPT 34 – STARTING LINES
 
            This writing prompt focuses on the opening line of your story. In addition to helping you generate a story idea, it ensures that your novel is off to a great start. Develop an opening line that will grab the reader’s attention. Then build a story based on that line. Ask questions about who this story would be about, how does it lead to conflict, and what would be a cool way to end a story that begins this way?
            I’ve included the opening lines from a couple of my favorite stories. What could you do with these lines as your starting point?
 
When I shoved through the doorway of Morley’s Joy House you’d have thought I was the old dude in black who lugs the sickle.  (Red Iron Nights by Glen Cook.)
 
You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings. (Frankenstein by Mary Shelly)
 
It was different this time; there was a dry pain in my lungs, and a deep ache in my bones, and a fire in my stomach that made me want to curl into a ball and mew like a kitten. (The Stars Must Wait by Keith Laumer.)
 
It was a bright cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen. (1984 by George Orwell.)
 
It was a dark and stormy night . . . (Paul Clifford by Edward George Bulwer-Lytton)
 
How many times did I have to kill the same man? (Written for this exercise by Randy Lindsay.)
 
 
Dead Men Tell All Lies – For second-rate detective Cash Randall life consisted of tracking down dangerous psychopaths, praying his luck didn’t run out, and drinking hard when he survived the crazy cases he took. All of that changed when he killed Frankie Catalano. Two months later, Frankie was walking around town—alive. He claimed the universe had spat him back out because he was too dangerous to be kept dead.  
 
 

            PROMPT 33 - OBSESSION
 
            This prompt is useful in creating character-driven stories. Select multiple characters in the story and give them conflicting obsessions. These can be characters you developed yourself or they can be based on characters out of other stories. The point of this prompt is to decide how their lives and the story would be different if they chose to follow their obsession instead of their original goal. You can even use this on story you have written that seems to lack sufficient sizzle.
            You can also give a single character conflicting obsessions and see how it plays out. Imagine how different Frankenstein’s story would be if he had an obsession for fame and fortune in addition to his passion for science.
 
 
Wright and Wrong – Kittyhawk marked the birth of aviation history and the start of a feud between the Wright brothers. Always pragmatic, Wilbur wants to establish the first aeronautical empire while Orville aims to soar high in the social circles of Europe and the United States. Their only hope of doing either depends on them working together.
 
 
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PROMPT 32 - TOPICS
 
            Today’s writing prompt is easy to describe, but more time intensive than those I have previously presented. Start by picking a topic. The topic can be something you are interested in learning more about. It can be part of a project or school assignment you are working on. You can even ask a friend to decide upon a random topic.
            Once you have a topic in mind, research it. Go to the library or use Google and gather a list of interesting facts and related events. During the course of your research keep an eye open for items that lend themselves to a story. Then put them all together.
            I have a few sample topics below that I gathered by doing a Google search on “trending topics.” The same method works for Buzzfeed, Twitter, Facebook, ETC.
           
            Alexander Hamilton
            Argentina VS. Bolivia (Soccer)
            Red Hot Chili Peppers
            D.C. Primary
 
            I picked chili peppers peppers—the actual peppers, not the band. Chili peppers originated in the Americas. After the Columbian Exchange, use of the chili pepper spread all over the world as both a food and a medicine. They were grown in the gardens of Portuguese monasteries and the Christian monks experimented with the spicy vegetable. The peppers became so popular that they were used as currency during the 15th Century.










 
Hot Conversion – Life in a 15th century monastery has its own special challenges. Diego wants to do God’s work, but struggles with the quiet tedium that is expected. That changes when he is placed on kitchen duty and discovers chili peppers at the local market. In a fever of culinary discover he develops a recipe with the chilies that attracts members of the community to the church. When the Abbott declares the spicy chilies to be the “Devil’s Food” a dispute breaks out that threatens to tear both the church and the community apart.

            PROMPT 31 – THAT STINKS
 
            This is a character driven prompt. Take a few moments to visualize a character. It can be as simple as stating a stereotype like a newspaper boy or a boring banker. Then think of the worst thing that could happen to him/her. You can even take it a step further and decide on a character for the B-Story and create the worst situation that could exist between them.
            Here are a few character suggestions to work with.
 
            A teen-aged witch
            A star college football player
            An alien spy from another planet
            Your neighbor
            Your spouse
            Your best friend           
 
            My pitch for this exercise is based on an alien spy from another planet.
 
Star Power –Zarklo received very specific instructions for his mission on Earth. Stay out of sight and observe the humans. All that is left in the proverbial galactic space dust when he wanders onto a Hollywood movie set and is mistaken for the title character in the latest creature feature. Fame, fortune, and did we mention fame? His picture is on billboards and in advertisements across the globe. Then he receives news that his supervisor is on his way to monitor his mission progress.
 

PROMPT THIRTY – MENTAL MOVIES
 
            At the start of your writing time for the day, jot down three ideas that interest you. Then pick the one that most interests you. Close your eyes and imagine it as a movie playing inside your head. What happens? Write about what took place inside your head.
            Instead of a topic you can do this with a character. In this case, close your eyes and picture the first person that comes to mind. Describe this person and then plop him/her into a setting and see what develops.
            In either case, let the images flow on their own and write down the result in your movie/writing journal.
 
            My movie journal entry for this exercise is based on an image of an angel coming to my mind.
 
Angels and Children – Tommy is a junior angel. His eighth birthday was just around the corner when he was called back to heaven. That was a year ago. His first assignment starts when a young mother prays for her six-year-old child who is starting school the next day. Tommy must help the handicapped Patrick as he navigates the strange, new environment without friends and hiding a handicap. Quite a first assignment for a junior angel.

            PROMPT TWENTY-NINE – BRING OUT YOUR DEAD
 
            It may sound a bit morbid, but with this prompt you’re going to get inspiration for your story from the obituaries. Look at a couple of the biographies on the obituaries page and select one that grabs your attention. Ask yourself what sort of story would a person like this be involved in. Make changes to the character as needed.
 
            Sample Obituary: Following high school, Robert Pulson enlisted in the Navy, serving on a ship that patrolled the Panama Canal area. He received a B.S. degree and spent his career doing hybrid corn research in Kansas. Due to his disability he took an early retirement from Corn King Co. His retirement interests were music related.
 
 
            The pitch for this exercise is based on the above obituary.
 
Ghosts of the Corn – A Navy enlisted man and his buddies spend a week trekking through the jungles of Panama and discover a native tribe who cultivate a corn field where the dead walk the earth. When he steals several ears of corn to plant in his parent’s farm in Kansas, tribal spirits of the dead work against him, first to prevent the corn from growing and then to disrupt his studies to develop a hybrid which will grow in Kansas where his brother is buried. Robert wants is one last conversation with his brother to resolve the argument they had before his death, but the haunting may drive him insane before his research succeeds.
 
 

          Life is surprising. I have been teaching workshops on using writing prompts for two years now and before that they were a regular feature on my author blog. After a fair amount of research and racking my brain I had come up with twenty-six writing prompts that were different enough from each other to deserve their own set of comments. 
          Then last week, I started researching a workshop for read-on prompts and ran across several more. My list has been expanded to thirty-eight. I imagine there are more out the waiting for me to discover them, but for now these will have to suffice.


PROMPT TWENTY-EIGHT - MEMORIES

           Using this prompt should result in creating stories that are more emotionally driven since they will be based on the author’s life experiences. Allow words to flow from your subconscious to the page, making a list of any nouns that are generated this way. Then let your mind free-associate those with mental pictures out of your past. These become the foundation for your stories.
           For instance:
 
Airplane – climbing a plane monument in a park and nearly falling off.
Truck – my family taking a vacation in my dad’s beat up Chevy.
Lumber – working with an accident prone laborer twice my age.
           
 
Slow Moe – Randy started his construction career as a laborer under the tutelage of Joe “Moe” Morrison. Moe suffered injury after injury, remaining a laborer even after Randy started his own construction company and hired him. Then Randy suffers a debilitating work injury and Moe offers to help Randy at home until he recovers. In the wake of their strengthening friendship, Randy discovers that Moe’s mishaps weren’t funny or amusing at all.
   

                  PROMPT TWENTY-SEVEN – IF YOU BUILD IT
 
            This is similar to the Titles prompt in which you look at the names of books, movies, and songs to inspire you in creating an original story. The difference is that with this prompt you are creating the title yourself rather than looking at what’s already out there.
            During the process of naming some of your earlier works you may have developed a list of titles that sounded great, but didn’t fit the story as well as you would have liked. This is a perfect time to trot those out and put them to use. Or maybe a great title for a story popped into your head while you were driving to work. Now you just need a story to go with it.
            If inspiration hasn’t dropped the name of a story into your lap then you will have to work a bit to build one. Modify a quote, an old saying, or a verse from the Bible to make it sound snappy. Make a list of random words from the dictionary and move them around until they form some sort of cohesive line that grabs your attention. Take the first line of your favorite novel and turn it into a title.
 
            The pitch for this exercise is based on a title that came to me several years ago and, for whatever reason, caught my attention--The Price of Souls. 
 
The Price of Souls – Lona dreamed of becoming the first woman President of the United States. Then she grew up. Life in the fast lane seemed more realistic and entertaining than childhood fantasies. One party too much and Lona stands in front of the Creator. She is charged with correcting the mistakes of her life—a task that may take generations to undo the series of ill events which resulted from her actions.