This Week’s Prompts*

1. Dustin’s breast pocket shuddered, signaling that his mother had found the package he’d not-so-carefully hidden and was now calling him in a blind panic.

2. Write about a character who tops her burger with a very unorthodox ingredient every time she goes to a restaurant and the conversation it led to with her server.

3. “Well, as you’ve probably noticed, our departure time has passed. Unfortunately I haven’t gotten any updates so my advice is to settle in, get comfortable, and maybe start a good book.”

4. It wasn’t unusual for Tanya to be alone. She’d been keeping her own company mostly since she was six or seven when her Mama had to take that second job. No, what was unusual was not being alone, and not being alone with this one goofy little bald kid with a lisp, a limp, and a habit of sitting down and chatting with any grown-up that would give him the time of day.

5. Describe everything you can remember about your third grade teacher and now, with the perspective as an adult, write about what you imagine their home life to look like, with as much detail as possible.

6. Just as he clocked it in his rearview mirror, the cruiser’s lights turned on and he knew his afternoon, planned in meticulous detail, was now shot.

7. “Press it. Just press it. Press that elevator button and see what happens. See if it’s all still there.”

*How to Use These Prompts: The italicized prompts let you create your writing entirely from scratch; the non-italicized prompts are intended as your first line and jumping off point. But, at the same time, there are no rules. Write on!

Book(s) We’re Reading This Week

Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret by Benjamin Stevenson
The how-to-writer-turned-sleuth, Ernest Cunningham, returns for the third, holiday-themed installment of the series (but you won’t miss a beat if you didn’t read the other two.) Ernest narrates the action, regularly calling out tropes of the genre and playing the role of both crime solver and mystery writer as he goes. The pacing is fun and the solution is satisfying. (I just finished it, so we can including in the “reading this week” category.) It’s a fun one for your holiday break and/or taking a break from the relatives.

_{Grab it on Bookshop.org (and support local bookstores!)
Grab it on Amazon}

Top (Published) First Line of the Week

I am the ill-starred fruit of a hysterical pregnancy, and surprisingly, odd though I might be, I am not hysterical myself.

From I Am Not Sidney Poitier by Percival Everett

_{Grab it on Bookshop.org (and support local bookstores!)
Grab it on Amazon}

P.S.

Did you know there’s actually a writing career that pays well? I know; I was shocked, too. All those “writers don’t make many money” people were wrong. (And isn’t that fun??) Check out this training about copywriting and make those chumps eat their words.