Tips On How To Turn A 3 Sentence Writing Prompt Into A Full-fledged (long) Story?

Tips on how to turn a 3 sentence writing prompt into a full-fledged (long) story?

The first question to ask yourself is, what kind of prompt do you have?

Generally writing prompts fall into three categories: a situation (usually the inciting incident), a single word or theme, or a piece of essential text (either an opening line, or keywords to include somewhere in your story). 

Once you have your prompt, you can begin fleshing it out into a working story. Some ways to do this are:

Brainstorm related words and concepts

If you’ve been given a very broad theme, write it down in the middle of a blank piece of paper and spend some time coming up with things that are in some way related. You might discover that the prompt can be interpreted in a range of ways. For example, a recent prompt for the HG Wells Short Story Contest was “Fool”. Fool can be a type of person, a dishonest act (“fool me once”), a tarot card, or a British dessert. 

Ask questions

Write a list of questions about your prompt. 

An example of a situational prompt might be, “A man runs into an old friend at his local bar. This is a bit strange, since his friend died five years ago.” Questions you might ask yourself about this prompt could be: Who is this man? How did his friend die? Does the friend know he’s dead? Why are they meeting on this particular day? How did they feel about each other? Is the friend a ghost? Vampire? Zombie? Time traveller? Estranged twin? Resurrection? Trauma-induced hallucination? Can anyone else see the dead friend, or just the main character? Is the friend here to stay, or is he on the clock? What are they going to do next?

By making a list of unknown factors, you’ll start discovering a range of directions you can take your story.

Play “And then what happened?”

Once you have a sense of who your story’s about and what set their journey into motion, it’s just a matter of figuring out what happens next.

If you get stuck, you can go back to your mindmap technique and brainstorm potential plot points. For example, the first major plot point in your situational prompt is that your main character unexpectedly runs into his dead friend. What happens next?

Maybe the friend wants the protagonist’s help taking revenge on his killer. Or he wants to reconnect with an old flame. Or he wants to experience the thrills of life he didn’t get to have while he was alive. Or maybe he faked his own death and he needs the protagonist’s help solving a delicate case for the interplanetary spy network. Or maybe he’s just really, really hungry…

Then, once you choose the next plot point, you can do this again for the next, and the next, and the next. Before you know it, you have an entire story mapped out from beginning to end.

Where can you find writing prompts?

Ready to put your creative wheels in motion? The internet is flush with writing prompts, so you don’t have to look very far for inspiration.

Sometimes contests or literary journals put out submission calls with specific prompts attached. This can be a good way to challenge yourself, and maybe make some money in the process (or at least get some exposure for your work). Scribophile has a great weekly roundup of open calls, many with targeted themes.

We also have a ton of writing prompts around our reading room, including drawing inspiration from your favourite books, some chilly writing prompts for winter, and a list of fun situational prompts to kickstart your creativity. Enjoy! 

Want to know more? Read the post in full at the link below.

novlr.org

How do I turn a writing prompt into a story? - Novlr

Got a writing prompt but don't know how to turn it into a longer piece of fiction? Here are some tips to help you go from prompt to draft!

by Adam Rice

Posting a bit early.

I've been getting in to the Digimon card game lately, so here's Lillymon!

I'm sorry lobo for removing all your braincells

hello! I've started to notice I'm overusing "racing hearts" or ""heart beated faster" or "heart pounded" and very similar wording and I think my characters are soon to have heart attacks lol. This is used when characters are near their romantic partners, or are in danger or are nervous so it's not limited to one person or one scenario. What are other or better ways I can convey something similar to 'show' the feelings rather than risk having everyone's hearts explode?

Alternatives to Romantically Racing Hearts

-- fluttering sensation in stomach (aka "butterflies") -- tightening of stomach or knot in stomach -- sweaty palms -- flushed cheeks/heat on neck/body feels warm -- breath catches/hitches, shallow breaths -- nervous tics: swallowing, playing with hair, licking lips, etc. -- fumbling with words, talking fast/too much -- clamming up, unable to speak -- dry mouth, difficulty speaking or swallowing -- trembling voice, shaking hands -- "weak in the knees" sensation -- slight dizziness -- feeling "lighter than air"

Happy writing!

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