Nash - 101 Hot Writing Prompts: Tons Of Ideas: Useful For Any Writer: Any Level

Copyright 2015 Boyd Nash All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof
may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever
without the express written permission of the publisher
except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Published in the United States of America The smell of oatmeal filled my kitchen for the first time in three months. I breathed deeply and resolved never to go that long again My children have left me. Each and every one. I am left with nothing, nothing but this old treasure box.

Korean soup saves the world. My ship flies onwards towards adventure, towards freedom, towards the center of the galaxy. What would penguins say about the web of a spider? This is my dolly. You can play with hers. It wasnt much, but it was progress. The couple across from you at a wine dinner is surly and shooting glances at their real desires.

Shes pregnant. Again. No amount of punishment is going to keep me from throwing another party, I said, throwing my cigarette to the ground. Ancient artifacts that take selfies. Two ticket stubs. Eight hours apart.

Two different cities. Two countries apart. Retrace the steps of an international bender. Francisco swept me off my feet and into the exploding world of 1923. Huh, said my doctor. You dont see that a lot.

Okay, that is the worst urban legend. Dogs dont bite off fingers. Why, then, is there a gory chunk in the kibble? Why wont the baby stop crying? I mean, we buried him three months ago A florist with ambitions seduces the daughter of the President of the United States. I traded my memory away. I just dont remember why. Nothing tastes better on a crisp winter day than a nice cider, thank you, honey, I said.

Hank, I want a divorce. Once upon a time, there lived a church mouse who was as poor as could be. Yo mammas so fat, the kid yelled after me, She puts mayo on her ice cream. Only when shes pregnant, my little sister screamed back. In every library, theres a secret room. She didnt want to load the pictures from the camera.

She didnt want to look at the smiles stretching out their faces. She didnt want to admit that anything had changed. Okay, he said. You can come but only if you swear not to tell anyone. The heady smell of magnolia blossoms filled the air as I said I do, to the man who would end up killing me. Whats the point of being a magician if magic only works when people believe in it? I yelled.

Three roommates: A serious artist, a garbage man, and a professor. This is exactly why I never call you, he told his mother. I still couldnt tidy the pile of outgrown shoes by the door. Not yet. Not quite. Her laughter filled my ears, and I vowed revenge.

I wish I could make people see what I see in it. I wish people could understand why I would give up so much for what looks like so little. Being a Birthright Carver was very different than I imagined it would be. The feathers drifted to the ground. I danced among them and grabbed whatever ones I could. Is it worse to steal with a weapon or with paperwork? Centaurs are fully integrated into society.

What is different? How badly do you want to shake her? I asked myself. Man, we went out and let this guy buy us drinks. It was great. He didnt even notice when we upgraded to the good gin. You have got to find a better way to spend your Friday nights. Join a frat or something.

Pick your favorite love story. Switch the genders. Write it. I strode into the middle of the stage. Every light glinted off every sequin I wore. Its time for the sacrifice, I said into the microphone.

My voice hardly shook at all. Look, I dont want to break up with you, but she hesitated. I really cant stand the way you talk. Im sorry. Its over. For the very first time in my life, I prayed.

List all the types of beards you can think of. Pick two to have a fight. Develop characters based on who would wear them. Hanging out the laundry is the sexiest thing you can do for a man, my grandmother told me. The autumn sun glinted off of the two coins in the street. How do children succeed on a different planet? What was the childhood fear that still haunts you? Write about your life as if youd never petted a dog.

Pick your favorite literary character. Write their death scene. If already done, write their birth scene. What would my life have been like if I had never stepped on that train? If my mother had never climbed on beside me to die? If we hadnt wasted two generations to useless war? What have you taught yourself? Write a scene where a character learns that skill. You show up to breakfast with the worst hangover of your life. Your wife drops the glass she's holding.

She expected the poison to kill you. You and your closest friend deliberately switch bodies. Janice walks along the beach, stepping daintily over the half-rotten crabs. A spirit of a teenage girl falls in love with a young father and tries to kill him to have him join her. A famous actress is revealed to be a robot. Franklin is trying not to even look at the other man in the elevator.

He was trying not to turn and demand that he tell him why he would move forward with a plan that would ruin Franklin's company. The gears slowly grind to a halt. The elevator is stuck. Three children are murdered. Three separate towns. Three separate killers.

Their deaths are related. How? A flower falls in love with a human. I look down. I cast no shadow. It is time. Wandering through the Frog Sea, you find an island that shouldn't be there.

What is the worst thing that a tattoo could do? Sarah walks down the street. She tries to pass the paper coffee cup that has carelessly been allowed to blow onto the sidewalk. The disease takes over her body. She finds herself slowing, stopping, reaching. Don't give me that look. It's the law.

I have to follow the law. Two shots of vodka, a needle, a long piece of thread. It was gonna be a long night. It was a dark and stormy night. It was always a dark and stormy night. An elf locks you in a dungeon.

It will be spring, any day now. Any day now, I will die. Once, there was a story about coming of age, about blood, about sweat about love. She remembered her life by what dog she had. Paira sixes, paira sixes, step right up if youve gotta paira sixes. I would appreciate it if you call me Amanda - not that that's my name.

One of three bridges that cross over the river of gold Jane Austen meets Monopoly. Two boys grow up, poke things with sticks, and go on an adventure. One died at the age of three. A tiny duchy is the wealthiest nation known, because it straddles and controls the only pass through the White Mountains. What was your favorite childhood memory? What does that reveal about you? How would your story be different if your characters were gay? Tiptoeing along the beach, I stumbled across a skull. At last.

The cancer was back. I wasnt going to treat it. If I waited, maybe no one would find out until it was too late to save me. Oh, fudge! I heard from the kitchen. I smiled to myself. Marrying a churchy girl was the best thing Id ever done, but I couldnt get over the way she swore.

Its a three-dog night, and weve only got the one, the man said. His flannel shirt flapped over his flannel pajamas, and still, he shivered. Dont be an idiot and climb on into bed. Three ghosts meet in a field every fifteen years. They were each given the power to touch the physical world, just once, while they were apart. What did they choose last? An inheritance: - Ten thousand dollars of debt - One hundred spools of thread - A map, yellowed, with a note in the corner An infant under the dissecting knife, dead dogs bones hanging from the rafters scholar or madman? An old man, a profound regret.