Writing Prompts You Can Use Today

by Gary Fearon, Creative Director, Southern Writers Magazine

I'll admit it.  Every once in a while I get stuck for a story idea, and when I'm desperate enough, I resort to googling "writing prompts".  Inevitably it's a dead end because "Write about your favorite Christmas memory" or "What's your biggest pet peeve" isn't what I have in mind. 

When talking to writers, I'm always curious to learn whether they like to listen to music while they work, or whether they prefer to have it as quiet as possible. Being aurally oriented myself, I enjoy knowing that many authors listen to music that fits the mood of whatever they're writing.  A website like AccuRadio can provide a running backdrop of soundtracks ranging from romance to horror.

That atmospheric approach provides effective support when you already know what to write. But have you ever considered turning to music as a way of inspiring an idea?  Songs are just one of several readily-available story starters that are easily overlooked.

SONG TITLES
A good song title can make a good writing prompt.  For example, don't each of these classic phrases conjure something you could build a scenario around?

• Heartbreak Hotel
• Georgia on My Mind
• Born to Run
• Blowin' in the Wind
• King of the Road
• Behind Closed Doors
• When Doves Cry

If you're worried about stealing an existing song title, even other songwriters are prone to borrow a good idea for themselves.  Over the years, each of these song titles have been used ten times or more for very different radio hits:

• Call Me
• Crazy
• Hold On
• I Want You
• Runaway
• Smile 
• Stay
• Without You

Song titles can't be copyrighted any more than novel titles can.  Even a more involved title like "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You" has been used two separate times, in hits for Gene Autry and Rod Stewart.  Steal away.

STORY SONGS
Country music in particular has provided a wealth of songs that tell a story.  Premises like these could be given different titles, different characters, and adapted into entirely new tales:

• Ode to Billie Joe
• The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia
• Harper Valley P.T.A.
• Coward of the County

BTW all of the above became critically panned movies or TV shows.  I'm sure you can do better. 

CLICHES
A popular phrase has the bonus of familiarity to add immediate appeal.  The writers of these songs can attest to that:

• Bad Blood
• Bad to the Bone
• Every Rose Has Its Thorn
• One Bad Apple 
• Over My Head
• Take It Easy
• That's What Friends Are For
• You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet

RANDOM SENTENCES FROM NOVELS
Here are a few phrases I grabbed just now from the middle of three old books in my office.  I'll wager any of these would be the nucleus of a decent story idea:

"It soon became clear, first to his family, then to the village, that he had changed."

"He told his secretary that he was in the States on a special assignment. She was a bit hurt by his secrecy, but thought nothing more of it."

"He was overcome with emotion, with dreams of her in their younger days, the youthful beauty that he had taken for granted and had been lucky enough to find again."

FIRST LINE PROMPTS
Lastly, there are several websites that generate random first lines. The following are courtesy of http://writingexercises.co.uk/firstlinegenerator.php  Could you do something with these opening lines?

"He'd had a bad day and just needed something to make him feel better."

"The horse came back alone."

"The whole family had been cursed since..."

FINAL THOUGHTS
Writing prompts aren't just useful for creating story ideas; they can also come in handy in the middle of a novel when things need to take an unexpected turn.

I hope one or more of these tips come in handy for your next story.  Speaking of which, you still have time to enter your latest masterpiece in Southern Writers' 2016 Short Story Fiction Contest (the deadline is June 30; get details here).  Have fun and good luck!

Instant Inspiration

by Gary Fearon, Creative Director, Southern Writers Magazine

Much like our own bookshelves, I've always considered the magazines in a doctor's waiting room to be a reflection of the person running the joint. I appreciate a physician who caters to multiple ages and interests by supplying a broad selection of periodicals.  While waiting for a dental checkup this week, I had just such an opportunity to choose from a fair variety.

Being both a movie and news junkie, I'll often reach first for an Entertainment Weekly or a Newsweek if they have it.  But today I decided to broaden my horizons and look at magazines I would never normally read, purely in the interests of inspiration and enlightenment.  And perhaps fodder for a blog post.

The first magazine, which dealt with outdoor adventure, was a radical enough choice to start with, since my loyalties firmly lie with the great indoors. Pledging to read whatever article I randomly opened to, I found myself learning about the Beer Mile, a fad from Australia which encourages runners to attempt a five-minute mile around a four lap track, downing a brewski upon each lap. Few apparently succeed upon consuming all that ale, and I must admit that I bailed on the article when I saw that it consumed eight pages of the magazine.  But it left me interested in the fact that the organizers of these events almost have to do so under the radar because they are fraught with the potential for negative publicity.

Another magazine—and one I really had to bite the bullet to pick up—was a golfing magazine.  The first page I came to was a Q&A with an expert on country clubs across America.  A reader asked what course he might recommend for a vacation spot based on his preferences for a warm climate, nearness to a historical site, and whatever.  Before I put the mag back, I considered the value of planning a trip based on very specific criteria, such as researching a city one might want to set their next novel in.

My third magazine was devoted to living in trailers (which made me wonder a little about my dentist).  The page I opened to happened to be an ad for a race track where their spring weekend event will include entertainment provided by Beatles tribute band Ticket to Ride.  The next night will feature a Neil Diamond tribute band.  I had no idea there was such a thing as a full-fledged Neil Diamond tribute band, and it made me wonder what other tribute bands might exist that I don't know about.

Soon after that I was summoned for my appointment, but not before I took stock of the new insights I had gleaned from this free source of inspiration.  In that short amount of time I was given the nucleus of a story idea that might involve a fan who is so infatuated with their favorite singer that they move to his city and organize a questionable event that they know the singer will want to be a part of, and mayhem ensues.  In fact, if you'd like to write it, go for it because I'll be busy working on my tribute band.  I do a mean Gilbert O'Sullivan.

Which is all one way of saying that I recommend branching out and reading something from the road less traveled.  You might indulge in similar pages of offbeat randomness while standing in a checkout line, but the opportunity to take your time and expand your mind in the relative comfort of a waiting room could be just what the doctor ordered.