Writing Prompts

Yes, I’m still here! Plus, an announcement…

~ K R Parkinson ~ 1 Comment

I admit, I’ve let this blog sputter under a hectic schedule and (if we’re being brutally honest) a lack of anything substantive to say about writing these past couple months. I first started Write Full Circle as part of a class on blogging, and so I wasn’t entirely sure where I’d end up with it. It’s increasingly become clear that I have plenty to say, but only a small part of it actually relates to writing. I feel weird about posting non-writing-related stuff here, so I’m currently working on a new web project which will remedy that situation, and provide a more general forum for *all* of my interests and hobbies, not just writing. More to come on this front in the next couple weeks, hopefully sooner.

If you’ve been following AdventureGamers.com at all, you know I’m still actively writing reviews for the site, but my personal writing projects have been taking a backseat to other projects of late, including the aforementioned web project and other issues of Real Life. Before becoming distracted I had written a really solid first draft of a story that I think I want to serialize here, so now that it’s been a while since I looked at it, I’ll go back in and edit it into shape.

Just wanted to give you all an update as to what’s been happening since I last posted in July(!). Before signing off, since I’m drafting this on Wednesday I’ll leave you with a quick writing prompt:

New Beginnings.

Seems appropriate, no?

Cheers, all. I’ll be back soon…

K R Parkinson Monogram
– K R Parkinson
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Writing Prompt Wednesday: Medieval Time Travel

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time-621043_640Hello, and welcome to this month’s final Writing Prompt Wednesday! Since this is our final Medieval Times-themed prompt, I thought we’d do something a bit different, with medieval-themed prompts related to the “fish-out-of-water” concept. You know what I’m talking about: stories where the main character just doesn’t fit in, and they have to make their way through a strange world that they don’t understand, and a world that, perhaps, doesn’t understand them.

By the way, I’m nowhere near qualified to speak on the science behind this, but it seems that it might actually be impossible to travel backwards through time, based on the fact that we’ve now observed that atomic nuclei don’t have to be symmetrical. That’s…at least kind of related to this week’s prompts. Promise.

 

Prompt 1

Write a story in which a famous scientist from history is transported to the present. Why would those responsible do this? What problems could this pose if they intended to send them back to their own time?

 

Prompt 2

Write a story in which an extra-terrestrial lands in medieval London. They can be hostile or friendly.

 

Prompt 3

Arthur C. Clarke once said that “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

Leonardo da Vinci is considered one of the most visionary men of the Renaissance, having drafted plans for such things as helicopters, parachutes, and even a primitive tank. What would he think about the televisions, computers, telephones, and this thing we call the internet? Do you think he would understand them as technology or magic?

Bonus question: Is there a difference?

 

Until next time,

K R Parkinson Monogram
– K R Parkinson

Writing Prompt Wednesday: Still Alive!

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Well, it finally happened. Yours truly got truly busy — and let a Writing Prompt Wednesday slip by without an update. Many apologies for the oversight. Have a few cookies for your trouble:

320px-chocolate_chip_cookies_-_kimberlykv

Now then, let’s get to the belated prompting, shall we? I think we’ll do a collection of story prompts this week. Of course, we’re keeping the Medieval Times theme.

 

Prompt 1

Write a story in which King Arthur and his Knights discover that the holy grail isn’t quite what they thought it would be.

 

Prompt 2

Two words: Steampunk Merlin.

 

Prompt 3

Complete the story:157px-john_william_waterhouse_-_the_crystal_ball

The three old witches sat opposite their King, eyes shut, mouths working to form the words of the spell. Palms facing outward, they pressed their wrists together to form a ‘V’ with their hands, focusing their energy toward the crystal ball placed in the center of the table. Occasionally, one of the old women would groan, straining to maintain her connection to the world of the unseen.

The King leaned forward to peer into the crystal ball. His heart raced with anticipation. If these old crones did what they claimed they could do, today he would…

 

And there you have it, folks. A day late, but as prompting as ever, if I do say so myself. Take care, and have a great week. See you next time!

K R Parkinson Monogram
– K R Parkinson

Photo credits:

Chocolate Chip Cookies by Kimberly Vardeman, used under CC BY 2.0 license.

The Crystal Ball by John William Waterhouse, work in public domain.

Writing Prompt Wednesday: Armor Documentary!

Video ~ ~ K R Parkinson ~ Leave a comment

Greetings once again, readers. In keeping with the use of multimedia in last week’s prompt, this time I have a video about medieval heavy armor for you to check out. I’ve been doing some research on this topic lately, and this documentary was pretty helpful. It’s over 45 minutes long, but it’s interesting and informative, cheesiness notwithstanding.

Enjoy, and catch you next time!

K R Parkinson Monogram
– K R Parkinson

Writing Prompt Wednesday: Sedlec Ossuary

Image ~ ~ K R Parkinson ~ Leave a comment

Since I feel like doing something a bit (okay, very) different this week, I decided to provide a series of eye-popping photos to jump-start your creativity instead of the typical text-based writing prompt fare. In keeping with this month’s theme, the following photos are from Sedlec Ossuary, located in the lower levels of the medieval-era Chapel of All Saints in Czechia (also known as the Czech Republic).

All Saints Chapel
Chapel of All Saints, Exterior. By user “Zp,” via Wikimedia Commons. Used under Creative Commons licence CC BY-SA 3.0

The site had been used as a burial ground for hundreds of years before František Rint was commissioned by the prominent Schwarzenberg family in the 1700s to place the bones in the Ossuary in some semblance of order. His solution for organizing the thousands upon thousands of bones and skeletons that had been laid to rest in the lower levels of the chapel?

Arrange them artistically, of course! The result of Rint’s work can be seen in the photographs below, including the incredible chandelier and the Coat of Arms of the House of Schwarzenberg. I’ve always wanted to see this place for myself, because the use of something many people consider sinister or taboo to provide a peculiar beauty to a sacred space is very inspiring to me.

While some people find such displays morbid and disrespectful to the dead, I think there’s an air of reverence to it, bringing to mind the passage from the Book of Genesis, “…for dust you are, and to dust you shall return,” a stark reminder that our lifetime is as valuable as it is limited.

Sedlec_Ossuary_Entrance_scale
Ossuary Entrance, with cross made of bones. Tyler Nofziger, via Wikipedia. Used under Creative Commons license CC BY 3.0
Kostnice03_scale
Coat of Arms of the House of Schwartzenberg. Originally posted to Flickr by user “word_virus.” Acquired for this post via Wikimedia Commons. Used under Creative Commons license CC BY 2.0
Sedlec-Ossuary_scale
Chandelier made of bones. By user “Chmouel,” via Wikimedia Commons. Used under Creative Commons license CC BY-SA 3.0

’til next time, remember to Write a Full Circle every day.

K R Parkinson Monogram
– K R Parkinson

Writing Prompt Wednesday: Technicolor Dreams #3

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Sacred Geometry 2-Scaled
Sacred Geometry 2 by William “Spektyr” Laskorski

Hello everyone! The past week has been an immensely productive one, and I must admit that Writing Prompt Wednesday almost passed by unnoticed amidst the flurry of creativity. Luckily, I’m taking a breather in order to bring you another set of Technicolor Dreams-themed prompts.

 

You’re welcome. 😉

Prompt 1

Write dialogue between two characters in which color is a central point of discussion. The topic may be anything.

 

Prompt 2

Most cultures consider certain colors important in some way. For instance, the Navajo (a culture indigenous to North America) give the colors white, black, blue, and yellow sacred significance, representing the four directions, among other things.

Your job is to do a bit of worldbuilding, and outline a culture in which colors are highly important. Be as detailed in your work as you wish. Create rituals, write speeches or creeds, and generally develop the culture. Think historically as you create. For instance, in human culture certain groups have used colors to represent themselves (purple = royalty; red = high-ranking church official), or have had colors used as a negative and/or oppressive symbol against them by others (yellow Star of David and pink triangle symbols = badges of shame in Nazi-controlled areas of Europe). These are just examples, intended to help you see the different ways that color can be used in a society.

For specifically-religious examples, there’s green, which is a very important color in Islam, and here’s a couple of interesting PDFs which outline the significance of color in Christianity and Hinduism, respectively.

 

Prompt 3

Base a story around the following sentence:

“We knew we were in trouble when the sky turned blue.”

 

So that’s a wrap on the final Technicolor Dreams edition of Writing Prompt Wednesday. Come back next week for an all-new theme and more writing prompts to keep you busy all month long!

K R Parkinson Monogram
– K R Parkinson

 

Writing Prompt Wednesday: Technicolor Dreams #2

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Heavy Rainbow by Matthew Attard, via DeviantArt.com. Used with permission.
Heavy Rainbow, by Matthew Attard, via DeviantArt.com. Used with permission.

Greetings, readers! Welcome to another Technicolor Dreams edition of Writing Prompt Wednesday.

Headlining this week’s entry is our featured artwork, Heavy Rainbow, a stunning surreal piece by Australian artist Matthew “priteeboy” Attard. Many thanks for graciously permitting Write Full Circle to showcase this one-of-a-kind creation, Mr. Attard!

On the writing prompt front, we have some great stuff for you, including prompts for poetry, stories, and even a dream journal, if that’s your thing.

So, without further ado, let’s get to it!

Poetry Prompts

1) Write a prose poem based upon the most vivid dream you can remember. Keep it under 500 words.

2a) Note the first two colors you see when you look around. DO NOT WORRY if they are extremely similar.

2b) Write a Pantoum where the repeated pair of lines in each stanza features both of these colors, one to a line. They may include the name of the color, or poetic attributes of that color.

 

Story Prompts

1) Write a story in which the main character cannot tell whether what they experience is real or not.

2) Assume there is a reality in which everything is the opposite of what it is here. Up is down, hot is cold, even colors are the opposite from each other. Now, tell a story in which someone from this reality is brought into our own.

3) Write a story inspired by this week’s featured artwork.

 

Dream Journal Project

For one or two weeks, keep a dream journal in which you write down all your dreams that you can remember. It is best if you write them down as soon as you wake up.

At the end of the journalling period, take the two or three most interesting dream sequences and write stories based on them. Keep the characters and situations as close to the way they were in your dreams, but feel free to expand on the logic of the dream as you write. For instance, if you could float or fly, perhaps you aren’t limited to staying on this planet, or if you are, you can still fly anywhere in the world you want to go.

Note that it is possible that by paying attention to your dreams and journalling them you could at some point have a lucid dream, in which you become aware that you are dreaming. Be sure to reflect these events in your story.

K R Parkinson Monogram
– K R Parkinson

Writing Prompt Wednesday: Technicolor Dreams #1

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Last week’s special edition of WPW was a great way to ease into a new month, but now it’s time to choose a common theme to carry us through the next few weeks: Technicolor Dreams. Free your imagination as we settle in to a new Writing Prompt Wednesday…

Prompt 1:

Write a story in which the word “cinematomatic” appears.

 

Prompt 2:

Write a poem in which each new line starts with a word beginning with the letter of one of the colors of the rainbow: ROYGBIV. They do not necessarily need to appear in that order.

BONUS CHALLENGE: End each line with a word beginning with the letter of the color opposite the current one in ROYGBIV. Example: Line begins with “Y,” so it should end with a word beginning with “B.”

 

Prompt 3:

Write a story that ties three of your most recent dreams together in a coherent way.

 

 

Alrighty folks, that does it for another edition of Nightli…sorry, Writing Prompt Wednesday. Tune in next week for more writing prompts (and hopefully a great image to accompany the new theme; still working on permissions issues).

Remember to Write Full Circle everyday,

 

K R Parkinson Monogram

Writing Prompt Wednesday: Star Wars Day Special!

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May the 4th be with You...Always
Background image credit: NASA, ESS, and STScI via HubbleSite.org. Text overlay and other modifications by K R Parkinson

Happy Star Wars Day! In honor of the occasion where everyone’s telling everyone else “May the 4th be with you,” this week’s Writing Prompt Wednesday theme is “In a galaxy far, far away….”

Prompt 1: Complete the story

We parked in one of the station’s loading bays. It was dark out there, and too quiet inside the ship – sounds from the bay weren’t transferring through the air to the hull. Life support systems were probably down. Kam and I put on our pressure suits before going out. He looked nervous, kept glancing out the cockpit windows at the angular, towering shapes casting tall shadows on the walls. The lights flickered on and off at irregular intervals, making the shadows shift and pulse.

I had bats darting around in my  gut, too, but I was better at hiding it than my brother. Always had been, even when we were young. I was “the brave one,” the one who stepped up to defend my brother from bullies every week at school. I always thought he was chicken, and I still do, but he’s got a brain on him that won’t quit, and we’ve stayed close all these years. It’s been a profitable relationship. I choose the targets and Kam figures out how to get in – and out – without making anyone suspicious. If we do attract attention, well, let’s just say that I’ve talked us to safety more than once, and I know how to use a plasma pistol when I need to.

We walked down the ship’s ramp, the darkness of space at our backs, looming just beyond the mouth of the loading bay. Crates and containers, ancient by the look of them, were all over the place, a few in tall, orderly stacks, most just piled up without care or knocked over like giant toy blocks. Some were open, but most were still sealed up, and I smiled. It’s rare to come across an abandoned space station like this, but when you do it’s a fool’s bargain not to check it out. You never know what you might find…

 

Prompt 2: Alien anthropology

Write a story about a culture whose solar year is only one Earth-month long. How would that affect that culture? What might they do differently from humans?

 

Prompt 3: Dreaming of another life

The Star Wars universe is filled with planets of all types, and with hundreds of species of beings. If you could live on only one planet, inhabited or not, for the rest of your life, what would it be? Describe it. If it is inhabited, what would the people be like? Would you prefer to live there with someone you know, or not?

 

Okay, so that wraps up another Writing Prompt Wednesday! Hope these prompts inspire your creativity. As always, feel free to share by leaving a comment.

Until next time…May the 4th be with you!

 

K R Parkinson Monogram
– K R Parkinson

 

Background image credit: NASA, ESA and STScI via HubbleSite.org. Text overlay and other modifications by K R Parkinson.

Writing Prompt Wednesday: April Showers #4

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April seems to have flown by, and things are not sitting still in the world of Write Full Circle. My current writing projects are progressing nicely, though slowly. One of my recent short stories is ready for submission to appropriate markets, an exciting development on which I will, of course, keep you updated.

In the meantime, you guys are probably looking forward to another Writing Prompt Wednesday. In fact, this will be the LAST WPW for April 2016, so let’s send April out with a bang, shall we?

Embed from Getty Images

Prompt 1*:

Write a poem about weather that DOESN’T include the letters ‘T’, ‘S’, ‘L’ or ‘R’ (nor their lowercase equivalents – no cheating via technicalities, people).

Prompt 2:

Write a story in which a thunderstorm is the main character.

Prompt 3:

“Is that a hurricane?”

 

Alrighty folks, that does it for Write Full Circle’s first month of Writing Prompt Wednesdays. In May, expect a fresh WPW theme, in addition to more articles similar to Write Full Circle’s first-ever post. I have a topic in mind for the next article, and I’m shooting to have it ready for posting next week.

’til next time,

K R Parkinson Monogram
– K R Parkinson

*Prompt 1 inspired by this tweet and an exercise from the excellent book Cryptology by Albrecht Beutelspacher