Prompts Archives - Kyle Marie Freelander

Prompts, Writer Wednesday, Writing Quotes, Writing Tips

Writer Wednesday 44

April 22, 2015April 22, 2015 Kyle Freelander

Quotes, prompts, inspiration, and more to help writers get back to writing. As always, let me know what you think! Did you try one of these writing prompts? Let me know! I love to see what other writers are up to. <3 Kyle

Quotes

“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” -Benjamin Franklin

“Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go.” –E.L. Doctorow

“I pretty much drink a cup of coffee, write in my journal for a while, and then sit at a computer in my office and torture the keys. My one saving grace as a writer is that, if I’m having trouble with the novel I’m writing, I write something else, a poem or a short story. I try to avoid writer’s block by always writing something.” —Jess Walter

Prompts

{Have prompts you would like to see featured on a Writer Wednesday? Submit them here.}

It was a breakfast in bed kind of morning, except that she couldn’t eat the breakfast.

Flying was easier than he thought it would be.

There were so many things he wanted to tell his young self, but he was certain that their future would change drastically if those words came out of his mouth. Seeing how the world was going to turn out already, maybe a change was just what everyone needed.

Because of ____________, I will never be the same.

Being back at his old school was the worst thing that could happen at this point.

Inspiration

Have some trouble with grammar or just want to do a quick check of your piece? Try out grammarly!

Need a laugh? Check out this comic

Striving to learn more about copywriting? Check out these 10 steps.

More!

Have something to share? This is your chance to promote yourself, your blog, or even just a helpful site you came across. Submissions go here (and let’s hope they are writing related.)

Looking for more prompts and inspiration? Check out previous Writer Wednesdays!

Spread the love! Like me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter. Maybe Tumblr is more your speed? Let’s join forces on Pinterest as well!

Write on!

Prompts, Writer Wednesday, Writing Quotes, Writing Tips

Writer Wednesday 43

February 25, 2015April 22, 2015 Kyle Freelander

Quotes

“Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash.” – Leonard Cohen

“Make it dark, make it grim, make it tough, but then, for the love of God, tell a joke.” -Joss Whedon

“Each writer is born with a repertory company in his head.” -Gore Vidal

“As to the adjective, when in doubt, strike it out.” -Mark Twain, Pudd’nhead Wilson, 1894

Prompts

{{Have prompts you would like to see featured on a Writer Wednesday? Submit them here.}}

The child who had to become an adult.

The game that went terribly, terribly wrong.

The family feud you wanted no part in.

The back story your readers will never know.

The cookie that was missing from the cookie jar.

The smile you miss or the frown you don’t.

The day that never ended.

The lesson you didn’t bother to learn.

More

Is back story sabotaging your novel? Find out here

“Language” by Stephen Fry (video)

Looking for a new site to try? Check out 750 words

Have you tried writing in the snow? Here is some inspiration for some snow writing

50 things to know about self-publishing a book on Amazon

…more, more, more!

Have something to share? This is your chance to promote yourself, your blog, or even just a helpful site you came across. Submissions go here (and let’s hope they are writing related.)

Looking for more prompts and inspiration? Check out previous Writer Wednesdays!

Spread the love! Like me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter for more quotes, inspiration, and insight into my life (or, you know, just do it for the cute dog pics)

Write on!

Prompts, Writer Wednesday, Writing Quotes, Writing Tips

Writer Wednesday 42

February 18, 2015February 18, 2015 Kyle Freelander

Quotes

“When we read, we start at the beginning and continue until we reach the end. When we write, we start in the middle and fight our way out.” -Vickie Karp

“The mark of a really great writer is that he gives expression to what the masses of mankind think or feel without knowing it. The mediocre writer simply writes what everyone would have said.” -G. C. Lichtenberg

“The heart makes the eloquence.” -Edward Dahlberg

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” -Agatha Christie

Prompts

{{Have prompts you would like to see featured on a Writer Wednesday? Submit them here.}}

She dove for the post-Valentine’s Day chocolates. What a bargain! What a steal! Who cared what everyone thought of her as she loaded the last of the sales table onto the conveyer belt…she needed them.

If I could write you a song to make you fall in love, it would go something like this:

Outside the snow is falling and you are snowed in with…wait, what is that?

Frosty the Snowman finds a Snowlady

Get more writing prompts on my Pinterest board!

More

10 themes shared by Historical Fiction and Science Fiction

Propp’s Structure of the Magic Tale

4 faults beginners make in writing (with clever names, descriptions, and examples for them all)

Words that sound dirty, but aren’t (there are 144 words on this list but it’s worth a humorous skim)

…more, more, more!

Have something to share? This is your chance to promote yourself, your blog, or even just a helpful site you came across. Submissions go here (and let’s hope they are writing related.)

Looking for more prompts and inspiration? Check out previous Writer Wednesdays!

Spread the love! Like me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter. Maybe Tumblr is more your speed? Let’s join forces on Pinterest as well!

Write on!

Prompts, Writer Wednesday, Writing Quotes, Writing Tips

Writer Wednesday 41: Valentine’s Day

February 11, 2015February 18, 2015 Kyle Freelander

Quotes, prompts, inspiration, and more to help writers get back to writing. This week’s theme: Valentine’s Day! Show your writing some love this week (and, you know, all the time). As always, let me know what you think! <3 Kyle

Quotes

“Writing is the hardest work in the world. I have been a brick-layer and a truck driver, and I tell you –as if you haven’t been told a million times already –that writing is harder. Lonelier. And nobler and more enriching.” -Harlan Ellison

“The work never matches the dream of perfection the artist has to start with.” -William Faulkner

“There is no agony like having an untold story inside you.” -Zora Neale Hurston

“If the doctor told me I had six minutes to live, I’d type a little faster.” -Isaac Asimov

Prompts

{{Have prompts you would like to see featured on a Writer Wednesday? Submit them here.}}

Your secret crush walks up to you and gives you a box of Sweethearts. Upon opening the box, you realize all the hearts are blank…except one. It says RUN.

Write the message you’d want to receive in a card from your Valentine.

The sign on the door said WATCH OUT FOR CUPID’S ARROW, but she didn’t expect this.

The bouquet held a dozen beautiful red roses that blackened and fell as soon as they touched her hands.

It was a Valentine’s Day proposal neither of them would ever forget.

Everyone told you not to go on a first date on Valentine’s Day. Now you know why.

More

How to write love scenes that work for your readers

In defense of YA romance (and what we can appreciate from it)

12 romance books for people who hate romance novels

…more, more, more!

Have something to share? This is your chance to promote yourself, your blog, or even just a helpful site you came across. Submissions go here (and let’s hope they are writing related.)

Looking for more prompts and inspiration? Check out previous Writer Wednesdays!

Spread the love! Like me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter. Maybe Tumblr is more your speed? Let’s join forces on Pinterest as well!

Write on!

Prompts, Writer Wednesday, Writing Quotes, Writing Tips

Writer Wednesday 40: Poetry

February 4, 2015February 18, 2015 Kyle Freelander

Quotes

“It’s always hard for poets to believe that one says their poems are bad not because one is a fiend but because their poems are bad.” -Randall Jarrell

“A poem is never unfinished, only abandoned.” -Paul Valéry

“A poet ought not to pick nature’s pocket. Let him borrow, and so borrow as to repay by the very act of borrowing. Examine nature accurately, but write from recollection, and trust more to the imagination than the memory.” -Samuel Taylor Coleridge

“Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash.” -Leonard Cohen

More quotes here.

Prompts

{{Have prompts you would like to see featured on a Writer Wednesday? Submit them here.}}

Recall a recent dream. Write a poem about it using as much detail as possible.

Write a poem about a shadow (your shadow, someone else’s shadow, an objects shadow, etc.)

Write a poem from the perspective of an object.

Try thinking like an animal. Write a poem about something important to them.

More

3 Tips for Consistent Tone

How to Create Animated Poetry

16 Ways to Not Win a Poetry Contest

Learn about the poetic form Qasida

More, more, more!

Have something to share? This is your chance to promote yourself, your blog, or even just a helpful site you came across. Submissions go here (and let’s hope they are writing related.)

Looking for more prompts and inspiration? Check out previous Writer Wednesdays!

Spread the love! Like me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter. Maybe Tumblr is more your speed? Let’s join forces on Pinterest as well!

Write on!

Journaling, Prompts

Journaling: 50+ Prompts!

January 29, 2015January 29, 2015 Kyle Freelander

Now that you’ve started the journaling process, it’s time to stick to it! There will be days where you feel like you have nothing to write about. These days might come in pairs, clusters, weeks, or even months. But you need to keep writing! On top of being good writing practice, you really do have something to say. This collection of journal prompts is meant to inspire you, to help you reach places that you never even thought to delve into, or even just tickle your funny bone. Use one of them or use all of them. Just keep journaling! {Note: This post may contain affiliate links}

Write about your day:

How are you?

What’s on your mind?

What was a good thing that happened today?

What do you wish hadn’t happened today?

What will you do differently tomorrow?

You get one redo for today. Do you take it? What do you change? Why?

What is your biggest concern right now?

What keeps you up at night?

Make a List:

Things I Wish My Parents Knew About Me

Secrets About Me

Secrets I have kept

Things I want my children to know about me

Times your heart skipped a beat

Lessons you want your kids to learn

Things I did right this week

Funniest memories

Things that are important right now

Things I learned this past year

Lessons you learned the hard way

Things about _________

Promises you’ve made to yourself that you HAVE to keep

Promises you’ve made to others that you HAVE to keep

My most memorable teachers

Regrets that aren’t worth having

You’re going away for the weekend. What do you need to pack?

Places you want to travel to

Places you’ve been

Songs that describe my life right now

Songs that remind me of people, places, or things

Finish this thought:

I’m proud of ____________________ because ________________________.

Today I felt __________________ but then ___________________________

Tomorrow I hope to _________________________________

_________________ is my best friend because _____________________

If I had one super power it would be ______________ because _______________

If I had to move tomorrow, I would go to live in _____________ because ___________

I remember my childhood friend _______________ best because _______________

Other:

What you want to remind your future self

Give your younger-self advice in letter form

Your most embarrassing moment

Inspirational quotes

How I feel about writing

Fondest memory from your childhood, adolescence, college years, etc.

What you hope others see in you

The love letter you’ll never send

Your biggest regret

Your greatest accomplishment

Your ideal date

What your future looks like

Your role models

The weirdest thing you’ve bought lately

What is the world coming to?

Need some more prompts? Check out some of these books to keep you going!

Get more journaling ideas on my journaling Pinterest board!

Prompts, Writer Wednesday, Writing Quotes, Writing Tips

Writer Wednesday 39: Writing Tips & More!

January 28, 2015February 18, 2015 Kyle Freelander

Writers, it’s Wednesday again! Quotes, prompts, inspiration, writing tips, and more to help writers get back to writing. As always, let me know what you think! Did you try one of these writing prompts? Let me know! I love to see what other writers are up to. <3 Kyle

Quotes

“To imagine yourself inside another person…is what a story writer does in every piece of work; it is his first step, and his last too, I suppose.” -Eudora Welty

“A writer of fiction lives in fear. Each new day demands new ideas and he can never be sure whether he is going to come up with them or not.” -Roald Dahl

“Put it before them briefly so they will read it, clearly so they will appreciate it, picturesquely so they will remember it, and above all, accurately so they will be guided by its light.” -Joseph Pulitzer

Prompts

{{Have prompts you would like to see featured on a Writer Wednesday? Submit them here.}}

You were excited about your new place until you found out that your neighbor is not who you thought they were.

Outside the snow is falling and you are snowed in with…wait, what is that?

Write a “Dear John” letter, breaking up with your high-school sweetheart who’s in the army.

He hadn’t seen her since the day they left high school.

This time her boss had gone too far.

Writing Tips and More!

How to Research Place for Your Novel

How to Hook a Reader (Analyzing 10 good opening lines)

Have you thought about journaling? Check out this mini series!

more, more, more!

Have something to share? This is your chance to promote yourself, your blog, or even just a helpful site you came across. Submissions go here (and let’s hope they are writing related.)

Looking for more prompts and inspiration? Check out previous Writer Wednesdays!

Spread the love! Like me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter. Maybe Tumblr is more your speed? Let’s join forces on Pinterest as well!

Write on!

Journaling, Prompts

Journaling: 4 Ways to Start Journaling Today

January 26, 2015 Kyle Freelander

The first entry in your new journal can be the most intimidating. Who is your audience? Where do you start? What do you write about? This post works to answer some of those big questions for you so you can get started on what’s important: journaling.

Who is your audience?

As I have said before, you are writing for yourself. Your journal is supposed to be a judgment free zone where you can express whatever you want without the fear of anyone else seeing it. Why then would I bring up audience? Because, while you are writing for yourself, you might want to think about the purpose of your journal.

If you use your journal as a place to record memories to look back upon, Future-You is actually your audience. In that sort of journal, you might want to make sure your entries have a little context to them rather than jumping right into current content. Future-You may not remember that you and your best friend were fighting for three days straight and that’s why you were at brunch with your awkward coworker instead. Save yourself the confusion and add context.

On the other hand, if you are just journaling for therapeutic means and have an intention to burn said journal after its completion (or, you know, never look at it again), then adding context might not be as significant as just getting down your thoughts.

Writing that first entry:

Option I: Start writing.

Just get to writing about what is on your mind right now. What problems have been trying to work themselves out in your mind? How was your day? What are you stressing about?

Option II: All about me!

Especially if you are writing to preserve memories, adding a section about yourself at the beginning of your journal can help give some context to your following entries. Here are some questions you might want to answer in a section like this:

Do these questions tickle your fancy? A quick search online will lead you to several other surveys and questions that you can cut & paste into your journal (or just answer at random). If you are using paper or a notebook, you might even want to do a sort of adaptation of this entry each time you start a new journal.

Also, it is a good idea to add a picture of what you look like during this period of your life just to put a face to the writer. Remember, you’ll change a lot over the years and pictures can be a fun way to record that progress.

Option III: All pictures.

Like I said before, pictures are a good way to show memories. If possible, add captions to your photos to provide a little bit of context/story to your photos and your well on your way to a fun new journal.

Option IV: Looking forward.

Don’t want to dwell on the past? Spend your first entry looking forward! Even if it’s not January, you can create resolutions for yourself of what you want to accomplish in whatever amount of time. This could be especially helpful if you intend to use your journal to record your progress towards your goals.

Regardless of how you start your journal (or if you’ve already started –go you!), the most important part of journaling is that you keep journaling. You don’t have to include everything about you in one entry. In fact, that would be tedious on you as a writer or even Future-You as a reader. Don’t wear yourself out. Write what you can handle. Some entries might be long and others might not be more than a paragraph or a photo. That’s fine. Just keep journaling.

Next up in journaling: Journaling Prompts! (To get you through the days where inspiration might be hiding.)

Let’s hear from you!

What do you like to include in a first journal entry?

Prompts, Writer Wednesday, Writing Quotes, Writing Tips

Writer Wednesday 38

January 21, 2015January 21, 2015 Kyle Freelander

Quotes

“There is some relationship between the hunger for truth and the search for the right words. This struggle may be ultimately indefinable and even undecidable, but one damn well knows it when one sees it.” -Christopher Hitchens

“A writer needs three things, experience, observation, and imagination, any two of which, at times any one of which, can supply the lack of the others.” -William Faulkner

“Writing makes no noise, except groans, and it can be done everywhere, and it is done alone.” -Ursula K. Le Guin

“A classic is a classic not because it conforms to certain structural rules, or fits certain definitions (of which its author had quite probably never heard). It is classic because of a certain eternal and irrepressible freshness.” -Edith Wharton

Prompts

{{Have prompts you would like to see featured on a Writer Wednesday? Submit them here.}}

A character that nobody likes becomes somebody everyone loves.

All social media is banned. How does the world survive?

When all the water dried up.

47 things to do with ___________.

Your character’s first kiss.

More writing prompts here.

More

6 Reasons to Start Journaling Now!

10 Rules for Writing New Adult Fiction

Writing about Medieval Times

More writing tips here

…more, more, more!

Have something to share? This is your chance to promote yourself, your blog, or even just a helpful site you came across. Submissions go here (and let’s hope they are writing related.)

Looking for more prompts and inspiration? Check out previous Writer Wednesdays!

Spread the love! Like me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter. Maybe Tumblr is more your speed? Let’s join forces on Pinterest as well!

Write on!

Prompts, Writer Wednesday, Writing Tips

Writer Wednesday 37: Medieval Times

January 7, 2015January 21, 2015 Kyle Freelander

Writer–

I am here to help! Every Wednesday there will be quotes, prompts, inspiration, and more to help writers get back to writing. Get inspired by the quotes, ponder the prompts, check out the links, and, as always, let me know what you think! If you’re brave enough to post your writing in regards to a prompt, let me know –I would love to check it out!

<3 Kyle

Quotes

“The muse whispers to you when she chooses, and you can’t tell her to come back later, because you quickly learn in this business that she might not come back at all.” -Terry Brooks

“The difference between reality and fiction? Fiction has to make sense.” -Tom Clancy

“Writing is the worst possible way to earn a living, with the possible exception of wrestling alligators.” -Olin Miller

“English usage is sometimes more than mere taste, judgement and education –sometimes it’s sheer luck, like getting across the street.” -E.B. White

Prompts

{{Have prompts you would like to see featured on a Writer Wednesday? Submit them here.}}

She had stolen his money but he found that he wasn’t angry. How could he be when it was for a good reason?

Since that day, she never bought silk again.

They knew what they had to do: storm the castle

and more!

Medieval Names Archives (Admittedly, I’ve been watching Galavant on ABC so this is right up my area of interest currently. Although I don’t really foresee myself writing any medieval pieces. But you never know!)

Writing Fight Scenes with Alan Baxtar (Note: this is a video)

Wondering about Medieval weapons? This site has a ton of information for you that could really make a Medieval novel feel authentic.

…more, more, more!

Have something to share? This is your chance to promote yourself, your blog, or even just a helpful site you came across. Submissions go here (and let’s hope they are writing related.)

Looking for more prompts and inspiration? Check out previous Writer Wednesdays!

Spread the love! Like me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter. Maybe Tumblr is more your speed? Let’s join forces on Pinterest as well!

Write on!