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Idea You Can Steal 35 + The Elephant in the Room
“Can we just unplug 2020, wait ten seconds, and restart?”
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Can Dark Stories Be Uplifting? Part 1
A few weeks ago, I was talking with some writer friends over Discord, and I asked for their feedback on a brand new character and story idea. If you’ve been following the blog for a while, you know that all of my characters start out fairly vague and extreme. The initial concept I gave them…
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Writing Prompts 27
The weather’s warming. The daffodils are blooming. And here’s a brand new group of writing prompts.
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A Day at Camp Cottonwood
You walk through the woods in the dim light of dawn. You’re surprised by how far your memory has taken you. The path is narrower now, nearly clogged with young bushes and saplings. The buildings are still here, ready to collapse, covered in moss and vines, bleached pale or rotted to muddy brown. It’s your…
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Idea You Can Steal 34: The Secret Town
It’s mid-February, and it looks like I’m not going to get any more snow this winter. And all I did get lasted for two days. Climate change or bad luck? I’ll let you decide.
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Suspending Disbelief
If you’ve taken English classes or studied media at all, you’re probably familiar with suspension of disbelief. It’s the psychological mechanism through which we immerse ourselves in an imaginary world and allow ourselves to care about what happens in it. It’s our ability to temporarily ignore the normal rules of our everyday lives and slip…
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Writing Prompts 26
I know a lot of you are arranging something special to do with your special someone on a certain holiday next week. So I’m giving you your Valentine’s Day gift early this year — a box of writing prompts. Enjoy!
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Idea You Can Steal 33: Surprise in the Will
It’s Super Bowl weekend. It’s also the last Friday in January. So here’s a bonus story idea you can work on between rounds of sports-ball.
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Friday Flash 14: Safe Room
Emma, Lance, and Riley stood around the desk, staring at a sheet of paper. A large symbol was drawn on it — a mass of thick, black, sharp tendrils forming a circular, labyrinthine knot. They couldn’t pull their eyes away from it. The knot led their minds into a deep, dark place. None of them…
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Idea You Can Steal 32: An Old Romance
My town finally got snow last week. It lasted a full two days before a freak warm spell melted it all. Here’s a story idea for the next time weather keeps you inside.