fun with writing prompts

I’ve started doing this thing on my dumb Tumblr thing where I take a picture from one of the blogs I follow, and use it to inspire a little bit of prose fiction.

I really liked this one, so I’m sharing it here.

Illustration for article ‘The Scientist, The Humanist, and Us’ (1981) by Ron Walotsky in Future magazine.
Illustration for article ‘The Scientist, The Humanist, and Us’ (1981) by Ron Walotsky in Future magazine.

“Everything in our world, from the food we eat to the bombs we use to kill each other, is just reflected light.”

Poe floated in the isolation tank, the lecture playing into the darkness from an unseen speaker.

“Reality is real because we all agree upon it,” the lecturer continued.

Was there anything beyond the darkness of his solitude? Did the world exist if he wasn’t there to experience it?

If it wasn’t there, what was holding the isolation tank?

“Or maybe reality exists because we are, all of us, inside the mind of an even greater being, the way our thoughts and ideas – our reality – is within our own.”

Poe exhaled all the air from his lungs, and floated in the darkness.

 

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19 thoughts on “fun with writing prompts”

  1. Is that an exercise you recommend? Should you not be able to freely draw inspiration from yourself rather than having to consult outside resources?

    3. I’d wager that most artists/creators (novelists, playwrights, painters, sculptors, etc) are inspired by outside resources, in at least some of their works. It’s true for my numerous friends & colleagues who work in all those disciplines. Many of Mark Twain’s works were prompted by personal experiences and people. Painters have historically painted things they were looking at. Even sculptors have sketched a model before starting a piece.

    4. I think of this kind of prompt as a challenge. Maybe I should be able to make my own inspiration, but practically, when I try to do that, I dink around a bunch thinking up ideas, and then I make a pot of coffee, and then I try something but I hate it and I give up and try to think of a new thing. Or I pooh-pooh pretty good ideas because I’m waiting for a great one to appear. Whereas when you say “do this”, I just do that for a while. Sometimes I accomplish something worth sharing, and sometimes I just accomplish practice, and that’s good enough. Because sooner or later, a thread will develop in all that practice, and it will turn into something inspirational. (Even if the inspiration is to stop and commit to something else instead.)

      TL;DR: Saying “I won’t write the story in my head because I have to do this Tumblr exercise”? Yeah, that would seem dumb. But saying “I won’t write anything because I don’t have inspiration” seems even worse.

  4. Looks like a screenshot for the new HoffFone.

    Which also doubles as a belt buckle.

  6. If you expel all the air from your lungs, you will sink, if you’re “floating” in water, so our hero must be floating somehow else. I think the last note from the lecturer (that we received) was the answer to Poe’s question. So did Poe actually ASK it?

  7. “Poe exhaled all the air from his lungs, and floated in the darkness.”

    He traveled in his memory back to happier times, frolicking in the sun with Tinky Winky, Dipsy and Laa Laa… “Again! Again!” he remembers shouting with them.

  9. [Taking my own shot at the prompt, just cuz it flashed for me… Below find a promo flier to be pasted on the lamppost at the edge of the Milky Way]

    Angels! Hamicrobytes! Time Bridgers! Come one, come all… to the

    Angels and Worldmakers’ Creation Station Workshop

    First and Third Tuesdays at…

    Third Planet from Sol (Star 8342.91v), USA, New York, Soho YMCA (in the alley, behind the wheel of the dumpster, on Bacterium 20047565, Conference Room)

    Session 7, April 5, 2016 (Earth Calendar)

    TOPIC – Jacob’s Ladder

    GUEST PRESENTERS – Jacob, Son of Isaac and his collaborator Guardian Gil, of the 12th Generation Guardians

    Come meet the Man with the Plan, and the Angel who whispered it in his ear. See how they transformed a planet, starting from a ragtag tribe of well-intentioned homo sapien desert-dwellers, a few rotten apples, and the simple idea that even a bad race of beings deserves a second chance.

    “Atomic Brainstorming Techniques”: Put some Quantum into your Physical Manifestations

    “Micro to Macro and Bacro Again”: Learn economies of scale, practice the “bait-and-switch” sales and propaganda strategy, and see how the “Too Big to Fail” revolution brought the Roman Empire to its knees —then 2000 years later taught American economists how to fit a camel through a needle’s eye!

    “Beat Peculiar” : Watch guest performers Homer of Greece, Allen Ginsberg of Greenwich Village and Common of Chi-raq engage in battle-rhyming and protest poetry. Hear how the finest minds of each man’s generation were turned to oatmeal. Then write some rabble-rousing epic poetry of your own, creating a story that will create a reality that will inevitably either save or ruin millions of lives. (Take your pick! It’s all in good fun.)
    Wear loose clothing or no clothing, and absolutely no metal, so that you can move between universes easily. Bring a friend for a 5% discount on admission.

    And above all, come prepared to have fun! The Family of Man is depending upon it!

    Admission: 10 Comet Credits, or barter by offering your services for 300 years.

  10. Nice. A picture’s worth 1,000 words, at least. I like to draw random cards from Cards Against Humanity to use as writing prompts. You ought to try it! Weird and hilarious!

  11. I don’t know if I’m the only one who sees this or thinks it. Doesn’t that picture look like Harrison Ford?! LOL! Hilarious! 👍😂❤️

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