Welcome to the place that is dedicated to getting you writing (again?). Maybe you have absolutely no idea where to start but have always wanted to try being a writer. Maybe you want to write the great American novel or you thought you'd write a poem about hidden life of a grain of sand. Maybe you just need a little inspiration to get you started or you find yourself just a little stuck. Maybe you find yourself trying to break out of your comfort zone or mix things up at work. Whatever your reason for landing here, practicing a little creativity can impact your life in ways you didn't expect.
But let's be honest. Creativity is a muscle and it needs exercise to work properly. That's where this series comes in. With any luck, this series will get your creative juices flowing and get you thinking in ways you hadn't before. Throughout the summer, we posted a couple of prompts every week. We cut back a little during the school year but will attempt to post at least one prompt a month. If you are interested in more, not only are there prompt sites online, we also have a prompt booklet you can get from us and enough creative people on staff to maybe come up with an idea you can run with if you come in and ask.
Daniel Craig, Sean Connery, Roger Moore ...most of us have our favorite James Bond actor, and if not we usually either can name one or have an alternative as a favorite spy character from another franchise. Even if we can't get as elevated as Zero Dark Thirty or Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, we at least have Mike Myers' Austen Powers or Melissa McCarthy's Spy, and we've all heard of Mission Impossible, no matter how (im)possible they truly are. - (I know I might
The most formulaic of these films revolve around an act of espionage as the means to save the world from an egomaniacal supervillain in an exotic location, often through the use of their quick wit and a plethora of doodads, spy tech, and gadgets (don't forget the fast cars). All revolve around the discovery and use of hidden knowledge and deduction, working to bring to light something devastating (either to an individual or a country) using deceit and cunning, usually to make the world a better place, or at least more friendly towards the protagonist(s)'s side.
That being said, in these stories are seldom about lone individuals. While often enough solitary and always with their own personal baggage, spies wouldn't/couldn't get far without their network of informants, contacts, device suppliers, and such. Many also work in small teams and have specialized areas of expertise. They might not even work for a government. I read recently that the highest grossing spy film of all time is Despicable Me 2. Not exactly your parents' James Bond, and yet in a weird way, exactly that.
So here's your prompt: Your mission, should you choose to accept, is to put together a team of disparate agents to infiltrate a villainous lair, uncover a heinous plot, and destroy a dastardly plan. You get to choose who, what, where, and how. Only limitation is spy-craft only. No superheroes or 'Perfect Pete's.' If you want to throw in a Mata Hari or two, that's up to you. You can be as cliché, satirical or straight as you want it. You could even flip a script or two.