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. A new prompt will appear once or twice a week this summer. It's up to you what you do with it.
Oh, and be sure to check out our Community-Written Stories books and help us add to one of six stories we are writing and circulating this summer. And don't forget to come to our New Building's Grand Opening Event TOMORROW! We have cake and a silent auction, and maybe something more! We look forward to seeing you there.
Writing Prompt for June 11th, 2021:
Ninety-three percent of all communication is done without words. Most of these nonverbal cues are completely subconscious. I'm not necessarily talking about nodding your head or shrugging your shoulders, although how you nod or how you shrug definitely play into the message.
That means that to be an effective writer, you have to move beyond the simple "he said sadly" and "she shouted angrily." You have to be able to convey their body language. In the prior examples it might become "He slouched forward with drooping lip and downcast, glistening eyes, stating..." or "her shoulders tensed, the veins at her temples twitched and her eyes blazed as a deafening roar escaped her mouth in a stream of surprisingly graphic expletives..." or some such.
You could even challenge yourself one step further and have an entire scene without dialog... everything told through action and reaction, environment and implications. Think Buster Keaton, but with more subtlety. But it would have to be very well executed to be successful.
So here is your prompt for the weekend:
Write a scene without using any emotional descriptors. Use body language to convey how your character is feeling.
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