A Writing Prompt

How to Use Writing Prompts

1. Any prompt is only a starting point. If your imagination takes you in a direction that has nothing to do with the prompts, go where your imagination takes you. Do not listen to the voice inside your head that says, “Oh, no! I shouldn’t be writing about this!” or “I’m not doing this right!” There are no “shoulds” or “should nots” in this process. The only thing you can do wrong is to not write.
2. Always name your characters, even if the name never appears in the story. Why would a character tell you her story if you don’t care enough to learn her name?
3. Write dialogue. In twenty-five years of teaching writing, I have never worked with anyone who couldn’t write dialogue – only with people who thought they couldn’t!
4. Be a risk taker. Don’t think. Write from your passionate core. Risk and passion are the essence of the creative journey and the sweetest nectar for your Inner Writer. Don’t forget to have fun!

Prompt

I just wanted her to tell me I was okay — I just wanted her to love me and not knock me down and tear me apart. “Can’t you just love me, Mom, just love me the way I look tonight, and tell me I look pretty,” I pleaded with her inside my head. Reason was not a way of life in our house. I knew that for sure when Mom…

This prompt gives you an opportunity for dialogue and strong point of view. What is going on between the mother and daughter? First write the scene from the daughter’s point of view, using her inner thought and lots of dialogue. Then put the daughter’s story aside and write the scene from the mother’s point of view. You need not have the exact same dialogue and almost certainly the story will be very different from the mother’s point of view.