Tag: writing prompt

  • The Old Woman

    The Old Woman

    Prompt: Write two versions of the same story, narrating back and forth between a ‘now’ scene and a ‘then’ scene. Version A should be in first person or third person, version B should be in the other. Version A should be all in present tense, all in past tense, or ‘now’ in present tense with…

  • Portrait of a Man

    Portrait of a Man

    “Who am I, Gamling?” King Théoden asks of his lieutenant in a calm-before-the-storm moment of hopelessness and self-doubt. I like to consider my identity as that of a Renaissance Man of the People. This may be considered a compound epithet merging, of course, the phrases Renaissance Man and Man of the People. A Renaissance Man…

  • I am a puzzle

    I am a puzzle

    A maelstrom of identities To be flipped and sorted and examined Five hundred, a thousand, and more hats to wear In each moment Some too proud Others too timid Few just right But each eventually finds its place Only to be determined Through trial and good intent The true work begins As attention finally shifts…

  • Art not Power

    Art not Power

    J.R.R. Tolkien was a prolific letter writer, so much so that there is an entire tome compiling his correspondence. In Letter 131, Tolkien writes that “[Elvish] ‘magic’ is Art… and its object is Art not Power, sub-creation not domination.” Distilling this into a theme of Art versus Power, this magic of Tolkien had already meant…

  • Free will v. Determinism

    Free will v. Determinism

    I do not believe in fate/destiny. I’ve no background in philosophy (so I’ll happy concede that I have no idea what I’m talking about), but I do not believe in it simply because all things occur within the law of probability. For example, if event X only has a 1% chance of occurring but still…

  • Your wish becomes somebody’s command

    Your wish becomes somebody’s command

    A dull yellow schoolbus rumbles to a halt and out comes a sole student – Mitchell Green. Without looking back, Mitchell begins his short walk home – no more than a mile. He feels the bus rumble away behind him, the vibrations pulsing through the road up through his sneakers and body. A forward swing…

  • The magic is in the gaps

    The magic is in the gaps

    Ha! There’s a pile of anxiety-related books on my coffee table waiting to be read. I am currently reading the Selected Stories of Robert Walser and it is very good – in fact, it’s one of the best books I’ve read in a while (it was recommended to me by the clerk of a communist…