Writing Prewriting Ideas

Prompt 2 by Guest author Rosanne Parry    6/18

STORY HUNTING

Keys to writing: IDEAS

"The important thing is to generate more ideas in the bank than you will ever use. It takes the pressure off because you aren’t looking for one perfect idea, just a whole bunch of ones that are personally appealing and can be combined in ways that make for a story only you can tell."

Her List Ideas:

Setting Bank
1. List ten places that you have lived in your lifetime. It need not be 10 different towns. Different places in one town are fine. Summer camp, visits to grandma, college dorm, basic training—they all count as places you’ve lived
2. List ten places to which you feel a strong emotional connection. The emotion can be positive or negative. Either is powerful. (it’s okay to have repeats in the bank. That can tell you something useful about where your heart lives.)
3. List ten places you’ve visited on vacation or places you’d love to visit in your lifetime were money and time no object.
4. List ten places from which your ancestors or in-laws come.
5. List ten books or movies that have settings you’ve found particularly captivating. (you may want to include a brief note about what attracted you to the setting.)

Character Bank
6. List ten jobs whether paying or volunteer that you’ve done in your life.
7. List ten famous people, historical or contemporary, that you would love to share a meal with.
8. List ten ethnicities, religions, tribes, cultural groups, gender or sexual orientations, or political philosophies that are represented in your extended family.
9. List ten people who can make you laugh.
10. Complete this sentence ten times. “I’ve always wanted to _____ like ____________. For example, Dance like Gene Kelley.

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My Lists

Setting Bank
1. List ten places that you have lived in your lifetime. It need not be 10 different towns. 

1 Eight Street, includes a walk past the ice skating rink in winter and feels my roller skates wheeling on its sidewalk

2 Avenue C, a old farmhouse now surrounded by town

3 Southeast Quad, Second door, Seventh Floor: not co-ed.

4 Duplex beneath the pines and airplanes: glad to be gone

5 Columbia Street: run outdoors and down the stairs to the half-basement for laundry

6 Buffalo Street: From street to street, it was ours

7 Dell Drive: watch the weather on the south hill

8 Crown Avenue: back to apartment — the tub water in the morning added heat

9 Pink Apartments: they haven't been pink for years; everyone here stays here at least once

10 Ent: Our sycamore in the back is an end, providing needed shade in the summer


2. List ten places to which you feel a strong emotional connection. 

1 Under the sycamore
2 In the bench swing
3 Walking the beach
4 The empty classroom at the end of the day
5 On the couch surrounded by my husband, Pooka, and two cats
6 On the phone with kids and grandkids
7 Wishing rocks
8 Gramma Camp
9 Family Camp
10 Avenue C

3. List ten places you’ve visited on vacation or places you’d love to visit in your lifetime were money and time no object.

1 The Lake
2 Cresent Bay
3 Inn at Langley
4 Semiahmoo
5 Pacific Ocean
6 Sun Mountain
7 Independence Hall
8 Redwoods and Sequoia
9 Yellowstone Park
10 Glacier Park

4. List ten places from which your ancestors or in-laws come.

1 Inverness, Scotland
2 Ireland -- under wishing rocks
3 Wales
4 England
5 Norway
6 Sweden
7 Woodstock, Ontario, Canada
8 Bottineau, North Dakota
9 Minnesota
10 Iowa

5. List ten books or movies that have settings you’ve found particularly captivating.

1 Lord of the Rings: The Shire
2 Jane Eyre: The Mansion
3 The Secret Garden: The secret garden and the mansion
4 Go and Come Back: Amazon Jungle of Peru
5 Star Trek: Space, The Final Frontier; The Flute episode; Temba: his arms wide episode
6 Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy: He turned to fix engineering and fell into space
7 The Clan of the Cave Bear: what if...
8 The Many-Colored Land: what if.. time portal
9 The House of Dries Drear: Underground railroad: a house with mystery
10 Midsommer Murders: English countryside and culture

Character Bank
6. List ten jobs whether paying or volunteer that you’ve done in your life.

1 babysitting
2 Fuller Brush
3 checker
4 Mom
5 Den mother
6 clerk
7 insurance assistant
8 teacher
9 blogger
10 technology director

7. List ten famous people, historical or contemporary, that you would love to share a meal with.

1 Thomas Jefferson
2 Ben Franklin
3 John and Abigail Adams
4 Paul Revere
5 Samuel Adams
6 James Monroe
7 Patrick Henry
8 Dalai Lama
9 John Dewey
10 Gandhi

8. List ten ethnicities, religions, tribes, cultural groups, gender or sexual orientations, or political philosophies that are represented in your extended family.

1 Scots
2 Irish
3 Norwegian
4 Swedish
5 Celtic
6 Fairy
7 Democrat
8 Republican
9 Protestant, Lutheran, Baptist, Evangelical, Methodist, Catholic, Transcendentalist, Athiest
10 Geek


9. List ten people who can make you laugh.

1 Scott
2 Greg
3 Jake
4 Allison
5 Ashlyn
6 Hannah
7 Jim
8 Rudy
9 Bill
10 Will

10. Complete this sentence ten times. “I’ve always wanted to _____ like ____________. For example, Dance like Gene Kelley.

1 I’ve always wanted to sleep like a baby.
2 I’ve always wanted to sing like Joan Baez.
3 I’ve always wanted to draw like an artist.
4 I’ve always wanted to think like Scott.
5 I’ve always wanted to relax like a cat.
6 I’ve always wanted to lead like Jeff.
7 I’ve always wanted to create like Steve Jobs.
8 I’ve always wanted to lead in peace like Jimmy Carter.
9 I’ve always wanted to write like Ray Bradbury.
10 I’ve always wanted to garden like my neighbor.

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You know the next step: Create your bank of setting and character ideas using this prompt. What are your faovirte.