Earlier, I posted here about the first ever writer’s conference that I’d attended. It was fun and gave me more confidence in being a “writer.” One of the writing exercises we were asked to try came from a high school teacher. I thought it was fun and wanted to share it with all of you.
It starts, with looking through that pesky “junk mail” that seems to be in abundance every day in one’s mailbox, then select one that has a catch-phrase that grabs your attention. Take that slogan and write a story of 150-200 words. Short and sweet.
OneTouch "DoubleSure"
The teacher had suggested doing it with a religious theme. A literary publication, called The Secret Place is written solely by freelance writers, and anyone may submit original, unpublished, meditations for consideration. The submission guidelines can be found here. This is not only a wonderful way to make a little $$$, but it also will give an unpublished author something to put on a resume for future agents and editors to see.
Anyone feeling brave and want to give it a try? Please share your attempts with us!
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{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
Awesome exercise. I may just try it. Thanks for the link. I’ll go check that out.
Thanks for the idea!
Oooh. This sounds like it could be fun. Now I have to wait for the mail to show up!!
I had a class my senior year of high school where the teacher would give us a paragraph to work from. We had to write a short story and share with the class. It was really cool to hear the different spins people put on their version.
I haven’t attempted a writing prompt in ages. I might have to give this one a go later!
I’m brave! Thanks for the link; I love submitting to new markets.
And I love you.
I’ve always wanted to attend a writing conference. How did you find out about yours?
Mine was a local, small conference. I think 40-50 people, but for its first time ever being held was a good turnout.
What a great idea, Diane! ;0) I would love to jump in on this one, but am less than 24 hours away from heading to She Speaks, so I’m knee deep in speaking projects at the moment (we have to do a 3-min and 5-min talk for critique). I’m pretty much done, but completely out of creative energy for a while! ;0) I’ll let you know how the conference goes!
Ummm… yeah. See. That’s why I am not a writer.
I just babble incoherently.
Enjoy your excercise!
Pretty interesting idea – I’m going to write this one down and save it for a good piece of junk mail. I honestly don’t get anything too interesting any more, but when I do…and you know I will, I’ll have to take a picture and write a story!
It’s interesting, what can inspire us. I get ideas from things my kids say–and my kids are super funny.
Thanks for the idea!
Thanks but I better stick to writing the blog!
It’s been awhile since I’ve done a writing prompt. I don’t think I got anything prompt worthy today, but I’ll have to check. Interesting market you’ve shared. I don’t recall ever participating in a writer’s workshop or conference, but it’s been so long since I started doing this (writing/journalism). I writer/editor friend and myself conducted a writer’s workshop once and it was very rewarding! I would love to participate in something like that now that focuses on my current bigger projects like manuscripts, etc. One can always improve one’s craft.
An excellent challenge–thanks for linking.
You know, I will look at junk mail in a new way now:)) Instead of just tossing it away. So you are escaping to the beaches huh? I live so close to them and haven’t gone yet but hope to in AUgust:)
I got a great idea for a devotion in a brown envelope of coupons one time. It turned out to be one of my better ones. Great topics are everywhere. Thanks for the new market.
No matter what stage our writing, writing prompts are always a way to spur on the creativity. A great post. Thank you..:)
Very interesting. Thanks.