Color Coded Prompts and A Contest

There was no ROW80 check-in this Wednesday because the round ended so I immediately didn’t post. I had an idea and had even finished most of the work, but I just didn’t get to it. I have been looking for cool story prompts because I am a master procrastinator. I have found quite a few, but then I was thinking I can do better than that. It could be ego or just a desire to try to make things, but I created a few writing prompts. Of course I ALWAYS over complicate things so there are categories and pictures to go with them. One day I will learn to...Oh look SHINY!

Prompt Type:

Situation Drop-in Prompt - Red
Still need a gimmick because my brain is tired - Orange
Write a Story About Idea Prompt - Yellow
Include These Things Challenge Prompt - Green
Dialogue Prompt - Blue
Place Prompt - Indigo
Character Prompt - Violet

Today I have 2 new prompts for you all and a contest. We’ll start with the contest. I need a hand coming up with some type of prompt to fill my orange spot because I can’t just leave it out. It needs to be something general enough that I have room to wiggle and play, but focused enough that they all seem connected. The winning suggestion will receive a $20 Amazon gift card.

How you enter:

Leave a suggestion on the orange type prompt contest Google form. 



Yes, you have to leave your email if you want to enter. How else will I contact you if you win? No, I am not keeping them after the contest and you are NOT signing up for any sort of continuous emails. I can not be held responsible for email addresses entered incorrectly. Email addresses entered incorrectly will disqualify the entrant's suggestion from the prize. There are also a few restrictions on your suggestions. No profanity, sexuality, religion or politics in the type suggestions. If they are deemed to be outside of these restrictions your suggestion will be disqualified. I will stop collecting suggestions at 11:45pm on March 31st.

How you WIN:

On Friday April 1st, when the April Madness starts, I will post a list of the suggestions on my blog. Everyone has a vote even if you didn’t enter. The orange prompt type with the most votes by 11:45pm April 4th will be our winner and the person who suggested it will receive the $20 Amazon gift card by email. I will announce the winner on April the 5th. Good luck and thanks for joining in to help me complete my colorful set. Roy G. Biv also sends his gratitude.

Now on to the shiny new toys. I am a little obsessed with prompts at the moment. Probably because I am having trouble coming up with story ideas. Of course I did just come up with these so it seems counter intuitive, but I am convinced it is a different part of my brain or something.

As you can see with the red prompts you will be dropped into a situation. I chose red for this type because I always feel like these are meant to be emergencies that your character has to deal with. So CODE RED it is. The plan is to reuse the same artwork that I found on Pixabay and adapted by adding a color overlay on Picmonkey. If you have never played with Picmonkey you should definitely give it a look. It's a great free web based photo editor.

The blue dialogue prompt isn't something I came up with all on my own. I was in the grocery store and a woman said the first line and the second part was my first thought. I am not sure the woman was interested in some sort of revolution, but that is the kind of scene that flashed in my mind. It was fun to make these and I hope they spark some interesting stories one day. I have a few more and am planning to make even more. I am excited to share them.

What do you think of my prompts?  Let me know in the comments.

Photos by Pixabay.

404 Catchy Blog Title Not Found

Working on getting posts ready for Blogging from A to Z has taken most of my writing time. Which is fine because I can't actually write the flash fiction stories until April 1st when Camp NaNo begins. I am still using my phone to Swype things out and it is getting old. I need to get my freaking laptop fixed and very soon. I have been Googling and reading so I have a plan of action, but it makes me nervous because I don't really know what I am doing.

I decided to leave the beautiful Native American man with the new name alone for the time being and proceed with The Genre Flash Project. I have been scouring Pinterest and any other sources I can to try to find some prompts that will help spark my brain for some of the genres. Of course this led me to Seventh Sanctum where I proceeded to spend several hours generating all sorts of things, most of which were not helpful for my current goals. Then from there I found Chaotic Shiny and let me tell you this site LIVES UP TO IT'S NAME. I spent so long playing with the generator toys there I stayed up until 4 in the morning. Again, I didn't accomplish much I can use for these stories, but my D&D geek inside who adores playing with generators was immensely pleased. It's all about priorities.

ROW80 Rundown

Make the check-ins on Sundays and Wednesdays - This is the last check-in for my truncated round, but I am proud to be back to writing after so long away.
Visit 5 fellow ROW80 bloggers each check-in - I visited all 5 of the fellow ROW80 bloggers I was aiming for and even left some comments.
Write 500 words every day -
Thursday - 623 words on A to Z posts.
Friday - Made it to 537 words.
Saturday - An unexpected invite to come hang out with my sister and her BFF took priority over my writing goals. Of course our crazy friend Jose Cuervo kept us busy all night.
Sunday - Only 291 words on A to Z, but this post as well so probably there.


Pics from Pixabay.

Prompt Glut and Still Slacking

I was looking for a writing prompt for a flash fiction the other day and I spent like 2 (OK, maybe it was more like 5) hours on Pinterest reading and pinning the awesome ideas that abound. It was a secret board, but I liked it so much I wanted to share it with you all. Maybe you can find some inspiration there like I have.

I'm still working on flash fiction exclusively because there is less commitment and it makes me feel like I can pick it up when I have time. I have also found that for the most part I'm not spending so many distracted moments thinking about a story. I guess that's both good and bad. That isn't to say the orphan characters aren't still lurking about, but it is not as distracting.

ROW80 Rundown

Make the check-ins on Sundays and Wednesdays - Doing good or at least I will be when done here and hit the publish button. 
**EDIT** I couldn't get it done before the stroke of midnight. Sadly, I have turned into a pumpkin.

Visit 5 fellow ROW80 bloggers each check-in - I visited 5 ROW80 friends posts, but couldn't get my phone to cooperate well enough to comment on any. It made me very sad because the best part is getting comments and I love leaving them. I have to figure out what is going on with my phone because I don't have a laptop at the moment so it is my computer.

Write 500 words every day -

Thursday - Working on another flash, but this time I want to share it here 562 words, but I didn't like the ending. It felt too abrupt even for flash fiction.

Friday - Only a little over 200, but not exactly sure how many because the backspace and I went on several killing sprees.

Saturday - The word of the day is slacker. Actually I didn't rest at all, but I also did no writing or editing.

Sunday - I didn't get anything more than this post done today. I had the opportunity to spend time with one of my best friends from middle/high school and her son. It was a good time talking and hanging out while the kids played at the park.

Where do you like to look for prompts when you need them? Can you recommend a good story idea generator? Please leave me a comment to say hello. Don't forget to let me know where you are visiting from so I can follow you back and see what you're up to.

Photos by Pixabay.