Imaginarium

I love slugging around, don't you? I especially love what I've dubbed a "British day",
where it's cool and rainy outside and I don my trusty bathrobe- the navy one with deep pockets that has a rip in the collar- to make several cups of tea per hour and try to read and write a little before returning my attentions to the laundry.

On such days my usual game is to imagine myself inside a favourite book- maybe Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, or Gaudy Night, or The Beekeeper's Apprentice.
I can turn this game into writing prompts by pretending to be Mary Russell, noticing details around me and trying to put them into a larger context.
Or playing at Harriet Vane, and turning everyday occurrences into scenes for a novel.

Another game which I invented years ago to make laundry and seasonal clothes-packing more interesting involves 'advertising' articles of clothing. (My sister and I used to play this in front of a big mirror as though we were on TV.) You hold up a piece of clothing and then describe it in detail- either accurately, or with advertising zeal, or even in a negative, affected fashion- and try to out-bid or out-do the other person.

I need to create a dialogue-based game, since I'm better at description and characterization than I am at generating good dialogue or plot points!

What's your ideal way to spend a quiet day?

Pushmi-pullyu

As I'm getting back into the process of creative writing, a friend suggested that I find some blogs or tumblrs or writing sites that offer good writing prompts. I hadn't thought of it, but when she said that, it seemed so obvious! That's how rusty I am...

I have found one or two that I like on tumblr- though to be honest I only login once or twice a week- and a few good random ones here and here. We also have a book or two on our shelves here at home that have prompts, exercises, and ideas. I still enjoy the feeling of writing by hand for short pieces, so I think I want to answer prompts on paper and then take them to the computer if they seem to be leading somewhere.

I think a realistic goal I will set from this week until Christmas is to answer a prompt every other day- and I'll probably have the best luck with it at lunchtimes or before bed.

And I should be sure to put a little notebook in my new purse so I always have some paper around, since as I mentioned previously, my style of humour and storytelling is very observational.

One book about writing that I like to read for its own sake is Anne Lamott's sweet and honest book Bird By Bird. It makes me laugh every time I pick it up, and inspires me to try afresh. I also love her style of writing; she has a distinctively wry voice which sounds so plaintive yet playful.

I've also been re-reading L. M. Montgomery's Emily of New Moon trilogy (for the millionth time), and her diary entries usually make me feel that I might be better off venting or recording my thoughts on paper instead of generally dumping them on MM all the time. (He tries to listen but I don't completely blame him for tuning out.)

What other resources do you find useful in prompting new material?