Writing Prompts for your Future Use

If you're bored this summer, or if you ever need a writing prompt...these are short ones to get you going.  They're from the Austin Script Works annual 3-month writing marathon...the idea being, they give you a prompt every day for three months, and you're supposed to write on all of them.

1.  A crazed cell phone monologue - Jen Haley

2.  Someone can’t move - Sharon Sparlin

3.  The smell of bleach was ugly, but familiar - Leticia Rodriguez

4.  Two people in a room find a box - Caridad Svich

5.  Time begins to accelerate - John Walch

6.  When I wake up I want to see… - Julia Smith

7.  The cafeteria at your middle school. - Molly Rice

8.  Embrace that nothing is coming to you - Cheryl Parrish

9.  Something that makes you laugh. - Judith Rudakoff

10.  Follow one character gesture to the extreme - Sharon Sparlin

11. Write a play featuring one character wearing a full body neoprene wetsuit

12.  A scene about betrayal and cooking - Caridad Svich

13.  A mountain is not… - Julia Smith

14.  The queen of Spades - Jennifer Haley

15.  Wearing dark glasses while driving was a great place to cry - Leticia Rodriguez

16.  Things that live deep in the dirt - Molly Rice

17.  The environment becomes extremely hot or cold - John Walch

18.  Write a play where something about the internet is personified - Emily Cicchini

19.  A self portrait - Judith Rudakoff

20.  Sitting in silence.

21.  I’ve never told my best friend… - Julia Smith

22.  The last day of someone’s life - Caridad Svich

23.  30 seconds of synchronized movement - Jennifer Haley

24.  Someone can’t stop moving

25.  Write a sitcom with a violently apocalyptic ending - Molly Rice

26.  “Putting out the cigarette, he then gingerly picked it back up.” - Leticia Rodriguez

27. A pair of shoes or boots in a strange place - Judith Rudakoff

28.  Write a play about the color blue.

30.  A new haircut - Kristoffer Diaz

31.  Underneath a Bridge, there is… - Julia Smioth

32.  Write about letting go of something.

33.  Someone has just discovered they can literally walk on water - Dan Dietz.

34.  Your character looks out of an open window.  What do they see?  Caridad Svich

35.  The smell of hippies - Molly rice

36.  A discovery that leads to holding breath - Jennifer Haley

37.  Offstage explosions - John Walch

38.  Slow time down, then speed it up.

39. “The gang member’s son was dressed just like his dad.”

40. Write a scene that takes place in your favorite place in the world

41.  What time is it?

42.  Write a play based on a Leonard Cohen song.

43.  Write a play about someone who has just had surgery.

44.  Darkness.  then slowly light.  Figures emerge.  one of them asks a question.

45.  Falling is another word for…

46.  Write a play where one of the four elements is a character.

47.  Write a play with a duck.

48.  Write a play about someone who keeps losing their reflection.

49.  “Why didn’t you see the tree fall?  You were looking right at it.

50. The pungent odor of burning plastic.

51.  A case of food poisoning.

52.  The single thing that scares me most is…

53.  Write about a missed deadline

54.  Someone just broke something.

55.  Write about a glove on the stairs, and how it got there.

56.  Write about the worst piece of advice you ever followed.

57.  “There was a gash in the palm of his left hand.”

58.  Pretend you are a conspiracy theorist.

59.  Write about an unexpected shower.

60.  Write about home.  What is it?

61.  A character emerges from an unlikely place.

62.  A character apologizes…without using the words “sorry,” “apology,” or “fault.”

Feedback for Vicky

Archie and Hank:
I agree with Montana about how each of them died and how their deaths could have been avoided. it's interesting that they have been in this transition to heaven place for so long (over 50 years?) and only now have they really discussed their deaths and I think this is why Angel came and allowed them to move on to Heaven. It seems as though the two have been annoying each other for a very long time and had a lot of trouble getting along, and finally when they opened up a little bit and discussed how they felt about their deaths they were able to come to a middle ground and help each other.

Katie and Greg:
It seems that Greg has never been able to come to grips with his death (as well as killing the other people in the car accident). He was never able to accept it and he thought he deserved the worst punishment for what he did. While it took some work to get Greg to open up about his death, once he finally did, I think that in itself opened up Greg's relationship with Katie, and allowed them to understand each other more. Greg had been holding on to this for so long, and he waited three years to get his partner, Katie, who was the one who was able to get him to really reveal more about himself. Also, Katie said how Greg reminds her of her father (someone who she didn't really like), and Greg mentioned how he couldn't believe what he did to his daughter, so this plays with a daughter - father relationship (as Natalie said), and they sort of acted as father and daughter figure to each other, something they were both missing in their lives.

Look! Feedback! Magic!

It seems to me that these pairs are put together in groups of asses and slightly better people (one of each). In this story, Hank and Greg are the asses, and Katie and Archie keep them more or less on the straight and narrow to get their work done. In order to get into heaven, they have to come to an understanding about how/why they died and must admit some sort of kinship with the other. Hank and Archie's problem was that they refused to say they liked each other.

Ok, gonna be honest here: I liked Archie's first death better than this one. Despite some of the inconsistencies that it brought up, the argument between them and the tension because of Archie's death and his views on it, gave a lot of depth to the play, which is suddenly lacking in the second draft. It also made Hank's admission of the fact that he actually really likes Archie more powerful, and more of a turning point, so we're not surprised when the angel shows up. In this case, with Archie simply being killed by a falling cow statue, all of that tension and revelation goes away. And it's even less clear why today is different from all other days.

Sorry if that sounded harsh. It is my opinion. Don't hate me.
-Stephanie

Vicky's Play

I think two people become partners if they are able to help each other out in the pre-Heaven stage of their life (maybe I should say death?). With Hank and Archie, I think they were made partners just because they could get along and be a good pair. However, maybe Hank and Archie were an incompatible match, at least when it came to helping one another get to Heaven. One of them states that they have been in pre-Heaven for around 50 to 60 years. I think this supports that maybe they weren’t exactly the best pair. I think Hank and Archie go to Heaven when they do because of the conversation they had about each other’s deaths. I don’t think their conversation about their deaths was as meaningful as Katie and Greg’s conversation, but I think the Angel was just so sick of them bickering, he thought any conversation between Hank and Archie about their deaths could be considered closure.

I think Katie and Greg were paired because events in both of their lives helped them relate to one another. Katie was angry at her father for leaving and Greg wanted forgiveness from his daughter after what he did. Katie told Greg he was a good person and in return she gained a father figure. They helped each other resolve things that happened while they were living. There’s a lot of talk about karma in the play, and when I hear karma I think of balance. I think Greg and Katie were able to balance each other out (Katie felt resentment towards her father, Greg felt guilty for what he did to his daughter) in their conversation at the end, which is why they went to Heaven when they did.

For Vicky

I think there is a multiple level thing about why people are partners with each other that you have set up very nicely. I think that Archie and Hank are partners because they could have avoided their deaths. Hank with a little bit more certainty. Also, each think that the other was stupid for their death and I think in turn they need to realize that their death wasn't stupid and there was some reason that they died. I think in terms of why today, you could incorporate something about seeing Katie and Greg. Maybe Katie and Greg remind them of themselves and then they start talking about the past and question why they never talked about their deaths before. Maybe, they haven't had any recruits in a really really long time because Buddha was starting to give up on them (or whoever is their supervisor) and then he decided to just give them their jobs back because they weren't making any process.

I think that Katie and Greg are together because they both need the other to be with them in Heaven. Katie really needs her brother to be with her in heaven, and she gets someone who in a sense took himself out of his miserable life. She understand that he loved his daughter. Meanwhile, Greg needs someone who is going to understand that he didn't want to kill his daughter and he didn't mean to put her in danger at all. Katie also has to help Greg to talk about what happened since three years pass until he meets Katie. Maybe the heavenly beings or whoever decides who are partners, don't know who will be partnered with whom until both of them have died and they really are drawn to each other. Maybe the first person to die is always around the other person when they die? Also why does Katie even follow Greg in the first place? Is she attracted to him? Does she think he might lead her to her brother? I was a little unclear about that, after reading it a second time.

I really really like your play Vicky. It makes me think a lot which is something I love the most about plays.

Montana

Feedback for John

I agree with a lot of what Chandler and Montana said...

Story: A theif is part of a guild along with his father and a count. He really wants to leave the guild, but needs to steal a treasure box from the count before he can. As he is trying to steal it, the count is aware that the theif is in his house because he got a call from the bowler man, the theif's father. The count catches the theif who tries to steal from the count and kills him. The count goes to the bowler man/theif's father to prove he has done his duty of killing the theif, and the bowler man kills the count for killing his son.

I wrote close questions throughout, but here are some questions I had at the end:

• What exactly is this guild? What are the rules of it? Why does the theif want to leave it so badly, and why has he waited until now to decide to leave?
• Who is exactly in charge/in power? Where does the count stand vs. the bowler man (like Chandler said, the heirarchy)
• What is the big buff man's job exactly?

I also agree that the play was a little confusing at first because I wasn't sure who the theif was and who the bowler man was...maybe instead of labeling the theif "Theif", a name might create more mystery, and then the audience would have to figure out he's the theif based on his actions/words, and the same goes for the other characters.

To John:

John, I agree a lot with what Montana has said, and I too have an annotated copy of your play to give you at some point. The story was a little confusing to me. Part of this might have had to do with the fact that my formatting (copied/pasted off of your blog post) wasn't as clear as scripts normally are (obviously that is not a fault in your play, so don't worry about that). However, I think that Montana's comment to give the characters names would help to clear up the story line a little bit more.

Actually, now that I think about it, it wasn't necessarily the story that I thought was confusing; I was confused by the rules of this world you've created. What exactly is the hierarchy here? What is the guild? Who is the count and why does the father feel that the count has such powers?

You've taken a huge story and condensed it into a few pages. I'm definitely interested in the story; I want to hear it, but I'm not finding it believable yet. I think that your play will benefit from some character work. Maybe you can ask yourself questions about each character to try and get to know them better? Giving them names, at least, will certainly help.