Affirmation Prompt:

A force deep within me pulls me forward and keeps me clear and focused on the writing task at hand. I write to better my word count every day.

Today I write.

Plot Prompt:

A core plot of your story revolves around your protagonist’s inner development. To satisfy this inner plot, the protagonist must undergo a deep and fulfilling transformation. You accomplish this by exposing to the reader the character’s inevitable flaws. In the latter part of the story, she will have to face her largest flaw and overcome it in order to achieve her ultimate goal.

Scan earlier scenes for examples of the protagonist’s chief character flaw. If she acts in one scene like a victim, unable to take responsibility for her actions, develop that aspect of her. If she appears controlling in one scene or you find her argumentative in another, or she lies in one scene and cheats in another, use her stubbornness and need to always be right to your advantage. Pin her with that flaw.

Perfectionist, procrastinator, judgmental, quick-tempered, angry: every one of these flaws allows for a different character emotional development and transformation, and yet every one is universal within the human race.

Writing Prompt:

Demonstrate the character’s flaw as she takes another step toward her goal. Show how she interferes and sabotages her own progress to the reader. However, keep this self-reflective insight a secret from the protagonist until after the crisis, about three quarters of the way through the story.

Show how the protagonist’s flaw manifests itself in her typical actions in contrast to how you imagine she may behave later in the story.

Try using all dialogue first and fill in the action later.

“You really see yourself as a hero?” said Parkinson. “What have you done?”

Daryl stood up straight. “I’ve defeated a super villain. She was trying to capture me. She had all these cool gadgets…”

“Yeah, but what did you stop her from doing? Was her only goal to capture you?”

“Yeah, but, you know, it was an epic battle! I had to pull out all the stops to get rid of her.”

Parkinson rolled his eyes. “So you didn’t save anybody. You didn’t stop a criminal. you just had a fight. Was there property damage?”

“Yeah,” said Daryl, “But I stopped her before it got bad.”

“So all you did was make a mess? You didn’t actually help anyone.”

“Ted,” said Lucas, “Stop.”

“Lucas here actually stopped a rape. Twice. In high school he fought guys 3 times his size, who were causing trouble like that. I guess I’m wondering if you’re a hero, what does that make him?”

Daryl was quiet. Parkinson smirked. “You’re not a hero. You’re just a monster terrorizing a city.”

Growing up, Daryl never had brothers or sisters, but he now found himself sharing a living space with 29 other males in an open living space called a barracks.

The barracks was a one story, cement block building without any distinguishing features except for a 001 posted on the top of the entrance. On the inside, however, there were two lines of bunk beds that ran down the long sides of the building, and separating them were lockers. The beds leaned up against one set, while on the other side was six feet and the lockers dedicated to that bunk.

Daryl walked down the center of the room, his suitcase rolling behind on the gray epoxy floor. He looked around for an empty bunk, but most bunks were taken. He saw some guys laying in their bunks, others were setting up their lockers, but in the back Daryl’s eyes were drawn to a muscular boy sitting lotus style on top of his bunk. His eyes were closed and he sat perfectly still, like a statue.

As Daryl passed by he nearly ran into another.

“Watch where you’re going!” said a tall boy with short brown hair. Daryl turned to look at him. He had arrogant eyes, much like an old enemy of his. He could tell they were definitely not going to get along.

There was a shorter boy next to him with red, poofy hair and freckles. He looked bored as he sighed at the taller boy’s agitation, almost as if it was such a nuisance for him that his mind was fixed on a humdrum plan of action that often remedied his friend’s state.

“Ted,” he said calmly, “We’re not fighting every person who looks at us funny.”

Ted smirked. “No way to know how strong these guys really are until we fight them.”

Daryl’s body quaked in anticipation. He hadn’t had to fight in a while, and something about this guy made him eager.

“You scared, Fro boy?” said Ted, not backing down.

This caught the attention of the others instantly. The boy on the top of his bunk, had also opened his eyes.

Several of the boys came over to Daryl’s side, including a boy a little shorter than him.

“What do you have against fros?” said the boy stepping in between Daryl and Ted.

“Navy, huh?” said Ted looking down at him. “Couldn’t be a Marine?”

“That’s right. My recruiter said I was too smart to be one, so I went Navy.”

“Too smart? Or too chicken?”

Everyone had moved to the center of the barracks now. Daryl had began to notice that most of them were wearing uniforms. Four different uniforms; four different military Branches were present.

Another tall boy walked into between Ted and the other boy. “Guy’s come on. We’re all here for one thing. Hunting monsters. There’s no reason we have to fight each other.”

“Shut up, chair force!” said Ted, while the other boy glared at him.

“Why don’t you both shut up,” said another boy entering the fray. This one, however, was one of the biggest guys there. He locked eyes with Ted.

“Stand down,” he said. “We all just arrived; we’re all a little tired. Just go back to your bunk, and chill out.”

Ted looked down at his name tape. “Womack. I’m coming after you.”

“Soon, I hope,” said Womack.

Everyone dispersed, going back to their areas.

Affirmation Prompt:

I draw the rhythm of my day from this ritual of raising my energy, practicing plot, and daily writing.

Today I write.

Plot Prompt:

Sense organs relay messages to your brain: the smell of dust on the road, the taste or rust, the heat of the summer sun beating on your skin.

A setting bathed in sights and sounds, language and climate, draws the reader in at the sensory level. Sensory details, fully realized, reinforce the deeper meaning of a story and evoke emotion.

Before each character is a world only she sees and imagines. The trick to creating a memorable character is finding something special in or about her that makes her “her.” What she attends to in the plethora of details surrounding her reflects her feelings, ones that show life differently than it is depicted in other stories. Only she feels about her life the way she does. Only she sees and hears the world around her in the way she does. Such individuality creates a sense of mystery around each character.

Writing Prompt:

Earlier, you created a broad idea of the setting and the protagonist’s relationship to it. Now, vary the situation your main character is in and write about what she is doing in the here ad now of the story. As always, ground your character and the reader by providing sensory details of the story world.

Highlight those features that provide insight about the protagonist. From all the visual, auditory, and tactile stimulation around her, shows what the protagonist notices about how her world tastes and the smells that sets her apart and gives an inkling about who she was before becoming who she is now. Don’t tell the reader how her backstory shapes her beliefs and expectations of life, as well as her life direction; show us out of everything else, the sensory details that most draw the protagonist’s attention.

Daryl huffed and puffed as he ran around the track. His feet grew heavier with every step, pounding the asphalt in a uneven and feeble rhythm. He gained another wind every time someone passed him, but his lungs were having a hard time keeping up.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Drill Sergeant Brooks running at him. Her face scrunched in an explosive fury that seemed to grow little springs at the tips of his toes, but it was to no avail, he had expended everything and he still had one lap left.

He imagined he’d never sweated this much in his life! His PTs were drenched. He never wanted a shower so badly in his entire life. ‘Oh thank God!’ he thought as he saw the finish line.

He found the left over energy, he forgot he had and sprinted. It was glorious! The line grew closer and closer until he finally crossed at 17 min and 36 seconds…

‘Son of a…’ It didn’t matter. He collapsed into the grass just outside the track.

“Ice sheets!” he heard a drill sergeant call out. He tried to get up to show them he was ok, but he wasn’t fast enough and soon he found himself enveloped in a cold, wet, cottony net, clinging to his skin, giving him the extra motivation to spring up and holler.

In his anxiety, he nearly ran into a column, but Drill Sergeant Daed was able to catch him before any permanent damage.

‘How embarrassing…’

 

Affirmation Prompt:

I believe in an abundance of all things. Everything I commit to in life, I get. I commit to keep writing until I finish my story.

Today I write.

Plot Prompt:

The thematic significance of a story shows what all the words in each scene add up to. At its best, the significance of a story connects each reader and audience member to a bigger picture through a wider complex of thoughts and relationships that exist outside the story.

The thematic significance of a story is a statement illustrated and supported by the writing. Until you know your story and what your story conveys, stick to discovering the various themes. Every story communicates its own unique pattern of themes and ideas.

Writing Prompt:

Themes emerge while you’re writing your scenes. Support the concepts in scenes through the use of mood and tone, voice and word choices, metaphors and similes, and details.

Match the tone and pace of the scenes you write with the story themes. A bleak story about revenge moves at a different pace and with a different tone than does a hopeful story about redemption.

Show the protagonist doing something she is good at as it relates to the overall plot. See what happens. Write that.

 

He strode confidently down main street towards Point Pleasant High School, his arms swang at his side, head bobbing, plugged into his phone listening to Thunder by Imagine Dragons.

He strut. Adjusting his glasses as they slid down his nose, and pushing his poofy curls away from his vision.

It wasn’t long before he opened up the double doors, following the herd of students corraling into the open halls of lockers and open classroom doors.

Daryl smiled at his friends as he walked the halls to his locker. He was now a senior: his last year… He felt a little sad, but things weren’t going to change that much. He would still be around. The town still needed their resident super hero.

In his freshman year, Daryl passed an ordeal that turned him into the Mothman. He had had some scuffles with villains, these four years of school, but now he would be able to focus more on his hero work.

He had plans of attending Point Pleasant Community College, in pursuit of a journalism BA. He figured just like Superman, he would know where the action was at any time he was needed.

Daryl opened his locker. On the inside he had photos of his lair at the abandoned powerplant, and pictures of him with Samantha, his best friend, and other Mothman newsclippings.

He glanced at several unopened envelops at the top of his locker. All from more prestigious schools across the US…

‘Daryl,’ came the cool voice of Kinder, ‘I really wish you would reconsider your choice in college. Point Pleasant is fine, but you have more potential… You need to go somewhere new.’

Daryl let out a low laugh. He seemed to do that more and more lately when Kinder gave him advice.

‘Kinder,’ Daryl thought, ‘Point Pleasant needs a hero…’

‘No they don’t! It’s bad enough every Mothman Festival you make an appearance, but ever since that paranormal investigator, Point Pleasant hasn’t had any real threats. I’d wager she wasn’t really a threat at all. You were just dragging things out.’

Daryl closed his locker, a couple of books in his hand for English class.

‘Hey, she was a real menace! It was a good thing I was here to stop her from destroying the city.’

‘You were in the woods…’

‘Yeah, Flatwood Woods. We both know that place is spooky.’

“Hi Daryl,” said a dark-haired young girl walking up to him.

Daryl paused.

“Are you talking to Kinder? You have that look on your face.”

“No.”

Kinder linked her in. ‘Yes he is, and he is being rather ridiculous. I can’t convince him to go any where but, ugh, Point Pleasant Community.’

‘Seriously? Daryl, there’s no reason to stay here.’

‘Well, what about you? I though you were staying here?’ Daryl thought.

“Oh hell no!” Samantha said a little too loudly. She cringed at her own volume as others turned and stared at them.

‘No, Daryl, I plan on leaving as soon as I walk off that stage.’

‘Where!?’ He tried very hard to conceal his feelings, but it was incredibly hard in the ether.

She looked at him. “I don’t know. Somewhere. I need to go some place else. That’s all I know.”

She turned away. “I’ll see you after school.”

Daryl looked down. His grip on his books slipped and he adjusted them.

‘Daryl, there is nothing here for you. The city has police officers…’

‘Kinder, I’m the Mothman. I have to be here for the city.’

 

**Aside– I guess this didn’t really deal with the pompt but it just kind of came out. I think I already posted something similar to this… Oh well… :)