Wooden tower, hand-painted
A real example from one of our writers
Advice is great, but advice on its own won’t make you a better writer. We become better writers by writing and it’s always easier to write when we’re inspired. To that end, a creative prompt using an ordinary item.
A real example of before and after
For today’s newsletter, I wanted to give you a before and after that came from one of our writers (thanks for sending it to us Penelope!). Then, I’ll ask you to come up with your own version of the story. I hope that seeing her example will spark some inspiration for you!
Let’s begin!
As a creative prompt, she was given this photo:
And from that photo, this is the short story she came up with:
“The world was ending, but he was still stacking his tower. He was very proud of his tower. It was made of hand-painted wood circles.”
What would you say?
Take a look at the photo and come up with your own short story or add to Penelope’s tale.
Why is he so proud? Or is he actually not?
Why is the scene so dark around the edges?
What’s going on in the world as he is busying himself with this tower?
Is there something he’s avoiding? Running from?
Who’s taking the picture? What is their role in the story?
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"It will not fall, it cannot fall," he exclaimed! Locking himself in the glass walled room, sealing himself off from the outside world; I will protect it he said. His family looked in at him, sad to see that he was choosing a tower of blocks instead of them. But he had to. Childeren throw things, my wife might try to clean off the table. And the cat! No, never the cat.
But the ant. The tiny ant, seeking the crumb. The crumb that was underneath the base of the tower. The crumb that was holding everything in place. The mighty tower undone by the lowliest of creatures. Man in all his might, humbled, as the tower crumbled.