avery of the dead's picture
avery of the dead from Kentucky is reading Cipher Sisters July 29, 2013 - 9:16am

If any of you remember WAR, you know I wrote a lot of prompts for those competitions.  I've been asked a few times to make a list of all of them, and sadly enough, I just don't have them all.  A lot of them are lost or forgotten.

However, I still have some.  Sure I do.  So here is the initial list of prompts that I could find in, no certain order. (I'm not including poems, pictures, videos, or quotes in this list - maybe some other time)

If you were in the first WAR (Round 1) and you remember your prompt, post it here and I'll add it to the list, those are the ones I'm having trouble finding/remembering the most. 
 

  1. Two people meet by the lake.  One is pretending to be someone else. (this is my favorite)
  2. Although there appears to be no conflict at work, lately someone is posting terrible accusations about Character A on the lunch room cork board.
  3. It stank of rotted meat
  4. The overwhelming sense a character must do something before they die.
  5. Gets carried away with a fad.
  6. He hadn't’t had a drink in years, but tonight was an exception.
  7. She was born ugly (another favorite)
  8. Three children are sitting on a log near a stream
  9. She always cried at sunrise.
  10. The cats outnumbered the humans.
  11. Replacing furniture
  12. The house still used well water
  13. How much do you want?
  14. He always looked for her
  15. Revenge is bliss
  16. In my dreams
  17. Voices behind the walls
  18. Hot sand under your feet
  19. Your character meets someone on an online dating site.
  20. I heard howling in the distance
  21. The office slut
  22. All the windows are broken
  23. It runs in the family
  24. A slow burn
  25. The land is too changed to ever change
  26. I said inside this gilded cage a songbird always looks so plain
  27. Rain like railroad spikes
  28. The crying stopped
  29. Orange light streaked across the sky
  30. Her wine is poisoned
  31. The exterminator came on a Wednesday
  32. The man behind the door
  33. I can’t see the stars from here
  34. Your spouse is a murderer
  35. Molded food covered the table.
  36. It was my job to set off the fireworks
  37. Christmas Eve in a small town
  38. The rabbit got sick
  39. I think I’ll keep her
  40. Character A falls in love with their stalker
  41. A fear of the unknown
  42. A painter sees movement in the picture
  43. The lions are the least of our troubles
  44. She never worried about zombies
  45. The lights would flicker at 9pm
  46. The closed off room
  47. Your character things he/she is good at something, but he/she isn't.
  48. The most beautiful smile I ever saw
  49. Your character thinks her boss is looking for an excuse to fire her.
  50. Your character gets cosmetic surgery in an attempt to make her boyfriend love her more.
  51. An extremely religious person must justify a sin
  52. Blowing up a strip mall
  53. It melted to her skin
  54. You go to work one day and everyone is gone.

 

 

 

ReneeAPickup's picture
Class Facilitator
ReneeAPickup from Southern California is reading Wanderers by Chuck Wendig July 29, 2013 - 9:50am

Yay!

Dino Parenti's picture
Dino Parenti from Los Angeles is reading Everything He Gets His Hands On July 29, 2013 - 10:17am

So cool!

Covewriter's picture
Covewriter from Nashville, Tennessee is reading & Sons July 29, 2013 - 1:39pm

I think my first WAR prompt was something like there is a car wreck and someone is injured. 

 

Sound's picture
Sound from Azusa, CA is reading Greener Pastures by Michael Wehunt July 29, 2013 - 2:12pm

It's very cool to have them all together. I'm going to make it a goal to write a story to every single one of these prompts.

Thanks Avery.

Michael.Eric.Snyder's picture
Michael.Eric.Snyder July 29, 2013 - 5:56pm

Your goal reminds me of an indie-famous folk-rock sorta singer who wanted to write an album conceptually focused on the folklore of each of our fifty states. For example, on one of them (Illinois?) he wrote a song about John Wayne Gacy. Or maybe it was Indiana. 

Anyway, those are the only two possibilities. He made it through two albums and then said the whole idea was supposed to be a joke. 

Yikes. But YOU can do it Sound, I KNOW YOU CAN. :)

jyh's picture
jyh from VA is reading whatever he feels like July 29, 2013 - 6:34pm

The only non-poem/picture prompt I got in the first WAR was: "WAR!"

voodoo_em's picture
voodoo_em from England is reading All the books by Ira Levin July 30, 2013 - 2:27am

War 1 round one PROMPT:
Character A’s spouse dies.  At the funeral, the dead spouse’s secret lover appears.

War 2 round three (quotes) PROMPT:
"Every politician should have been born an orphan and remain a bachelor."
~ Lady Bird Johnson

*Great thread Avery* 

 

 

 

 

 

Richard's picture
Richard from St. Louis is reading various anthologies August 5, 2013 - 2:19pm

WAR ONE PROMPTS (The ones that weren't quotes):

1. PROMPT: After a car accident, a character is haunted by visions. ("Vision Quest")

2. PROMPT: It stank of rotted meat. ("Bringing in the Sheaves")

L.W. Flouisa's picture
L.W. Flouisa from Tennessee is reading More Murakami August 11, 2013 - 7:10pm

Feline totalitarian state (Orwellian cat take over.)

Mess_Jess's picture
Mess_Jess from Sydney, Australia, living in Toronto, Canada is reading Perfect by Rachael Joyce August 12, 2013 - 9:14am

Thanks Avery! This is going to be super useful for me in the next few months when life calms down and I need prompts again :) 

L.W. Flouisa's picture
L.W. Flouisa from Tennessee is reading More Murakami August 12, 2013 - 3:28pm

When I used to outline in less detail, a lot of those where basically just wtiting prompts. Take an established genre trope, and juxtipose a trope from a different genre.