I want to post a list of character-story prompts each Monday, culled from various ideation sources. These prompts are raw ideas, and I’d like to write a story inspired by one or more of these prompts, posting the story on my story blog for #FridayFlash. This really just a variation of the process I usually use to write stories, opening it up for you to get in on it.

Being a character prompt, each will have something to do with a character and what she needs. Where you go from there, that’s up to you. I’ll usually write a life-expanding character story, with an underlying theme, a traditional character arc, and a happy ending, because that’s what I do. Or I might just experiment and have fun.

1. Use the photo above, “I’ll Give You All I Can” by Brandon Christopher Warren, to inspire a story. (Click on the image for a larger view.)

2. Caught in an unexpected freeze. (in honor of New England springtime)

3. I once sliced my hand open with a chef’s knife.

4. Have you done your taxes yet? (in honor of April 15)

5. She’s gotten the book—literally—thrown at her so often, now she’s used to it and expects it.

6. What if man turned to the trees, like monkeys, in order to escape predators?

7. I often light a candle to relax myself and relieve stress. Something soothing about watching a flame glow and flicker.

8. How many people pursue sex as a substitute for intimacy?

9. Siding with a villain, without endorsing his evil.

10. Posted on Facebook: On my way here, I got stuck behind a car with the vanity plate “ZOOM” putting along at 5 MPH under the speed limit.

    Then, in a comment: Uh oh… That wasn’t you ZOOMing down the highway, was it? <nervous laugh>

Feel free to comment below with a link to your story if you use any of these prompts. (Or even if you don’t.) You can also submit your story to the Carnival of Storytelling, which is posted on Thursdays. And whatever you do…

Keep writing!
-TimK