Escape From L.A. (writing prompts!)

Writing prompts inspired by the movie Escape From L.A.

Let's start with a quote from Toni Morrison, this was from an interview in The Paris Review:

“Recently I was talking to a writer who described something she did whenever she moved to her writing table. I don’t remember exactly what the gesture was—there is something on her desk that she touches before she hits the computer keyboard—but we began to talk about little rituals that one goes through before beginning to write. I, at first, thought I didn’t have a ritual, but then I remembered that I always get up and make a cup of coffee while it is still dark—it must be dark—and then I drink the coffee and watch the light come. And she said, Well, that’s a ritual. And I realized that for me this ritual comprises my preparation to enter a space that I can only call nonsecular . . . Writers all devise ways to approach that place where they expect to make the contact, where they become the conduit, or where they engage in this mysterious process. For me, light is the signal in the transition. It’s not being in the light, it’s being there before it arrives. It enables me, in some sense.”

And then I have to share this one other back-and-forth from the interview:

MORRISON
Sometimes something that I was having some trouble with falls into place, a word sequence, say, so I’ve written on scraps of paper, in hotels on hotel stationery, in automobiles. If it arrives you know. If you know it really has come, then you have to put it down.

INTERVIEWER
What is the physical act of writing like for you?

MORRISON
I write with a pencil.

INTERVIEWER
Would you ever work on a word processor?

MORRISON
Oh, I do that also, but that is much later when everything is put together. I type that into a computer and then I begin to revise. But everything I write for the first time is written with a pencil, maybe a ballpoint if I don’t have a pencil. I’m not picky, but my preference is for yellow legal pads and a nice number two pencil.

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God, I love that. Imagine Toni Morrison writing the first draft of Beloved IN PENCIL.

What is your writing instrument of choice?

Okay, now let’s write.

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Today’s prompts were inspired by the movie...Escape from L.A.

EXERCISE #1: “I’m your president.”

JOURNALING PROMPT: Think about either your family or your friend circle... who is the natural leader and why?

FICTION PROMPT: If you’re writing a narrative, write a scene where your protagonist takes charge, where they give someone orders. The other character doesn’t want to listen to them. How does that conflict resolve itself?

BONUS ELEMENT: a blackout

EXERCISE #2: “Night winds.”

JOURNALING PROMPT: Write about a time when, for whatever reason, you were up way later than you should have been. A time when you wish you had gone to bed earlier. Write the story of that night.

FICTION PROMPT: If you’re writing a narrative, write a scene where your protagonist is out way too late. Include the following ingredients: it’s windy, they’ve lost something, they have a crush on the person they’re with.

BONUS ELEMENT: ICE

EXERCISE #3: “Every moral crime you’ve committed.”

JOURNALING PROMPT: What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?

FICTION PROMPT: If you’re writing a narrative, write a scene where one of your characters confesses to someone else about something wrong that they’ve done. Something that’s been eating away at them that they need to get off their conscience.

BONUS ELEMENT: space

EXERCISE #4: “I’ll take my coat back now.”

JOURNALING PROMPT: Write about something you’ve lost that you would like to get back.

FICTION PROMPT: If you’re writing a narrative, write a scene that begins with that line “I’ll take my coat back now,” but you can replace the word “coat” with whatever you want. The other person does not want to give back this thing.

BONUS ELEMENT: someone shouting

EXERCISE #5: “I used to hear about you all the time.”

JOURNALING PROMPT: Imagine you are someone else. Pick someone specific. And this other person is talking to a stranger about YOU. Write that scene.

FICTION PROMPT: If you’re writing a narrative, write a scene where two other characters are talking about rumors they’ve heard about your protagonist. Let’s say one of these rumors is really OUT THERE. Write that scene.

BONUS ELEMENT: food

EXERCISE #6: “Your rules are really beginning to annoy me.”

JOURNALING PROMPT: Write about a rule or a law that you disagree with.

FICTION PROMPT: If you’re writing a narrative, write a scene where your protagonist is in some sort of NEW situation, maybe a new job, or a new relationship, or a new home. And someone else is talking through a series of rules with them.

BONUS ELEMENT: an EMOTIONAL OUTBURST

EXERCISE #7: “I thought you’d be taller.”

JOURNALING PROMPT: Write about the first time you met someone who is now an important part of your life.

FICTION PROMPT: If you’re writing a narrative, write a scene where your protagonist meets someone in person for the first time, who they’d only met before on zoom. Include the line “I thought you’d be ________.” But you can replace the word “taller” with whatever you want.

BONUS ELEMENT: Sudden Action!!

EXERCISE #8: “This is your last chance, hotshot.”

JOURNALING PROMPT: Write about something you want more than anything. Brainstorm ways you could shoot your shot and make this thing happen.

FICTION PROMPT: If you’re writing a narrative, write a goodbye scene where your protagonist has one last chance to tell a character how they really feel about them.

BONUS ELEMENT: a whisper

Get my prompt books: https://www.camdenhighstreetbooks.com

Attend a writing sprint with me on Zoom: https://www.patreon.com/erikpatterson

Commission a prompt via Cameo: https://www.cameo.com/erikpatterson

Read one of my plays: https://www.camdenhighstreetbooks.com/plays