The Phantom Thread (writing prompts!)
And some inspiration from novelist Jane Hamilton.
I want you to try to surprise yourself with your writing today.
Your Daily Creative Inspiration
Okay, first let's start with a quote from the novelist Jane Hamilton:
"I write a story on average every three years. Several of my novels started as short stories: The Book of Ruth, The Short History of a Prince, and Disobedience. The story that was the kernel of The Book of Ruth was a twenty-page run-on sentence in a hick dialect that exists nowhere on Earth, but all the main pieces of the novel were tucked into that rant. But, the fact is, I’m not a short story writer; I rarely think in the short form. A short story is nearly as difficult to write as a poem is; the poetic force of distillation must also drive a story. A novel requires distillation too, and the discipline of making each word count, but I love the enormous canvas, and all the possibility, and I love the time it takes to write a novel, the privilege of living in that fictional world for years. However, every now and then I think I’ve written a real story, that is, one that more or less inhabits its boundaries, its beginning, middle, and end. Sometimes, for the fun of it, to flex a different set of muscles, I set out to write a ten- or fifteen-page story—to see if I can."
It's nice to have a reminder that some stories take time. Don't judge yourself for not finishing that book or script yet. Just keep plugging away at it.
Your Daily Writing Prompt
Today’s prompts were inspired by the movie The Phantom Thread.
EXERCISE #1: “You can sew almost anything into the canvass of a coat. When I was a boy, I started to hide things in the linings of the garments, things that only I knew were there. Secrets.”
JOURNALING PROMPT: Think of a secret and imagine you could hide that secret in a physical place. Where would you hide it? How does this secret bleed into your daily life?
FICTION PROMPT: If you’re writing a narrative, write a scene where your protagonist has to bury, hide, or destroy an object that would give away one of their secrets...
EXERCISE #2: “I feel as though I’ve been looking for you for a very long time.”
JOURNALING PROMPT: Write about someone important in your life who you haven’t met yet. Have a conversation with this person.
FICTION PROMPT: If you’re writing a narrative, write a scene where your protagonist meets someone for the first time who they’ve heard a lot about. Someone who they already feel close to – whatever that might mean to them.
EXERCISE #3: “Perhaps I’m looking for trouble.”
JOURNALING PROMPT: Write about something you want to do, something you crave, something you desire...that you know would get you into trouble.
FICTION PROMPT: If you’re writing a narrative, make a quick list of 3 choices your protagonist needs to make. Then write a scene where they make one of these choices...and it’s the wrong choice.
EXERCISE #4: “Her arrival has cast a very long shadow.”
JOURNALING PROMPT: Write about someone who’s important to you...who you didn’t like at first. Someone who you changed your impression of once you got to know them.
FICTION PROMPT: If you’re writing a narrative, write a scene where your protagonist tells someone how important they are.
EXERCISE #5: “Maybe one day you’ll change your taste.”
JOURNALING PROMPT: Write about something you absolutely detest that other people love. Write about either what’s wrong with you or what’s wrong with them.
FICTION PROMPT: If you’re writing a narrative, write a scene where your protagonist and another character get into an argument over something completely subjective – a meal, a movie, a book. They both have deeply felt beliefs about whatever it is they’re fighting about.
EXERCISE #6: “If you want to have a staring contest with me, you will lose.”
JOURNALING PROMPT: Write about either your own stubbornness or the stubbornness of someone you love. How does it get them or you in trouble?
FICTION PROMPT: If you’re writing a narrative, write a scene where one of your characters wants another character to change in some way, but the other character is too stubborn to listen.
EXERCISE #7: “Were you sent here to ruin my evening and possibly my entire life?”
JOURNALING PROMPT: Write about a time when you felt a love so deep and vast that it ruined your life.
FICTION PROMPT: If you’re writing a narrative, write a scene where a character proclaims their love for someone in a HUGE way. Make it an aria. Make it so large it’s suffocating.
EXERCISE #8: “It’s comforting to think the dead are watching over the living. I don’t find that spooky at all.”
JOURNALING PROMPT: Write about a moment in your life when you felt the presence of a lost loved one. Or write about an important moment you wish you could share with a lost loved one – and what you would say to them if you knew they were there.
FICTION PROMPT: If you’re writing a narrative, write a scene where your protagonist has a conversation with a ghost.
Thank You For Being Here
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