Vertigo (writing prompts!)
Your Daily Creative Inspiration
This is Suzanne Vega on how some ideas take a lot of time to percolate:
“Ideas are never abandoned. They’re always in the compost heap, and they always turn up. To use a gardening metaphor, I’m always in there with a pitchfork turning things over to see whether the time is right for something to become fertilizer—”Oh, that idea. I can finally use that now.” I’m sort of a thematic writer and I circle back to the same themes a lot, so something that I was thinking about 15 years ago is probably something I’ll still be thinking about 15 years later, but maybe from a different perspective. Maybe that means my first verse is from 15 years ago and it might take that long to get around to the second verse. So yeah, I don’t abandon. I go back and check on things from time to time, to see if it’s something worth revealing.”
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Your Daily Writing Prompt
Tonight’s prompts were inspired by the movie Vertigo.
EXERCISE #1: “One thing I have to do...and then I’ll be free of the past.”
PERSONAL PROMPT: Write about a person or a memory from your past that you feel like is holding you back in some way.
NARRATIVE PROMPT: If you’re writing a narrative, write a flashback scene from your protagonist’s past. Pick a core memory, a moment they still think about.
EXERCISE #2: “Only one is a wanderer; two together are always going somewhere.”
PERSONAL PROMPT: Write about your history of WANDERING. Wherever that word sends you.
NARRATIVE PROMPT: If you’re writing a narrative, write a scene where your protagonist acts impulsively and decides to go somewhere unexpected.
EXERCISE #3: “If I do what you tell me, will you love me?”
PERSONAL PROMPT: Write about a time when you changed yourself for someone else.
NARRATIVE PROMPT: If you’re writing a narrative, freewrite about your protagonist’s toxic traits and/or red flags when it comes to relationships.
EXERCISE #4: “I look up, I look down, I look up, I look...”
PERSONAL PROMPT: Write about your greatest fear.
NARRATIVE PROMPT: If you’re writing a narrative, write a monologue where your protagonist is talking about something that terrifies them.
EXERCISE #5: “San Francisco’s changed. The things that spell San Francisco to me are disappearing fast.”
PERSONAL PROMPT: Write about a place you love that doesn’t exist anymore.
NARRATIVE PROMPT: If you’re writing a narrative, write about a location from your protagonist’s past and make a list of memories they have from this place.
EXERCISE #6: “I hope we will, too. Meet again, sometime.”
PERSONAL PROMPT: Write about someone from your past who you would like to see again. Imagine a conversation you might have with them.
NARRATIVE PROMPT: If you’re writing a narrative, write a scene where your protagonist encounters a ghost from their past.
EXERCISE #7: “I made the mistake. I fell in love. That wasn’t part of the plan.”
PERSONAL PROMPT: Write about a love you’ve felt that you didn’t expect, that crept up on you.
NARRATIVE PROMPT: If you’re writing a narrative, write a brief history of your protagonist’s past relationships and they’re experience of love.
EXERCISE #8: “You were the copy, you were the counterfeit.”
PERSONAL PROMPT: Write about a time when you felt like you were wearing a costume in your everyday life.
NARRATIVE PROMPT: If you’re writing a narrative, write a scene where your protagonist is pretending to be someone else.
Thank You For Being Here
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Write a Romantasy! 99 Prompts to Write a Tale of Heart and Heroism
Write a Dystopian Novel! 99 Prompts to Write a Tale of Ruin and Rebellion
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