Author: dmjohnsonauthor

Well, as has happened before, my “see you next week” line turned into a few weeks. Ah, this thing called “life.” So unpredictable, isn’t it? Does that stop the progress entirely on this story? Nope! Just because the timeline is interrupted, does that mean the writing stops completely? Uh-uh. Pick up where you left off and keep on writing! Some great novels took 30 years to write.

Okay. In the last post, I suggested roughing out a setting for your character, whether that is you or a fictional one. This can be whatever and wherever you wish. I chose to keep it close to reality so my character, me, will be set in rural Minnesota in the dead of winter for now. Here it goes:

   Before my heart beats its final lub dub, I want to find my purpose in life. Contemplation of this goal has, at times, consumed every minute my brain has paused to rest. With every creak of my rocking chair, I have reflected on past tasks, gazing out of the large picture window, my thoughts as silent as the falling snowflake. Ideas and possibilities for finding my purpose keep time with the motion of my chair, forward, back, forward, back like a metronome.

I have started describing the setting in general terms. You should be able to deduce I have a rocking chair in proximity to a large picture window. Outside of that window, there is snow. As I have said before, remember this is a draft! Additions, deletions, revisions, and other editing will take place but not now. Just write it down. Some people put an outline together of their storyline first. Feel free to do so. I kind of fly by the seat of my pants much of the time but have been known to use an outline, too:)

For next time, continue to work on a sentence or two of the setting. After you have this written down, start on developing your character’s history. I’ll explain more about this section next time. Until then, keep on writing those sentences! Don’t forget to share them with me, too. I’d love to read them!

So, you have your first sentence or two from last week’s prompt written. Now what? Depending on the number of heartbeats you have remaining will determine how to proceed with this week’s prompt. Need a reminder? Ready? Here it is: What do you want to do in the time you have left? If this is feeling too personal for you, create a character that will take your place in the story. Perfectly fine.

There are many avenues of thought you could travel down with this prompt. Do you have a bucket list to accomplish? Places to go? People to see? Someone you need to forgive or be forgiven by? Volunteer work you never got around to doing before? Drive a Ferrari 150 mph? Gather your friends and family around you every chance you get? So. Many. Options.

Here is what I wrote for last week’s prompt:

Since my mom is currently 97 years young, I figure I should have quite a while to live, yet. With that in mind, here is my first sentence.

Before my heart beats its final lub dub, I want to find my purpose in life.

Now, moving forward from this sentence, it seems logical to yours truly to create a setting in which this search will take place. Keep it simple. This is a rough draft. Editing, revising, deleting, editing, adding, deleting will take place later. Maybe much later. That’s okay! Most importantly, just write the first sentence so you can jump on to the next and the next and the next. I’ll be back next week with my next few sentences to this story. Don’t forget to have fun with this!

Okay…to start off on this adventure of writing one has access online to more writing prompts than a person would ever have time to write about. So, although this is a bit macabre it is thought provoking. Think non-ficition here.

Prompt: You have a limited number of heartbeats left. Truth. Maybe not a pleasant thought but certainly an accurate statement for all of us. With that sentence in mind, you decide how many heartbeats you have left starting from the day you read this. Divide it by the average number of heartbeats per minute, 72-ish, if you want days, months or years to work with. Got it? Great!

Now, here is the real writing prompt: What do you want to do with the rest of the time you have?

For those of you who are over-achievers and want to write a whole bunch more in different tangents, STOP!  We’ll do that in the next couple of weeks. Until then, write the first sentence, few sentences or paragraph!  I’ll do the same and post what I come up with on this blog.

I’d love to read what you have written! To share it, sent me an email at author@dmjohnsonauthor.net.

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