Let Your Characters Talk!

What if your characters could talk to each other? They do, you say? Of course, that's called dialogue.

But what if two characters from two different stories could talk to each other? What if Bob the turtle from your story "I'm All Green" could talk to Vanessa the waitress in your story "The Sensational Sunshine Diner?"

Try it out. Pick a character from one of your stories. Then pick a character from another story. Now write a dialogue between the two of them. Let them talk on paper and see what happens.

If you don't have two finished stories, choose two favorite books. What if Percy Jackson talked to Max from Where the Wild Things Are? Or what if Junie B. Jones talked to Bud in Bud, Not Buddy? What would they talk about?

Have fun letting your characters talk!

Let It Snow!

It's snowing today on Bainbridge Island where I live. When we have snow, even an inch, everything slows down. People walk rather than drive, neighbors say hi to each other, and kids slide down the snowy hill (that part isn't slow).

Do you live in a place where snow is unusual? Or do you see snow all winter long? For some, snow may be magical. For others, it's a chore. It all depends on your perspective.

Whether you see snow all the time, or treasure it as a rare treat, snow can give us great writing prompts. Here are a few ideas:

1. Go to the library and check out the book The Snowman by Raymond Briggs. Or find the movie. This wonderful story is about a boy and a snowman's adventures. The book and movie are wordless, so you can write your own words to the story.

2. Write about a world where money is made out of snowballs.

3. Imagine making a snow angel, like in the photo above. (Or if you have snow where you live, make a real snow angel.) Write about your snow angel. What is his or her name?

4. Write a poem: "Seven Uses for Snow."

5. Write a story about a secret snow cave....in Hawaii. Use your imagination!

Questions and the New Year

Ten days into the New Year, I'm thinking about resolutions I made and how I'm doing on them. (The answer: Great on some, Not So Great on others.)

What if: Instead of making New Year's resolutions, we asked ourselves questions at the start of a new year? Questions make us think about who we are, what we like, and what we don't like. After all, life is a journey of self-discovery, so questions help us discover more about ourselves. When we know ourselves better, we become better writers, too.

In your writer's notebook, play around with answers to these questions, or make up your own questions:

1. If television had never been invented, would you want to invent it? Why?

2. What is something that bugs you? Why?

3. If you lived in a zoo, which animal would you like to be? Why?

4. If you could drink only orange soda or hot chocolate for the rest of your life, which would you pick? Why?

5. If it rained cats or dogs for real, which would you prefer? Why?

You'll notice I asked "why" for each question. Why? Because that's the real question that gets us thinking. Have fun answering, "Why?"

Go Ahead and Exaggerate!

When we exaggerate, we stretch the truth or tell a "tall tale" about ourselves. It's fun to exaggerate in a writing exercise. Here's how:

Write three sentences that describe you. Like:

1. I am strong.

2. I like animals.

3. I am a fast swimmer.

Now exaggerate!

1. I'm so strong, I can lift the sun.

2. I like animals so much, my best friend is a hippopotomus.

3. I'm such a fast swimmer, I can swim from Seattle to Hawaii in two minutes.

Now it's your turn. Go ahead and exaggerate!

A Cat's Point of View

Point of view is a term describing who is telling a story. "View" means to look, so when we talk about point of view we're talking about seeing a story's events through a character's or narrator's eyes.

This is my cat Zoey, and I bet she has a great story to tell. What is she doing, or what is she about to do? What is she thinking about?

Write a story from the cat's point of view. It can be an "I" first-person story, or a "she" third-person story. Have fun being a cat--at least while you write your story!

Holiday Magic

No matter what holiday you celebrate at this time of year--or even if you don't--there's something magical about going outdoors and seeing all the lights.

What if you were a space alien seeing stores, houses, and apartment windows lit up for the first time? What kind of creatures would you think Earthlings were?

For our writing prompt today, imagine you're a space alien. Your ship has just landed next to a brightly lit shopping market, like in the photo above. What are you going to tell your space buddies back home?

Be creative. Why do Earthlings have so many lights?

Holiday Parody

A scary Christmas tree? That's what you get when you say, "Twas the fright before Christmas...." and that's called parody.

What is parody? According to Sarah Ellis in The Young Writer's Companion (a wonderful book), parody is "A humorous, exaggerated imitation of a poem, song, character, or writing style."

Other holiday parodies?

"Jingle bells, Santa smells, ninety miles away...."

OR

"Joy to the world, the school burned down."

Can you come up with other holiday parodies? Think of your favorite (or least favorite) holiday song or poem, and give it a try:

"Rudolph, the snot-nosed reindeer, had a gooey, gobby nose...."

"Frosty the jail man, had a big, big set of keys...."

Have fun poking gentle fun at the songs we hear over and over at this time of year. Who knows? Your parody may become the next big hit!