Writing prompt: Exploring Your Life in Fiction

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Hello friends of The Ink Well, and welcome to this week’s writing prompt. As we hinted in the Writing Tip of the Week, Writing What You Know, this prompt will be about curating your own life.

Don’t fret. You don’t have to tell your life story. You don’t even need to have lived a really interesting life. But some corner of your existence and life experience deserves some exploration. And fiction is an excellent pathway for doing it.

Your task is to start writing down things you remember from your life. For this prompt, we want you to make a list. You’ll find a list of questions just below. Answer them as quickly as you can. Then we’ll proceed.

But first, here’s an important note. You don’t have to tell the truth. That’s right. If you don’t like the real answer to any of the questions, or it’s not relevant to your life, or the question doesn’t bring up any memories, then just make something up. The idea is to create a list that you can then use to fuel your imagination for one or more pieces of fiction. So the truth is not at all essential.

Your life Q&A

Here are the questions to get you thinking about your past. You can copy and paste them into a Google doc, or Word doc, or wherever you like to keep notes on your writing projects. Just make sure you come up with an answer to every question, whether it’s truth or fiction.

• What was the name of the pet you have loved the most in your life?
• Name one thing a grandparent taught you that really stuck with you.
• Who have you envied in your life, and what were the lasting effects of that feeling?
• Did you ever imagine winning a million dollars in the lottery? And if so, what would you do with it?
• Describe in a few sentences the most domineering person you have ever had to deal with.
• What treasures have you kept from childhood, and why?
• What was the worst vacation you ever took?
• Think about someone you once loved that is no longer in your life. What would you do if you crossed paths today?
• If there was one person from history (no longer living) that you could bring back to life and interact with, who would it be?
• Think of the circumstances you grew up with. If you could write your story, but change one thing, what would it be? And how would it have affected everything else?
• Think of one of your neighbors, either now or from some time in the past. Imagine that they were harboring a terrible secret. What is it?
• Describe your 10 year-old self in third person.

When you have an answer for each of the questions move on to the next section.

Choose one and write it in story form

Now that you have a list, which is presumably a mix of memories and ideas, the next step is to pick one. Which of the questions resonated with you as you were writing the answers? Hopefully at least one of them got you thinking. More importantly, hopefully one fueled your imagination and felt like something you could explore further.

If not, then you will need to throw a dart or pick one by random selection. All you need is one.

Now that you have this nugget of an idea, it’s time to bring it to life as a story. Now there are two ways to do this:

• The plotter method
• The pantser method

Plotters are people who like to take an idea and map it out. If you’re a plotter, then your next step is to determine the following:

• Who is the main character (MC)?
• What is the MC’s deepest desire? What is troubling him or her?
• What is preventing the MC from getting the desired thing?
• Where does the story take place?
• Who are the minor characters? Are they supportive or are they part of the problem?
• How will the story’s conflict be resolved?

Write out each of these elements, and then begin crafting your story.

Pantsers don’t plot. They just write. (They are called “pantsers” because they “fly by the seat of their pants,” as the expression goes.) The story unfolds before them as they write - characters, setting, conflict, and resolution. If you are a pantser, then take your chosen idea, and begin writing it. See how this nugget that may have stemmed from your life unfolds when spun into fiction.

Finally, share your story! Publish it to The Ink Well community, and feel free to add a link to it in the comments below. We look forward to reading what you come up with!

I will be actively reading all of the short stories submitted, looking for the best to submit to @ocd

Daily Community Curation magazine.