Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
With summer started, and pandemic restrictions lifting, we get to do things we haven’t done in a while. There are a number of things that I have missed doing. Playing with kids at the park, seeing family friends, and reading a book in a hammock with a buddy.
But I’ve also missed writing like I did as a teenager. When I had chores and homework, but still had plenty of energy to stay up all night writing. I miss the groove I got into with writing and when I would bring out my notebook at every spare moment.
Clearly I’m a bit nostalgic since I wrote about summer reading last week. But I think we all might be a little bit. So, I’m inviting everyone to join me in a nostalgic, kick-start into writing.
What I’ve Missed Prompt Challenge
The topic of this prompt challenge is “What I’ve Missed”. This can be a throw-back to your young adventures, regrets, or simply revisiting your favorite seasonal things. This prompt may touch on a number of common emotions and themes, such as handling regrets, remembering better times, and making the most of situations. You can choose what direction you want to take this prompt.
Begin this prompt by choosing something that you miss or have missed. Then, convert it into a story, or whatever type of creative piece you are working on. I know that a single thought, activity or memory doesn’t always convert well into a story format, so continue reading for steps to developing the story.
Converting What You Miss into a Story
Record Experience
The first step is to outline the topic or event just as you would tell a friend about the memory. Clearly explaining the topic will allow you to find the individual aspects of the story, such as the problems, the people involved, and the risks.
For me, I miss the way I wrote in middle school and high school. Life was busy, but I found ways to write. I had a notebook with me all the time, among my school things, that was entirely dedicated to my current story. Between classes and after assignments, I would whip out that notebook write another scene. I also had more energy than I have now, and I could stay up for a few hours at night to write.
Choose POV
Step two is point of view. By determining the point of view, you have selected the main character, perspective, and the beginnings of the depiction of the story. Expand this by deciding if the character is reflecting on memories, living the moment, or telling through diary entries, etc.
I could chose the point of view as myself, when I wrote in school, or as myself now, missing that. Or I could take the story from an entirely new perspective by looking at it through the point of view of one of my teachers in school. This is the same story, but changes it by likely introducing additional conflict.
Identify the problem
Every story needs a problem and a resolution. The problem may be that you can’t do what you miss anymore, or a problem that is associated with the topic. Such as how as a teenager, I would spend more time writing than doing homework, and often finished assignments in class the day they were due. With the problem, comes the solution. The solution may or may not be a happy ending, but is the natural outcome of the choices made by the character.
If I chose to write my story through the point of view of a teacher. The conflict would be trying to get me (as the student) to pass the class with a clear understanding of the topic. This is a difficult task when the attention and efforts of the subject is elsewhere. The solution to this story has to possible endings. The teacher either succeeds in getting me to focus and pass the class, or does not, and I fail. Variations are of these two endings exist, depending on if the pass or fail was determined by the scale of A to C+ or D to F.
Conclusion
Choose something that you have missed, explain the details about it, then start converting it into a story. Choose a point of view, and identify the problematic conflict that leads to the ending solution. Share what you’ve missed in the comments, and start creating!
