Welcome to the next writing prompt from Write Club. Each month we run a short story writing challenge that starts with a writing prompt for our members, but anyone is welcome to use it for inspiration.
If you are not a Write Club member and you want to use the prompt to write a short story, feel free to share a link to your story in the comments for an upvote (for Steem members). Or let us know if you are interested in joining our writing group. You can find the writing prompt and information about how to join in this post.
What Is Write Club?
We are a small group of fiction writers who are committed to writing and polishing stories for publication in mainstream publishing outlets. We write on a cadence — one story each month — and do peer reviews and revisions to prepare our work for submission to the publisher of our choice.
Our writers have a range of fiction writing experience, from workshoppers to MFAs and published writers, who are mastering the craft of fiction writing and want the accountability of a group and deadlines to keep us on track.
Our Monthly Schedule
It goes like this:
- We issue a writing prompt at the beginning of the month.
- In 10 days we write the first draft. Then we read one another’s work and provide feedback.
- In another 10 days, we refine our stories. Then we review again.
- By the end of the month, we complete a third draft.
The final draft is then hopefully ready for submission to a publication of our choice before the next month’s challenge begins. Naturally, it’s not always that easy. Many stories need more work, even after three drafts.
But we’re writing! And that commitment to goals, deadlines and the editing process gets us from wishful thinking to completed stories.
Is Write Club a Fit for You?
Maybe you are actively writing and editing your work, but you have those lazy moments when you would really like a nudge to keep moving, and could benefit from working with a writing community and having deadlines.
Or maybe you dabble in short story writing, and you always intend to really knuckle down, complete and polish your stories, and submit them for publication. That notion of getting your work written and polished and ready to submit to publications might be out there somewhere on the horizon.
We are here to nudge you forward.
Invitation to Short Story Writers
If you are a fiction writer who wants to get serious and get your work ready for publication in fiction magazines, you are welcome to check us out. You are also welcome to use this process to improve your writing quality overall, and get stories ready to post on Steem, Medium, Narrative or other self-publishing venue.
Here are two options:
- Check out Write Club and see if it’s for you.
- Or, use this month’s writing prompt on your own.
You can find more information about how to join Write Club in this article on Medium, along with a link to our Discord channel where we converse and manage all of our deadlines and reviews.
This month’s writing prompt
That brings us, at last, to the prompt! For the month of March 2020, Write Club members must write a story about abandoned or ruined things.
To get yourself going, consider answering questions such as these in the telling of your story:
- How has your main character (MC) been involved with the abandoned or ruined thing or place? Was he/she the cause? Or was this a discovery?
- How will the MC be transformed by or because of this thing or place?
- How will you draw the reader in, make this story interesting and impactful?
One tip is not to procrastinate. Start right away thinking about a scenario that may have led to a person causing or stumbling across this thing or place. The more your conscious and sub-conscious brain are working on who your MC is and what scenario has brought us to the time and place of the telling of this story, the sooner your story will take shape.
Perhaps there are memories from long ago in each item the MC encounters while walking through this old place, and each of these small stories knits together to form the here and now – and perhaps a new choice. Or, you could go into the metaphysical realm. What ghosts remain here from a bygone era and why is your MC encountering them now?
Have fun!
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