powered-by-imagination

Latest Posts by powered-by-imagination

Friday Five

Write a piece that contains the following five elements:

good or bad news

a craft or art project

instrumental music

a resolution

a specific month of the year

Try to incorporate all five senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste & smell) in your piece. Use the five elements listed above in any way you like.

Character Question of the Day #11

You can answer the question for your character(s) or write a piece that incorporates the question.

Does your character prefer to communicate by telephone, email, text, video call or in person? What is the reason for their preference?

Thoughts for Thursday

Imagine your character going somewhere for the first time.  Perhaps it’s their first day at a new school or their first day on the job. Maybe they’re meeting a friend’s parents and are entering the family’s home for the first time.  Where they go is up to you!

Here are some things to consider:

Why are they going to this place?

Do they want to be there?

What is your character thinking about as they enter the place? 

How are they feeling? 

What do they imagine the place will be like? 

Are they anticipating any problems or do they expect an uneventful time?

How are their senses being engaged? How does the place look and sound? Are their any unique scents?

Think of a place for your character to go, and describe their thoughts and feelings about going there and their impressions of the place. 

Character Question of the Day #10

You can answer the question for your character(s) or write a piece that incorporates the question.

Does your character consider themselves to be outdoorsy or do they prefer to stay inside?

Wednesday Who's Who

​Answer these questions on your own, or reblog this and invite your followers to ask you about your original characters!

Which of your characters spends the most time using a computer? What are they doing?

Which character plays video games?  What games do they play?

Which character constantly has their phone in their hand?

Which character is a technophobe and wishes for the ‘good old days’ before computers, smartphones and the internet?

Which character spends the most time on social media?

Which character pretends to know a lot about ‘internet culture’ or social media culture even though they know very little?

Which character is proud of being technologically challenged?

Which character gets frustrated quickly when trying to use (or learn how to use) technology?

Which character apparently knows how to use every feature of every device?

Which character feels stressed out or panicked when the WiFi isn’t working?

Which character is happy or relieved when the WiFi isn’t working?

Which character gets excited about subjects such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality environments?

Character Question of the Day #9

You can answer the question for your character(s) or write a piece that incorporates the question.

How does your character behave when they're sick or injured?

Is their behaviour different depending on the severity of the illness or injury?

Have they always been this way, or has their response to illness or injury changed over time?

If so, what caused the change?

Tuesday - Two Characters

Characters A and B are at a wedding. This does not have to be the marriage of A and B.  One of them might be marrying another character, or they both might be observing the marriage of two other characters. One might be officiating the ceremony, standing as a member of the wedding party, participating only as a guest, catering the event, or filling any other role you can think of. The roles of characters A and B in this wedding are up to you.

The character officiating the ceremony asks, “If anyone has any reason why these two should not be joined in marriage, let them speak now or forever hold their peace.” 

There is a moment of silence and then B (or A) cries out, “I have a reason!”

What happens next is up to you!

Here are some things to consider:

What reason does B give for why the couple should not marry?

How does B feel when explaining their reasoning? Are they afraid, angry, guilty, gleeful, heartbroken?

How does A react to B’s behaviour? 

How does A respond to B’s reasoning?

How do other characters react?

Does the couple marry anyway?

Does the relationship between A and B change because of this situation?  Is it changed for better or worse?

Is this story a comedy or a tragedy?

Character Question of the Day #8

You can answer the question for your character(s) or write a piece that incorporates the question.

What is your character's economic status (destitute, poor, lower middle class, upper middle class, wealthy, ultra-rich)? Has this changed over time? If so, how and why? If not, how would your character react to a sudden change in their economic status?

Monday Monologue

Choose one of your characters, and have them tell a story in their own words. Try to get inside your character’s head, and write the piece from the first-person point of view.  

For an added challenge, pick a character whose perspective you don’t normally write from.

* Your story does not have to be a monologue. You can include other characters and as much or as little dialogue as you like.

This week’s prompt is:  It was the first rainbow I’d ever seen

Character Question of the Day #7

You can answer the question for your character(s) or write a piece that incorporates the question.

Have you ever thought about your character's birth?

When is their birthday?

What were the circumstances of their birth?

Did their parents plan for them or were they unplanned?

Did their parents want a child (or another child, if your character isn't the firstborn)?

How did their parent(s) or other family members feel during and immediately after the birth?

If they have older sibling(s), what was their reaction to your character's arrival?

Who chose their name?

Why was this name chosen?

Were there any special ceremonies, rituals or events to mark the occasion of their birth or their naming?

Sunday Sparks

Sparks of inspiration can come from anywhere.  I am constantly viewing the world through a storyteller’s eyes, and my ideas are inspired by everything from the most commonplace situations of daily life to the most unexpected occurrences.  

This blog’s Sunday feature is Sunday Sparks, a series of prompts to help get you thinking in new directions about your characters and their lives and interactions.  These prompts will be broad and non-specific on purpose, The challenge will be to use your creativity in interpreting them and to craft a story or a scene inspired by them. 

This week’s prompt is:  one character proposes something to another

Character Question of the Day #6

You can answer the question for your character(s) or write a piece that incorporates the question.

What is your character's favourite animal?

“Someone Says” Saturday

This week's dialogue-based writing prompt is:

“You can’t blame it on me this time.”

Character Question of the Day #5

You can answer the question for your character(s) or write a piece that incorporates the question.

Do any of your characters fit into the category of supernatural, extra-terrestrial, fantasy or occult?

What type of entity are they?

Do they blend in with regular humans or do they stand out?

Are they trying to blend in?

Do other characters know they are not human?

If other characters don't know they're not a regular human, what would happen if someone found out?

Friday Five

Write a piece that includes the following five elements:

a social media site

ice cream

a game or sport

a disagreement

the colour blue

Try to incorporate all five senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste & smell) in your piece. Use the five elements listed above in any way you like.

Character Question of the Day #4

You can answer the question for your character(s) or write a piece that incorporates the question.

What is your character's comfort level with technology?

Are they tech-savvy, average, not good at using tech, or are they a non-user?

Is there a specific reason for their skill level?

Would they like to improve?

What are their views on technology in general?

Thoughts For Thursday

Does your character have a favourite photograph?

Write a piece describing your character’s favourite photograph and the thoughts, feelings and memories associated with it.

Here are some things to consider:

Who or what is in the picture?

Who took the picture?

How old is it?

Is it black and white or colour?

Is it a professional photo or a candid snapshot?

Does this photograph belong to this character or to someone else?

Is it displayed in a frame? If so, what does the frame look like?

Where is the picture displayed? 

If the photo is not on display, where is it kept?

What condition is it in? 

How does this photograph make your character feel?

What do they think about when they look at it?

Do they have a specific memory associated with it?

Character Question of the Day #3

You can answer the question for your character(s) or write a piece that incorporates the question.

Has your character ever broken a bone? More than one? If so, how did this happen?

Wednesday Who’s Who?

​You can answer these questions on your own, or reblog this and invite your friends and followers to ask you about your original characters! 

Which of your characters is a picky eater?

Which character is always hungry no matter how much or how often they eat?

Which character has a sweet tooth?

Which character prefers salty snacks?

Which character wants snacks in the middle of the night?

Which character best fits the description ‘their eyes are bigger than their stomach’ (they always take more food than they’re able to eat)?

Which character forgets to eat?

Which character has unusual cravings? What do they crave?  Is there any particular reason they crave this item?

Which character prefers fast food?

Which character prefers healthy meals?

Character Question of the Day #2

You can answer the question for your character(s) or write a piece that incorporates the question.

What is your character's favourite dessert?

Tuesday - Two Characters

For this prompt, Characters A and B do not have to be in a romantic relationship. They can be in any kind of relationship you choose.

Characters A and B are shopping at the supermarket.   A is playing with the shopping cart (climbing into it and expecting B to push them around, or pushing it really fast down an aisle and then suddenly letting go.  What A does with the cart is up to you).  Despite B’s repeated requests for A to stop before someone gets hurt, A keeps on doing what they’re doing.  Sure enough, A manages to get injured.

What happens next is up to you!

Here are some things to consider:

Is A’s injury serious or minor?

Does A require medical attention?

How does A respond to getting hurt?

How do other characters respond?

How does B respond?  Are they angry with A? Do they say ‘I told you so’? Are they panicked? Are they sympathetic?

What are the consequences of A’s actions?

Has the relationship between A and B changed because of this situation? If so, has it changed for better or for worse?

Has A learned anything from this experience?  Has B learned anything? If so, what was it?

"The world of reality has its limits; the world of imagination is boundless." - Jean-Jacques Rousseau

__________

If you like to use your imagination, and if writing and character development is your thing, you're in the right place!

There are a lot of "OC Questions" blogs, and in my opinion there can never be too many of those, but I wanted mine to be a little different. This one will have character questions, but it will also have writing prompts, writing challenges and creativity exercises that I hope will help people get the proverbial creative juices flowing. I may also reblog writing tips or memes from time to time.

While the content of this blog will be aimed mainly at writers, many of the things may also be used by artists, animators and other creators. Everyone is free to use and share it.

You can answer the questions or do something with the prompts on your own, you can reblog and share them, or you can tag your friends and followers to do them with you. Use this content in whichever way feels most comfortable for you!

For the time being, I am creating all the content myself, but I will eventually open the ask box for contributions. I will do that on a schedule and I'll make sure I give plenty of notice.

Crediting me is not necessary, but if you do decide to use any of these prompts or questions, I think it'd be nice to be tagged so I can see what you create.

__________

My goal is to have daily content, organized in the following categories:

Character Question of the Day

Sunday Sparks (writing prompts)

Monday Monologue (prompt for writing in first person)

Two Characters Tuesday (writing prompt with two characters)

Wednesday Who's Who (character questions)

Thoughts for Thursday (themed questions & prompt)

Friday Five (writing prompt with 5 elements)

"Someone Says" Saturday (dialogue prompts)

((I will link these once I start posting content))

__________

POSTING SCHEDULE

Character Question of the Day - each day at 8:00 a.m. Atlantic Time (UTC-4)

Daily Themed Prompts - each day at 9:00 a.m. AST (UTC-4)

Reblogs & other posts - whenever i feel like it

Character Question of the Day #1

You can answer some or all of the questions for your character(s) or write a piece that incorporates some or all of the questions.

Have you ever thought about the end of your character's life?

Do they grow old or die young?

How do they go?

Do they have time to prepare or is it sudden?

Who is most affected by their loss?

Is anyone glad they're gone?

Do they believe in an afterlife?

Do they believe in reincarnation?

What sort of legacy will they leave behind?