12 Days of Prompt Tools for Fiction Writers
Day 5: Create A Story
I think my local Barnes & Noble knows to throw little writing prompt books into their Bargain Books section on the off chance I’ll be walking by. I can’t resist prompt books, especially when they are discounted. And, if I am honest, not all of them are winners, but today’s tool in the spotlight was one of the books that has been a really exciting addition to my collection.
*Many links in this series will be affiliate links (any that direct you to bookshop.org), so if you use these links to make a purchase, please know that the shop itself will pay me a commission as a result of your purchase.
Day 5: Create A Story
Get ready for the one prompt tool I have that intentionally takes writers on a journey through multiple genres! Create A Story is one book ready to take you and your writing to multiple worlds and times from one page to the next.
Purchase at Bookshop.org
The Create A Story journal from Chartwell Books is a traditional writing prompt book with a couple of features I enjoy. This is a 203 page bookwhere each page (beginning on page 4) contains:
a sentence prompt at the top of each page
lines for writing your story (but nowhere near enough to fit the story inspired by the page’s prompt, I don’t care how small you write!) and,
at the bottom of the page, there is a list of 15 words to be included in the story.
This is already a set up that strikes a certain mood of writing for me, but what sets this book far apart from many others that offer prompts such as these is that this book is separated into genre sections. The genres, listed in the table of contents are as follows:
historical fiction
mystery & suspense
romance
life experience
comedy
fantasy
action & adventure
horror
science fiction
western
So, if you are in the mood to write outside your comfort zone, or you wish to aim directly for your happy place, I am pretty sure there’s at least one section that can get you there.
How It Works
There are no real rules or tricks to the trade in the Create A Story journal, you pick a prompt and start writing (preferably somewhere other than within this journal). When working with a group I will, quite often, come to the event with a genre in mind and ask one of the participants to pick a number associated with the pages in that section of the book, so that we get some randomness in our selection before getting started. As you write you story, you work toward incorporating the fifteen words given, which typically fit quite snugly within the parameters of the given prompt.
How I Use It
Here is a sample of one of the Mystery & Suspense prompts, including its list of words, as I shared it on the NV Rivera YouTube channel.
What I’ve Written With It
I was shocked to find none of my Create A Story stories made it to my Story Hoarder Substack page (my home for my fiction). This book has been brought to quite a number of Writing Prompt Parties, so I know I have loads of drafts thanks to these prompts, but perhaps it is exactly because this book pushes me outside of my comfort zone, that I have lacked the confidence to post the stories without urther work. I am going to have to change that!
Why I Love It
I’ve mentioned it a number of times in this post, but the ability to push writers outside of their comfort zones, to write outside their typical genre of choice, is one of the great super powers of this book. I am also a sucker for word lists that need to be incorporated in our stories. 15 words is a lot, and can *sometimes* feel like the prompt is giving more direction than asked for, but, as with all prompts, I take these as suggestions, not imperatives. The scenarios presented in the prompt are short, but contain just the right amount of detail to bring you right into story upon reading.
Where To Buy It
As I mentioned above, I found this book in my local Barnes & Noble, but I haven’t seen it there is a while. Where I have found this book is over at Bookshop.org. As I have mentioned in previous posts, making a purchase through bookshop.org is both convenient as well as supportive of an independent bookseller close to your home. Bookshop.org orders are filled by an independent bookseller near you. In addition, I am an affiliate for bookshop.org, so if you use one of the links in this post to make your purchase, I will receive a small commission, paid by bookshop.org as a “thank you!” for sending your business their way.
The List
Just in case you do not have the time or patience to wait out all 12 days to see the tools I will be sharing this season, here’s a bit of a master list. You can come back when it suits you to check out the reasons I love these tools and how I use them. As the posts go up, I will update this list with the links to those posts.
Games that are great prompt tools (You’ll have to check the post out for these links!)
Now Write! Books
Stop Writing Alone Paid Subscription (you really can’t blame me for this! With this option, you have access to all of these AND MORE all the time!)