If you cannot gasp When you see an eagle soar Work on your wonder ~ Drawing and haiku by Kim Pearson ~ Writing Prompt: Interrupt your protagonist's day with a chance encounter with an eagle that will leave her/him changed in some way. What happened? What did s/he have to do? How did s/he feel? What did s/he learn (about eagles, her/himself, or another person/group)? What might s/he do differently following this encounter?

Photo by Myaccountnice Does your protagonist have friends (or is s/he a loner)? How long have they been friends? Are they childhood/school friends, work colleagues, or did they meet through a special interest or hobby? How close are they, and how quickly did their bond develop (if at all)? Now ask the same question of your antagonist. How do they compare/contrast? Prompted by Dani & Elle

Your character twists and turns her wrists in the confines of the sedan's trunk. Finally loosening the bonds holding her hands behind her back, she wiggles them free, then manipulates her body into position to untie the rope binding her ankles together. The car stops. Voices from inside the vehicle argue, the doors open, and the sounds fade. She shoves the back of the seat down just enough to see that no one is in sight; shoving it the rest of the way, she pushes herself out of the trunk and puts the seat back in place. Opening the back door a fraction, she hears voices in the distance. They grow louder. Jumping out of the car, she slips into the woods across the road as two figures emerge. She watches them get into the car, then back out. They know she's escaped! Running as fast as she can through the trees and underbrush, she hears footsteps coming closer, closer, closer. If they find her… Posted by Linda Lane LSLaneBooks.com | DenverEditor.com

Photo by debaird™ , via Flickr Make one of your characters swear heavily, but, just for today, put something different into their mouths. Inspiration? Try these links:  9 Obscure Old Swear Words We Should Bring Back, Consarn It! The Foul-o-Matic™Insult, swear & curse word generator Getting Personal With Swear Words Posted by Dani Greer Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Photo by Thom Gill , via Flickr While you were sleeping, your characters switched places in every scene you wrote yesterday. What did they learn (about themselves, each other, and their plans/ schemes)? What will they do with the secret knowledge they gained? What will it change? Can you use an accidental discovery in your story, or do you need to apply mass amnesia? Posted by Elle Carter Neal HearWriteNow.com Facebook | Twitter

Daily Medieval What is in your protagonist's refrigerator or larder? When or how do they shop? You've got 5 minutes. Go! Posted by Elspeth Futcher Game: " Which Guide Lied? " Twitter | Facebook

Photo by Tim Green , via Flickr Dredge up your character's worst childhood memory, and then let them: a. realise they've missed/suppressed something all this time, or  b. discover important information that throws a new light on the event, or c. admit they had altered the way they remembered the event to make it seem better/worse than it really was. Posted by Elle Carter Neal HearWriteNow.com Facebook | Twitter

Photo credit: Gillian Anderson What does your protagonist find attractive in the preferred sex? Name and describe three attributes in detail. Write for only five minutes! Posted by Dani Greer Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Three little girls stare out the window of the tiny cabin. Mommy left a long time ago to take their sick baby brother down the mountain to the doctor, and now it's snowing so hard they can't even see the road. The fire in the wood-burning stove is reduced to embers. The youngest begins to cry; they haven't eaten since Mommy left. Where is she? Posted by Linda Lane   LSLaneBooks.com | DenverEditor.com

NaNoWriMo Writing Prompt You're stuck. You have a scene burning in your brain, but it comes later in the story? Write it. That scene is a bridge you’ll eventually cross. The story will grow into it. Posted by Polly Iyer Facebook | Twitter  

NaNoWriMo Writing Prompt: Photograph by Conal Gallagher , via Flickr Write a story prompted by the photograph above, and these two words: evacuate quadruple (If it's impossible to incorporate a bicycle into your NaNoWriMo project (for genre/historical/other reasons), find a random picture that will fit (or think up an alternative, appropriate mode of transport) and try and wrangle that and the two words into your story.) Posted by Elle Carter Neal HearWriteNow.com Facebook | Twitter

An Excerpt from The Life Organizer by Jennifer Louden You observe the world in your own way, a way formed by your biology, life experiences, education, culture, spiritual beliefs, and many other influences. That’s a common enough idea — you observe the world through a lens fashioned from all these facets of you. Yet consider: to observe is to interpret. You literally cannot experience reality as it is, just like you can never see yourself without a mirror. You live in a world first filtered through your brain’s system of sorting, editing, and ordering information and then shaped by your observations. It is a narrative system — information comes in, and your brain sorts it into a story, which is a good thing, since 400 billion bits of information are received by your brain every second. Without this narrative-making brain, you would soon be insane. Creating narratives is how you make sense of things. Everything you experience is the product of this storytelling process; withou...