Does anyone else see the blank page staring back at you as the enemy? I used to view it that way. I felt like the screen reflected how quickly my brain went blank as soon as I sat down to write.
Prompt-driven challenges changed my view from blank screen as enemy to blank screen as opportunity to play and explore.
I'm not even sure how I found out about NYCMidnight. I just know that when the emails arrive in my inbox to announce a new challenge, I want to immediately dive right into it.
My first foray into prompt-driven writing occurred May 2021. In an attempt to quit doomscrolling, I registered for the 100-word micro-fiction challenge. NYCMidnight assigned random prompts to registrants. My prompts were Comedy (genre), breaking a record (action), delicate (word).
Did I mention I had to produce and submit the 100-word story in 24 hours after assignment?
There was something oddly invigorating about the assignment. I'd never written a comedic piece. For "breaking a record," I could have interpreted it as literally breaking a record (as in, smashing a vinyl record into teensy tiny pieces). That didn't feel "funny" to me. So, I went down a quick rabbit hole of researching the oddest world records, and stumbled onto the gem of "heaviest weight lifted by a human beard" by Antanas Kontrimas in 2013. Don't get me wrong, there are some humdingers out there, but Mr. Kontrimas's achievement drew me in and then I had no choice.
The story of how one develops the skill of lifting heavy objects with facial hair felt like comedy gold. Crafting intriguing characters and a comprehensive story, plus incorporating the word "delicate" into the text, in 100 words or fewer felt achievable.
From these prompts and research emerged:
Silas, longing to break the long-standing record, having everything set up, only for his partner (the weight) to bail on him last-minute.
Clare, out with girlfriends, not looking to be a spectacle and somehow becomes part of Silas' circus in the weirdest way.
Determining if Silas and Claire had a connection beyond his beard hair.
Making readers want to know more about their backstories and the aftermath of a quirky meet-cute.
The blank screen no longer felt like an enemy. It felt like an ally, encouraging me to throw words onto its blank palette and see what made sense.
I highly recommend prompt-driven challenges to energize your writing or to break free of writer's block. Words have power. And prompts can help you unleash a story you never knew you had!
Here's the final product, my 99-word story, "Hanging by a Hair."
Clare shrugs and steps on the scale. Her friends cackle. This girls’ night out escalated quickly.
Silas grunts in relief and surprise. “You look too delicate to weigh that much.” Clare raises an eyebrow.
Silas, apologetic, gently squeezes her hand. “Let’s make history.”
Clare hesitantly grabs onto and suspends herself from Silas’ thick beard.
He smiles, teeth gritted. “Ten more seconds.”
The timer elapses. Cheers erupt. A Guinness Book of World Records representative congratulates Silas for breaking the previous record for heaviest weight lifted by a human beard.
That’s how Clare met her husband. And why Silas’ neck hurts.
Share in the comments if you'd like to hear more of their story, or if you've used prompts to write stories.
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Love this!!!