Welcome to Writing Prompt Pit Stop! Wow, I can’t believe it’s been exactly a month since I’ve written here. That’s out of character for me. However, I had been talking about change during the summer and, by gosh, I got some change. All good, I left the community college where I had been teaching for the past four years, and was hired by a larger community college, Washtenaw, and within a week I was also hired at a Eastern Michigan University. So, I’m now teaching for three colleges and have eight classes; it will mean less stress over money for a while, but it does cut into my time. Nevertheless, I’m not complaining!! I like both of my new schools, but I’ve been busy with a lot of new preps and every time I think I’m going to get a chance to write the week’s Writing Prompt Pit Stop I find myself doing some other task…or needing some sleep. But, here I am today stealing a moment so I can get my blog back on track. My only quandary now is deciding what day is going to be best to post. Wednesdays have worked for years, and I really would like to stay with that day to keep consistent; yet, here I am posting on a Sunday. So, what I will do is try to post another on this Wednesday – but if I find that doesn’t happen, maybe the weekend will be a better option, we’ll see.
I’d had an idea that I was going to post last week, and didn’t get the chance, so I’ll post it now. As a person that enjoys making lists – of things to do, list poems, etc., and because I’ve seen (and participated) in those lists of 10 favorite books (or books that have left an impact on you in one way or another) on FB and Twitter, I have decided to jump on the bandwagon with a list challenge of my own. It stems from not only my love of lists, but my love of music and how it can move you…in memory, in mood, etc. So, finally, here is your 53rd prompt:
“Rocking a Playlist”
1) In your daybook, list the top 10 (or more, the idea is to get writing) songs that have had an impact on you and why. You can even write those lists from one of your character‘s perspectives that you’re working with in a story, novel, or play.
2) It might be a good idea to go back and list the top 10 from different times of your life (or your character‘s), say from first memory of a song to 8 years old, from 9-14 years old, from 15 – 21 years old, and so forth. Or maybe by decade.
3) You can flip that list by making it the 10 most hated songs and why. Have you ever had the experience of loving a song, and then it was played to death (by you or by the radio) and you ended up never wanting to hear it again? Those songs might be fun to write about. Maybe you identified a song with a love, or an event...and later on the love broke off with you or the event took a turn…and now that song conjures up negative memories rather than positive….good things to write about.
4) If you don’t like to make lists, write about a specific song until you run out of things to say about it, or maybe you love (or hate) a specific type of music…maybe you love classical music and despise country. Maybe you used to hate country music, and now that’s all you listen to…this could be interesting explore…for yourself, or for your character.
5) Once you’ve written your lists, pick something that jumps out at you and utilize it to the fullest. Remember to revise! Any of these prompts can lend themselves to a piece of poetry, an essay, part of a memoir, a short story, or a play. If you’d like, share your lists here in comments.
See you here Wednesday!
Lylanne Musselman 