Meet Me in the Morning

GENRE: fiction, nonfiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 7 minutes

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Freewrite to Everything But the Girl's "Meet Me in the Morning."

Bailout

GENRE: fiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 5 minutes

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"Booze is cheaper than bail."

Mentor

GENRE: nonfiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 5 minutes

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Who is your mentor?

Offerings

GENRE: fiction, nonfiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 5 minutes

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Freewrite using the photo below.

Seven Kisses

GENRE: fiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 7 minutes

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Chart a character's life/growth in seven kisses.

Space Between

GENRE: nonfiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 5 minutes

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The space between what you wish and what is.

Panamarenko

GENRE: fiction, nonfiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 7 minutes

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Freewrite to this photo of Panamarenko's "Archaeopterix B."

Evangelium

GENRE: nonfiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 7 minutes

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"... a fleeting glimpse of Joy, Joy beyond the walls of the world, poignant as grief." -- JRR Tolkien, "On Fairy Stories"

Surprised

GENRE: fiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 7 minutes

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Five times he took me by surprise.

Tired of Waiting for You

GENRE: fiction, nonfiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 7 minutes

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Freewrite to The Kinks' "Tired of Waiting for You."

Everything I Never Wanted

GENRE: fiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 7 minutes

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"It was everything I never wanted."

Precious Items

GENRE: nonfiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 7 minutes

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Five physical things you can't live without.

Obi Best

GENRE: fiction, nonfiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 7 minutes

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Freewrite to Obi Best's "It's Because of People Like You."

Internet Network

GENRE: nonfiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 5 minutes

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Do you use social networking sites like Facebook, Myspace or Twitter? Which do you use? Do they reflect aspects of their users' personalities/ideals or not?

Phone Call

GENRE: fiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 5 minutes

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The phone call was five minutes too late.

Lloyd, I'm Ready

GENRE: fiction, nonfiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 7 minutes

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Freewrite to Camera Obscura's "Lloyd, I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken."

Cereal Straws

GENRE: fiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 5 minutes

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"Three things were scratched on the grocery list in pencil: tampons, frozen chicken breasts, and Kellogg Froot Loops Cereal Straws."

Time Goes By

GENRE: nonfiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 5 minutes

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Time goes by but unchanging things exist.

Incense

GENRE: fiction, nonfiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 5 minutes

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Freewrite to the photo below.

Reunion

GENRE: nonfiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 6 minutes

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Describe your last family reunion.

Breakdown

GENRE: fiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 7 minutes

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You're in a car with one person you know well and two you've never met before. The car breaks down miles from town.

Willy Wonka

GENRE: fiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 5 minutes

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Create a new candy. What's it called? What's your inspiration? What's it taste like? What's special about it?

Lens Flare

GENRE: fiction, nonfiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 7 minutes

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Freewrite to the photo below.

Past Homes

GENRE: nonfiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 5 minutes

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Describe a city or town you used to live in -- specifically, a route you took to get from one place to another.

Little Victories

GENRE: fiction, nonfiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 5 minutes

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Freewrite to Matt Nathanson's "Little Victories." Performance below.

Mythology

GENRE: fiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 7 minutes

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Create a world mythos, including gods, ceremonies, legends, heroes, and rules of the universe a la Greek, Roman, or Chinese legends and philosophy.

Inauguration Fever

GENRE: nonfiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 5 minutes

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Your thoughts on the MEDIA COVERAGE of Barack Obama's Inauguration.

Dickshakers Union

GENRE: fiction, nonfiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 7 minutes

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Freewrite to Surf City's "Dickshakers Union."

Dreamscape

GENRE: nonfiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 5 minutes

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Recount a dream in the present tense.

Love Story

GENRE: fiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 5 minutes

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Write the beginning of a love story.

Muscle Beach

GENRE: fiction, nonfiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 5 minutes

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Freewrite with the photo below. Venice Beach, California.

Resolutions

GENRE: fiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 5 minutes

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Write three New Year's Resolutions for each of your characters.

Painterly

GENRE: nonfiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 5 minutes

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Think of a place that is special to you. How would you paint it?

Austrian Cemetery

GENRE: fiction, nonfiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 7 minutes

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Freewrite with the photo below. Cemetery, Salzberg, Austria.

Redo

GENRE: nonfiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 7 minutes

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If life had a reset button, would you use it? If so, when?

Character Profile

GENRE: fiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 10 minutes

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Create a profile for a fictitious character. Follow the guidelines below, and add your own!

Name:
Age, Gender:
Physical Description:
Place Born, Place Currently Residing:
Favorite/Least Favorite Food:
Favorite/Least Favorite TV Show:
Greatest Wish:
Biggest Fear:
Pet Peeves:
Loves:
One Regret:
Favorite/Least Favorite Flower:
View on Marriage/Children:

Dreidel Pyramid

GENRE: fiction, nonfiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 5 minutes

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Freewrite with the photo below.

Cliff's Edge

GENRE: fiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 7 minutes

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Begin or end with this statement: "Sometimes one stands at the edge of a cliff, and must decide to jump or back away."

Deja Vu

GENRE: nonfiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 6 minutes

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Recount a moment of deja vu.

"How to See the Sun Rise"

GENRE: fiction, nonfiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 6 minutes

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Freewrite with Ben Sollee's "How to See the Sun Rise." Performance below.

Timelines

GENRE: nonfiction
RECOMMENDED TIME: 10 minutes

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Take something from your past and trace how it influences your present and possibly your future.

The Beatles. Nirvana. Britney Spears?

GENRE: FICTION
RECOMMENDED TIME: 5 minutes

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You're a musical sensation taking the world by storm. What is your music like and what is your typical day?

Po Lin

GENRE: FICTION/NONFICTION
RECOMMENDED TIME: 5 minutes

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Freewrite using this photo. Po Lin Monastery, Lantau Island, Hong Kong.

Travelin' Blues

GENRE: NONFICTION
RECOMMENDED TIME: 5 minutes

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Recount a trip you took that went horribly wrong.

Elevator Claustrophobia

GENRE: FICTION
RECOMMENDED TIME: 5 MINUTES

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You're trapped in an elevator with your ex-significant other -- not two minutes after you just broke up with him/her.

Fluency

GENRE: NONFICTION
RECOMMENDED TIME: 4 MINUTES

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If you could be fluent in any language in the world, what would it be? What would you say in that language and who would you say it to?

Magician's Secrets

GENRE: FICTION
RECOMMENDED TIME: 5 MINUTES

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Begin writing with this statement: "It was almost time for the big finale when the magician finally sensed that something was wrong."

Hollywood

GENRE: NONFICTION
RECOMMENDED TIME: 10 MINUTES

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A bigtime Hollywood producer has decided to make your life story a film. Write a short scene of the movie. What genre is it? Who would play you?

Superhero Origins

GENRE: FICTION

RECOMMENDED TIME: 10 MINUTES

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You are a superhero. Write your origin story. Don’t forget these things: What’s your superhero name? If you have powers, how did you gain them? What’s your costume? Who are your enemies?

Childhood Songs

GENRE: NONFICTION

RECOMMENDED TIME: 7 MINUTES

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What was your favorite song at the age of 7? Why was it your favorite? Would you listen to it now?

Untagged Dialogue

GENRE: FICTION/NONFICTION

RECOMMENDED TIME: 7 MINUTES

Write a dialogue between two people — without using speech tags (like "he said" and she said") or actions. Use accents, slang, dialects, subjects spoken about etc. to identify gender, age and location.

Fairytale Memories

GENRE: NON-FICTION

RECOMMENDED TIME: FIVE MINUTES

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Recount a childhood memory as a fairy tale beginning with “Once Upon a Time…”

Glamour

GENRE: FICTION

RECOMMENDED TIME: SEVEN MINUTES

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Begin or end with this statement:

“All we had for kindling were three copies of Playboy from 1955 and a year old copy of Glamour magazine.”