Your Life as a Great Story: Monday Morning Writing Prompt, May 16

Yesterday I had a discussion with some friends about "writing your life story." Sometimes this is a literal process and we sit down with pen and paper or at the keyboard and we begin to write. For some, however, they write this story in their head and save it up for that "someday" when they will have time to sit down and do the actual writing. Not everyone wants to write their life story, or even a snippet of it. But there are those of us who feel a need to get it all down even if no one else reads it.

Let's imagine for a moment that you want to write your life story, or a portion of it, and you want others to read it. Since we publish a magazine of storytelling, of course we would want you to imagine this scenario, right? Every great story needs to have a great first line. So here is your writing prompt for today:

Pretend that you are sitting down to begin your autobiography, memoir, or novel loosely based on your own life. Write a first line that will "hook" the reader into not wanting to put down the book.


Happy Monday!

Your Moment in History: Monday Morning Writing Prompt, May 9

School is almost out! My two oldest children had college finals that began today. My son wrote 13 pages for his final in Western Civilization. Ugh. In honor of his heroic effort, here is your writing prompt for today:

What is the period of history that you identify with the most? The flappers of the 1920s? The royal family during the War of the Roses? Choose one and write a day in the life for yourself during that time.

Happy Writing and Happy Monday!

Coming Home to Lindsey House Video

Rediscovering Roller Skates: Monday Morning Writing Prompt, May 2

My youngest daughter discovered roller skates this weekend after a birthday party at the skating rink on Saturday night. Watching the car hops at Sonic drive-in was her only experience with roller skates and so she was understandably nervous. "What if I'm the only one who can't skate?" she asked, which of course made me feel like a slacker mom - one who should have bought her a pair of cute pink or purple skates long before she was ten years old. As expected, she fell in love with skating during the party, so on Sunday she begged for a pair of skates and the guilty mom gave in. The fact that it was raining and cold didn't bother her a bit. She skated around the garage, which reminded me of the hours I spent in my childhood garage skating in circles and singing John Denver songs (yes, John Denver songs).

It amazes me how easy it is to forget the things we loved as children. I owned at least three pairs of roller skates as I grew out of one pair and had to replace them. I spent hours skating in the garage, with friends up and down the driveway and through our small town neighborhood, and of course, at the rink. How could that escape my memory? So now that I have rediscovered skating through my daughter, we've planned a trip to the rink to skate together.

Here is your writing prompt for today:

Go back in time and remember something you loved doing as a child. Describe it in detail and how it made you feel.

Here's an additional challenge: Chances are good that if you enjoyed that activity as a child, you would still enjoy it as an adult. Plan an afternoon to rediscover it and then write about it.

Happy Monday!