Some prompts

I finally got brave and went to one of the writing groups I've been staring at on Meet-up. I got off at Downtown Crossing, but had no idea which way to go. I ended up ducking into a Macy's to pull out my little map book, because I was afraid to do it on the street. I figured any little girl, alone, staring forlornly at a map was pretty likely to be grabbed and thrown into the back of a van or something. But then when I went out, I couldn't find numbers on any of the buildings until I'd walked a few blocks in the wrong direction and had to double back.
By the time I got to the Borders where the group met, I felt like a hero for about a minute, until I went upstairs and couldn't figure out where the group was.
But, they started late. They were just waiting for more people to show up. It wasn't terrible, and one of the other new girls walked with me back to the station. So, win, I guess.

We used these four prompts. Maybe they're not great-- only one of them really worked for me.
My theory with writing prompts is that about 80% of them are shitty, 92% are annoying, and maybe only 5% will actually work for you, and even then only after you force yourself to sit with them for ten or fifteen minutes. So you sort of just have to keep trying them all. Even sometimes the shitty, annoying ones will inspire some random thought-tangent that you can use. Just because they're really hit or miss doesn't mean they're not worth a shot.

1: You're out at lunch with some co-workers and you run into a friend who calls you by an odd nickname. The co-workers ask how on earth you got that nickname. You tell the story: "This may come as a surprise to you, but..." and ends with "...and that's how I got the nickname, _________."

2: Just then, a shot rang out. (Go from there)

3: That one sci-fi movie, or show, you thought was so unrealistic wasn't too far from the truth.

4: At a family picnic or some such event, a relative gives you a dumb superlative award ("best beer-holder" or some nonsense) To their surprise, you accept and give a clever speech.



Writing exercises are kind of like regular exercises... you want to be in better shape, as a person or a writer, but exercising is hard and maybe embarrassing and unflattering. Still necessary.