dawn.vogel | February 4, 2022
While this Finish the Story Game is meant for grade-school aged kids, there’s something to be said for starting with a simple prompt, like the ones provided here, and turning it into a story. You might use them as more of an inspiration than a starting line, or one of them may really grab you […]
dawn.vogel | January 28, 2022
It’s nearly February, so it’s time for some new writing prompts! This month, I’ve separated out each column to be a person, a place, and a thing, as inspired by a recent “Poetry Thunderdome” event I took place in, where those categories were sourced from the audience, and then we wrote poems very quickly based […]
dawn.vogel | January 21, 2022
This week’s Fun for Friday is sci-fi and post-apocalyptic images! The first image is an illustration from the mid-twentieth century speculating on what space travel would be like. It depicts three men, two of whom are seated at a table and one of whom is floating horizontally toward the table. They appear to be engaged […]
dawn.vogel | January 14, 2022
Steampunk may have had its big moment in the sun and moved on, but if you’re a fan, check out this steampunk plot generator! In addition to using a spreadsheet populated with some realistic Victorian-era data, it also gives you the plot in the Save the Cat! format, which means it pretty much walks you through […]
dawn.vogel | January 7, 2022
It’s time for another batch of image prompts! The first image shows a hexagonal framed structure that appears to be observation areas for a cityscape. (Deleted 11/18/22) The second image shows fireworks exploding behind the Eiffel Tower at night. The third image shows the Brooklyn Bridge and the New York skyline on a cloudy night, […]
dawn.vogel | December 31, 2021
Tomorrow begins a new year, which is also a great time to take on a new writing challenge! This month, I’ve got some words derived from a couple of non-thematic lists I found, mixed in with some totally random words. So you may discern some themes from day to day, but hopefully the inclusion of […]
dawn.vogel | December 24, 2021
This week, I’ve got some winter themed image prompts that might also work for speculative fiction. Maybe they’re all related, and maybe they’re three very different places! (Images deleted due to unknown copyright holders.) The first image depicts a large but very slender crescent moon above the sun, which is above a bank of clouds […]
dawn.vogel | December 17, 2021
Some people have more ideas than they know what to do with, but others need a little help to find new ideas sometimes! This list from Masterclass has eight ways to find story ideas, which might apply to short stories or longer works. These ways won’t hand you a direct idea, but they’ll give you […]
dawn.vogel | December 10, 2021
We’re approaching the solstice and the darkest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, so here are some dark speculative-inspired images to use as prompts! The first image depicts a tree-lined suburban street lit by a single streetlight. A human figure stands opposite a bench that is illuminated by the streetlight, and a mecha […]
dawn.vogel | December 3, 2021
As winter in the Northern Hemisphere gets into full swing, the days of writing inside a cozy house become even more appealing. And if you’re a writer with kids, you might wind up with them home for a snow day or during school holidays. So this list of winter writing prompts might be a fun […]
