Sample beginning lines:
- One side said, “open me,” and the other said, “keep closed.”
- It took fifteen seconds to decide my next move, and that was time I didn’t have.
- My grandma said that, “Little pitchers have big ears,” but at age five, I had no idea what that meant, only that I always had to leave the room.
- Belle fell asleep on the bus in Indiana and woke up in Oklahoma.
- My best friend, who I’d known since age nine, faked her own death and didn’t tell me.
- He’s a vegetarian Sasquatch with a penchant for corn.
- Adrian Novak’s dark eyes bored down on me as I collected the scattered file folders. I’d heard he was dangerous, but it wasn’t until that moment that I understood the full meaning of those words.
- I’d moved to this one stoplight town to escape my ex. I figured since everybody knew everybody, a stranger would stick out. And that might give me space to run.
- He tipped his hat like an old-fashioned gentleman, gestured to the barstool, and offered to buy me a drink.
- I’d believed in aliens, of course, but I hadn’t expected them to be so damn ugly.
- It’s hard being beautiful. I didn’t want to be ugly, of course, but plain would have been fine. No matter how many sweaters I wore, every man talked to my chest.
- Only one person called me at three a.m., and it always meant bad news.
Scenarios/Exercises:
You’ve switched bodies with your college housemate and no one believes you.
Two of the five bottles before you reward you with riches beyond compare. The other three, kill you in agonizing pain. You must choose.
My favorite move is ____ because ____. Write about your favorite movie and why.
Two people go to lunch at an outdoor cafe in Paris. Tell the story from Person A’s point of view and then switch it and tell the same story from Person B’s point of view.
Tell a story from an inanimate object’s POV. The salt shaker on the table. The library book left alone, unshelved. The throw pillow on your favorite chair.
Write a drabble, a 100 word story. Not 99 words. Not 101. Exactly 100.