The idea that there are just four seasons is a myth. Anyone who has ever planted flower bulbs know that seasons are weeks-long affairs, and that there are dozens if not hundreds of them every year. (Granted, in the midwest, where the Office of Modern Composition [OMC] is, winter is loooong.)
Out the window at OMC right now, the leaves on the waterfront are turning themselves into artworks. When you walk beneath them, it is like being in a cathedral. This month’s writing prompts are inspired by this particular moment in autumn, where everything seems to be on fire.
Prompt 1: Picture Prompt
Look at the trees. Imagine that this row of trees is a wholly self-sufficient world, cut off from the rest of the world around it. Who lives here? What do they do every day? What kinds of mysteries exist inside the non-walls of this tree cathedral? Write into this world and draw out the details of what it would be like there.
Alternatively: describe this (photo’s) scene to someone who can’t see it. Use as many sensory details as you can. Imagine what you don’t know for sure. See how detailed you can get.
Prompt 2: Changing Places Poem
Write a five stanza poem. Each stanza should be five lines long, and should be from a different person’s perspective. Imagine a space that five or more people would share (a party, an art gallery, a grocery store, a classroom, a public park, a library, etc.) and think of five people who might be there. Give each person a five-line stanza in this poem. Don’t call out that you are changing voices; just do it.
Prompt 3: Change One Thing
Imagine you could change one thing about your life. Try to choose an event upon which a lot of things hinged: swiping right on a dating app, applying for a job, driving down a certain road where you saw the house where you decided to live, etc. Change that thing and imagine the future you might be in now. Write a third person story about about a character living in that future.
Prompt 4: Warm Up
Create a list of 15 things that make you feel warm when you think about them. Choose one that is particularly enticing to you and write into it. Compose a poem, a short story, or a brief essay about the warm thing.
