Tag Archives: story starters

Halloween Story Starters

  Do you love spooky stories?  Ones that make you shiver, jump at an unexpected sound, feel like someone is watching from the shadows? Here are some opening lines to start you writing your own.  But first, a couple of tips:  Fear builds when something unknown happens or might happen.  Don’t simply include gruesome monsters or menacing wraiths – instead, let your character hear/feel things that shouldn’t be possible.  Don’t forget the surroundings, including the unexplainable from above, such as things that move with no wind or that don’t move when they should.  Your character’s observations and reactions will heighten the tension. Okay, ready to write? You can use these openers as written, change the gender or other details, or let them be triggers for your own ideas.  Whether you write a paragraph or a complete short story, have fun giving someone else the shivers! She stared at the candle, … Continue reading

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Weekend Writing Prompts – 6 Spooky Story Starters

In honor of Halloween, we’re doing spooky story starters this weekend.  Dust off your ghost-story-telling abilities and see where these ideas take you. Daylight, dense fog, muffled sound. You go for noon walk anyway. Describe your walk, and what happens when a dark shape suddenly looms before you. Late at night, flat tire, country road. What do you hear? How do you feel? Do you trust the man who pulls up in a pickup truck? Children are in bed, you’re reading a book in the living room.  You suddenly feel a prickle of skin – someone is watching you. What happens next? Turn several lights on in hotel room, put wallet on dresser and use bathroom.  When you come out, wallet is on the bed and two lights are turned off. What do you do? How do you feel? Dusk, walk through autumn woods with dog, listen to birds. Dog … Continue reading

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Weekend Writing Prompts– Story Starters About Revenge

Do you ever dream of what you would do to get back at someone?  Or are you too nice?  Even if you’re an understanding person, your character doesn’t have to be.  What kind of revenge would he or she take to make someone pay for what they did? Wait!  Make it more interesting – choose a situation below, and then spend five minutes brainstorming possible scenarios.  Do NOT write about the first one or two you list – those are the easy ones.  For a more interesting story, go with a scene you had to stretch for, one toward the end of your list. What kind of revenge might your character take if:  A party guest stole money from them? Their best friend added to an untrue rumor about them? Their partner/lover cheated on them? Their co-worker stole their great idea? A friend “borrowed” something and then damaged it? After … Continue reading

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Saturday Story Prompts

Need an idea for a story?  An injection of energy in your novel?  Something to get you started in your free-writing time?  Saturday Story Prompts are here to help. Every Saturday I’ll post some story prompts: one-line story starters,  phrases to play with free-writing, questions that recall a feeling or situation you can use in your novel.  Use them as-is, adapt them if you want, let them jump-start a series of ideas and see where it takes you. We’ll start with some one-liners today: I knew I should have left Mother at home.  Every time I took her out . . . What could I say? It was rough and hairy and smelly, but it followed me home. She inhaled the scent of roses and closed her eyes, remembering. Three on one wasn’t fair, but I had no choice. She regaled us with sales figures and marketing plans, but all … Continue reading

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