Writing Prompt #9: Three Prompts Found in WAKE THE WILD CREATURES

This month's prompt is, in fact, three prompts. And these were all prompts that helped me write my new novel!

I've shared in this newsletter before how making use of writing prompts enhances my writing practice and helps me make integral progress of my novels, especially when I'm staring at a blank page, unable to move forward. To show you just how much prompts have given me I thought I'd share the prompts themselves... and reveal the scenes in the book where you'll find what they became.

If you'd like to try these three prompts first without knowing how I responded, scroll down to the image that says Writing Prompt #9: THREE PROMPTS FOUND IN WAKE THE WILD CREATURES.

But if, first, you're curious and want to see how I used these prompts in my book—plus, get the specific page numbers where you can find the scenes—read on!

Behind the Prompts

First, I must acknowledge where these prompts came from. In 2020, I joined a small workshop led by Aaron Zimmerman that was held over Zoom during those early pandemic months when we were all stuck at home, seeking connection. This was a pivotal time in the writing of Wake the Wild Creatures (and it was so long ago, I think the book was called The Pines at that point). I was stuck, I was floundering, and I would spend the next couple of years—while this ongoing workshop continued to meet most Sundays—finding my way with the book, failing, picking myself up again, and ultimately reinventing the structure of the plot and adjusting the voice to fit more to what the book was meant to be. This was a grueling, even shattering process. But the shining light during that time was always this Sunday workshop led by Aaron's prompts. A handful of us would get together, write to a couple prompts, share our raw writing aloud, hear positivity from our fellow writers, and head off into our weeks feeling that much more full and ready to keep going.

Each of these three prompts came from that workshop, and each of the scenes written to them were scribbled out during those Sunday Zooms. I'm especially grateful to Aaron and to the other writers who were there with me while this was happening. I'm not sure the book could have existed without them.

You, too, can take a workshop with Aaron! Follow his new venture, Bad Habits Writing Academy on Substack, for announcements about upcoming workshops and free opportunities to write together. (You may see me there in the future!)

Bad Habits Writing Academy | Aaron | Substack

Welcome to the home of the Bad Habits Writing Academy, created by Aaron Zimmerman, the Founder of NY Writers Coalition. We host free Work Rooms to write in community, plus creative writing workshops and more. Click to read Bad Habits Writing Academy, by Aaron, a Substack publication.

SubstackAaron

Now, let's get to the prompts.

When I take a prompt-writing workshop like this, it helps me to come with a project already in mind that I want to work on. So there were many Sundays I signed into our Zoom workshop and made sure to have Talia, the protagonist of Wake the Wild Creatures, vividly in my mind. I also came with hazy plot points and stuck scenes I didn't know what to do with in mind, just in case. Then Aaron would give us a prompt, and it would become this piece of magic from out of nowhere. I had no idea what the prompt might be... I only knew what questions I was asking about my manuscript that day. On a number of occasions, the prompt opened a doorway and suggested a possible answer.

Here are three of the writing prompts that found their way into Wake the Wild Creatures. (There are more!)

I'll share these today with a snippet of what I wrote then... And then I'll share the page number where you can find what these pieces became in the actual published book.