Every week in November, we will release a set of writing prompts to keep you inspired all the way through National Novel Writing Month along with questions and suggestions for how to use them in your manuscript.
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November 8: Home
- What feels, smells, or tastes like home to your character?
- Before this story, how far away had your character been from home? Are they getting closer or farther from home?
- What has your character taken from their home—an object with a special meaning, memories, or issues?
November 9: Injury
- Have your character obtain a small injury in the scene you’re in the middle of writing right now.
- What’s the one thing someone could say to your main character that would hurt more than anything else?
- What adds insult to injury for your character in the next scene?
November 10: Jump
- What jump or leap of faith can your character take in this scene?
- What makes your character jump—mice, snakes, or some other creepy-crawly? Add one to a scene.
- Place something so high up that your character must jump to reach it. Will they?
November 11: Kneel
- What brings your character to their knees during this story, metaphorically speaking? Or even literally?
- Does your character kneel down to talk to kids, or stand above them? Insert a child into your story and find out!
- Is there royalty in your story? Maybe they can make an appearance. Would your character kneel before them, or refuse? Why?
November 12: Luck
- Has your character generally had good luck or bad luck in their lives up until now?
- What small stroke of bad luck can you insert in your story?
- Stretch the prompt and add a typical symbol of luck—good or bad—to your story, and use it to represent something other than luck.
- Horseshoes, ladybugs, clovers, and seagulls (for sailors, anyway, not so much picnicking beachgoers) are all typically signs of good luck.
- The number thirteen, black cats, and ravens (along with crows and magpies) are all typically signs of bad luck.
November 13: Measure
- What does your character fail to measure or take into account in their plans?
- Does your character bake or cook? Add a scene where their skills (or lack thereof) are on display.
- “Measure” is also a musical term. What music is playing in the coming scenes? Add some if there isn’t already.
November 14: Night
- Who is the night to your character’s day (or vice-versa)? How do or would their interactions change throughout the story?
- Write a scene set during the middle of the night that you previously planned to write set during the day.
- Is your character a night owl, or do they become irritable after burning the midnight oil? What happens when their routine is thrown off?
Bonus Prompt: Stripe
- Who or what can sport stripes in your story? Wallpaper or sweaters? What colors?
- Stripes often indicate rank on military uniforms. Is there a military body in your story, or someone who has been in the military?
- How does your character have to earn their stripes in this story? Or what was surprising about how have they earned their stripes in the organization or occupation they’re in now?
- How is your character “of a different stripe” than those around him?
