Writing Prompts and Ideas

Choosing a topic from a list of writing prompts and ideas is one way to jump-start your writing. Or perhaps you feel strongly about a certain idea or occurrence in your life around which you wish to build a novel.

This is one of those free online writing courses that break with the traditional approach to teaching writing. You will learn what I have learned about turning personal occurrences into stories. Let these stages of writing development be inspirational, a springboard to good writing habits.

Tips for writing a story will be given as we analyze the first exciting chapter of each of my two published novels.

Discussion will begin with the curious manner in which I came up with the ideas for each of my novels. Exciting first chapters will be posted along with analysis of their composition.

An outline for writing a novel and a story synopsis, along with myriad other book composition instructions, will be posted.

My three published novels are The Tropics: Child of a Storm-Caught in a Rip-Hurricane Secret, a sea/island adventure, The Ka, a paranormal Egyptian fantasy, and, River Bones, a mystery/thriller.

Click on the Book Covers to purchase your copies.

The Tropics is an adventure novel that takes place in both the Caribbean and Hawaiian Islands.

As one local newspaper writer said in her review: “Based on Deal’s real-life, near-death experiences and shatters notions of stereotypical islands of paradise.”

To that I would add that The Tropics is ...about life beyond the façade of tropical breezes and swaying palm trees, with people being stretched to the limits of survival.

NOTE: I wrote a feature screenplay for Child of a Storm, the first story in The Tropics. My very first screenplay made the Semi-Finals of a Moondance International Film Festival competition.

If you are interested in writing screenplays, visit Screenwriter Tools. This site is a guide to screenwriting software, books, and supplies on the Net, offering reviews, resources, retailers, articles, and more.

Truly, writing prompts and ideas are found everywhere.

The Ka is a paranormal Egyptian fantasy that takes place mostly in Valley of the Queens, Egypt. It's slip-stream, transporting the reader back and forth between a modern-day archaeological dig and Egypt's 18th Dynasty.

Archaeologists discover a tomb and begin deciphering the hieroglyphs. They have no way of knowing that the glyphs are coded with spells and magic that will haunt them for the rest of their lives.

River Bones, a mystery/thriller, was released April 16, 2008. The story is set in my childhood hometown area.

A mystery surrounds the lush orchards and farmlands of California’s Sacramento River Delta. As Sara Mason returns to her hometown in order to start a new life, she learns that a serial killer is terrorizing its residents... Sara is a woman whose destiny has brought her back home, but her decision may lead her down a path lined with danger and straight into the arms of a madman in this captivating thriller.

River Bones is also available in HARDCOVER. Those interested can click on the book cover. Then, in Amazon, search for ISBN 0-595-71751-9.

Purchase an eBook copy of River Bones direct from the publisher: iUniverse.com

Tips for writing a story will include topics like writing prompts and ideas, writing and grammar, writing in third person, multi-genre writing, book writing format, writing character sketches, and so much more.

So... where have you found your writing prompts and ideas?

The first chapters of each of my novels will be analyzed here:

The Tropics

The Tropics Character List

Sample Book Review Writing - The Tropics

More Tropics and PHOTOS in the Media Room

The Ka

The Ka Character List

Examples of Book Review Writing - The Ka

More of The Ka and PHOTOS in the Media Room

River Bones

River Bones in the Media Room

River Bones Character List