Welcome to Morning Pages — it’s time for a monthly roundup. I hope you’ve got your pencils sharpened and ready to write. Wanna join in on the fun? Read the prompt, set your timer* and get ready to let the words flow. Feel free to post the results of your work in the comments below where we chat about writing and (if the mood strikes us) get a craft discussion going.
If you want critique from other commenters, use #YESTHANKS in your comment. Otherwise, you can tell us about the flash fic and the process you went through to write it. And of course, I’m always open to hear what you think about my excerpts!
*you can write for as long as you want, but most folks choose 15-30 minutes.
Things I learned this month: One of the best parts about writing first thing in the morning is getting to carry the mood over from my dreams. Elements of my dreams have ended up in most of this month’s stories, and they’ve been the focal points of my favorite twists and turns. Though my dreams lose their vividness the moment I wake, the creative exercise of digging for details to flesh out and capture the nebulous feeling the dreams left me with was a fun and interesting process on its own. I’d call this month my first ‘dream-journal’ as a result, for each flash fic was an extrapolation of something I saw while I was sleeping.
I wonder what that says about me and my creative process.
From what I understand, my dreaming brain combs through, processes, and settles the events of previous days. If that’s the case, I wonder how much of my writing comes out of those dreams and the images they conjure, whether or not I remember the source of my ideas.
The Prompts:
“A character is banished from their world.”
“Lightblessed“: There are terrible consequences when magic goes awry.
“Smoke hung so thick in the library’s rafters, she could read words in it.”
“Burned Words“: She won’t let them take a generation’s worth of knowledge away.
“Pearl + Bewitch + Thunderstorm”
Bedia would do anything for the chancellor.
“A magical book turns whatever’s written in it into reality.”
Don’t we all wish our daily planners were so powerful?
“Brittle”
An exploratory write that formed the foundation for the ending chapters of Dark Arm of the Maker.
“Equinox”
In a world where everyone receives a name at age twelve, one child remains nameless.
“Winter was the only season they could be together.”
Ehrin and Felix from the Oceana ‘verse enjoy a long-awaited reunion.
“Stutter”
There’s a particular level of risk that comes with insulting a wizard who has a speech impediment.
“You should not underestimate her. She has exquisite aim.”
An Oceana ‘verse from long after the story ends. Imran’s daughter knows what she’s doing.
“Everyone knew no one lived in the Night Lands… but that wasn’t quite true.”
A retiring scientist tells his replacement about his unique relationship with a sentient planet, Sunflower.
“I hope you like the stars I stole for you.”
A little girl tries to get her mother a gift.
“Chosen + Herald + Imposter”
Can you tell the holy from the unholy?
“Protector + Veil”
When the King has triplets, two become protectors and one becomes a queen.
Picture Prompts
“Where to next?” “Anywhere, as long as I’m with you.“
“So what if I swindled a king?” asks the privateer.
Get Involved!
Join the craft of writing discussion in the comments. Every day I’ll base my questions off of thoughts my Morning Page brought to mind. Answer the prompts or dive straight in and respond to others’ comments — let’s share our knowledge, our experience, and have a discussion we can all learn from!
Questions:
- Do your dreams inspire your writing? How so?
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Do your dreams inspire your writing? How so?
Sometimes! Many of my most intense and vivid dreams have a survivalist and/or apocalyptic flavor to them that translates directly to my writing… there are things I can feel to a certain degree because I’ve dreamed them, without actually having lived them in real life. My less intense dreams tend to be escapist. Those generate some pretty wild scenery, ideas, or even snippets of storylines that absolutely make it into my books. One of the key scenes in one of my best novels to date started as a dream sequence, and it’s not the only one! I love my unconscious brain. It fits well with my brand.
I haven’t been remembering mine at all, lately! (And even if I had, I don’t think I’ve started dreaming about Tombs of Glass yet, so I’m not sure it’d help me at all.) But I love waking up with a feeling, one I know I need to find a way to put into words, accompanied with some eerie snippets of images I can draw on.