Write a story about a character who is amazing at reaching out to help people in need. Consider how much this sort of work calls them to do good things on behalf of those who are less fortunate. Let the emotion they feel in this (the specific sort of work they do is up to you) guide their characterization. Give this exercise fifteen minutes of your time and then read and immediately follow the directions for the second part of the exercise.
Put that character in a situation where the tables are turned. They are now the person in dire need, the person who is less fortunate. How does this affect them? What does this change in their mind? How do they reach out for help (if they do at all)? Give this portion of the exercise an additional fifteen minutes of your time.
Write it up and see what happens.
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For the forty-fifth Monday Recommendation, write a story revolving around something to do with the number forty-five. Maybe it’s someone’s forty-fifth birthday. Perhaps there’s a murder with a .45 handgun. Possibly it’s someone’s marathon number. See if you can let the number forty-five feed the theme of the story somehow. Careful, though – don’t let the theme or the number control your story; that’s up to your characters. Give this exercise forty-five minutes of your time. 
Write it up and see what happens.
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(For non-regular readers, I present an original writing prompt every Monday. Here’s one for this week.)
Write a story about a character who uses their time in nature for self-reflection. Maybe they’re thinking about their childhood while sitting on a dock. Perhaps they’re turning their marriage over and over while walking a trail. Or possibly they’re finally making a decision to move on with their lives as they stare into a campfire. Use the setting of nature to its fullest potential in terms of sensory writing (include them all if you can: sight, sound, smell, touch, taste) and let it serve as a metaphor to reflect the character’s emotional state. Give this exercise fifteen minutes of your time. Double points if you write this story while in nature yourself. Triple word score if you write this story while in the same nature setting as your character.
Write it up and see what happens.
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Write a scene in which a character loses their dignity. Maybe a member of royalty trips and falls during a royal procession. Perhaps a prim and proper person is caught in a compromising position in a public restroom. Or possibly a graduate rubs the balding head of his assistant principal as he crosses the threshhold at graduation, a scene I recently witnessed at my brother’s high school graduation (he didn’t do the head-rubbing, though the guy who did received a high-five from his dad). Decide if the story is best told through first-person or third-person and who’s point of view the story is told from. For a bonus exercise, write the story a second time in the opposite point of view.
Write it up and see what happens.
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Write about a character or characters who are searching for someone. Perhaps a young man is scanning the crowd at a club, looking for his ex-girlfriend. Maybe a search party is wading through tall grass, hoping they find a little girl safe and sound. Or possibly a resident advisor is stalking the halls of a residence hall, dead-set on discovering the source of the drunken hollering they heard a moment before. Whatever your approach, try to keep the emotion behind the search at the forefront of the story. Give this exercise fifteen minutes of your time.
Write it up and see what happens.
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Take a character in a story you’ve already written and write a story about them that takes place exactly one year prior. This exercise should help you get to know your character a little better. This new story doesn’t have to be related to your already-existing story whatsoever, other than the character(s) who appear in both. Give this exercise fifteen minutes of your time.
Write it up and see what happens.
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Write a story about a character who finally accomplishes a tremendous goal… only to discover they have a glaring setback requiring them to do a little more work and the clock is ticking. Maybe they’re a runner who miscalculated how many laps they’ve finished in a race. Perhaps they’re in a weight-loss competition and discover their home scale doesn’t match the official scale. Or possibly they finished every last piece of paperwork for their presentation only to find one last important document left unfinished. Use the contrast in your character’s emotional state – from being satisfied and safe to worried and frantic – as the driving force behind this story.
Give this exercise fifteen minutes of your time.
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Write about a character who helps a stranger. Keep said character’s emotion at the center of the piece, meaning, what you write should center more on how the character feels about helping this stranger than what they’re actually doing. Give this exercise fifteen minutes of your time. If you’re feeling extra creative this morning, take an additional fifteen minutes to write the story again, but this time from the stranger’s emotional point of view.
Write it up and see what happens,
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Christian or not, Christmas is nigh-escapable this time of year in America, so just go with me on this one…
Choose one aspect of Christmas you feel is absolutely essential. Now, write a story about set in the Christmas Future in which that one aspect is no longer present. Maybe tales of Santa Claus have been outlawed by the government. Perhaps gift-giving has gone the way of the dodo. Or maybe global warming has eliminated snow. You might choose to not even acknowledge the missing aspect in your story at all, finding a way to work around it completely. Give this exercise fifteen minutes of your time, thirty if you treat yourself to egg nog during the holidays.
Write it up and see what happens.
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Write a story in which the main character is in a strong place of hope and warmth, only to slowly realize a great personal fear thought long-gone is beginning to creep its way back into their life. Maybe a young woman is at the park with her son only to spy her abusive ex-husband watching her from across the pavillion. Perhaps a father is with his family for the holidays, exchanging gifts, only to have the unpaid mortgage in the back of his mind. Maybe an astronaut is finally going into space, only to start crying as the shuttle shakes as the boosters ignite. Draw parallels between hope and fear to show an emotional contrast in your character. Give this exercise fifteen minutes of your time.
Write it up and see what happens.
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