Initial Writing Prompts

For alot of people, reading is just that-reading. However, for writers, they are much more then that-they are inspiration. A Book can give an idea for a character's name, a setting, or even a plot device. It may help you decide on the protagonist's goal, or help you decide on a character's personality. Books are also a form of research. For example, if you are writing a historical peice about say, the history of a religion, it is probably a good idea to read several established texts on the said religion, in addition to visiting significant sights (churches, if you were writing about Christianity, for example).

Something in this world that concerns me is politics-in fact, anyone who knows me can probably tell you that I'm very vocal about a vast majority of issues. It is interesting to note that although most people are also very vocal about specific issues, they often don't know more then the basics. It is extremely disheartening to begin what could be an enlightening, intelligent discussion, only to see it devolve into "Your wrong!" "No your wrong!" I feel very strongly that people should be vocal about politics-after all, that's how America is supposed to work. However, I also believe that a person must make every effort to fully understand both sides of an issue before they talk extensively on it...otherwise, they just continue to spread what could be skewed or downright incorrect information.


One book, or rather trilogy that has inspired me is the Riddle Master series (The Riddle-Master of Hed, Heir of Sea and Fire, and Harpist in the Wind being the titles of each individual book), by Patricia A. Mckillip. It is a fantasy novel, and it is admittedly cliche' at some points-a random farmer who knows little more then his profession awakens to a greater destiny, etc. etc. However, it is presented in such a way that evne the most cliche' parts of the story felt, to me at least, extremely well written. I felt that the world was extremely well developed, as were the characters, specifically the main character, Morgon. It was in the vein of the Lord of the Rings trilogy so much so that several connections can be drawn, and I don't feel that it is an exageration to say that it was on par with the aforementioned trilogy. This is important to me because, as you might imagine after reading this, my favorite genre is fantasy, and I can't count the number of fantasy novels that I have read that have blended together into one giant, retold story. It was extremely uplifting to see this little known series breathe new life into what many would consider a stale genre. Eventually, I hope to be able to duplicate such prowess, and produce my own fantastic series.