Feb 19, 2010

Weekly Prompts 1-16

We thought many of you would like to know the prompts from which the men are creating their play. Here are they are- prompts from the last 16 weeks.

Best
Elizabeth and Gabe

Pelican Bay Speaks Writing Prompts

Prompt 1

Write a rant; a speech at the height of some strong emotion (fear, joy, rage, sorrow, anything). The Rant can be from your own personal voice or the voice of a created character. When you write it, write without stopping, without lifting your pencil from the paper. A rant is an outpouring of an emotional speech. So please, feel free to be truthful, take the audience to the height of that emotion with your words. After you have run out of rant to write, you can either send us the raw thing, or an edited version. Whatever you want.

Prompt 2

Write a scene between two people based on the following scenario:

Two men are sitting along a roadside, waiting for a third man to come pick them up. They two men have been waiting a long time. They know each other. Write a scene (1-3 pages) that begins with one man saying to the other: “There is nothing to be done.”

Prompt 3

Beginning now, take a word or a phrase that you hear someone say and create a two-person scene inspired by that word or phrase. The scene can be between any two people, and be set anywhere and at any time. The scene does not have to take place in the original context in which you heard the phrase. It is best if the phrase you use stirred strong feels or provoked strong thoughts in you. The scene should be 1-3 pages long.

Prompt 4

Write a poem, of any style and any length, with the following title: "The Heart That Will Not Quit."

Prompt 5

Write about your earliest memory.

Prompt 6

Write a piece based on Family and the five senses. Give each of the senses its own paragraph and begin each paragraph with the phrase "When I think of family, I hear... When I think of family, I taste... I smell... I see... I touch... I feel...." When you begin writing, try to write without stopping your pen. Write about each one of the senses separately. A wide range of images, characters, events or emotions may come up during this writing process and that is great.
Use as descriptive language as possible to make these things vivid for the audience.

Prompt 7

Write a Character each day. Create this character through doodling a hand a face or a foot and then write from that characters perspective about the world they live in. If you don't feel comfortable drawing, then just think of a person’s foot, face or hand and write from that imagined person's perspective.

Prompt 8

From the Characters you created in week 7, pick your 3 favorite. Put these characters in a scene in a confined space (e.g. a taxi cab, an elevator, a shirt pocket, etc). Give each Character a
want or need that is in direct opposition to what another Character wants or needs. The scene must have a beginning, middle and end.

Prompt 9: (Jan 3)

Write a short story or scene that centers around a powerful event. An event is a convergence of many smaller, seemingly unrelated incidents that result in an unpreventable act or situation. The event should involve at least two people and take place in one location. Try to write in an objective point of view, describing what happened, how and why, but not taking one particular character’s point of view. Let it also have some surprises and turns of fate. For example, a regular wedding would not be an interesting event, but a wedding in which the bride reveals she’s actually a man would be. Write your story and hang on to it for a next week. Next week’s prompts will be a continuation of this one and you will want to have it handy for future reference.

Prompt 10: (Jan 10)

Take the event that you wrote about last week from an objective and descriptive point of view. Rewrite the story of that event based on the personal points of view of two characters and one inanimate object involved in the event. These new stories can (and should) be significantly shorter than the original event story you wrote last week. The meaning and facts of the story may also be significantly different due to each character’s different point of view and different take on the event. Mail in this week and last week’s pieces together. For example: if your original event involved a waiter, a customer and a flying potato, retell the story from the point of view of the waiter, the customer and the flying potato, respectively.

Prompt 11: (Jan 17)

This week, we want to make a go at comedy and we are asking people to rewrite a fairytale, but with a twist. Choose a favorite fairytale or popular story from your youth. Retell that story under the following parameters: Set it in a modern prison, and condense the entire action down to a five minute satirical sketch or scene. Some examples could be retellings Goldi Locks and the Three Bears, Snow White, Pinocchio, Romeo and Juliette, etc. Feel free to take liberties with the original story and have fun with it!

Prompt 12: (Jan 24,There were two this week.)

a.) Compose an original song. Write the lyrics and describe what genre of song it is to be. If you can, say if it needs particular kind of instruments, if it’s fast or slow, etc., just describing as best you can what the music and melody is like in your head. The song can be completely original, or a satirical version of a song that already exists. This prompt is a bit risky. We are not sure if we can pull it off, but would like to try to have songs in the show that you guys have written. So we’ll go from this prompt and see what we can put together on our end of things.

b.) Write about the funniest incident you’ve ever seen between a guard and an inmate.

Prompt 13: (Jan 31)

Create a poem of any style with the following title: “Flee as a Bird to the Mountain.” (This title is taken from a jazz ballad of the same name.)

Prompt 14: (Feb 7th)

This week’s prompt is based on music. Sista will play this song : “What Time is It” by The Jive Five . As you listen to it write down what you hear, see, taste, feel, smell and touch. If you feel more inclined you can also sketch or draw what you think hear, see, taste, feel, smell and touch. This prompt is also open to the loved ones of those in Pelican Bay who might be listening. They can participate in this prompt as well and send us their submissions.

Prompt 15 (Feb 14th)

Top Ten list. Inspired by David Letterman’s “Top Ten,” create a top ten list titled “Top Ten Best Things About Being Incarcerated at Pelican Bay State Prison.” It can be as honest, satirical, or silly as you want. You guys are often very funny so we thought something might come of this. Also, much good comedy is born from anger and frustration.

Prompt 16 (also presented on Feb 14th show)

Write a poem or a creative free write of any length or style entitled “I am . . .“

1 comment:

  1. I have long felt a special connection with Herbal Medicine. For one thing is natural, Charlie we went to the same small college in Southern California — Claremont Men’s College — though he dropped out and ultimately enrolled at the Julliard School of the Performing Arts in New York. Had he stayed at Claremont, he would have been a senior the year I started there; I have often kidded that I was the reason he left when he finds out I had herpes. So my life have been lonely like hell all day I couldn't bear the outbreak pain, Tasha then introduce me to Dr Itua who use his herbal medicine to cure her two weeks of drinking it. I place an order form him and he delivers to my post office then I picked it up and used for two weeks all my sore was healed completely no more outbreak I'm honestly telling you this man is a great man, I trust him and his herbal medicine so much I'm sharing this to show my appreciation also to let sick people know there is hope with Dr Itua Herbal Made Medicine.Dr Itua Contact Email.drituaherbalcenter@gmail.com,Whatsapp.+2348149277967
    He cures.
    Herpes,
    STROKE.
    Hepatitis
    H.P.V TYPE 1 TYPE 2 TYPE 3 AND TYPE 4. TYPE 5.
    HIV
    SYPHILIS.
    Liver/Kidney Inflammatory
    Epilepsy

    ReplyDelete