I’m not sure how this didn’t occur to me sooner, given that I write fan fiction, and an alarmingly number of fanfics are what have been called “song fics”. In a song fic, the writer weaves a song’s lyrics through the story, tying what’s happening in the story to the song. (Most sites frown on posting these because of the copyright issues, but interestingly, none of them enforce it.) I have an accidental song fic myself (It has the title of a song, and then the song’s chorus is at the very end of the last chapter I was all but bullied to add on by the readers.)

The thing with songs is that if they’re done correctly, a song is a story in and of itself. Think about your favorite song. Think about the lyrics. Print them off if you need to, just to carefully consider them. Are they a story? It may not be a direct narrative like one of my favorite songs (”Home” by the Eric Stuart Band). It might be something more subtle, just trying to persuade. (My favorite song, “Name” by the Goo Goo Dolls, is like that.) Sometimes, it’s a problem-solution set up. (I admit it, I like “Skater Boy” by Avril Lavigne.) Songs, by and large, are a story.

The point of this post, however, is not to convince you to go write a song, or to spend your time looking for every song’s story. I actually want you to consider this lovely post from Tapping Creativity, and consider using songs as writing prompts when you’re feeling blocked.

Songs provide great material for writing prompts because you can write the story you hear in the song. You can write to a specific line that just pops for you. (You can tie the chorus of a song to a favorite character in a cartoon…) You can write a reaction to the song. You can rewrite the story by playing the What if game. What if he hadn’t come back? What if he didn’t make it big? What would have happened then? In some ways, it’s an odd form of creating fan fiction, only you’re working off a song instead of a book, television show, or movie.
Give it a try. Pull out your favorite song. Find the story within it, and write to it. (Remember to credit the song back to its creator.) If you post it somewhere online, share the link in the comments.

Posted by Rebecca as Writing Prompts at 8:03 AM EDT

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Yesterday, I wrote about creating clear instructions over on EducationNiche. Today, I’d like to use this post to remind you why you need to write clear instructions.

Whenever you write out a document explaining how to do something, you need to remember that you’re writing with the intention to have someone follow your directions. It’s like the old camp game where you have to get someone to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich without telling them that’s what they’re making.

Remember that another person will be following your instructions without you standing right there. This means you need to make sure everything makes sense to someone else. Without anyone else around, I’ve actually tried to follow my own directions step by step to see if I’ve left anything out. It’s much better if you can have someone who has never done what you’re trying to explain try to follow your directions.

The important point here is that a person will be following your directions. You more than likely won’t be there. The language needs to be simple, free of jargon. There needs to be plenty of white space for contrast. Images can be useful when used correctly. And a living, breathing human being will trying to interpret your writing!

Posted by Rebecca as Uncategorized at 8:15 AM EDT

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I can’t for the life of me remember where I found out about this site full of writing prompts. I’ve been reading through them over the past few days. They’re rather interesting. Each group has their own charm.
Dig through them. See what they inspire for you.

Posted by Rebecca as Writing Prompts at 7:42 AM EDT

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