Writing on Prompts

 

I have always written sporadically. In fits and starts is how the train of thought translates into the written word.

The writing bug is a mosquito--- one bite, one itch, one scratch, and one piece of writing done. For me it is not a leech, steadily drawing the ink from my veins, as it gets fatter and fatter, making my manuscript bigger and bigger.

So, these days, I turn to prompts, to force me to write. Waiting around for inspiration, just leads to perspiration. I have always enjoyed putting pen to paper, writing longhand, writing impatient notes to myself in the margin (for example, “find a better word!”). Putting arrows to interchange paragraphs, giving them temporary numbers to sort out a sequence, things like that. I then type it up later, when I am in the non-creative zone.

However, on taking up a prompt challenge recently, I found that I would just note down some ideas to get me started, and then start typing directly. There was not enough time to write twice, you see. The added benefit was that typing on a laptop kept me aware of not only the word count, but also let me keep an eye on the clock. Writing challenges typically have deadlines.

In writing flash fiction, almost always I have to sacrifice the beginning to accommodate the ending. I have to give up on the build-up, to keep the clarity. I enjoy the concise and the precise, but it is still a pang to delete the so-called frills. A short-story writer finds it difficult to write flash fiction; however, 100-word challenges are again head scratchers, yet doable!

Now I know why novelists find it difficult to write short stories!

This post is a part of the Blogchatter Half Marathon 2025