A Week of Writing Prompts for October!

As we enjoy the first full week of October, please enjoy this full week of octobral writing prompts!

Monday

You and I both know that this list of prompts is being published on a Tuesday, which is a day later than Monday. In light of that stunning revelation: a lot of writers often start things way too early, resulting in the need to cut the first chapter of a novel, the first half of a poem, or some other large chunk of stuff from the beginning. So, today, resist the urge to indulge in literary throat clearing and start a piece later than you think you should (i.e., write something with less setup/explanation than you’re naturally inclined to include). Bonus points if it’s a story, essay, or poem that starts on a Tuesday.

Tuesday

October is the only month that I’m always trying to turn into an adjective—and I’m also always trying to turn it into the adjective octubral, which I have to correct to octobral (which makes more sense that octubral anyway). So learn from my madness and get a piece started by turning a proper noun into an adjective and then infusing the essence of that adjective into your work. Obviously, you could take the boring route and write a Kafkaesque story or the slightly more interesting route and write a (Max) Richtery poem—but what it would be like to write an Oregonish story (i.e., not a story about Oregon but infused with the essence of Oregon) or a Hersheyan essay or a Tuesdiurnal poem?