January 2011
9 posts
Prompt of the day: List ten things you can do with tissue paper. Choose one and write about it.
Prompt of the day: Complete the statement, “I’d a walk a mile for a…”, and continue to write about it.
Prompt of the day: Write a 250-word character sketch about a sore loser.
1 tag
Workshop!
This quarter’s workshops are starting up again with fire! The first one will be this Tuesday at 8 pm in University Hall 218.
This quarter, every other week will be a peer editing workshop, and the alternating weeks will be themed discussions, such as line breaks in poetry. Come check it out! (Be sure to bring 3 to 4 copies of your work, no longer than 2 pages of poetry or 5 pages of...
Prompt of the day: Write using the following as the first line. “This morning marks the anniversary, the anniversary of two people dying.”
Prompt of the day: Write a recollection of a friendship you had once.
Prompt of the day: Write a short story using the title, “Comfort.”
Prompt of the day: Write a story that begins with a character peering out from behind a curtain.
Prompt of the day: Write a poem that starts at the end, moving backwards.
November 2010
20 posts
1 tag
Prompt Workshop
t’s come around again - Prompt is hosting another workshop! This time it will be held in Kresge 2-430 at 7 pm on Wednesday, December 1.
The point of the workshop is to give Northwestern students a place to have their writing critiqued outside of the classroom. The best way to learn how to write is to actually write and then have that writing reviewed by people who are writers just like...
Prompt of the day: Write about a scoffing sun.
Prompt of the day: What’s the worst meal you’ve ever had? Write about it as if it were happening right now.
Prompt of the day: Write a story sparked by “a convoy of urgency.”
Prompt of the day: In 300 words, write about “deceit.”
Prompt of the day: This dialogue must appear somewhere in your story: “You know what else children don’t know?”
Prompt of the day: Create a poem using Emily Dickinson’s “Bring me the sunset in a cup” as a starting point.
Prompt of the day: Write from the point of view of an old car that got a new paint job.
Prompt of the day: Write about someone you would love to see put in jail.
Prompt of the day: Write an exaggeration of an ailment or illness.
Prompt of the day: Craft a poem or story around this metaphor: a flourish of hate.
Prompt of the day: Start your story with “Her laugh broke the silence.”
Prompt of the day: Melinda Alcott and Dwayne Alderman meet in a bank. One is a loner. Describe how they meet.
Prompt of the day: Write from the point of view of a stack of paper inches away from the shredder.
Prompt of the day: Use the following words in a story: college student, crumpled paper, train, laptop.
Prompt of the day: Write a poem that begins with you waking up.
Prompt of the day: Flesh out the following charcter; Julia Ritter is 53, an extrovert who easily gets depressed.
Prompt of the day: Write a story using the following premise; a flight attendant drinking champagne in first class.
Prompt of the day: Write about a time you hid from someone, or a time you disguised who you really were.
Prompt of the day: Try to use all of the words in a story: plastic bottle, hockey puck, dirty handkerchief, crumpled not, unhinged door.
October 2010
1 post
2 tags
Screenwriting and Playwriting
So are there any opportunities to study creative writing without being in the English department? Sure thing! Within the School of Communications there are two different ways to study creative writing. Screenwriting: This is a sequence you apply to in your second year as a student in RTVF, Theater, Communication Studies, or Performance Studies. It then molds your curriculum for the next two years...
September 2010
2 posts
3 tags
English Minors in Writing
English Minors in Writing
So you don’t want to do the English Major in Writing? That’s okay! There are other ways to study creative writing at Northwestern.
The Sequence-Based Minor in Writing: Not only is this also run through the English department, but you have to apply to it too. Ee gads! What, do they only want good writers in their program or something?*
So basically this minor is exactly...
2 tags
Writing Options at Northwestern
English Major in Writing
Have you been wondering just what your options are when it comes to writing at Northwestern? Are you mystified at the difference between the Writing Major and the Writing Program? Are you looking for a writing group and just can’t find one? Do you wish all that information was just compiled into one nice, neat, fun blog?
LOOK NO FURTHER!
Here at Prompt, we know that the...
June 2010
2 posts
DePaul Summer Writing Conference
Are you staying in Chicago this summer? Consider registering fro the DePaul Summer Writing Conference! Says the website:
At the DePaul Summer Writing Conference, accomplished writers, editors and publishers will explore new directions in writing and publishing. Along with craft classes in poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, playwriting and writing for children and teens, there will be lectures...
1 tag
Helicon Open Mic
Looking for a break from the drudgery of essays and exams? Check out Helicon’s Open Mic night at the Great Room on Saturday, June 5! It starts at 6 pm with food and drinks, and then at 6:30 the readings, etc. commence! Featured will be the authors of Helicon’s most recent publication (being launched that night), but everyone is welcome to join in!
Check out the facebook...
May 2010
18 posts
1 tag
Triquarterly Online
Northwestern University publishes a print journal of “writing, art and cultural inquiry” called Triquarterly. It is edited by graduate students in the MA/MFA in Creative Writing Program. Starting July 5, however, Triquarterly is going digital! Check it out at http://triquarterly.org/.
If you’d like to submit, here’s what they say:
TriQuarterly Online welcomes...
3 tags
The Regina Taylor Project
Regina Taylor is a playwright, director, and actress who is coming to Northwestern to direct the Regina Taylor Project. She is looking for short plays, short films, and graphic narratives that fit the theme: State(s) of America. Selected pieces will be performed at the Barber Theater during Winter Quarter, and other pieces will be presented on the internet.
Email ReginaTaylorProject@gmail.com...
2 tags
Student Blogs
More and more, authors are encouraged to blog in a manner of publicizing, building a platform, and getting their name out there. It turns out, we have some of those bloggers in our student body at Northwestern! Check out these blogs:
Rachel is a junior here at Northwestern and keeps Mug and Quill about her writing experiences.
Kira is also a junior at Northwestern and current president of No...
Writing Job!
Everyone knows writers are poor and starving, but here at Northwestern that doesn’t have to be the case! The Writing Place - a center for peers to get help on writing projects - is looking for good writers for their staff!
Qualifications:
You have to be a junior or senior in 20101-2011
You have to be a good writer and a good student
You have to enjoy working with others and handling...
A note on phrasation
From “Politics and the English Language,” by George Orwell (1946):
Operators or verbal false limbs. These save the trouble of picking out appropriate verbs and nouns, and at the same time pad each sentence with extra syllables which give it an appearance of symmetry. Characteristic phrases are render inoperative, militate against, make contact with, be subjected to, ...
1 tag
Write-In
In case you haven’t already heard, Prompt, Helicon, No Strangers to Fiction, and the Slam Society are hosting a Write-In TOMORROW from 7-10 pm!
This write-in will include locking yourself in the Norris Chicago Room for three hours and writing. Just writing. Optional prompts will be provided as well as food and writing utensils.
And then after we’ve all written ourselves silly,...
A Wednesday Pick-Me-Up
It’s the middle of the week. We’ve still got classes even though it’s sunny outside. Who doesn’t need a little cheering up?
Check out the YouTube sensation: Sassy Gay Friend and his interpretations of classic Shakespearean works!
PROMPT: Write about a heart that won’t quit.
1 tag
Cristina Henriquez Lecture
Cristina Henriquez, the current Simon Blattner Visiting Assistant Professor of Creative Writing, will be giving a reading and a lecture on her writing process on Wednesday, May 26 from 5:00 - 7:00 pm in University 102.
Ms. Henriquez studied creative writing at Northwestern undergrad and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. She has had short stories published in several prestigious literary...
6 tags
Write-In
Prompt, Helicon, No Strangers to Fiction, and the Slam Society are pleased to announce a Write In! From 7 to 10:00 pm on Friday, May 21, come lock yourself in the Norris Chicago Room for three hours straight of writing! Afterwards, follow the crowd to an off-campus location for an open-mic reading party.
For more information, go to the Facebook...
3 tags
Voice and Vision Literary Magazine
Voice and Vision Literary Magazine is another outlet for publication on the Northwestern campus. Primarily created as an outlet for students of color, it accepts submissions of poetry, fiction, prose, photography, paintings, and drawings. To check out its issue from Fall 2009, go to: http://groups.northwestern.edu/fmo/Voice&Vision/09v&vfallfinal.pdf
Voice and Vision Literary Magazine is...
4 tags
Write In
Prompt, Helicon, No Strangers to Fiction, and the Slam Society are pleased to announce a Write In! From 7 to 10:00 pm on Friday, May 21, come lock yourself in the Norris Chicago Room for three hours straight of writing! Afterwards, follow the crowd to an off-campus location for an open-mic reading party.
For more information, go to the Facebook...
1 tag
A Writing Event Tonight
Come listen to Jenny White talk about Turkey and her novel “The Winter Thief” TONIGHT from 4 to 5:30 at 1902 Sheridan Road.
Jenny White is a professor at Boston University and sits on the board of the Institute of Turkish Studies. Besides writing books of anthropology related to Turkey, she has also written many articles and keeps a blog: http://kamilpasha.com/.
She has also written...
2 tags
Revising
It’s the day after a workshop and you have a story or poem or essay full of comments. Now what?
Revising is generally everyone’s least favorite part of writing (there are, of course, exceptions). Writing the first draft is like falling in love; the characters and plot and themes and whatnot are brand new and you just want to see how it turns out. Revising is like when you’ve...
RHINO Poetry Forum
Taking a step out of the Northwestern-campus-bubble, you’ll find the RHINO Poetry Forum in Evanston. This is a literary organization that publishes a journal of poetry, translations, and short-shorts every year. RHINO also organizes readings, workshops, and contests for writers in Evanston.
And what’s more, they’re looking for submissions right now! Their reading period is from...
1 tag
Prompt Workshop
It’s come around again - Prompt is hosting another workshop! This time at 8 pm, it will again be held in Dittmar Gallery.
The point of the workshop is to give Northwestern students a place to have their writing critiqued outside of the classroom. The best way to learn how to write is to actually write and then have that writing reviewed by people who are writers just like you. And...
opeN Up Slam Poetry Workshop
What is the best way to celebrate Cinco de Mayo? To learn about slam poetry! opeN Up and Prompt are hosting a slam poetry workshop TONIGHT at 8 pm at Norris.
For those of you who don’t know, slam poetry is style that emerged in the 1990s. It focuses on performing poetry, and it often draws upon current events and social injustices for its subject matter.
Check out this video for an...