The web space of writer D. A. Campisi, seasoned with a heavy dose of fiction and fantasy. As it should be.
Hey everyone. This coming Tuesday, my newest short story is being released. If you have a Kindle or the Kindle App, please preorder it here on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XVN23X6
If you do not have a Kindle or the app, I will keep you posted as soon as print copies are available.
I hope you all enjoy the story.
Hey everyone,
Thanks for your patience! I’m sure you saw the pictures from the previous post, so I don’t have to tell you that Hawai’i was absolutely amazing and I can’t wait to go back there someday.
But that said, it is time to get back on track. This vacation has gone on long enough and I have a health journey to continue on.
Some news on that though. I have made a separate blog for my daily tracking, progress, and lifestyle changes. (Check it out here: https://wordsbythepound.home.blog/). This blog you are currently on will go back to being more about my creative outlets (writing, drawing, etc.), opinions, news and announcements, entertainment, and personal growth.
So if you are just interested in the health stuff, hop on over to the new site using the above link, and be sure to follow and subscribe there. If you want insight into my writing or anything else that pops into my brain that is not health-related, you are in the right place.
Let’s do this thing!
So all these Sad Puppy, Rabid Puppy, Hugo Award shenanigans are the main inspiration for today’s prompt. Over the past few months, we have seen a lot of horrible, vile things said in regards to this with people just acting inexcusably deplorable to each other.
It’s all sad really. Fiction is supposed to be fun, but that doesn’t mean it can’t have something important/political to say. There is more to Science Fiction and Fantasy than just explosions and magic.
So the writing prompt today, is to take two characters with drastically, passionate opposing views on something (you pick the topic), and put them in a situation where they have to interact about that thing. The catch is, the two characters must be good friends (or lovers, or family, etc) and while they disagree vehemently, by the end of the scene they must remain as they began.
Respect. It’s important.
Till next time,
DC
“Gregor Samsa awoke one morning to find he’d been transformed into a gigantic cockroach… Nah, it’s too good.” – Max Bialystock – Mel Brooks’ The Producers
Another Writing Prompt Wednesday is upon us, and I think it is gonna be a fun one.
When writing, your characters undergo a certain amount of transformation as the story progresses. Sometimes the change is something physical, like the beginning of Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, and other times the change is some intangible mentality, attitude, or opinion. Sometimes the character changes on the inside, like a growth of courage and strength as the adventure progresses, and sometimes its when their life is forcibly ripped away in a tragic death.
This writing prompt, I want you to take one of your characters and look at how they grew and changed through your current story. Now start a new story, beginning with a major transformation to their status quo. Something big. It doesn’t have to be anything as drastic as turning them into a giant cockroach, but if you think that would be a cool idea, go for it.
On second thought, the cockroach thing has been done, so maybe pick a different creature.
Till next time,
DC
From now on, Writing Prompt posts will be on Wednesdays. Mainly so I have a bit more structure to stick to. Plus, Writing Prompt Wednesdays just rolls off the tongue, don’t you think?
Other posts about life, news, writing, and the like will pop up from time to time when I need to get something out of my brain, lest I have some sort of Scanners type incident.
So, Writing Prompt Wednesday is officially a go.
There is the trope of the mystery box, one that has been around since the times of ancient Greece, with Pandora and her little gift. Your character or characters find themselves in a similar predicament, with an item of mysterious contents somehow coming into their possession. Do they open it? Do they not? What is inside? Who is affected if the box remains closed or if it is opened? What chain of events does said box unleash upon the world?
With this prompt, let’s see how much creativity you can get out of this old trope. What can you do to turn it on its ear and make this idea fresh again?
I know it stirred a fun little idea inside me. So much short story potential.
Till next time,
DC
For me, the best thing about writing is creating new and exciting characters. Because of this, I tend to let them drive the story forward, and sometimes they really surprise me and take me down divergent paths I hadn’t expected. These are some of the best and most fluid times to be writing, in my opinion.
I also believe every character has their own unique and interesting story, even if that story isn’t in the pages of your current book.
So the writing prompt for today, is to take one of your side characters and write their story. It could be a member of your supporting cast or someone that had only one bit of dialogue and then was gone from the book forever. Their story can be a simple quick flash fiction or a novel. It might start as one and end up as the other, who knows?
Make it interesting, make it fun, make it scary. Whatever you want it to be it is up to you… just make it.
-DC
Your character decides to go to the art museum on a whim. While inside, they see one exhibit that fascinates them. On a closer look, this particular item seems very different than the others around it, maybe familiar, maybe out of place. The museum curator sees them taking such a keen interest and…
What happens?
Hope this stimulates some ideas. I know it did for me.
– DC
Let me paint a picture for you.
Around the corner from your home, there is a man who sits in a lawn chair next to the side of the road, tanning himself. He’s a large man with skin the color of a charred orange peel, and curly white hair that covers every inch of his body but the top of his head. A pair of expensive sunglasses shade his eyes, and the sparse amount of clothing he wears covers little else. In one hand he holds a lit cigarette, and in the other a comically large cigar. He takes intermittent puffs of each as he leans back and lets the sun continue to fry his skin into the equivalent of a pork rind. You can only guess what type of music is playing through the ear buds crammed into his sweaty ears.
You see him relaxing there in the hot sun for about an hour every day. He’s been maliciously dubbed The Cancer Man by your best friend in some bizarre nod to The X-files character. However, the man seems friendly enough whenever you walk by, giving a cordial smile of stained teeth and a raspy “Good afternoon.”
Your writing prompt, should you choose to accept it, is to tell a story about this man and why he does this daily ritual.
I look forward to seeing any ideas or stories below.
– DC
Words by the Pound 