Um. Somehow I’ve managed to compile 188 Three Things writing prompts without a single ode to coffee. What a disgrace. This week, I attempt to appease the coffee gods with writing prompt #189: The Coffee Edition.
George Woodward, Lloyd’s Coffee House, 1798. Cartoon. Calke Abbey, The Harpur Crewe Collection.
John Falter. Illustration for Sanka ad campaign. Published February 9, 1960 in Life magazine.
Mark Webster, Coffee Cup, 2010. Oil on canvas. www.markadamwebster.com
Three Things: The Caption Edition, II
I’ve written before about how much I enjoy captioned illustrations. The illustrations are of course delightful, but what I love most about them are the captions. Those little sentences (or sentence fragments), taken out of context are often entertaining, mysterious, and, for me, always inspiring as writing prompts.
Here are three such captions. Care to write a story or scene around them?
R. Crumb, illustrator. Illustration for Charles Bukowski’s short story, There’s No Business. Published by Black Sparrow Press, 1990.
Caption reads: “Jake fired, and Duncan’s legs went out from under him as if struck by a giant hand.”
Thornton Utz, illustrator. Accompanying the story “Convict’s Secret,” by John and Ward Hawkins. The Saturday Evening Post, August 9, 1958.
Auber Melville Jackson. Illustration for The Revelations of a Sprite … Edited [or rather, written] and illustrated by A. M. Jackson. Published by T. F. Unwin, London, 1897.
Three Things: The Ghost Edition, II
Happy Halloween week, dear writers! Let’s get in the mood by writing about some ghostly apparitions. Will they be frightful? Mournful? Playful? As always, I’ve collected three images to get you started. Behold! The spirits!
Deborah Turbeville, Untitled, from Unseen Versailles, 1980. Photograph.
Frederick Simpson Coburn, What fearful shapes and shadows beset his path amidst the dim and ghastly glare of a snowy night!, 1899. Illustration for Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons, New York, 1899.
William Hope, Man with a female spirit, c. 1920. Photograph. National Media Museum Collection, Bradford, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom.
This week, I’m in the mood for science fiction. Care to play around with some sci-fi elements in your piece? It’ll be fun, I promise.
Simon Stålenhag, Septemberjägare, from Invasive Species series, 2013. Digital painting. www.simonstalenhag.se
Melvin Sokolsky, Untitled, from Harper’s Bazaar “Bubble” Spring Collection, Paris, 1963. Photograph.www.sokolsky.com
Arthur Radebaugh. Illustration from his syndicated Sunday comic strip Closer Than We Think, December 9, 1962.
P.S. Are you a sci-fi fan living in the Twin Cities? Then you should be at Club Jäger every Tuesday night for JägerCon Sci-Fi Tuesdays, hosted by Rob Callahan. Yessirree.