I keep a journal, but it’s full of boring weekly to-do lists and notes from writing courses.

I guess that makes it not-a-journal.

Do you have one?

If not, sticky-notes can be just as good for capturing your thoughts.

Sticky-notes are also super for writing teeny-tiny stories.

I love the idea of small stories.

I recently took a two-day mini course through Highlights Foundation about short fiction.

It delved into short stories, but even better, vignettes and small stories.

I had a couple of aha! moments.

The first was that short fiction doesn’t need a character arc!

So the characters in these stories can remain the same person at the end as at the start.

The other aha! moment was that the ending doesn’t have to have a resolution.

It can be (one of my favorite words) nebulous.

Is the situation resolved or not?

Doesn’t matter!

The only thing that a small story must do is change the thoughts of the reader.

Their eyes need to be opened to some new, profound thought or viewpoint.

This course was an invitation to write character portraits and brief scenarios that may or may not end up in a longer piece of writing.

A writer could paint a still-life with words.

Or write prose pieces that read like poetry.

I used to LOVE writing like this and had forgotten all about it until this course.

A thousand years ago, I had a college professor who called my writing prose poetry.

Why don’t I write like that anymore?

I’m going to start.

In case you’d like to join me, here are some one-word prompts to stir your brain.

If you prefer, you can just kind of meditate on them, wherever the word takes you.

Be free, my friend, be free.

ONE-WORD PROMPTS

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