Dream Writing Assignments: 600+ Prompts for Creative Writing

a lot of these are very dated and stale. boring and at times almost offensive.

I first stumbled upon Dream Writing Assignments: 600+ Prompts for Creative Writing when I picked up a worn copy belonging to my friend, a teacher. What I thought would be an ordinary collection of writing prompts turned out to be a fascinating, original assortment of ideas unlike any I had seen before. Many were just plain fun ("If a retriever goes skunk-chasing, why is it a no-win scenario?" and "List five reasons why pigeons are attracted to statues for use as bathrooms" are good examples), but the ones that captured my interest were thought-provoking and meaningful, like "If you were a man forced to spend the night in a shelter for abused women, what would your night be like? What would your emotions be?" and "What kind of power is fame? Does it involve comfort and security? If not, why do people want it?" I don't often find prompts that make me pause and wonder, and I have to say it's a welcome change. In addition, many of the ideas invite the reader to delve deeper and research a topic more thoroughly: "Why did the Pony Express come to an end?". For this one and others, the Internet would be helpful and might even inspire other related ideas. Needless to say, these prompts are above and beyond the typical mind-numbing offerings commonly found elsewhere; rather, they inspire creativity, emotion, and originality. I only wish I had been offered the chance to answer this when I was in school: "Write a sonnet that could have been written by a theoretical physicist that includes the words quark, meson, and string theory." Who wouldn't have a great time with that one? However, I found the best and perhaps the most original feature of this collection to be the guidelines for Asian poetry interwoven with the other prompts. LeCount offers helpful tips and advice for creating haiku and tanka, and even provides examples for each: "262. Haiku? Principle: Haiku need not have complete sentences. morning fog / swells the backdoor slug - / the empty path. Explain what the reader learns from the last line." LeCount's own haiku career is briefly mentioned on the back cover, but one can understand his unparalled grasp on the subject better in his frequent, excellent guidelines for creating poetry. This example became one of my personal favorites: "449. Tanka Time. she combs her hair / from one side to the other / and back again... / In the moonlight I know / beauty she never will. Who is the speaker in this tanka? What is the implicit conflict?" In all my bookstore browsing, I have never come across a collection of creative writing prompts with such an original, poetic twist. All in all, I would highly recommend this book to anyone seeking creative stimulation, either for their students or themselves. I can't wait to get my hands on LeCount's other collection, Nonstandardized Quests. After such a wonderful experience with Dream Writing Assignments, I know I won't be disappointed.