April 27, 2013

Writing Prompt: Writer's Digest Your Story #50

For the next Writer's Digest Your Story competition, the following prompt is offered:

Prompt: Write the opening sentence (25 words or fewer) to a story based on the photo to the left.

Use the submission form OR email your submission directly to yourstorycontest@fwmedia.com.

It's a pretty straight-forward exercise.  The real trick is to try and convey something unique, funny, exciting, or all-around promising, in only 25 words.  Exercises like this could be useful for visualizing story openings, because starting a story is one of the hardest parts of story writing.

If you wish to submit to this competition, simply go to the web page for this exercise, and submit through Writer's Digest.   If you win, you could be published in their magazine.  No cash or prizes, but it is a fun thing to try, and it's a good exercise for the brain.

The first responses that come to my mind:
(keep in mind that these are purely fiction)

Watching the plane, Fox waited for the perfect moment to open his command console briefcase and send the transmission to detonate the bomb.

Watching the plane rising in the air, Matthew looked on in horror, knowing that there was a terrorist onboard.

Special agent Cole cursed himself for missing the flight, and wondered what would happen to the disguised extra-terrestrial when it reached Rio.

The higher the plane rose, the more Zachary’s heart sank, knowing that he’d never see Zhang again.

Frozen in terror, Kyle watched as the airplane roared past the lobby, just a few feet off the ground, desperately struggling to pitch up.

From the penthouse suite, ten thousand feet high, Gideon looked out the massive windows and watched a passenger airliner cruising in the atmosphere.

While he waited for the next meeting, Josh watched the holographic projection on the wall, which showed a passenger airliner taking off.

Watching the plane lift off, Jones realized that James had tricked him, leaving him behind in Dubai with the notes for Project Chimera.

As the airliner lifted off, Troy readied himself to teleport through the windows, across the tarmac, and onto the plane’s cabin with the briefcase.

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