Friday: Fun or Focus?

I’m having a bit of trouble focusing today, flitting from one task to another. I did a few hours of work this morning and will do more this afternoon and evening, revised some previous assignments, and packed a few boxes. I’m waiting for my mind to settle down long enough to work on my novel, especially since yesterday I had a really good writing day at last (ah yes, this is why I do it!). Until then, I thought I’d entertain myself (and you) with some websites for generating writing ideas (courtesy of Writer’s Digest 2009 101 Best Websites for Writers). You might even be able to use some of these sites to get in your August Fifteen Minutes of Writing a Day (by the way, YA author and founder of the challenge Laurie Halse Anderson is givin’ out prompts each day this month, too).

• CanTeach: Yup, it’s a site for writing teachers, but it’s got some pretty cool prompts. Most of them would make good fodder for online or paper journal entries or personal essays, but the “What If?” section is particularly intriguing for its fiction possibilities. (The speculative fiction writer in me has trouble resisting the prompt, “What if Children Ruled the World?”)
• JC Schools: Another school writing site, where pushing the “random” button for new prompts can get a little addicting . . .
• Seventh Sanctum: Check this site out if your ready for some hard-core writing prompts. These could actually spur some winning stories. I especially like the prompts under “romance,” although my obsession with retellings led me first to the Envisioner. This site could come in especially handy when November looms near and you find yourself plotless.
• I’ve covered this one before, but it’s worth repeating: WritingFix has some pretty cool prompts (and other tools for writers). And student writers can post the result of one of the site’s prompts on WritingFix’s blog.

Inspired yet?