A Prompt Disguised as Architecture

Find or print some graph paper, and design your dream home. Or a haunted house. Or the floor plan for a passenger spaceship. Imagine what life would be like if you lived there, and begin to build a plot and characters based on your sketch. Years ago, my son and I drew a floor plan for a castle, complete with surrounding farms and businesses (blacksmith, herbalist, etc.). This exercise in creativity became the launching pad for a story that we began, based on the life of one of the castle’s occupants. It was the first time I had ever witnessed my son enjoying the writing process, and I still have the floor plan and the story to this day. I blogged about it here.