Ghosts and Ghostlines—Prompts inspired by Andrea Cohen
As always, Andrea Cohen takes my breath away in just a few words.
For the first prompt, write a story or poem from the perspective a ghost who is struggling to communicate with the loved ones. What does the ghost want to say? What methods does the ghost choose if speaking is no longer possible?
Think on the modern usage of ghosting and its origin and constraint how the monster in Shelly’s tale is mistakenly called Frankenstein (yet truly is the monster). What other actions are named for monsters or mythical creatures and write from the creature’s perspective.
The third prompt is to write a poem or story using the following word list: “cavalier,” “language,” “silence,” “ghost,” “will,” “tell,” “last,” “mean” and “leave.” Try to switch the part of speech from verbs to nouns and vice versa.
For the next prompt, write a list poem of “the last thing / we mean” and let your title explain who the “we” is.
The last prompt is to write what you mean to do before you or your narrator in a story means to do before leaving the listener.
Bonus prompt: For this a rather wispy moon, write a poem or story about a dreamy, soft spoken werewolf or set a horror story in landscape of mist and dreary swamp with an obscenely cheerful, fast talking protagonist.
Good luck! Have fun writing!