You know, when I decided back in December 2019 that I wanted to do this odd writing challenge, it was because I needed some encouragement to stay on track with my daily wordcount, and having a changing prompt every week is good for getting the creative juices flowing. What I never could have anticipated was how the year was going to play out…
It’s been phenomenal, here on this blog, to see the writing being done. Especially when you pull back and look at the larger world picture and the stresses therein. But here? We can control the prompts we give, and we can take the random that we are given and turn it into something beautiful. That’s what you do when life hands you manure. Plant flowers, and reap the rewards after time, effort, and patience.
| Prompter | Prompt | Prompted |
| Anne Guglik | You’ve finally stepped foot into the quiet halls of the museum on 42nd Street. You had always wanted to go. As you walk through, you turn to face an image of a painted forest, seemingly peaceful. Then you lean closer, because you could swear you saw the acrylic trees begin to sway. | nother Mike |
| nother Mike | Mrs. Griswald was embarrassed when she got home from her shopping trip and realized that somewhere along the way, she had forgotten Mr. Griswald again. (inspired by https://www.thefarside.com/2020/09/04/2 ) | Anne Guglik |
| Fiona Grey | Choose your favorite scene from the Carta Marina and tell the story behind the image. | Leigh Kimmel |
| Becky Jones | The car salesperson said that the car had a special feature, but he never explained what it was. What is the feature? |
Cedar Sanderson
|
| Leigh Kimmel | Visual prompt – Darth Vader | Becky Jones |
| Cedar Sanderson | Life is a bowl of cherries – if you’re a worm. | Fiona Grey |
And if you didn’t have the time or spoons to dish up a prompt challenge, there are always spare prompts to choose from! Dig in and see what treasures you can unearth.
| Spare | And here’s your creme brulee, ma’am… (art at https://www.deviantart.com/sandara/art/Creme-brulee-757155279 ) |
| Spare | A werewolf, a vampire, and a lawyer walk into a bar… (Or any two monsters and one occupation of your choice) |
| Spare | Sea monsters, and why they’re merely misunderstood. |
| Spare | If wishes were horses… |
| Spare | You walked in on your cat having a Zoom meeting with the raccoons. What’s going on? |
Remember to submit your response below to the challenge, either in a comment or as a link to your public workspace (ie blog, website, whathaveyou. Just not social media please). We are looking forward to it!
More Odds Than Ends 
Cats holding a meeting with raccoons?
https://www.gocomics.com/breaking-cat-news/2020/09/05?ct=v&cti=2421305
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Leigh! Oh. My. God! LOL! This is a doozy!
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It’s a cosplay from the 2013 Youmacon, a big anime convention in Detroit.
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[…] week, another set of odd prompts. This is Week 37 for Odd Prompts and as always they are giving me the creative kick in the butt that I seem to need and a great way […]
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Here’s the latest installment of Cursebreaker.
https://profornery.wordpress.com/2020/09/15/odd-prompts/
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I probably should have picked one and focused on it, but these were such different directions, and anything to not think about the day job for a while…my husband gets all credit for the acronym idea!
Version 1: https://fionagreywrites.com/mahogony-and-loyalty/
Version 2: https://fionagreywrites.com/304-2/
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I ran out of time and had to cut it off short. But I did work in the prompt! https://www.cedarwrites.com/2020/09/15/the-case-of-the-perambulating-hatrack-part-31/
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Anne Guglik prompted…
You’ve finally stepped foot into the quiet halls of the museum on 42nd Street. You had always wanted to go. As you walk through, you turn to face an image of a painted forest, seemingly peaceful. Then you lean closer, because you could swear you saw the acrylic trees begin to sway.
And when I sat down to write something…
At the museum, the art sings,
Silent beauty hanging free
For any who can see.
But wait, who goes there?
I walk along, looking, seeing,
Did something move?
No, painted trees don’t rove,
And yet, there’s a hand in the leaves?
The artist is long dead,
But his painted forest still,
Has a sprite and a will,
That moves the painted trees
That calls to those who pass,
Come in, join the dance,
Watch the animals prance
And take the time to ponder…
The art hangs in the museum,
Silent, lonely, but when you see
What a jubilee!
Art set free…
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This week’s response is delayed due to fog.
The semi-annual cold/allergies have hit and da brain is fogged by cold/sinus meds and goop.
I have the idea, and notes but getting words to paper not be happening. At least not coherent werds.
Progress will resume once the fog has lifted.
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Take care of yourself. Writing can wait while you recover.
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The reign of fog… relax, get healthy!
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And I have mine up at my LiveJournal, https://starshipcat.livejournal.com/815223.html. It didn’t turn out quite the way I thought it might, but in the process I ended up clarifying my ideas about what comes after the visit to faerie.
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[…] has been done. I took one of the Week 37 Spare Prompts, Sea monsters, and why they’re merely misunderstood, and had some fun. As usual, the […]
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The fog lifted and writing commenced.
I took one of the Week 37 Spare Prompts, Sea monsters, and why they’re merely misunderstood, and had some fun. As usual, the research was almost more fun than the writing. Trying to find what I wanted proved to be harder than I had anticipated, but persistence prevailed and I found some usable sources.
https://undomesticatedfeline.wordpress.com/2020/09/18/prompts-and-whatnot/
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[…] week’s prompt from the Odd Prompts writing challenge was “Mrs. Griswold was embarrassed when she got home from her shopping trip and […]
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