For Your Journal: Writing Prompt

Do you keep a journal – or wish you could get one started? Literary Mama wants to help.

Three times a month, I’ll post a writing prompt. Open a notebook and write for 10 minutes. Don’t worry about grammar or punctuation – just write. Then let the writing simmer and your mind wander for awhile.

And who knows? Maybe you’ll discover a character for your next short story or a theme for a narrative essay. Or maybe you’ll use the idea to create a special holiday card or photo album for someone in your family. However you decide to use your journal entry, I know you’ll enjoy re-reading it months–and years–down the road.

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Toys

 
Three years ago, I helped one of my sons clean and re-organize his room. We sent one box of the things he no longer wanted to the trash and two to the basement. Concerning the boxes in the basement, I was admonished not to put anything on a garage sale but to “put the stuff someplace where I can get to it, in case I need it again.”

One of those items, his favorite stuffed animal, Pluto, sat on a shelf in our basement until this past summer. That’s when the basement flooded, and we were forced to sort through the clutter of toys he, and his brother and sister had banished from their bedrooms during their periodic re-organizations. He added Pluto to the box we were filling for charity and chided me for suggesting we add it instead to the “save” box of his sister’s favorite dolls.

But Pluto was the only character he’d been determined to have his picture taken with when we visited Walt Disney World in 2002, and I saw something in its floppy body and embroidered eyes that begged to be rescued. To me, that “something” reflected his role as the younger brother which has alternated between the tagalong who was welcomed to the team, the nuisance who was reprimanded to sit and wait, and the loyal companion who could be counted on when no one else was around.

I smuggled Pluto into the box of dolls.

Note: This is part of a longer post published on my blog. You can read the entire post here.

 
Journal Entry: Which of your child’s toys do you plan to save, even if your child says “throw?” Write about a time you and your child played with the toy together. Describe what you saw in your child’s face and actions that makes you say “save.”

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Do YOU have a writing prompt to share with Literary Mama readers? Send your 150- to 300-word narrative and associated writing prompt to lmblogeditor (at) literarymama (dot) com. We’d love to read your ideas!