Photo by mooncat on sxc.hu.

#2

But one kiss levitates above all the others. The
intersection of function and desire. The I do kiss.
The I'll love you through a brick wall kiss.
Even when I'm dead, I'll swim through the Earth,
like a mermaid of the soil, just to be next to your bones.

an excerpt from The Archipelago of Kisses by Jeffrey McDaniel

#3

Start with 1, 2, or 3.
End with a, b, or c.
The middle is up to you.

#4

#5

purity

erosion

strand

lighthouse

harmonica

denature

field

Pick three or more. You don't necessarily have to use the word itself.

#6

#7

I felt a Cleaving in my Mind--
As if my Brain had split--
I tried to match it--Seam by Seam--
But could not make them fit.

The thought behind, I strove to join
Unto the thought before--
But Sequence raveled out of Sound
Like Balls--upon a Floor.

Emily Dickinson

#8

Start with 1, 2, or 3.
End with a, b, or c.
The middle is up to you.

#9

Something is falling apart.

#10

Confinement: Real or imaginary, welcome or unwelcome, physical or mental.

#11

It's raining/snowing/sunny, but it's not supposed to be.

#12

#13

The lock broke open in her/his/my hand.

#14

door

uncorked

violence

roast

year

king

squeeze

Pick three or more. You don't necessarily have to use the word itself.

#15

Something once familiar is now strange.

#16

Shedding one's skin: physical, spiritual, etc.

#17

Start with 1, 2, or 3.
End with a, b, or c.
The middle is up to you.

#18

Horoscopes: Do they have any significance? What happens when the come true -- or when they don't?

#19

#20

#21

derail

sake

war

coy

trio

airway

tiara

Pick three or more. You don't necessarily have to use the word itself.

#22

it's been a tough fight worth fighting
as we all drive along
betting on another day.

gamblers all, Charles Bukowski

#23

The wrong time of day.

#24

The seasons are changing: how does this affect you/your character/etc.?

#25

Jigsaws falling into place
There is nothing to explain
Regard each other as you pass
She looks back, you look back
Not just once
Not just twice

Radiohead, "Jigsaw Falling Into Place"

#26

#27

aide

dim

silt

ardor

rug

maps

pleased

Pick three or more. You don't necessarily have to use the word itself.

#28

Choose two primary colors and use them repeatedly, throughout a scene, story, setting, etc.

#29

I often passed the village
When going home from school—
And wondered what they did there—
And why it was so still—

Emily Dickinson

#30

#31

At a crossroads -- either physical or metaphorical.

#32

Start with 1, 2, or 3.
End with a, b, or c.
The middle is up to you.

#33

Invent a myth.

#34

Far from home, your character senses something familiar -- a face, a scent, a sound, etc.

#35

Your character discovers something akin to PostSecret. Do they send a postcard? Do they make one up but never send it? Does someone else find it?

#36

#37

#38

#39

#40

Two children who have never met before discover they can communicate telepathically.

#41

wet

scratch

radio

shaking

turtle

seven

child

Pick three or more. You don't necessarily have to use the word itself.

#42

And the Bastard grant us, in our direst need, the smallest gifts:
the nail of the horseshoe,
the pin of the axle,
the feather at the pivot point,
the pebble at the mountain's peak,
the kiss in despair,
the one right word.
In darkness,
understanding. Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold.

#43

Listen to an instrumental piece and write around it -- a character, situation, poem, story, etc.

#44

Use two opposite emotions -- fear and confidence, happiness and sadness, anger and calm, etc.

#45

Start with 1, 2, or 3.
End with a, b, or c.
The middle is up to you.

#46

It was taken some time ago
At first it seems to be
a smeared
print: blurred lines and grey flecks
blended with the paper;

then, as you scan
it, you can see something in the left-hand corner
a thing that is like a branch: part of a tree
(balsam or spruce) emerging
and, to the right, halfway up
what ought to be a gentle
slope, a small frame house.

In the background there is a lake,
and beyond that, some low hills.

(The photograph was taken
the day after I drowned.

I am in the lake, in the center
of the picture, just under the surface.

It is difficult to say where
precisely, or to say
how large or how small I am:
the effect of water
on light is a distortion.

but if you look long enough
eventually
you will see me.)

This is a Photograph of Me by Margaret Atwood

#47

#48

The stars are in the wrong spot.

#49

Someone just found something they shouldn't have.

#50

Something is missing.

#51

Start with 1, 2, or 3.
End with a, b, or c.
The middle is up to you.

#52

#53

All sound stops.

#54

daylight

soggy

cube

mace

ash

high

fade

Pick three or more. You don't necessarily have to use the word itself.

#55

Start with 1, 2, or 3.
End with a, b, or c.
The middle is up to you.

#56

The car breaks down.

#57

Something has caused everyone in the area to go blind/deaf/dumb/a combination thereof.

#58

"Get out of the house!"

#59

#60

The house is (finally/always) empty.