Category: Writing Prompt

Gratitude, Writing Prompt

10 Things I Love In This Life

Carrie Sue Barnes



1. My son’s laugh. Timothy’s laugh is the most delicious combination of giggle and belly laughter. It is physically impossible not to smile when I hear it coming from another room. The sound, especially when it is near my ear, is a mood altering drug.

2. My husband’s touch. The first time he met my closest friends, we were out to dinner at a favorite restaurant. I wore a sleeveless black blouse and fidgeted nervously throughout the meal. At one point, he leaned over and lightly kissed my bare shoulder. That simple, gentle touch was felt straight through to my fingertips . I love when he takes my hand; when he absently caresses my back as he’s passing by; when our feet rest against each other as we fall asleep. Matt’s touch is full of reassurance and tenderness in the ordinary moments of our lives.

3. My daughter’s smile. From four weeks old, Annabelle has specialized in open-mouthed, pure-joy smiles. I have considered printing every single photo I have of her top notch smile (there  are many) for a photo album that could cure any sad day.  The fact that I am often on the receiving end of her smile is one of the deepest resources of happiness I could possess. 
4. My stepson’s hugs. Nethanial has the warmest of hearts but he’s also nearly a teenager, which means sometimes the hug is a from the side, one arm around the shoulder, quick release version. That’s ok, because those only increase the value of the other version he’s capable of offering. From the time I first bonded with him six years ago, he has demonstrated great skill in the field of hugging. Arms wrapped tightly, his smooth cheek pressed against me and his thick, messy hair tickling my chin. It’s a treat every single time.
5. A novel that makes me doubt I am any good at writing. That sounds negative, and the experience has the potential of negativity, but in actuality it is a great thing. Reading a sentence so well crafted that I can’t imagine writing one of its equal, or finishing a paragraph with the sensation of seeing that moment of the story with my own two eyes – it fills me with satisfying excitement and the driving ache to write more.
6. Finding a new favorite. I’m of the mind that we need not limit ourselves to a very few select “favorites.” A favorite gives pleasure. It’s uplifting and encouraging. So discovering a new favorite is such a blessing! Favorite hiking trail, favorite lighthouse, favorite coffee shop (requirement: best chai tea in town), favorite song, favorite ice cream flavor, favorite episode of your favorite show, favorite prayer, favorite hairstyle, favorite shoes, favorite scripture verse, favorite sound, favorite photo. They are a bouquet of gratitude; a collection of guarantees that there are things to enjoy in my life.
7. My characters. I don’t know if I will ever have my books published. I don’t know how many people will read them or whether or not they’ll be glad they read them. What I do know is I have created people I love. I care about them. I’m interested in them. I look forward to hearing what they have to say and where they will take me next. I discover more about them and myself the more time we spend together.
8. Pasta.
9. Lake Michigan. My roots run through the woods of the Upper Peninsula to Lake Michigan. The lake touches home – both my first home and my current one – and it touches adventures away from home. I close my eyes and listen to it. I feel its waves slapping my feet. In its calm moments I see serenity poured out to the horizon and beyond. I snap picture after picture. Sunrises, sunsets, swims, boats, beaches, hikes, lighthouses, dunes… They are all splendid on Lake Michigan.
10. The Eucharist. I could say so much but Jesus said it all. “I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh” (John 6:51).

    Fiction, Writing Prompt

    The Envelope

    Carrie Sue Barnes
    Writing Prompt: “My life changed the day I found that huge envelope stuffed with cash in the coupon exchange bucket at the supermarket.”
    Writing Time: 10 minutes
    I’d like to say I did the right thing. I’d like to say I didn’t think only of myself. All I can honestly say is my life changed the day I found that huge envelope stuffed with cash in the coupon exchange bucket at the supermarket.
    Yellow, worn corners, thick with papers inside. I picked up that envelope with the thought, “well, someone gave up on serious couponing.” I expected cents and dollars off, not actual dollars. I glanced through the rest of the bucket and took the envelope with me, planning to flip through the coupons while I shopped and return what I didn’t use to the bucket. I was standing beside the sweet potatoes when I opened it up.
    Five thousand dollars. I wrapped my fingers around the bills, not daring to lift them out of the envelope for others to see. My mouth went dry. I counted it three times. Five thousand dollars. My first thought was to bring it to the customer service desk. My second thought was of how many month’s rent would be covered by this cash. How many car payments or medical bills or grocery store runs. In that moment, surrounded by unaware shoppers and clutching the handle of my cart, I believed I had been miraculously blessed.
    Had I not prayed for this? Lord, you know my needs, I’d whispered as I sat at my kitchen table this morning. Please help me, Lord. Please, help me. I know You will not abandon me. I believe you can show me a way through this.
    Yes, that envelope was an answer to prayer. A wondrous, exciting answer that made me want to leap for joy right there in the produce section.
    That was seven months ago. I still say it was an answer to my prayer, just not the obvious answer I imagined. No, nothing like I imagined.
    Fiction, Writing Prompt

    Sometimes At Dusk

    Carrie Sue Barnes
    Writing Prompt: Sometimes at dusk we would see him come out from the hidden interior of his…
    Writing Time: 15 mins
    Sometimes at dusk we would see him come out from the hidden interior of his ramshackle home. Never in the morning. Never at noon. Only at dusk. The place was a rustic cabin, aged and uncared for over the years. In the evening, when the daylight was fully spent, the soft, flickering lights emanating through the windows suggested candles. None of us had ever seen inside so it was only speculation.
    When I was especially young – five, six, seven years old – I assumed he was old and the sightings in the gray of twilight did nothing to correct that assumption. My sister, two years older, and I would huddle at the window of our sun room to watch. The crowns of our blonde heads down to our eyes were as much as we dared to show of ourselves. We’d whisper our guesses of who he was, always certain we hadn’t hit on the correct answers.
    An escaped convict hidden away from the authorities. A man who ran away from an abusive family years and years ago, still afraid. A rogue spy who had enough of the lies and secrets and just wanted to be left alone.
    The truth was nothing like our adventurous imaginings.
    When I was fourteen, I realized he was young – maybe thirty or thirty-five. He moved into that cabin behind our backyard when he was twenty-three. 
    Writing Prompt

    A Little Prompting

    Carrie Sue Barnes

    I have a new love. In all my years of writing I have never used writing prompts. Well, that’s not entirely true. If I think really hard, I can remember my 9th grade English teacher Miss Roberts (huge difference maker in my life!) conducting writing activities in which we were given a topic and needed to write on it for the remainder of class. I don’t remember how well I responded to them at that time and I know she didn’t make use of them often. So, let’s focus on the present.

    In January, I finally joined a writers’ group for the first time. Oh, how I wish I had done this years ago! We meet once a month and share our writing projects. For the last half hour of the meeting, we use a writing prompt provided by one of the members. We write for only five minutes then share what we created. Plain and simple, it’s my new favorite thing.

    The prompts provide an itty bitty nugget of an idea. A start. A seed. When I read or hear the prompt, it’s a thrill to know that in that moment there is no telling where I will go with it and yet in merely a few minutes I’ll have formed a fuller concept and put words to the page. Each time it feels like I am being introduced to myself anew. Sometimes the result is tepid but other times I stare at the lines I wrote and wonder, “Where inside of me did that come from?”

    This being the case, and the other case being that I have desired a return to blogging but have inexplicably struggled with writer’s block each time I open a blank post, I shall make use of writing prompts here on the blog. My hope is that it will be fun and interesting, and will continue to break out the writer inside of me. I am excited to meet her each and every time.