Writing Prompt: Use the first sentence of your last text or email

It’s my birthday week, and–if you’ve been following along the past couple years–you’ll know what that means. I get lazy!

Last year, I posted a bunch of social media links. The year before that, I pulled something out of an old notebook. This year, I’m giving you a writing prompt.

Whether you are a new writer, or an experienced one, writing prompts are the perfect way to get the creative juices flowing when you just need to sit down and practice your art. I find that my favourite prompts are ones that encourage me to write outside of my genre. That way, I exercise some new mental “muscles,” and I don’t have to worry so much about quality. I can shut up my internal perfectionist by reassuring her that this is all just for fun.

Here’s a prompt I used recently:

Writing Prompt:
Find the first sentence of the last text or email you received, and make it the first line of your flash-fiction.

The first line of that last email I had received was, “Hi Ashley, I don’t have many details, but I do have a phone number to call.” Here’s what I did with that:

“Hi Ashley, I don’t have many details, but I do have a phone number to call,” said the perfunctory email.

“Thanks… thanks so much,” I mutter to the unhearing sender. Never mind that it had taken a month for me to track down this email address. Never mind that the number staring back at me from the screen is a number I’ve already tried calling—twice. 

I wonder how many months they’ll play me along until someone cracks. That’s my plan: be as annoying as possible until someone gives in. It’s my only remaining option. Every other avenue of investigation has turned up squat.

Become an investigative journalist, they said. It’ll be fun they said. This gig is so not like the movies. I wish I could find that one glorious needle in a haystack that launches me to the front page of The Times after only 90 minutes of heart-pounding drama. Instead, it’s been six long months of mind-numbing tedium. Who knew that embezzlement of charity funds would be such a snooze fest?

At this point, I’m about to throw in the towel. So what if the board of the animal charity is spending all the money on the purchase of exotic pets for themselves? It’s still going to animals… technically.

I hit “call” on my cell to dial the number I’ve been given, knowing there’s no way that this third time will be the charm.

If only I’d listened to my father and become a dental hygienist.  Irrigating the abscessed gum around a rotten tooth sounds like a party right about now.

Sound like fun? Give it a try! And eat a piece of cake for me. 
(Also, if you’d like to give me a birthday present, please make sure you’re following me on Facebook and Instagram and share a few of your favourite posts to your timeline or stories. It’s the easiest and best way to help my audience grow!)

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