Sunday, December 29, 2013

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Ded Moroz

This is Ded Moroz. He is the incarnation of the winter holiday. So who is he? What does he do each winter holiday? What ways does he interact with the people celebrating? What is his history? What if he began as an evil figure? Why was he evil and what changed him?

Create a Wikipedia article about him.



For the real story, Wikipedia has a good article on Ded Moroz.

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Accidental minstrel

Snow Soldier by The Paper Lady 42 
For each set of 5 words create a sentence about winter or your favorite winter holiday. (Feel free to tamper with word forms.)

✵ rumble minstrel mist accident heart
✵ flash tremble vanity tease soldier
✵ cold shard crumble navigate reporter
✵ nunnery rumple dampen silver cling
✵ gypsy embrace temper shade obey

(Sorry for the delay. It was time for a new computer. And time to discover new software often has a distaste for old files.)

This is both cool and kind of creepy! Google created this automatically from the picture and stuck it in my notifications.

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Apicem rhoncus

#12 17 Images you won't believe aren't Photoshopped
(Hmm. Clearly I was struggling for titles when I scheduled these a few months ago. Google translates it as "peak pricing", though it also says rhoncus can mean "range" or "the range" which is obviously what I meant. But, I have no idea why I chose it. And, really, it just comes across as snooty rather than intriguing! Sorry about that!)

Wednesday, December 04, 2013

Greenplanet

In the Icelandic sagas, it is said that Norwegian-born Erik the Red was exiled from Iceland for murder. Along with extended family and thralls, he set out in ships to find a land rumored to lie to the northwest. After settling there, he named the land Grœnland (translated as "Greenland"), supposedly in the hope that the pleasant name would attract settlers. (Wikipedia)

With the advent of inexpensive faster than light travel, many new planets have been found suitable for human colonization. Some, more pleasant than others.

Your family has found a planet that is less than a paradise. You fully believe with some work it could be a really great place to live but it needs the right people and the competition for new places to live is high.

Write a promotional piece to encourage people to come settle on your planet. Emphasize the quirkiness. Or the challenge. Give it a good coat of "green" wash.

Some of the things you'll need to "sell" are:

"Spiders" the size of kittens.
Frequent dish-rattling earthquakes.
There are 12 tiny moons.
Occasional drops in oxygen.
All day all the time. Except on the other side of the planet.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Best Thanksgiving episode ever

For your favorite series, create a Thanksgiving episode.

What's the goal? To get everyone together? To survive? To find something to be thankful for?

Be sure to include a unicorn.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

No thanks

Use at least 15 of the following words in a piece that is NOT about the Thanksgiving holiday.  (Just like eating a Thanksgiving feast, it helps to pace yourself rather than try to cram them all in at the beginning!)

pie
turkey
thanks
giving
cornucopia or horn of plenty
family
fall
feast
gravy
relatives
harvest
oven
squash
Thursday
tradition
pudding
pilgrims
gather

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Instigation: Creative prompts on the dark side

I've referenced Michael Arnzen's horrifically twisted writing prompts a couple of times.

Instigation: Creative prompts on the dark side is a book of 500 of them. For all of NaNoWriMo month -- November for those who haven't discovered NaNoWriMo yet! ;-) -- it's half off. (Since it's usually only $3.99, if you miss the special, it's still affordable. :-)

From his website: "This ebook is available for all reading devices (including .pdf) and features 500 "prompts" and includes special help and articles for all you binge writers madly typing away on a novel in the month of November. Offer ends Dec 1st at Midnight, so act quick:  Get your copy now for just $1.99."

Beached

#6 19 Images you won't believe aren't Photoshopped

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Fool's errand

by Julian Totino Todesco
As part of your wizard training, you've been sent on a Fool's errand.

Who is the Fool?

What does the Fool want?

Why is following the request of a Fool a useful training exercise?

Friday, November 08, 2013

Valued values

I can't believe I never posted a list of abstract values. Unless I called it something weird so it doesn't show up in a search.

Well if I didn't, here's a list. The values are divided into 5 basic categories: Aesthetics, Mental, Power, Practical, Social, Spiritual. Each also is identified by a type. The types span categories, so there are, for example, Aesthetic, Social and Spiritual ways to form Connections. (Categorized according to Gordon Allport's scheme in Allport-Vernon-Lindzey Study of Values. I changed the words used for the categories since his language was outdated.)

If you'd like to sort them, Story Sculptor comes with a spreadsheet version. The Values sheet does some other nifty things like a randomizer and the ability to check off the ones that match your character. (The list is also larger with over 400 values. Which is probably way more than anyone needs! ;-))

AESTHETICS
BeautyBeauty
BalanceCalm
ComfortCalm
ContentmentCalm
EquanimityCalm
PeacefulnessCalm
SilenceCalm
SolitudeCalm
TranquilityCalm
NatureConnection
RomanceConnection
SensitivityConnection
SensualityConnection
SexualityConnection
TraditionConnection
AdventureEnergy
CreativityEnergy
OptimismEnergy
PassionEnergy
YouthfulnessEnergy
FreedomIndividualism
IndependenceIndividualism
IndividualismIndividualism
IndividualityIndividualism
LibertyIndividualism
OriginalityIndividualism
EntertainmentJoy
HappinessJoy
HopefulnessJoy
HumorJoy
PlayJoy
PleasureJoy
SatisfactionJoy
WitJoy
OrderOrder
PerfectionPurity
PurityPurity
CharmStyle
DignityStyle
Looking goodStyle
SimplicityStyle
ChangeVariety
Richness of livingWealth
MENTAL
IntuitionCleverness
InventivenessCleverness
CuriosityCuriosity
AwarenessThought
ImpartialityThought
LogicThought
ReasonThought
TruthThought
UnderstandingThought
WisdomThought
POWER
AggressivenessAggression
AmbitionAggression
AssertivenessAggression
BoldnessAggression
CompetitivenessAggression
ControlAggression
PowerAggression
WinningAggression
FameAttention
PopularityAttention
Respect from othersAttention
StatusAttention
StrengthAttention
LeadershipThought
PRACTICAL
CoolnessAttitude
Self-controlAttitude
Self-relianceAttitude
StabilityAttitude
ConfidenceDetermination
DisciplineDetermination
PerseveranceDetermination
ResilienceDetermination
SteadfastnessDetermination
CompetitionEnergy
DeterminationEnergy
EnduranceEnergy
IndustryEnergy
PersistenceEnergy
TenacityEnergy
CautiousnessExactness
DiligenceExactness
MeticulousnessExactness
VigilanceExactness
ThriftFrugality
ForesightGrowth
PurposefulnessGrowth
SuccessGrowth
CleanlinessHealth
FitnessHealth
LongevityHealth
SecurityHealth
EducationKnowledge
ExperienceKnowledge
IntelligenceKnowledge
KnowledgeKnowledge
MaturityKnowledge
WealthProsperity
AutonomySelf
Family securitySelf
National securitySelf
SelfSelf
ConscientiousnessSkillfulness
DiscernmentSkillfulness
EfficiencySkillfulness
FlexibilitySkillfulness
MasterySkillfulness
OrganizationSkillfulness
PreparednessSkillfulness
ReadinessSkillfulness
SpeedSkillfulness
UsefulnessSkillfulness
SOCIAL
AcceptanceConnection
BelongingConnection
CitizenshipConnection
CommitmentConnection
ConnectionConnection
CooperativenessConnection
DependabilityConnection
FaithfulnessConnection
FamilyConnection
HelpfulnessConnection
LoyaltyConnection
RemembranceConnection
RespectfulnessConnection
ResponsibilityConnection
ServiceConnection
SharingConnection
AltruismFairness
CharityFairness
DutyFairness
EqualityFairness
FairnessFairness
ForgivenessFairness
GenerosityFairness
JusticeFairness
LawfulnessFairness
PhilanthropyFairness
SacrificeFairness
SelflessnessFairness
ToleranceFairness
BraveryHeroism
CourageHeroism
HeroismHeroism
FidelityHonesty
HonestyHonesty
HonorHonesty
IntegrityHonesty
TrustworthinessHonesty
ConformityPeacekeeping
CorrectnessPeacekeeping
HumilityPeacekeeping
MeeknessPeacekeeping
ModestyPeacekeeping
MoralityPeacekeeping
Non-violencePeacekeeping
ObediencePeacekeeping
PatiencePeacekeeping
PeacePeacekeeping
Peaceful worldPeacekeeping
PrivacyPeacekeeping
PrudencePeacekeeping
RestraintPeacekeeping
SportsmanshipPeacekeeping
TactfulnessPeacekeeping
TemperancePeacekeeping
SincerityTruthfulness
TruthfulnessTruthfulness
CompassionWarmth
ConsiderationWarmth
CourtesyWarmth
FriendlinessWarmth
FriendshipWarmth
GentlenessWarmth
GratitudeWarmth
HospitalityWarmth
KindnessWarmth
LoveWarmth
MercyWarmth
OpennessWarmth
PolitenessWarmth
ThoughtfulnessWarmth
SPIRITUAL
SalvationBelief
SpiritualityBelief
TranscendenceBelief
TraditionConnection
UnityConnection
AbstinencePractice
ChastityPractice
Detachment from thingsPractice
DevoutnessPractice
FaithPractice
MindfulnessPractice
ModerationPractice
PietyPractice
ReverencePractice
RitualPractice

Wednesday, November 06, 2013

Super Alpha

by Andrey Pavlov
For each later of the alphabet create a superhero name. They can be alliterative -- each word of the name starting with the same letter -- or just the first.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Mad reaper

Reaper mimes
A grim reaper has gone rogue. The world of death is abuzz with the news.

Why? What idea or practice is this grim reaper rebelling against? Is it about the job? Is it personal? Why now? What has changed to prompt it? Why her or him?

Has a reaper rebelled before? If not, why? If so, why? What was the outcome then? How will it affect how the death world responds to this reaper?

What would "going rouge" mean for a reaper? Typically reapers collect the souls of the dead. Is the reaper not collecting? Not delivering?

Is that all reapers do in the world you're imagining? Do they have other tasks? Has something become more important to this reaper than collecting souls?

Are deaths pure chance or does someone or something determine how long someone's life is? Is that process part of the reaper's choice to go rogue?

Friday, October 25, 2013

Megaload of character flaws

Character flaws can come from traumatic events, a crummy childhood or cultural beliefs (family, community, religion).

I stumbled across a good therapy-based resource of childhood-based damage that can be useful for character flaws.

If you want to jump right in, it's pretty straightforward.

If you want to dig deeper to connect the ideas to enrich your backstory, that needs some explanation. I'll try to organize the pieces so you need to read as little as possible to use it, but so it all fits together into an understandable whole :-)

To find flaws for your character there are 2 sets of lists. The first, Flawed Thinking, is common attitudes. The second, Flawed Coping Strategies, is common strategies for coping with a life someone feels powerless to change, including 2 lists of flawed thoughts that reflect a coping strategy. You can use either or both.

Flawed Thinking

2 questionnaires. The titles is scary. The questions aren't!

Schema Questionnaire
long form (has more questions)
short form (easier to score. Though t's not necessary. (Described below.))
Flawed Coping Strategies

A list. There are 3 main strategies, Surrender, Avoidance, Overcompensation. Each is broken down into more specific strategies.

Common Maladaptive Coping Strategies

And 2 questionnaires. These thoughts connect (through the scoresheets) to the above strategies. (Surrender has fewer ways it plays out.)

Avoidance questionnaire
And a scoresheet.

Overcompensation questionnaire
And a scoresheet.


All 3 questionnaires list feelings, thoughts, actions that your character may say are true views of himself, others, and how he acts to make his life work. Scan through them to find a few statements your character would say, "Definitely me! That's true a lot of the time," to. What you're looking for is a few seeds to grow your story from.

Samples from the questionnaires
"I have to take care of the people around me."

"I don't feel much when I remember my childhood."

"I try to do my best; I can't settle for 'good enough.'"

"I get defensive when I'm criticized."

Most people have some of these thoughts occasionally. But when a person filters his life through them, they turn into shackles limiting what he'll allow himself to do, preventing him from becoming who he could be.

Example
If someone bases her self worth on how much others need her, she may inflate how necessary she is, unconsciously trapping herself in her role (as leader, as mother, as the go to person).

She can't take a break because she believes everything will fall apart without her. She also can't take a break because subconsciously she fears everything won't fall apart, that people will carry on just fine without her.

Or she may make herself necessary by holding tight to essential information that would allow those dependent on her to be independent.
The statements might be enough to create the inner demons that will plague your character as he works towards what he wants.

Or you could dig deeper into why he bound himself. What lies ahead is fascinating but dangerous territory! ;-)

Digging deeper

Warning
Digging deeper is dangerous for two reasons. First, it seems like a great idea to create a full person then let them play out their life. But a story is the greater whole created by the resonance between flaws, journey, and character transformation. To get the pieces to resonate with each other, each needs to be loose enough to adjust to changes in the others. A life, on the other hand, is a random collection, like musical notes thrown on a page that only pure luck will make a song.

Second, because the juicier the background, the more tempted you'll be to write about how your character became flawed. As much fun as it is for a writer to explore who a character is, it's not so much for the reader. The reader wants to know how your character handles getting her heart's desire while handicapped by demons, not how the demons formed. (Though telling the backstory can make a great extra for your author website!)

Backstory creates a richer flaw for your protagonist to overcome. But backstory in the story should be like an iceberg: a few provocative sentences revealing it but mostly hidden beneath the surface.

Moving on ...
Well, that warning out of the way -- which I still find tempting to ignore ;-) -- the "truths"your character chose from the (Schema) questionnaire tie to unmet needs in her childhood in two ways. (You can score the questionnaire to find this stuff out, but first an explanation of what it tells you.)

Humans are born with the expectation that their needs for food, security, affection, belonging will be met while they're young and dependent. (The first 4 levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.) For tiny humans all are as essential for growing straight and true as the first.

Warping world view (Maladaptive Schemas)
So, firstly, if a child's expectations are repeatedly crushed, to cope she may warp her view of the world, of other people, of herself. The warping affects her expectations and how she interprets what happens to her.

These are Early Maladaptive Schemas, 18 different ways to warp world view. Don't be frightened by the title. ;-) Think warping lens.

She might see the world through Abandonment, shutting down trust that others will be there for her. She might see the world through Subjugation: knowing life will be much easier if she keeps her needs and emotions hidden.

Coping with a warped world view (Maladaptive Coping Strategies)
Then, secondly, the child might disfunctionally cope with her world view in three ways, by Surrendering, Avoiding or Overcompensating (as mentioned up at the top of the post). (The link gives lots of examples, all of which you'll recognize like aggression, manipulation, withdrawal.) These choices lessen the pain but don't fix the situation and may, overall, make life worse.

If she Surrenders, she accepts she has no control over how people see her or treat her. She might, for example, become dependent, a people pleaser, conflict avoidant.

If she Avoids, she escapes or blocks out what she doesn't want to deal with by, among others, withdrawing, drugs, hyper-busyness.

If she Overcompensates, she pours extra energy into something she can control or excel at to compensate for lack of control or failure in another area. This might be things like hostility, status seeking, neat freak.

Pulling out more from the Schema questionnaire
The harder pull, if you filled out the Schema Questionnaire completely (which really is overkill) you can rank each of the schemas by doing some adding and dividing, described here. This is where the short form is easier since to find an average, you divide each section by 5. For the long form, there's a different number of questions for each schema. It's all described at the link.
The easiest pull is you may have noticed small letters beneath groups of questions on the long and short Schema Questionnaire. Each refers to one of 15 (out of 18) Early Maladaptive Schemas (mentioned above.) Wherever your character has the most true statements, that's the lens that dominates how she views the world.

There's only 15 because they identified 3 more schemas after creating the questionnaires. The 3 that aren't included are:
  • Approval-Seeking/Recognition-Seeking
  • Negativity/Pessimism, and
  • Punitiveness. 
So you'll need to run those "manually" past your character to see if she perks up at any of them. (They're described on the Early Maladaptive thingy linked above.)

Also ...
Additionally there's a Parenting Inventory to get a picture of each parent's role in warping their child's view. And a scoresheet.

And finally ...


There's a book, Reinventing Your Life: The Breakthrough Program to End Negative Behavior and Feel Great Again, that walks you through your own character flaws -- or your character's character flaws. There are also many case studies in the book for a clearer grasp of how all these ideas play out in real live people.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Her mother's eyes


She had her mother's eyes.

Literally.

Take it from there.

Or play with it. Get a big sheet of paper. Write "She had her mother's eyes." in the center. Scribble down possibilities for who "she" might be. For who her mother might be. For "had". For how. For why.

Why her? Why her mother? Why eyes?

Change she to he.

Change mother to father. Or sister, brother, cat, king, ship, mentor, boss ....

Change eyes to hair, wand, hands, cargo ... liver ....

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

The dog days of summer

“What happens when your dad finds out you've been dead all summer?”

What kind of dead person is being asked? Who is able to speak to this dead person? Or is it a rhetorical question? Or is it not a person? Not a human?

The obvious answer is Dad would be unhappy. But what if he isn't? What if he's happy? What if he's relieved it's finally happened? What if he's royally pissed? At the dead offspring? At the killer?


Quote from Vampire Diaries.

Wednesday, October 09, 2013

Tweebio

In 160 characters or fewer, write your favorite characters' Twitter biographies. The characters can be yours or not.

Try juxtaposing your hero and your antagonist's bios. Have them write up bios for each other in response. Have your secondary characters write bios for themselves and the main characters.

A handy tool is Characters Counter that keeps a running count as you type. (If that disappears, Google "160 character counter". Yes, apparently bios get 160 characters. Tweets are limited to 140. But wouldn't that mean a long bio would get truncated if retweeted? Hmm.)

Of course people are collecting best Twitter bios! 20 of the World's Most Clever Twitter Bios is a good start with links to several other collections.

Here's a sampling:
  • I was named after a mythological being ... how would you feel?
  • A man of mystery and power, whose power is exceeded only by his mystery.
  • Marc is a man with a dream. A very simple dream, mostly involving nachos and beer, but a dream nonetheless.
  • Currently starring in my own reality show titled, A Modern Cinderella; One Girl’s Search for Love and Shoes.
  • I’m Kail, I was given a girl’s name when I was a baby because my parents are idiots.
  • Former military guy & cop.  Leprechauns freak me out.
  • I have been called a PollyAnna, sugar-coated idealist. I like to think of myself as more optimistic than that
  • Darth Vader: Community Manager for Sith Lord but tweets are my own. Asthmatic. Dad to two rambunctious Jedis. Love scrapbooking, Beyonce, and galactic domination.
  • Hillary Clinton: Wife, mom, lawyer, women & kids advocate, FLOAR, FLOTUS, US Senator, SecState, author, dog owner, hair icon, pantsuit aficionado, glass ceiling cracker, TBD ...
  • Tome Hanks: I’m that actor in some of the movies you liked and some you didn’t. Sometimes I’m in pretty good shape, other times I’m not. Hey, you gotta live, you know?
  • Weird Al: You know... the Eat It guy.
  • Anna Kendrick: Pale, awkward and very very small. Form an orderly queue, gents. Location: probably by the food.
  • Lucy Hale: I drink too much coffee. And laugh too loud.
When you're done, have fun with the Twitter bio generator.

Wednesday, October 02, 2013

Steam Wars

Steam R2D2 by Sillof
Pick one of the Star Wars cross genres, or be inspired to invent your own. Write how your favorite scene would play out in that genre. Or write character sketches of each character as they would be in this new genre.


Sillof has also created Roman WarsFaster, Empire! Strike! Strike (based on Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!), Cyber Wars (has elements of Cyberpunk, the Matrix, Akira, Ghost in the Shell). Pages for those sets have images of the individual characters but no handy group shot.)









Sunday, September 29, 2013

Pagantastic

It was hard to pick one! So I picked three and you can pick one. Or go to Creative Costumes of Still-Practiced Pagan Rituals to suffer the same dilemma.

Are they beasts? Are they humans? If human, what's the purpose? Are they wearing the uniform of a tribal role such as shaman or hunter? Is it for a yearly festival or ritual? Or something else? Is their world as primitive as their outfits? (Isn't it great being a writer? :-))





French photographer Charles Fréger spent 2 years traveling across Europe documenting pagan rituals that are still being carried on which he's gathered for Wilder Mann: The Image of the Savage.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Take a spin

Mike Luckovich
For each of the headlines you came up with last week for your favorite movies, come up with a succinct political spin the Leader's Press Secretary puts on each. The purpose might be to distance the Leader from any connection with the event, to turn a negative into a positive, or other alternate take on the events.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Take a header

For each of the big events in your favorite movie (book, video game ...), write a newspaper headline. Or two. Or a dozen. The stories can be disaster stories. Or human interest. Or what's-behind-this event? ...

Loose cannon commands flagship

Secret peace keeping weapon hijacked

17,000 KILLED IN SAN FRANCISCO ATTACK

Head of Star Fleet a terrorist?

The best way to get a feel for great headlines is reading lots of headlines, good and bad. That said, I did stumble across a couple of pages from the University of Iowa School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Writing Good Heds, What Does a Good Headline Do?, Headline (or "Hed") Jargon

Friday, September 13, 2013

Characters with potential

Mimi and Eunice
So you know better who your character is and why from Wrangling your character into story worthiness. You've identified some weaknesses and delved into backstory and future obstacles that could prickle those weaknesses with Strong flaws and flawed strengths. Now the question you want answered is Who will he become?

My character has the potential to be _____.

If he has lots of potential, make a list!

If you can't think of how he could possibly be cooler, greater, better than he is, you may have created him too close to his full potential. Begin with who he was before he cleared out all the baggage that weighed him down.

Test his greatness. Push him beyond his limits. If he's happy and content, what can you take from him, put beyond his current reach, that would bust his balloons? If he's confident, what could rattle that confidence? If he's found his niche in life what would make him realize he's wrong?

Take him in the opposite direction. If he's a moral person, what could push him to become immoral? What threat to what he loves would he betray his values for, break his moral code for? What could cause him to do evil for morally-justified-to-him reasons? What would he kill for to get, to keep, to protect?

Once you have some ideas of who he could be, push who he is at the beginning -- his profession, his personality, his belief or value system, his personality, his station in life -- further away from that.

Who is as much different than who he could be at the end? Make him work hard to get to his potential!

Next: Preventing him from reaching his goal and potential. (Next Friday hopefully.)

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Dragon tales

Spin a bedtime scary story ... as told by a dragon to his nest of hatchlings. What do dragons most fear? What do kid dragons most fear? What are the monsters-under-the-bed for dragons?

That idea could extend to other dads: werewolf, sea monster, vampire, ghost, orc, monsters under the bed ... What are monsters-under-the-bed for monsters-under-the-bed? You could write a whole series of short monster stories.

Sunday, September 08, 2013

Deadly reading

#15 16 More images you won't believe aren't Photoshopped
After losing a couple hours of my life to becoming better informed of the world's weirdnesses through Cracked -- which when I was a kid was a lesser version of Mad Magazine -- I decided to repurpose that time to turn several of their "Images you won't believe aren't Photoshopped" into Sunday extras. Since these are taking next to no time at all, I won't pass them off as writing prompts I've put time into ;-) but they're nonetheless intriguing.

Friday, September 06, 2013

Toxic quality

"Once you realize you're not going to die or get covered in toxic sludge, it's pretty relaxing." *

Take it from there.

Try the 5+1Ws and 1H of journalism. (The extra W, the What if?, is non-standard for journalism but can help you did deeper.)

Who
Who is the speaker?
Who is the listener?
Who else might be listening?
Who else is doing this activity?
Who is interested in doing this?
Who is worried about the activity?
Who else might be connected to the place or activity?
Who is involved in this activity
Who else is asking questions about the activity?
Who is affected by the activity, by the questions and by the answers?
Who will benefit?
Who will be harmed?

What
What activity is relaxing?
What is this potentially covering toxic sludge?
What makes the activity deadly?
What created the sludge?
What created the area?
What makes the activity safe or prevents it from being deadly?

Where
Where is this toxic sludge that won't cover you?
Where is the place the toxic sludge was created?
Where is this place that looks deadly?
Where is the speaker?
Where is the listener?

When
When was this person speaking?
When did the speaker last do this activity?
When did the toxic sludge happen?
When did people start doing this activity?
When did some people start to believe it wouldn't affect them?

Why
Why is it assumed toxic sludge and death are connected to this activity?
Why is there toxic sludge?
Why would someone want to do this activity?
Why is this activity done here rather than in a place that doesn't look deadly?
Why is the activity okay here?
Why is the speaker telling a person or people about the activity?
Why do some people believe it's deadly?
Why does the speaker believe it's okay?
Or is the speaker lying? Why?

How
How did the toxic sludge and deadly quality happen?
How did the speaker come to try this activity?
How did the speaker and the listener(s) meet?
How do people do this activity?
How do they get to this place?

What if?
What if the toxic sludge hadn't happened?
What if the speaker hadn't tried the activity?
What if the activity didn't exist?
What if the listener hadn't asked?


* Quote from a news article. (I didn't include the article title since it might limit the free range of your thoughts.)

(Oops, sorry, this should have been the Wednesday post and the writer craft one on Friday.)