Sparks: Prompts for writers and other artists

By Jess Santacroce

Writer/Editor: The 315

Welcome back to “sparks,” prompts for writers and other artists. Use these brief scenarios to inspire a novel, a short story, a poem, or some lyrics. Take an idea from one or more and use it to launch an idea for a painting, choose a theme for a set of photos, or give you an idea of something to sculpt. Start with the whole thing and make a few changes, start with one sentence, or just use one detail or one word. If it is in a “sparks” article, it is there for you to use in your art practice.

In honor of America’s 250th occurring earlier this month, here are four sparks inspired by summertime in the U.S.A.

Spark: Childhood park

More than anything, his goal was for his kids to play in the same park he played in at their age. He wanted them to learn to share the two rickety swings, figure out a way to ride the wobbly merry-go-round without burning their legs on hot days, make up a game to play on the big patch of grass that made up the rest of the place. Once they were older, they could gather here in the evenings, turning the area under the old bleachers into a VIP section and the spot back behind where they used to play on the swings as kids into the place only the uncool kids would go. Secretly, he hoped his kids would be in that crowd behind the swings. But he still wanted them to play in that same park.

Spark: Hot dog bar

She knew she could tell her sister’s true friends from the people who had just been invited to the party out of obligation by their reaction to the hot dog bar. Pans of hot dogs, buns, baked beans, potato salad, chili, and relish certainly were not what one would expect as the meal for such a fancy party, but anyone who knew her would know something to celebrate her could have no other food on offer. It had to be cookout food. Only food served at a cookout would do.

Spark: Firefly footprints

Grandma warned them not to release the fireflies in the house. She said, “I just got done painting that vase. Nothing better get on it and ruin it.” They knew she meant it, even though she said that about everything she brought home from the thrift store and painted or packaged or repurposed somehow to flip at the craft fair.

But this should be okay. The oldest and wisest of the group, the five year-old, assured them that the fireflies were calm, and calm animals would just settle down and go to sleep. The children hurried the jar containing their fireflies into the house, carefully removing the lid as not to wake their new pets. In the next second, two of the fireflies shot out of the jar. Their lights gave them away, and drew the attention of Grandma as they landed on the vase. It was still okay. She just added a little glitter over the firefly footprints.

Spark: Back to school

The worst part of everyone’s summer was always the release of the back-to-school supplies list. Those papers could be cheerfully decorated all they wanted, printed on all kinds of Crayola hued copy paper. Kids saw flags indicating the summer would soon end. Parents saw bills, credit card bills, growing dollar by dollar as they filled the list for each child in each grade. Teachers didn’t even like them, these reminders that their employers couldn’t even bother to provide them with what they needed to do their job. Even the older kids disliked them, but that was only because they served as reminders that they were past the days of the school supplies list.

Extra sparkle: Family traditions

Blankets were the family traditions for the fourth of July in their house. Windows closed. The TV was on, tuned to absolutely anything except for fireworks. Extra blankets brought out and arranged in a row on the couch. The first blanket was pink and dotted with tiny little pictures of mice. Next came the huge brown one, for the big guy, spread across the cushions. The third blanket had little purple paw prints and sat nestled into the far corner, where the littler one needed to hide.

Blankets were the family tradition in their house on the fourth. And nobody in the home would have it any other way.

Did you paint a picture of pet blankets in a row on the fourth? Write a short story about a man sharing summers in the park with his kids? Will someone in your next song or novel have a very unusual item at their wedding or graduation party? Or did you write from the perspective of the kids who asked for a pricey vacation, or draw the firelies on the vase? Let us know in the comments, and please share the work on our facebook page.