For me, a blog is how I write stories based on prompts or keywords on this website. I would like to say that for me, these are blogs. How I use keywords and prompts and how close I am to the ability to write great stories using them. I can say It is an inner source of inspiration that makes it easy to write such a variety of stories.
“I’m always reinventing my blog for the better.” – Ryan Robinson (that’s me! 👋)
I use two types of prompts: 1st Keywords and second picture prompt that I convert into the text, perhaps to show what is happening physically, as part of dialogue, to create descriptions, or to portray feelings towards a certain character.
Maybe my illustrations might depict an emotional theme for the setting or protagonist. As I get ready to write my keywords and any other prompt pieces depending on what's on offer, here are my ideas on how to write them.
What I do is use prompts to write my blogs. If the prompt is set, or the community moderator or owner wants the prompt to be used, I think properly; otherwise, my one mistake will bury my head in the sand like an ostrich hides his head. In that case, I will not use the prompt at all but write a very different story finding a general topic suggested by any other community.
Similarly, I do not believe in wasting my time on Google but let the horses of my imagination run at full speed. I know many believe in investing enough time on Google and creating an unimportant, unnecessary story to meet the requirement of the topic containing the text, but that will do no good to me as I am dead against plagiarism. I am not sure if does you any good, but that's up to the user.
I always try to make a conscious decision whether to write a literal or figurative story. But I can assure you that whatever method I choose, whether successful or unsuccessful, I give my 100%. I am open to both interpretations. In the end, it is the quality of my interpretation on which success or failure depends.
I often use quotes and give them enough importance within the text. For example, placing the quote at the beginning or end of my blog helps me to make my blog revolve around it as the main point on which the whole blog rests.
In some cases, I use the quote in a way that brings a sense of surprise, but I make sure that I always try to think outside the box.
When I use pictures as prompts and write stories based on them. I always keep in mind that my blog, or what I call my story, that picture can make the sign integral to everything in the story. However, in some cases, it can also be a surprise factor, especially when I use clickbait in the story and act as a catalyst for action.
I have not done enough picture prompts on this site, but I know if we use them properly, they can reflect the emotion of the protagonist in a big way. The best way to do this is to show the emotion in a phased manner. I remember the time when I used to write keywords and prompt pictures on a fiction site that had a theme of "the pirates."
I was good at getting ideas at first sight by looking at different images and deriving different meanings. For example, if the image was of a man with one eye caped leaning against the railing of the ship with a sword high in his hand, I knew he had seen a ship in the distance, and my horses of imagination would want to run at top speed.
Or if I saw a parked car on a street close to a beach, I would think that the happiness inside the young couple gone to enjoy and my mind would create their bright, long, happy meeting at the beach. All I want to say is that the happiness in the blog is based on the feelings that an author gets, and it only applies as long as he is in the mood to write. On a day when one is suffering from writer's block, even the best ideas are not worth a dime.
I always try to fit a prompt into my blogs, because even the old format of SEC was all about ideas based on my personal experiences and not the result of Google searches or copying them from here and there.
The difference between a blog and a vlog is as much as you read a book or watch a movie. Blogs are content written in black and white on paper or on a website, but of course, you can include images and even videos. But a vlog is a video that can be based on "how to do it," "a visit," "an experience, or whatever you wish to share, but everything is in visual form.
I make my stories based on prompts and make my work with literal interpretations of the prompt in such a way that it stands out and gets noticed by the readers.
I try to give it a figurative treatment matching the prompt, as it always comes instantly with a healthy imagination. Sometimes I overshoot and write too much in the flow, but that is one aspect that we have to live with, especially while doing imaginative writing, or what we call fictional writing.
Sometimes I go ahead with my first idea, but sometimes I delete it after writing it because I feel I have done a little too much exaggeration with the prompt, so I start all over again. Sometimes I reject even a well-written story because the idea doesn't satisfy me, even if I regret later my act of hastiness in destroying my work. I know I could have written hundreds more stories if I had not rejected my work.
Now I am changing my strategy and letting the idea settle down before starting on a prompt. I mean, I work out the points before giving them a detailed description. I feel I can do better after thinking about the points and then deciding to use that initial idea, and I feel it's working better now.
In the end, a blog is your baby, so you have to choose what approach is best for you, I can say that no one teaches how to write to anyone, but, it comes from within you, naturally.