Write a true story (personal essay) of inspiration. Approximately 1000 words (four double-spaced pages). If you are at a loss, try filling in the blank: "On _________." (eg: On Hair-Coloring, On My child's First Day of School, etc)

Write about a train set in the 1930's. Use enough facts and details from the times (so a little web-research) to bring about a tone that speaks for that time. Consider watching "Changling" or "Road to Perdition."

In fiction, we attempt to persuade people to FEEL by using situations and scene, osbtacles, problems, peril. Since it's Valentine's Day, try this: Reach down and grasp some of your own emotions and then write some "free verse." Then, using Valentine's Day as a setup, try to incorporate what you've discovered into a paragraph or a story.

Your well has run dry and you have been struggling to find inspiration to write...all January, nothing has come. So you take a journey and you find new inspiration. Write a scene about this discovery. (A scene fades in and there are people in the present setting interacting and then it fades out).