Typescript will post a new challenge each Wednesday to encourage creativity and inspire conversation. Feel free to talk about the challenge or share your writing results in the comments section below by leaving an excerpt and/or a link to your own site or blog.

The spark of inspiration can be found anywhere you choose to look. From a title of a song to a sketch found on a napkin, from an overheard conversation to a line of poetry, these stories are waiting to be discovered and told.

Writers have a relationship with words that is undeniable. They are able to manipulate language to bring characters to life, unveil emotion, and offer the reader experiences through the comfort of a story. Poets weave that same magic, with meaning given to every single word. So often, there are lines that stand out and speak to the reader, that linger long after the poem has been read. These are words of wisdom and thought nestled in stanzas full of sound and imagery and, sometimes, even a little bit of silliness.

Shel Silverstein
Shel Silverstein is best known for his collections of children’s poetry, A Light in the Attic and Where the Sidewalk Ends, as well as one of my favorite children’s stories, The Giving Tree. While his poems might be aimed at children with titles such as “Messy Room” and “It’s Dark In Here,” there are lines that can stand out for the writer to inspire a story and carry the thought in a new direction.

Challenge: Use one of the following prompts from Silverstein’s poetry to create a new short story or poem:

“his raincoat [on] the overstuffed chair” – Messy Room

“a button of blue on the coat of a woman” – Picture Puzzle Piece

“once I spoke the language of the flowers” – Forgotten Language

“shared a conversation with the housefly” – Forgotten Language

“I’m afraid I got too near” – It’s Dark In Here*

“before the street begins” – Where the Sidewalk Ends

*Bonus: Write your poem or story “from inside a lion.”