Extra! Extra! Read All About It! - News As A Writing Prompt

I've always loved reading the newspaper. There's a famous family photo of seven year old me sitting at the kitchen table at breakfast, looking haggard in my bathrobe with my newspaper in front of me as serious as can be.

I still read the news a lot, my favorite thing being the weather. Growing up on the Texas coast, I loved tracking the hurricanes hurtling towards us from the Gulf. But now that I have moved to a landlocked state, I've had to broaden my interests from hurricane watching and on to current events. It was only this year though that I realized how I could use my insatiable desire to read about what's happening in our world for my writing.

If writers are avid people-watchers, then it should be no surprise that I have become an avid event-watcher as well. Reading the news has given me the fodder I need for several short story ideas. No matter what kind of news stories interest you (weather, politics, science, etc.) you too can use them as a springboard for your creative writing.

Current event writing exercise:
Visit a news or weather website, or open up a newspaper (if you're old school like me). Skim around and find an article that piques your interest. Try free writing for five minutes using that article as a jumping off point, incorporating some of the details into your own writing. See where it goes!

Need somewhere to start?​

• Weather.com: If you're interested in what Mother Nature is up to, the news section on weather websites can be a good place to look.
• History.com: I like reading their "This Day in History" section. Almost like a news story from the past!