Instigation

It's twisted memoir time! + Dramatize your own funeral (and/or wake) from the viewpoint of the person in attendance most likely to be bored by it all. + Look deep inside and mull over your greatest fear. Now write about what you think caused you to be so scared of this silly little thing. Consider everything out there that's even scarier. + Write about being tortured in hell for your own greatest sin. Go on. You deserve it. *** Instigation is a WEEKLY department in Hellnotes newsletter.

+ Invent a new form of water torture. + Give a character an occupation involving cages (warden, zookeeper, dancer, wrestler...), and then trap them inside of one. + Murder an idea. *** Instigation is a WEEKLY department in Hellnotes newsletter. If you publish or post something instigated by this department, let me know and I'll mention it here!

"Creative Oppositions" + Imagine an awful way to die. Now physically turn the victim upside-down. Write. + Choose a common horror icon or trope. Put the word "Anti-" in front of it. Consider that your title. See what turns up. + Describe a notorious painful experience (root canal, etc.) from the viewpoint of a character who finds it pleasurable. *** If you publish or post something instigated by this department, let me know and I'll mention it here!

+ Describe an invented mental illness in scientific language, as though an entry in the DSM-IV. For structure, visit allpsych.com + Lovingly describe an over-the-top imaginary weapon, as though writing the sales pitch that appears in a mail order catalog. For inspiration, try crkt.com + Write an encyclopedia entry about an infamous (but fictional) massacre. For a model, pick your favorite at the wikipedia list of massacres *** Instigation is a WEEKLY department in Hellnotes newsletter. *** Congratulations to subscriber Terrie Leigh Relf, whose instigation-inspired story, "At the Ophthalmologist's Office," was recently published in FlashShot. If you publish or post…