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WORKBOOK RESOURCES
Congratulations on embarking on your writing journey with the Find and Refine Your Story Workbook! If you’re seeing this page- high five! You’re one step closer to creating your unique story.
Below are links to the prompts referenced in the Workbook to help you find your inspiration!
Writing prompts
Mandy Wallace’s Writing Prompts
Fantasy Prompts by Joanne Shepherd
Dialogue Prompts by Joanne Shepherd
Picture prompts
News stories
Contemporary News
The Daily Skimm is a daily newsletter that gives a short snippet of current events and breaking news. If you are interested in reading a bunch of short contemporary news stories at once, this is a great place to start.
Huffington Post a major online publication that covers major news events as well as thought pieces from marginalized communities
The Guardian another major publication that is a robust source of US news as well as International News.
BBC World News is another online resource that is a great site for international news.
The New York Times is not only a great source of news, but a great source of thought pieces. Often times celebrities, scholars, and more write insightful essays that you can find on the top page.
Newspapers.com is a database that has 1000s of old newspapers. It requires a subscription, but there is a 7-day free trial that you can take advantage of!
Weird News
Huffington Post Weird News is exactly what it sounds like. A plethora of strange and weird stories so crazy you almost can't believe they're true
Uber Facts's motto is "the most unimportant thing you'll never know.” Not all of these stories are factual and a lot of them are weird/sensational, but it is a robust source or weird ideas and news stories.
Historical events
History Central allows you to dig into a period of time and see the major events that took place. If you don't know what period of time you want to look into, this is a fun way to find out what interest you.
18 Important Women of History is an opinion piece, but it highlights important women that history forgot about- it’s tinged with story possibility! If you find one or two figures or events on this list spike your inspiration, you can dig into those events/time periods more, or look for similar events that took place throughout history.
The World Digital Library offers a comprehensive timeline of historical events in addition to a massive historical database. If you have something that peaks your interest from a book you’ve read or a site like History Central, this is a great resource to find out more or find out out what events happened around that time.