Writing Prod - Mouth of Babes

            Here we are at the start of another week. To help get those creative juices flowing I have another writing prompt for you. Feel free to create a flash fiction piece out of it or even pitch for a longer work of fiction and share it with the rest of us. I will, of course, be including an example of my own.

            I call this one Mouth of Babes. Kids say the most interesting things. That’s the premise for this prompt. Ask one of your young children to come up with an idea for a story. If you don’t have any young children of your own go ahead and borrow one. Then see what you can do with their idea.
            Of course, putting a child on the spot may not be the best method of mining minors for story plots. If you have an opportunity to be around children on a regular basis you can listen in on their playtime discussions. Sooner or later they’ll drop a gem of an idea.

            I asked my seven year old what he thought I should write for my next story. He told me that it should be about a dragon that chased people around because he wanted to be friends with them.
            This would make an excellent picture book or YA story just as it is presented by my son. However, for my example I turned this into a serious adult offering. And this is what I did with it:

 

 

            Roaring Dragon

 

Ben is hired to travel to the backwaters of the bayou in order to study the body of a supposed dragon. He discovers that the remains are not from any species known on Earth and begins a search of the area for a living specimen. Deep in the swamps the hunting party becomes the hunted when a live dragon charges into their camp. Ben flees and becomes hopelessly lost in the swamp. He is eventually tracked down by the dragon and returned to civilization. During their trek the truth of the situation comes out: the dragon is an emissary to Earth from another dimension. She and her companion were here to offer peace, but if neither returns home the warriors of their race will invade Earth and destroy it. Ben must find a way to get the dragon safely past the party of swamp folk that are even now hunting for her and to the portal that will take her home.