Writing Prompt: STRUGGLE
Visual inspiration + mental exercise to start your writing week
What IS this force that thwarts you? The more you thrash, the more it seems to fight from within, as if some inner demon has you by the throat. You curse yourself, you curse the world, you beg and bargain and connive even as you wrestle against the mounting pressure to surrender. What is it, exactly, that you’re fighting for?
Metaphortography Prompts are free visual and verbal writing prompts for inspiration and reflection. This is an occasional Monday section of Aimee Liu’s MFA Lore. Our Wednesday section includes Well Published! live videos and Writer In The World, a curated collection of essays on the writing life by acclaimed MFA faculty and alumni. MFA Core essays on the craft and business of creative writing drop each Saturday. Receive this MFA-level intel directly by subscribing now:
STRUGGLE
You know the sensation: like being trapped in quicksand that pulls you relentlessly down even as you reach and strive to push yourself up. The world watches, either helpless or unwilling to help as you flounder. No one else can possibly understand what you’re going through. What IS this force that thwarts you? The more you thrash, the more it seems to fight from within, as if some inner demon has you by the throat. You curse yourself, you curse the world, you beg and bargain and connive even as you wrestle against the mounting pressure to surrender. What is it, exactly, that you’re fighting for? What could possibly make this level of exhaustion worthwhile? And then you realize—or remember—you’re not actually alone.
STRUGGLE: Middle English struglen
Verb:
to make strenuous or forceful efforts in the face of difficulties or opposition
to proceed with difficulty or with great effort
to try to move something with difficulty
to fight with someone in order to get something
to be failing : to be doing without success
Noun:
Here is your writing prompt:
As you contemplate the image above, remember a day in your life when you felt mired in struggle. Now write a journal entry for that day (fictionalize, if you like), answering the following:
What is your greatest wish on this day?
What is standing in your way or distracting you?
What are your dominant emotions, and how do you express them?
What’s your physical setting?
What must you do today, and why?
What do you wish you were doing instead, and why?
What do you dread most doing today, and why?
How do you see yourself, physically and temperamentally?
What are your strengths?
What are your greatest vulnerabilities?
Who are your greatest friends and allies?
How and why do they respond when you ask for help?
What surprises you about their response?
How do they make you feel?
Who are your worst detractors or adversaries?
How and why do they react when you stand up to them?
What surprises you about their response?
How do they make you feel?
Describe your encounters today with both your friends and your enemies:
What do they do to or for you?
How do you react, for better or for worse?
What do these interactions teach you about the people around you?
What do these interactions reveal about your own courage, resources, and resilience?
What might you do to alleviate your struggles?
What WILL you do tomorrow?
Loreates’ Corner
I’m delighted to introduce you to a few of the wonderful stacks by writers in our community. Please read, subscribe, and share! And if you’re an MFA Lore subscriber with a great writing stack that I haven’t mentioned, please drop the link in a comment, so I can add you to our Corner.
Mona Alvarado Frazier aka Wanderlust and Words writes Mona’s Substack:
Rochelle Williams writes Light Eater: