Writing Prompts - the good, the bad and the ugly

The writing prompt posted on the OU fb page this morning.

Good morning folks. I've had a number of non-blogging days due to being out of action and in hospital. Bet you didn't expect that did you? Bet you thought it was something glitzy like a holiday but no, hospital and not only hospital but when you're having some rather grotty procedures done the last thing you might want to see is someone you know walking onto the ward and obviously one of the staff about to prod at you.
Yes, that's right, there is no dignity in my life even when I'm trussed up in a hospital! On the up side she did say that my dressing gown was very glamorous, so thats a small bonus, and I was wearing full-on makeup so woo-hoo me.

However, that isn't what I'm posting about today. No, today is another literary effort of my own and posing of questions - I'm always curious as you might have noticed.

The image above was posted as the weeks creative writing prompt on the fb page and it was a controversial choice because:

• It is an image presented in a comic form - not one that is given much credit amongst the sniffier members of the literary brigade.
• It brings up the delicate but essential issue of pictorial ownership, accrediting the owner, and royalty issues around having images on your blog (or wherever) as so many images on the web now are in fact the property of others. 
• Here's another question - are constant prompts good for writers? Surely there's a case for suggestion that less is more? Can prompts be, in fact, bad? Considering the personal preferences of the broad range of creative writers out there I'm pretty sure there will be those who will consider certain types of prompt just plain ugly! And that, my friends, leads me neatly to the following paragraphs. 

So first things first. Why don't we as a nation rate the comic or graphic novel as highly from a literary point of view? Why do we not see that this is a perfectly acceptable literary genre? As someone who, as a child, indulged in a few comics I can honestly say that this image - that it is the domain of the child - that could be part of the problem. Whereas other cultures, such as the Japanese and US literary markets - have a history of adult readership the graphic novel and comic still retain the image of geek domain or worse. In fact, those who saw the film 'Paul' staring an alien alongside Simon Pegg and Nick Frost will know how much this image pervades and, dare I say, is pretty near the mark. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1092026/
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-

Yet, beyond that there is another market, possibly as geeky or totally non-geeky, that has a potentially huge market for those who have no time or aren't necessarily into books but who may well find a love of the written word through such 'novels'. The Plain Janes is a great example of one of these books. It is aimed at the female teen market and deals with the isolation that many teenagers feel in these years due to not fitting in with the 'right' or 'popular' sets in school. Its most definitely a quick read but it manages to have humour, poignancy and offer a nice little glimpse of a powerful response to not being part of a group. I think that for a teen and even early 20's market it has a very positive message about finding others like you and indulging in a love of art and civic pride and your own individuality and although it may be sniffed at by the sniffers of literature it has merit.
Recently even such luminaries as Publishers Weekly published a report into the growing market represented by the graphic novel so perhaps shaking things up with a weekly prompt that has a decidedly comic book feel isn't so mad after all?
news/libraries/article/57093-how-graphic-novels-became-the-hottest-section-in-the-library.html
and if you want to check out The Plain Janes take a look at the Amazon page: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Plain-Janes-Cecil-Castellucci/dp/1845765516/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1441016065&sr=8-1&keywords=the+plain+janes

On to the second issue nicely links into the image based theme of the first in that I am quite openly a very visual person but I am aware that on the internet there are many tempting images that aren't my own and that it would be great to use as prompts but sadly I can't. Not an issue you think? Well no, I suppose not for the majority of the time but as I want to maintain the visual impact of not only my own blog but the that of the creative writing groups pages I have to ensure that not only my own but the postings of other moderators are done with sensitivity to this minefield of legality.

Here my only options appear to be to either create my own images - which of itself will be limiting to the subject matter - or to source royalty free images. It all seems like such a faff.

However, needs must when the litigation, or devil drives. Much the same driver you might suggest.

So for those reading this and loving the fact that it has imagery just be aware that it is in fact imagery from my own books or photos and that comes with much trepidation lest even that has some hidden issue.


So to sum it all up, be cautious out there fellow bloggers and image coveters. If you see an image on this blog it'll be mine so just mail me to ask permission and the chances are I'll say 'go for it' and you can use that image alongside the usual accreditation. As for the image posted to the fb page I'm going to get on with living and then come back to finding something suitable to write, after all, I can let the side down now can I?

And in case this is missed by anyone here is a link to a commentary about just this sort of subject. Here the blogger is discussing an exhibition that links poetry to comic book form so I had to add this. https://srboydwrites.wordpress.com/2015/09/04/the-poetry-society-over-the-line-exhibition/