The Penguin Post Office
Somebody Write This Book
Hi! Hello! I’m Kirk Reedstrom and this is the Somebody Write This Book newsletter where I send monthly, occasionally (okay, okay—often) absurd creative prompts to your inbox. You probably signed up for this on my website or on Twitter. If you’d like to unsubscribe, just click that link at the bottom of the newsletter. One click, all done, goodbye and sayonara.
First, An Announcement:
AAAAAAAAAAH!
Now, if you’re wondering “Hey, Kirk. That sure is swell that you have some books publishing next year. I’d like to help you out, but I’m unsure as to how I might do such a thing,” then ponder no more. Join my Launchies group! You’ll get some extra behind the scenes details, and about ten favors that I will ask of you as we approach the publication date. If you want to join, you can click that “Become A Launchie” button or just reply to this email and say something like “Put me in, coach!”
A Prompt:
Related:
I love penguins. I love the way they waddle, I love the way they slide around on their tummies, and I love how they transform from awkward, funky, masses of tuxedo birds into graceful torpedoes when they dive into the ocean. Working at the penguin post office sounds like a dream job to me, so let’s draw a squiggle and turn it into the new postal worker who’s charged with sorting mail and counting those penguins.
Here’s my squiggle:
And my penguin postal worker:
I drew a “Phil,” but I’d be remiss to not mention that the penguin post office is actually run by four women. You can learn about them in this Smithsonian Magazine article: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/meet-the-four-women-who-will-run-antarcticas-penguin-post-office-this-winter-180980912/
There’s a saying that only two kinds of stories exist: a person goes on a journey, and a stranger comes to town. While I don’t think I agree with that 100%, this scenario could easily be both kinds of stories depending on if you’re writing from the perspective of the human or the penguins, or when you decide to start the story.
If you want to keep this story flapping, ask yourself these questions:
What did the postal worker do before moving to Antartica?
What surprised the postal worker about the job after arriving at their new gig?
How do the penguins react to their new resident human(s)?
Why did the previous postal worker leave the position?
What happens if a penguin goes missing?
Try setting a timer for 23 minutes and free write a little story that’s about 100-200 words from the perspective of your postal worker, or the penguins. You can go over or under that word count. You can write for a longer or shorter amount of time. If a story’s not your cup of tea, try a poem or four panel comic.
Three Neat Things:
I Sold Some Books:
Did I mention that already? Oops. I still can’t believe it. In the spirit of shameless self-promotion, here’s another plug for Launchies:
An Album:
I stumbled onto the group, Hailaker, a while back and only recently realized that its members might have their own music. Sure enough, they do. Jemima Coulter’s music sounds like the future to me. It’s intimate, folky, glitchy, and at times a little more rock & roll than Hailaker. I haven’t been able to stop listening to this album.
This Hat:
See that hat in all its glorious action on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CoUkouRvv5x/?hl=en
Thanks for reading. If you’re hankering for more prompts, you can read the archives here. If you really enjoyed it, forward this email to a friend or arch nemesis.
If you’re seeing this newsletter for the first time (Hello friend or nemesis!), you can subscribe here.
-Kirk
www.kirkreedstrom.com