WRITING PROMPTS

LGBT Senior’s Weekly Writing Prompt: Two’s Company

May 6, 2026 /

This week’s writing prompt / dance with a partner do-si-do

I’ve been doing more writing exercises with index cards. I used this one today in a journaling group and it’s a lot of fun. But it does requires at least two people! (We did it with three in Monday’s workshop.)

One person writes an opening sentence establishing a character in a situation. Then you alternate — one person writes a sentence beginning with “Fortunately…” and the other writes the next beginning with “Unfortunately…” and you keep going back and forth 3 or 4 times, building an increasingly wild story together.

Example:

  • “Maria decided to rob a bakery at 3am.”
  • “Fortunately, the door was unlocked.”
  • “Unfortunately, so was the bear cage next door.”
  • “Fortunately, the bear loved croissants…”

It’s great for a workshop because it teaches cause and effect, narrative momentum, and the value of surprise, and it’s entertaining. At the end you can each read the full story aloud. We did two rounds, switching who writes “Fortunately” and who writes “Unfortunately.”