Writing Prompt: Frequently Asked Questions
Along with the questions you wish were frequently asked
Hi everyone!
It’s now Friday at Logan’s Corner, so it’s time for your weekly writing prompt to get those creative Queerly Trans juices flowing!
These prompts are always free and open to the public, but if you would like to join our community to absorb all of our great stories quickly via osmosis, please consider either supporting me or one of our wonderful artists/writers at Queerly Trans. Though it’s not recommended to feed seagulls, it’s perfectly fine to feed writers, if you find us entertaining.
With that out of the way, here is this week’s prompt: FAQ’s!
We all have those questions that we get constantly about being queer and/or transgender. They can come from cis people or from other transgender people trying to feel you out or make informed decisions about their own futures.
If you’re still in the closet, you might not have fielded some of those questions yet, but you’re probably imagining them as part of your anxiety about potentially coming out someday.
Option #1 for a Writing Prompt:
Chose one or more of those FAQs and really flesh them out in a long post that you can later link to anyone who asks you the question(s). That way, you don’t have to answer the same questions over and over.
If this is your secret blog that you share with no one that knows you, this writing prompt can help you to prepare to answer these questions better, so they don’t catch you off guard next time.
Option #2 for a Writing Prompt:
You’re tired of all of these FAQs! You’re a veteran queer/transgender person who has answered these questions a thousand times. Maybe you’ve even written a post answering every single one of these questions!
I have something for you, too!
Write the question you wish someone had thought to ask you. Maybe it’s also the question you wish you had thought to ask other queer/trans people before your journey really picked up steam.
It can also be an irreverent, sarcastic question that bites into the core of the (internalized or mainstream) transphobia that can subtly creep into these questions. Maybe you have a question you can ask that will make people think about why they are asking you all these FAQ’s. Maybe you have a question that can teach the questioners something about themselves, instead of something about you.
Then, answer the question(s) that should have been asked or leave a list of them for rhetorical consideration.
I can’t wait to read your responses! Be sure to support your fellow writers by reading and providing feedback!
Here is mine:
Here is a fantastic one from Christine Penn:
Here is a wonderful response from Kitty Whitemore:
Here are a few FAQ’s I’ve been getting as your friendly neighborhood writing challenge enthusiast!
Before you get started, here are a few FAQ’s I’ve been getting as your friendly neighborhood writing challenge enthusiast!
1. I just wrote a response. What do I do now?
You have 2 options. You can do one or both:
Option A: If you want KP_the_writer to consider publishing your response, be sure to subscribe for Queerly Trans and go to this post and carefully read everything. It is especially important to read this quote at the bottom:
If you are QueerlyTrans and would like to write for us, please ensure you have read the above and agree to follow the guidelines, then, comment on this post with your user ID thingy — the one that starts with @.
After you’ve commented on that “Write for Us” post, KP_the_writer will formally add you as a writer. The qualifications are as follows:
I won’t be gatekeeping your trans-ness! You are trans enough. In other words, you decide if you qualify as a Queerly Trans writer.
- **Important note: Queerly Trans can only accept drafts! If the work is already published, it cannot be added. At that point, Option B remains!
Important note: Queerly Trans can only accept drafts! If the work is already published, it cannot be added. At that point, Option B remains!
Option B: You just want me to come clap/comment for you!
If you want me to come clap for and promote your response, regardless of whether you published with us, be sure to tag me by mentioning me somewhere in your writing using the @ symbol immediately next to “logansilkwood”.
This will send me a notification to run over, read your writing, link it to this writing prompt, clap, comment, and promote it on Twitter to attract other readers to your work.
2. I wrote and published a brilliant response, but I forgot to tag you or you seem to be ignoring me because you forgot to turn on your notifications again! Darn you, Logan! You’ve foiled me again! What happens now?
Mea culpa, if this is my fault. If you still want me to come clap/comment for you, link your response here, and promote your queerly trans work for free, leave a link to your work in the comments of this prompt, so I can find it easily!
3. I’m not really Queerly Trans, but I love this writing prompt! Can I still write a response and get you to read it?
Do you have some connection to the LGBTQ+ and/or polyamorous and/or ethically non-monogamous community, by your own definition of whatever all that means? Sure! Tag me, and I’ll run over and see what it’s about!
4. I want you to read my writing, but I don’t want you to promote it or link it to your writing prompt.
No worries! Just let me know this or any other preference in a comment, a tag, a private message here, or a private message on Twitter. My Twitter handle is @logan_silkwood. Feel free to follow me there, while you’re at it! Note that the private messages on the Medium can be a bit finicky, so it can take me a little time to find them sometimes.
5. I wrote something before that fits this prompt perfectly! Can I share it with you?
Sure! Just link no more than 3 such posts in the comments, and I will still clap/comment, and promote it.
