Writing Prompt: Which is Better for the U.S. Economy—Raising the Debt Ceiling or Paying Off Debt?

Writing Prompt 118

Which is better for the U.S. economy, raising the debt ceiling or paying off debt? Explain your answer.

President Barrack Obama is adding a monkey wrench into the already complicated issue of the federal government shutdown. He believes that one of the solutions could be to increase the limit of money that the United States Treasury can borrow. Economists believe that move is advisable because it would help the weakened U.S. dollar, increase the Federal Reserve’s stimulus efforts, and decrease unemployment rates.

Still following? If you’re just as confused as I am with President Barrack Obama’s line of logic, you’re not alone. Trying to understand politics without bending into the sticky mess of emotional finger-pointing is an excellent exercise, and a great opportunity to complete a writing prompt.

Nonfiction Writing: The Narrative!

Last week, I provided a comprehensive listing of nonfiction writing categories and genres along with suggested subcategories. Because there is no standard listing of categories, I’ve created my list based on my own research and experience in identifying nonfiction writing styles. You might have new subcategories to add as well. And that is good! The idea is to separate nonfiction or truthful writing from fictional writing, which is largely based on imagination and fantasy.

Let’s get started talking about one category in nonfiction writing—the narrative. Narrative nonfiction writing is perhaps the most basic and simplest form of truthful writing. It involves real facts about a person, place, or thing. Narratives include autobiographies, biographies, and memoirs, to name a few. Those three types of writing are intended for an audience.

Who Was Walt Disney? is a biography about Disney creator, Walt Disney, while Love, Lucy is an autobiography written by Lucille Ball.

A memoir is a type of autobiography. It often uses vivid images and stories about the author’s life but does not deal with a person’s whole life, rather only one time period in his or her life. Through Thorns I Thrive: A Spiritual Journey through the Depths of Hell to Finding Heaven Here on Earth is a modern memoir written by a contemporary author.

The idea to remember about narrative nonfiction writing is to get started writing in the first place; this is the same thing encouraged by every single one of these writing prompts. Though starting with a truthful account about your life is a great way to jump start nonfiction writing, not everybody is ready for that step. Some people are more reserved and need some time to develop their writing strengths, preferring to toy with the types of personal information they will write about.

This form of writing experimentation is also known as writing in diaries or writing journals or morning pages. Those who write using these forms of narratives typically don’t want audiences, at first. They may be writing for themselves, to feed their souls, to capture private memories of joyous events or to wonder aloud (in writing) about whether their private dreams will come true.

No matter whether you are looking for an audience (autobiographies, biographies, memoirs) or not (diaries, writing journals, morning pages), writing nonfiction using a narrative style is a fun and exciting thing to do!

National Nonfiction Writing Month will be here soon. Are you ready to take the challenge?

To participate in the Write Nonfiction in November (WNFIN) challenge, register here. To find out more about WNFIN and NaNonFiWriMo, click here.

About the Author

Amanda M. Socci is the creator of the 10-month training program for Write Nonfiction in November called “I Know I Can” WNFIN. The first two blog posts of the series explain more about this program and its benefits.

Amanda refers to herself as the Creative Idea Gal because she comes up with original ideas for herself and others. Based in Alexandria, VA, she is a devoted mother of two and a hopeless fanatic of all things creative. Connect with Amanda on Google+ or Twitter.