The Joys of Simple Writing Prompts–#AuthorToolboxBlogHop

This week’s post forms part of the monthly Author Toolbox Blog Hop, in which writers at all stages of their careers come together to share knowledge. It’s a good group. Check out the posts of others here.

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In this second week of school this year, our student creative writing group commenced. Two budding student leaders took the stage, in the meticulously sanitized classroom, a group of students still in quarantine or yet off-campus beaming in projected on the board behind, and I too, the teacher smiling from the corner, ticking off attendance

“You have to just pick a random object,” the leader said, a little faintly, and I was sucked back in a moment to my own first time standing up before a class, and that fear and brazenness. “You have to list all of the details you can think of,” her partner added, and I caught myself, for the voices, tenuous as they might seem, also held a determination, and lest I judge all others’ experiences by my own–they’re doing a fine job, these leaders. It will be good.

Many of us writers can count our beginnings to groups like these, good nurturing spaces that helped us find our voices. And what is more hallmark of these school writing groups than simple prompts? Write about the day everything went wrong. Write about the magical creature currently living in your backpack. Write the story of the seventh picture on a partner’s phone.

I’ve found as years go by, I’ve left such exercises behind, for I have projects on my mind, or manuscripts to submit, blog posts to craft, a busy day ahead. In brief glimpses now, as in the student-led initiative described above, I’m rediscovering them. Today I invite us all back, to rediscover this invaluable tool for inspiration, skill development, community, and fun.

Why writing prompts are valuable, no matter where you are in your writing journey

The types of exercises through which we learn writing skills are still valuable. Here are a few of the benefits an occasional session with a writing prompt can give:

Take a break

Twenty minutes with a writing prompt can be a welcome break from another project. Working on something different clears the mind, helps us get outside of ourselves, and can leave us refreshed.

Experimentation and skill-building

A writing prompt is low-commitment. There’s no risk to a short session with a writing prompt that might push you in a new direction. Writing prompts can help us break a rut, try out new techniques, experiment with craft and content, maybe find a few direction to apply to our stories.

Inspiration

A writing prompt rarely begins with that glowing moment of certainty that an inspired story does–we just start writing, about something we probably weren’t thinking about before. Yet it continually surprises me the way a writing prompt I start out feeling listless towards can become something I actually find interesting. Sometimes the piece I’ve written goes on to become a full story–the more we work with something, the more its real possibilities reveal itself. Inspiration gets built up as we write.

Jimmy’s writing prompts

When I taught high school creative writing classes in Minnesota, writing prompts formed a central element of the curriculum. In a semester of daily writing prompts, we had fun, practiced skills, and tried new things. After writing for eight minutes, students shared in small groups, gave feedback, and then a few volunteers would share out in the full class. These were some of the best community-building moments for the class.

After a summer’s participation in the Minnesota Writing Project‘s Invitational Summer Institute, I started writing in these sessions alongside my students. I was surprised how much of a boost this gave me, both as a teacher and writer.

With these good memories to hand, I’m going back through my old files now. I’m resurrecting a few of these old prompts. They begin more fiction-focused and move towards poetry, mirroring the units from the class. Here are some of my favorites from that time:

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Super Power

Imagine that you wake up tomorrow with a super power… that you don’t want. Write about what it’s like to use that power, how you try to hide it, and what problems it might cause.

Sentence Stems

Choose one of these sentence stems to get you started. Keep the story going!

• I watched her pale finger press the trigger, while I…
• The world went black as I spun into hyperspace, then rematerialized. Around me, I saw…
• I turn the wheel hard left and skid around the corner. Immediately I hear a terrible sound…

Food Review

Write a review of some food you have in your house. For inspiration, check out these marvelous cheese reviews. Consider the appearance, smell, taste, and texture of the food. Your goal is to get your audience to either want to eat or not eat this food!

Imaginary Places

Make a Google-Image Search for the word “surreal,” and choose the first image that catches your eye. Write a story as if you were inside this image.

Two-sentence Horror Stories

Write some two-sentence horror stories. Use the first sentence to set up a normal-sounding situation; use the second to turn everything on its head. See some great examples here.

Animal

What animal do you most resemble? Write a scene as if you were that animal. What would you think, feel, and do? Work to show the similarities between the animal and yourself in your scene.

Looking Back

Page back through your own writing, or choose a favorite book. Choose from what you’re looking at one short passage (1-2 sentences) of excellent writing. Copy this passage into your notebook; then, write about what you believe makes the writing so strong. What techniques are they using well? Why do you connect with this passage?

First Sentences

Find any book (the stranger the better!). Open to the first page or the first page of a chapter. Copy down the first sentence, then continue the story! Your piece should grow out of the sentence you copy down, but it need not relate to the rest of the rest of the book. Play! Have fun!

Fear

You are locked in a room with your greatest fear. Describe what’s there, and describe what happens.

Character Scene

Return to a character from a previous story, or invent a new character from scratch. Write a scene in which your chosen character…

• Gets some terrible news
• Loses a treasured possession
• Fights someone
• Slogs through a dangerous environment

Choose one of the above, and follow the story. Whichever you choose, work to show your character’s personality through the scene.

Time Machine

You step carefully into the time machine, afraid to bump the hundreds of glowing buttons and dials. Methodically, you twist the one dial you know back, back, back until the calendar display reads the date you choose.
Putting your hand on the door of the machine, your heart thuds. What will you find? Show us what is outside the time machine, without directly revealing the time or place.

Bathroom

Bring to mind a celebrity, fictional character, or politician and write with great description about what their bathroom looks like. Describe in detail with at least three senses.

Low-Tech

In a single moment, all electronics on earth go dead, never to function again. What happens? What do you do?

Sentence Stems #2

Choose one of these sentence starters, and keep going:

• The asteroid hurtles straight towards earth…
• I had never felt so upset as I did that moment…
• And you thought dragons didn’t exist…
• The detective saw her opportunity. She put her hand on the waitress’s arm and said…
• Three children sat near the river. One, the smallest, looked up at the sky and said…

Perfect Solitary Day

You have one day – twenty-four hours – to spend doing anything you want. The only requirement is, you must spend the day alone – just you and the world. You can go anywhere on earth and do anything you like. Tell the story of this day.

My Conflict

Write about a struggle in your life – something you have faced or are facing. What was “at stake” in this conflict in your life? Was there a climactic moment or turning point? What emotions did you experience? How did this conflict change you?

Childhood Voice

Write about a childhood memory in the voice your childhood self might use. Consider how your word choice, sentence structure, choice of detail, and convention use might all be affected as you write like your childhood self.

Emotional Setting

Begin with an emotion. Let it fill up your mind. Then envision a setting that reflects that emotion. Describe the setting in vivid detail to bring the emotion out.

Bulwer-Lytton

Write a Bulwer-Lytton sentence! Edward George Bulwer-Lytton is famous for having written the worst first-sentence of a novel ever. Now, every year they hold the Bulwer-Lytton fiction contest, where you can submit your own worst sentences. For Daily Writing today, try writing one, or two, or as many as you like! See examples of contest winners here.

“The Revenant”

Read the poem “The Revenant” by Billy Collins. Write a poem or story about someone you would like to haunt.

Picture Poems

Return to the Google-Image Search for the word “surreal,” and choose an image to inspire a poem. You can use the subject of the picture for your poem, or just the feeling it gives you.

Metaphorical Feelings

Choose an emotion that you’ve recently or powerfully experienced: love, hate, fear, disgust, embarrassment, etc. Describe it using only metaphors.

See examples:

Fear is…
bricks in my stomach
a frayed rope on the long bridge
jumping from a building
holding back vomit

Love is…
a pillow for my troubles
the taste that stays after swallowing chocolate
walking with my eyes closed
forgetting that my eyes are open

Deep Thoughts

Choose one of the prompts below and follow your mind’s journey:

• The truth about how the world works is…
• If I could give advice to future generations it would be…
• Who I really am inside is…
• Something that makes me really angry is…
• Something I think is wrong with the world is… 

Rhythm

Choose a line length and foot (for example, iambic tetrameter or anapestic trimeter). See this resource to review these terms. Try your hand at writing a few lines in this rhythm. Hint: Saying the words out loud will help you hear the rhythm!

Alliteration

Write your own tongue twister, using as many of the same sounds as possible throughout your poem.

Wikipedia

Go to Wikipedia and click the “Random Article” link on the left sidebar. Write down the topic of the article you get! Repeat three times, so that you have a total of four random articles. Now, write a scene or poem that brings together all four.

Letter to Yourself

Write a letter to yourself about whatever is on your mind. Write to your future self, present self, or past. Write about your hopes, dreams, worries, thoughts, feelings. What advice do you need right now? What are you thankful for in yourself?

Where else to find great writing prompts

Scores of blogs, websites, and social media share writing prompts that we can snap up. Here are just a few I’ve found, and I would love to hear about your favorites too.

• Prompt Inspiration posts daily writing prompts for a number of genres
• The @WritingPrompt_s Twitter account has many lovely, imaginative prompts
• Check out the Wayfarer Writing Prompts Twitter account for daily science fiction and fantasy prompts
• The /r/WritingPrompts subreddit has a great variety of prompts posted by a variety of people
• Reedsy.com has a plethora of prompts sortable by genre

How to use writing prompts well

Don’t spend a long time searching for the perfect prompt. The function of a writing prompt is to push us in a different direction than we would go otherwise, and rejecting the prompt closes the door on that possibility. I find that the oddest prompts, the ones that strike me at first with that, “I have nothing to write about that” feeling, these often end up the most illuminating.

Give the prompt a chance, perhaps twenty minutes, letting your mind wander into a flow. See what you’ve got. Leave it behind, or if you’re enjoying the experience, keep going.

Writing prompts can be a great way to take part in community. Writing can often be a solitary experience, but by taking part in #WritingCommunity prompts posted on Twitter or working through a prompt alongside friends can be a bridge to connect us with others.

Do you use writing prompts? Where do you find them? How do you integrate writing prompts with your other writing activities? I would really enjoy hearing.

Best wishes for the week ahead, and happy writing!
Jimmy