Writing Prompts

#1 Confronting a childhood bully…write a letter to a bully from your childhood. What would you say to them? Would it be a letter of forgiveness or bitterness? Tell them how they made you feel back them and how you feel today and how they made you into the person you are (whether they pushed you to be better or still make your life a living hell.)

#2 Describe a “first” (First kiss, date, house, baby, concert, book you read etc.) Don’t skimp on the details and try and use all of your senses when remembering that “first” and describing it.

#3 Describe a historical event it could be recent or something that happened before you were even born. Describe what you felt (don’t be afraid to yell your opinion on paper) and how it changed things and what might have been different if never happened at all.

#4 Describe a significant person (teacher, neighbor, mentor, coach, parent, sibling, sweetheart) with as many physical details as possible, but no clichés! (If you’ve heard the expression before, don’t use it.)

#5 Choose a photograph that speaks to you. It can be a personal photo or one you find on the internet or in a magazine and describe it. “Show” with words, not tell, the emotions it brings out in you and the emotions you think are within the photo. What story is the photo telling but be descriptive “show” the story in words, don’t say it, make your reader(s) be able to see the photo in their mind without ever viewing it.

#6 Read the news or a story in a paper, magazine or online (preferably something a little dramatic) and tell the back-story you envision behind it, what happened to lead to the outcome? Tell your version of the back-story up until the moment the present story begins.

#7 Come up with a list of nouns and a second list of verbs, all of one syllable each. Describe a scene or situation, using a minimum of ten words from each list.

#8 Describe a very vivid dream you’ve had (try only making a page to a page and a half long) but don’t describe it as a dream, make it seem as real as possible no matter how unbelievable it may seem. After stories are just dreams and thoughts but on paper we create and draw the reader into a very believable world.

#9 Write about a regret and how you think your life might have turned out differently had you taken that chance.

#10 Make a list of five things you’re afraid of happening to you. Then write a story in which one of them happens to your character…

These are writing prompts that have been suggested to me, or that I got from classes in college and some I come up with myself. I will change them often.