Writing Prompts
Updated: Aug 6, 2021
Found/remembered two writing prompts I had assigned a few years ago back when I taught a Creative Writing class. If you've been in need of a writing prompt or just wanna write new things, feel free to try out my writing prompts below (I made a few tweaks, especially for the first one, in order to accommodate with our current shelter-in-place/social distancing/pandemic situation) :
Prompt 1: Sit somewhere comfortable (whether in your room, kitchen, living room, break room, etc.) Give yourself about roughly 5-10 minutes to observe your surroundings. Then, take notes of your surroundings. What do you hear? Are they any noises/sounds or is it just silence? What can you describe about your current location? (such as if any objects are near you, if it's dark or bright where you are, etc.) Are there any smells? Also, what emotion are you feeling? Anything you observe/feel, write it out or list your observations as notes for yourself. Then, give yourself time, like let's say an hour or so ---whenever you have another free moment, before going back to your notes. Create a short scene, story, or a poem based on your notes or any portion of your notes that stands out to you.
OR Prompt 2: Find an old or fairly recent photo (whether it be through your phone, tablet, iPad, computer, or an actual collection of photography you have), that involves you with two or more people. It can be for something extravagant like a wedding or maybe just a random lazy day of hanging out with friends. Then, recreate that scene focusing on both the sounds and/or dialogue that occurred in that photograph. It can be a poem, short story, or a scripted scene that is based on those sounds and voices, including descriptions of vivid imagery. It can be funny, sad, scary --- whatever. As long as it's creatively connected with your chosen photograph.
