Writing Prompts

These are prompts I've used in the past, some I plan to use. If there are *** after the number, that means I made it up myself. The others are ones I've gleaned from various writing sources.


#1
Browse the personals section in your local newspaper or on-line. Pick a person, and based on the details provided, create an expanded profile on him/her. Then create a character sketch.

#2
Write a limerick. It's a humorous five line poem with the rhyme scheme of AA BB A. It often starts "There once was a..."

#3
Browse the Internet. With so much free information, you're bound to get a great idea for a story. Make a list of story ideas to use when you are stuck. (Remember to include the site so you can refer back to it if you do use the idea.)

#4***
Read the following line and create a short story or poem using it as the opening line. And then she died. (Thanks to the Muse's Alley for providing the line.)

#5
Write a "silent scene" in your fiction. Create a powerful scene between two characters without using any dialogue.

#6
Write a short story where freedom is won in some way.

#7***
Read the following line and create a short story or poem using it as the opening line. What galaxy is this? (Thanks to the Muse's Alley for providing the line.)

#8
Stop in at your nearest travel agency and pick out the most appealing brochure. Go home and write about what you would do if you could go to that place.

#9***
Choose an unusual occupation and write a character sketch for a person with that occupation.

#10
A fable is a story meant to teach children a moral lesson. Write a fable using a household pet as the main character.

#11***
Let your creativity flow in a dark way. Make a list of ways to kill someone. Remember to be creative.

#12***
Create a religion. Who do they worship? Why? How? Where? Is this a religion that would be on Earth or elsewhere?

#13***
Visit a thrift shop and buy an unusual object. (No more than $15). Now write a short story about that object.

#14***
Write a list of ten people you have seen today that have potential for fictional characters. Include characteristics and where you saw them.

#15***
Pick a novel you enjoy and copy the first line. Now write your own short story or novel outline using that line as the opening line.

#16
We usually picture ourselves as the good guy. For a Proxy-Connection: keep-alive
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ange, write a story where the character is based on you and is the bad guy.

#17
Imagine that you are a warrior (male or female your choice). Write a description of a typical day in your life. Elaborate on the heroic rewards and grave dangers that can be discovered in an ordinary day.

#18
Celebrate diversity by writing a personality/character sketch describing someone different from you.

#19
Practice your dialogue. Write a short story between two characters entirely in dialogue. Make it a bit unusual.

#20***
Visit some place that you would not visit on a regular basis. (Such as a historical site, museum, or renaissance faire) Once you've returned home, write a letter describing it to someone who has never been there.

#21
Oh, Romeo! Write a love story or poem where the protagonist doesn't win the girl.

#22
Perspective makes all the difference! Take one of your short stories and rewrite it from the viewpoint of a different character in the story. ***OR change a third person story to first person or vice versa.

#23
Write a children's story where all the characters are food items.

#24
Try a little role reversal. Turn one of your short stories into a play or turn a poem into a short story.

#25
What is your favorite color? Write a short reflective piece that begins: "People who like (color) are..."

#26
Write an interview between yourself and any famous person living or dead. Try to capture that person's voice. (No literary or television characters)

#27***
Use today to brainstorm ideas for novels, short stories, poems or all three. Make a list for future reference.

#28
Create five of your own colors like horse-gum pink and letter-sweater red. Describe them so we can see them.

#29
Listen to the radio and write down a few of the lyrics from the first song that you hear. Use these lyrics to jumpstart ideas for a poem or story.

#30
Treat yourself to ice cream or any other "forbidden" junk food. While you indulge, write about your favorite childhood food.

#31 ***
Pick a country song (or other song) that tells a story. Write a short story about what happens behind that song (in other words a short story version of the song).

#32***
Call your grandmother or grandfather and ask to hear a story from his/her life. Now write a fictionalized account of the story.

#33***
Take a break from writing today. Go back, clean out your portfolio, or organize it. Look back over old work and do some revisions.

#34
As a child, did you believe that the moon was made of cheese or that penguins could fly. Describe a comical misconception that you entertained.

#35
Write a love scene between two seemingly unrelated inanimate objects; such as a computer and a pencil or a shoe and a paper clip.

#36***
Summer is officially over! Write an ode to the end of summer.

#37
Remember when the dark was scary and monsters lurked beneath your bed? Create a monster or other fantastical being to inhabit a story or poem.

#38***
It's the first day of school for many people. Write about the best or worst first day of school you've experienced or make up a completely fictional one.

#39
Clichés are over used by definition, but they are also true. Choose a cliché and write a story that could bear it as a title.

#40
Write a short story that takes place on a baseball field from the perspective of the umpire behind home plate. Make it first person POV.

#41
Create a fable that explains how the sun, moon, stars, or all three came to be.

#42
If you were teaching a writing course, what would be your first lesson? Create a detailed outline.

#43
Write a recipe that is an antidote to writer's block. What ingredients would cure you?

#44
The scene is a library after hours. The characters are a book that talks, a little boy, and a librarian. Write a children's story.

#45
Create a category of greeting cards that does not exist. Then create several cards that could be shelved in this category.

#46
Write a one-act play that takes place in a confined space in a specific period of time.

#47
Har. Har. Har. Imagine you're a pirate on a ship at sea. What's your name? What's your parrot's name? What are you seeking? Write a short story.

#48***
The future is now. Write about how life has changed since your grandparents were born. Interview them about what they remember were inventions during their lifetime.

#49***
Murphy's Law has struck. Write a short story where everything that can go wrong does.

#50***
Describe your perfect guy or girl. What makes this person perfect? Make sure to include looks, personality, and good and bad traits.

#51***
Browse the web for different pieces of art. Find a picture that you really like and then write an outline or short story based on that pic. example of site: http://www.epilogue.net/art/ from morenaniiclu