I recently had a severely long and drawn-out bout of the dreaded disease known as Writer’s Block. By the end of it, I was so sick of myself and my own lack of productivity that I sat down and forced myself to come up with as many writing prompts as I could think of. It turns out, sometimes writing about writing is easier than writing!
Once I had these prompts, my slump seemed to be cut short! I felt inspired and excited again about the prospect of writing, and now I’m going to share some of these prompts with you, in case you’re feeling blocked up as well.
--Write a love letter to your best friend.
--Pick a color, and then come up with every word you can think of to describe that color.
For example, green is fresh, dewy, sharp, alive, witty, etc.
--Make up a new astrological sign and write a horoscope or two for it.
--Write about the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you, but write about it happening to someone else.
--Create a superhero with a really mundane superpower.
For example, write about a hero whose only power is always knowing exactly the right size Tupperware to choose for that night’s leftovers.
--Write a fake origin story for your town.
Did you know Baltimore, Maryland was actually founded by a colony of stray llamas? Not many people know that.
--Think about a phrase you hate, and write a poem in which you use it in a positive way.
For me, that phrase is “Bless your heart.” I challenged myself to use it in a new light in a poem, and actually liked the way it turned out. Go figure.
--Write an online dating profile for a long-dead historical figure.
--Come up with every single word you can think of to use instead of the word “sad.” Then do that for “happy.”
--Make up some missed connections.
--Come up with weird backstories for all the people on your family tree who you don’t know anything about.
--Write your own obituary.
This sounds dark, but it's actually kind of a great exercise for considering what you want your legacy to be!
--Make up a fairy tale set in modern times, in your city.
All the most epic romances begin with, “And they both swiped right,” right?
--Write as many haikus as you can muster.
In the game of words,
Brevity is the true goal.
Five, seven, five, done.
--Analyze your favorite song.
--Come up with some fake quotes for celebrities who are constantly misquoted, i.e. Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, etc.
“You know what they say… Marry the booty, buy the boobs.” – Marilyn Monroe
--Make up a bunch of facts about your favorite adorable animal.
Did you know koalas are great at hopscotch?
--Write down everything you know about your grandparents.
--Write a love letter to your favorite literary character.
--Go to Flickr.com (or any major photo website) and write a short story about what’s happening in one of the random photos on the homepage.
Now get to writing!
