My Writing Prompts
I've decided that I'm going to start putting daily writing prompts up on my website. I've been thinking about this for a long time and since it's almost the first of the month, I decided to start with February 2010.
There are two prompts for each day. There is a single word prompt and there is a longer exercise. They are not necessarily related, but they might be on certain days, like Valentine's Day. Feel free to use these exercises and get writing! You can do 1 minute, 5 minute, 10 minute, or 20 minute writing exercises.
And if you happen to write something publishable, drop me an email to tell me and if appropriate, give me credit for the writing prompt. Nothing formal, just a shout out.
2010
2010
| Sunday |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Saturday |
| 1 Sound Effect You discover that you have superpowers. You can... |
2 Lifeguard What does that mean to me? |
3 Killer Whale You walk into work and suddenly everyone starts pointing at you and laughing. |
4 Bicycle They're just jockying for position. |
5 Sweet Get this plane off the ground! |
6 Picture That's part of the problem. |
|
| 7 Rattlesnake This is witness protection week. Imagine yourself going into witness protection. What did you see that you need a new identity for? |
8 Grilled Cheese Sandwich Speaking of witness protection, where (city, state) do you end up? What is life like there? |
9 iPod More on witness protection. What is the one thing, above all else that you are going to miss by being in the witness protection program? |
10 Ticket You're tired of witness protection, and you run. Let your imagination run wild. |
11 Sailboat Still witness protection week. You've been forbidden from contacting any of your old friends or relatives. And you abide by it, until you see something in the news, and you just have to break the rules to make just one phone call. Who is it and for what? |
12 Dessert You discover that your spouse is making phone calls to old friends or relatives. This puts you and your children at risk. |
13 Trail You're still in witness protection. The only problem is that you and your spouse are getting a divorce. How does that work? What now? |
| 14 Crackers Just make a decision. |
15 Cabbage Who is the girl or guy that you always watched from afar? Looking back, what would you do differently? I suggest that you change the name to protect the innocent. |
16 Pimple It was someone called Greg. |
17 St. Patrick's Day Shamrock You go out for drinks on St. Patrick's Day. The bar is full of people, and something happens. What is it? |
18 Scalding A group of friends is staying in a resort for the weekend. A thunderstorm heralds the discovery of a dead body. |
19 Dust Your car is in the shop and you don't have a choice but to take public transit. While you're on the bus, you see two people... |
20 Motorcycle Her feet were on the desk. |
| 21 Monkey Don't confuse movement for action. |
22 Click You put gravy on your what? |
23 Gigantic It might help if I shared. |
24 Wrestle That felt different. |
25 Beer What goes on behind the scenes? |
26 Iceberg That's why I sit in the back. |
27 Electric Write about the quirky habits of an old roommate or sibling. |
| 28 Box You can spend an evening with anyone you want to. Anyone. Who is it and what will you do? |
29 Sorry You wake up in a strange city. Where are you? Think globally. |
30 Friday The sidewalk suddenly chips up in front of you in a spot about two inches across. It happens again right beside you and you realize that someone is shooting at you. |
31 Quail Is this all there is? |
| Sunday |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Saturday |
| 1 Concrete Who is your dream guest to come over for dinner? What would it be like? |
2 Groundhog Day Shadow You wake up and you are at the Grammys (or Emmy's or whatever) and you relize they just called your name. You won! What would it be for? |
3 Pillow Ever have that dream where you went to school naked? How are you going to get out of it? |
4 Rice You heard a noise in the middle of the night that woke you up. As you listen you hear it again. |
5 Moon You have a week to live. Money isn't a question. What is the one thing you want to do before you die? |
6 Island You smell something that reminds you of being a kid. What's the smell and what does it remind you of> |
|
| 7 Arm Think about being in the first grade. What is your first memory? |
8 Slow You're at a swank party on the shore of a lake. You're in your best attire and you accidently get pushed into the lake. |
9 Falling An old song comes on the radio. What is it and what's it remind you of? |
10 Truck You wake up and realize that you're tied up. Someone is standing above you telling you that it be easier if you just tell him what he wants to know. |
11 Evil Who do you want to see most at your class reunion? Or who do you want to see least? |
12 Lincoln's Birthday Truth You're standing at the Lincoln Memorial with the man or woman of your dreams at night. |
13 Born You're driving along in the country and suddenly there is a UFO above you. |
| 14 Valentine's Day Love Write a short memoir about your first kiss. |
15 Presidents' Day Vote What big news event do you remember from your childhood? An election? A rocket launch? A war correspondent reporting? |
16 Charm You discover you have a superpower. What is it and how would you use it? For good or for evil? |
17 Long You've had a little too much to drink and you realize that you don't recognize where you are. And your cell phone is missing. |
18 A+ You just won the lottery and will never need to work again. What will you do? |
19 World You come home from work and discover the hose to the washing machine is broken and it flooded the house. |
20 Lawn You're at the horse races and you bet on a longshot...and win! |
| 21 Swim You have just been laid off, when you thought you were at the top of your game. |
22 Strong You've just left on vacation. You're on a plane flying away and you realize that you forgot to... |
23 Ball You're sitting on the couch watching a movie. Who are you with and what's the movie? Try to include all five senses. |
24 Blue Did you have "bath night" when you were growing up? What do you remember about it? |
25 Ring Think abotu a family vacation growing up. What was it like? Or how could it have been? |
26 Piano You wake up and realize the last 10 years of your life have been a dream. What would you go back and fix? |
27 Feisty What would you do if you were sinking in wet cement? Or if someone you loved was? |
| 28 Girl What are you most proud of in your life? |