A List of Writing Prompts
Writers, perhaps more than any other group of people, depend on their ideas. In fact, our entire livelihoods are built on them. Whether you are writing in a notebook or an online journal, feel free to write down those tiny bursts of inspiration that can come to you in the most insane of places.
Sometimes, I have written down an idea and then come back to it months later. Only then would I come up with an earth-shattering new idea, based around or dependent on the original!
So whether it is a genius turn of phrase, or the beginnings of an incredible world, I encourage you to write down the ideas that you have, no matter where you are or what you are doing!
That said, here is a list of twenty ideas and story beginnings that I have written down at random points to inspire both myself and others.
1. I’ve tried to write stories about this life. I’ve thought that if I fictionalize it, it wouldn’t be so hard to live with. But the characters are just clichés, and the life I face is too real to be fictionalized.
2. Sunshine splayed across her golden hair.
3. There is both truth and fiction here, but I'll leave it to the reader to decide which is which. (Idea about girls who practically live in hotel room)
4. I mastered the art of dancing without making any noise for the floor below.
5. The crowd parted around the girl with the untied shoes, but no one saw or even noticed her existence.
6. She held minutes guiltily snatched from the jaws of time.
7. There are yellow daisies in the yard today.
8. Her hair was the color of root beer.
9. There is nothing quite like waiting in the parking lot of a Fortune 500 company at 9 P.M. while the electric lights blaze on their poles and highlight the fall leaves on the shadowed trees, classic rock playing on the radio, sisters singing along in the background, a chunky orange scarf hanging onto the edge of the computer as you alternate laughing at the ferocious feats of Ash&Loki and playing the No Internet connection game while you ruin your eyes and the display consuls lighting up and the top of the steering wheel level with your nose while people walk aimlessly by and stare at you.
10. "Sometimes you've got to talk to yourself because no one else will talk to you."
11. World Catcher
11. World Catcher
12. I have never been able to memorize what my own face looked like, but when I see its reflection, I know I am looking on a familiar person, yet unable to place this person as myself.
13. "An African American child played his tuba on the Confederate statue of Robert E. Lee."
14. A girl calls pest control on her older sister.
15. "You are just another broken hearted hero, aren't you?" she asked.
16. The sunset and the open roads reflect themselves in your glasses, making them look like sunglasses, even though they are not. Glancing through the rear-view mirror at me in the back seat, I can't help but think this night could have come from a Stephen King novel.
17. Ten people are put into a ring where they are vying for power. For every person they kill, they grow stronger and more difficult to beat. The strongest person will be the one to survive at the end, going on to exit the gates alive. None know what lies beyond. They were programmed only to know that they were here for their crimes, and there was only one path of redemption.
18. I'm going to slowly suffocate in my own uncertainty.
19. How can one love a girl who they have never met?
20. Yellow was the color of happiness before you came along.
What did you think? Did any of these inspire you? Do you have any writing prompts that you don't know what to do with? Please let me know down below! I would love to hear from you! Best wishes on your future writing adventures.
2 comments
Yes! The one I found inspiring was the sunglasses/not sunglasses one. So interesting . . . I can just picture it.
ReplyDeleteAnd I also have a prompt! I could never figure out what to do with this - You look through the eye-hole and see a different place from when you open the door. Do tell me if it gives you any ideas :D
If you write something with it, I would love to see what you do!!! And if you post it to your blog, I would be glad to link it here. :D
DeleteWoah, that prompt is amazing!! Let me think on it for a bit, because I feel the beginnings of an idea, but nothing solid yet! I will keep you posted!