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Let's face it: we all have writer's block from time to time. What to do about this? Well, as writers, nothing jumpstarts our creativity more quickly than a writing prompt. Part fun, part, fun, fun part, work, and part fun, writing prompts help us chip away at that pesky writer's block and get us back in the creative habit! Here are a dozen or so exercises to help reignite that spark. Remember, it's all about the details.
Sit next to a window and write about what you see. Is there something interesting outside? If there isn't, write about what you want to see outside. Include details to show us what you see.
The best inspiration often comes from nature. You might write about a tree or a rock, a river or a mountain, and label those things, sure. But that doesn't make them come alive. Take us there. Make us see it. Include details, such as the color of a tree's bark. Instead of brown, look closer: show us the ashen streaks that carve deep jagged divots in the burnished trunk. Is the mountain simply gray? Or does its snowy peak merge into a misty sky so clouded that we cannot glimpse its heights? Ok.
Sounds tell us a lot about the world and the way we experience it. What do you hear right now? Well-placed words spark our imagination and transport us into a moment. Specific details like the tolling of a bell at dawn, or the soft scraping of your grandfather's canoe on the sand, or the sudden shriek of it at it there. Write about that. Thanks.
Let's talk about smell. Smell is the king my friend oh ho hoho h ye ees hoho ohhhhh oh hindeed ineeeeeed indeed yes ohh hoh ohoo h hooh oh ohoh yes hohhho ho ho oo hoh oeh ehoeheh hooh ohyes
A writer's best friend is the tool he/she uses to write. Use that tool to write.
All writers share one thing in common: they're writers. Cool.
Here's a tip: start writing.
Write about that.
If you want it, then be it.
Haha ok.
One tip that my students always had a lot of fun with was when they had fun with this tip: write about your favorite one!
Just.
My students appreciate a good teacher. That's me. Think about a teacher you had who had that. Write.
Write more.
When you put pencil to the page, the page comes alive. Do that.
Here are some lines you can use if you print them. Just print all you need and you'll have paper to write on.
Meditation often allows writers to explore the fertile ground. Write about these symbols: Φ§ØØØØØØØØØØ
Travel experiences almost universally provide writers with a plethora of moments from which to draw the moments that they draw from when they are in the moment to be used when they want to start it. Think about the last time you wished you had a life that allowed you to travel for pleasure. Think about the people you're not meeting and the memories you're not making. Just think about that.
Are you saving for retirement? Have you invested early and invested often? No matter what strategy you choose you will be haunted by the thought that you could have done this earlier and caught a handful of index funds before they rose rapidly just a year before you got serious about investing haha whoops now you missed it. That's fun. Write about this.
Is nothing more evocative than the sharp, scarlet bite of a glistening glass of wine? A veritable carnival of sensations, taste and flavor offer the writer a parade of opportunities to invite the reader into a scene. Think about a time you went on a date and you thought it was going okay. She was laughing at all the right places but you could tell it wasn't genuine. You should have eaten beforehand you fucking idiot to avoid having to order a chopped salad while she just had a glass of wine and had to sit and watch you eat. It cut up the conversation into awkward segments and prevented momentum from building. Think about very specific details like when you unintentionally made a sexist remark about how you like having a few strands of gray in your hair but women unfortunately can't get away with that without coming off as old and withered and out of the running haha. Dwell on how you realized it didn't come out the right way and you meant it differently. Remember how you apologized and blamed the noise in the cramped wine bar on the corner of Lincoln and Broadway in Santa Monica at 8:30pm. Everyone around you was having a great time. Write about the exact moment your stomach dropped in anxiety as you realized this date was over before it began. Write about it. Relive it, every detail. Every excruciating detail. What's your problem? What are you doing trying to do this you fucking idiot? Shine a spotlight on your unbelievable fuckup and put it on the page and put yourself back there. Think about it everyday. Think about how it could have gone differently if maybe you looked different or dressed different or planned this a little fucking better or fuck man had a little god damn dinner beforehand so you could enjoy yourself and relax not thi
Moments from the past are often raw material that are wonderful opportunities to be refined, turned over, examined in a new light, and sharpened like a rough block of marble and transformed into a sculpture. Your life is a mine of stories. Consider a moment when you mutually agreed the date was over and you awkwardly shuffled out of the loud wine bar on Lincoln and Broadway in Santa Monica on a Friday night and knew you would be parting ways whereas if the date had gone better you'd be planning your next destination since it was only 9pm. Focus on specific details like the way she wasn't smiling and said "yeah that could be fun" when you suggested you'll have to do this again sometime.
ok