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19,890 quotes, descriptions and writing prompts, 4,964 themes

marvellous school of neurology

"It turns out, as obviousness would have it, that our brains (especially those of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in this case) have been teaching us neurology through comic books and the movies that have come from them." Full article linked to from my profile, click "abraham" below, awesome!!

essential career advice for writers

"For writers in the next half century and beyond, a comprehension of how creative writing, neurology, biology and our environment interact will be essential for a successful career." - a link to the full article is in my bio and on the Descriptionari "About" page. Much love!!! Angela Abraham (Daisy)

It was a bonny path that chattered day and night, the free leaves upon it and their twig-attached brethren in seasonal conversation.

prime minister

"Aha!" said the Prime Monister, "we will have the poor scrap with the destitute for scraps! We can't lose!"

blanket fort

In that artistry of wool, within a fabric that told of patient hours of tip-tapping knitting needles, we dwelled within a castle within our home.

I wonder if the roof tiles miss the rain on these long summer days. I wonder if they miss making their together song. Or perhaps they await the tickle of bird feet and a hearth-warm breeze. Or maybe it is the variation that makes these seasons special.

"When we make daily choices that are emotionally indifferent, the sort that the money-nexus makes faux-virtues of, we build our capacity for emotional indifference at the direct expense of our capacity for empathy, and thus the conflict between money and love is laid bare."

In war let us keep a warm heart and a cool head, remembering always the humanity of the 'othered' or else lose our own.

walking in the rain

I won't say I love the cold rain. I won't say I love being soaked to the skin. I won't say I'm alright with how long it takes for my boots to dry. But I will say it enlivens me and awakens a part of me that slumbers in the warm and sunny weather. I will say that jumping in puddles is fun and that I'm far too old to be enjoying such things. I will say that a part of me finds a beauty in wondering how many raindrops there are and listening for them in the meditative pitter patter.

"Adjective and noun associations are worthy of our consideration because by careful linkage of words such as 'black' with strong emotionally positive words (such as in 'black heavens' and 'noble black night') we can start to program subconscious bias from the brain by creating a background neurochemistry that is more positive. This keeps the prefrontal cortex more fully operational and encourages more empathy in both thoughts and behaviours. Thus society develops better through their own choices and evolves. This is part of social evolution and this kind of awareness in writers is essential."

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ThinkWritten

365 Creative Writing Prompts

Here are 365 Creative Writing Prompts to help inspire you to write every single day! Use them for journaling, story starters, poetry, and more!

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If you want to become a better writer, the best thing you can do is practice writing every single day. Writing prompts are useful because we know sometimes it can be hard to think of what to write about!

To help you brainstorm, we put together this list of 365 creative writing prompts to give you something to write about daily.

Want to Download these prompts? I am super excited to announce due to popular demand we now have an ad-free printable version of this list of writing prompts available for just $5. The printable version includes a PDF as a list AND print-ready prompt cards. {And all the design source files you could ever need to customize any way you would like!}

Here are 365 Creative Writing Prompts to Inspire:

Whether you write short stories, poems, or like to keep a journal – these will stretch your imagination and give you some ideas for topics to write about!

1. Outside the Window : What’s the weather outside your window doing right now? If that’s not inspiring, what’s the weather like somewhere you wish you could be?

2. The Unrequited love poem: How do you feel when you love someone who does not love you back?

3. The Vessel: Write about a ship or other vehicle that can take you somewhere different from where you are now.

4. Dancing: Who’s dancing and why are they tapping those toes?

5. Food: What’s for breakfast? Dinner? Lunch? Or maybe you could write a poem about that time you met a friend at a cafe.

6. Eye Contact: Write about two people seeing each other for the first time.

7. The Rocket-ship: Write about a rocket-ship on its way to the moon or a distant galaxy far, far, away.

8. Dream-catcher : Write something inspired by a recent dream you had.

9. Animals: Choose an animal. Write about it!

10. Friendship: Write about being friends with someone.

11. Dragon : Envision a dragon. Do you battle him? Or is the dragon friendly? Use descriptive language.

12. Greeting : Write a story or poem that starts with the word “hello” or another greeting.

13. The Letter: Write a poem or story using words from a famous letter or inspired by a letter someone sent you.

14. The Found Poem : Read a book and circle some words on a page. Use those words to craft a poem. Alternatively, you can cut out words and phrases from magazines.

15. Eavesdropper : Create a poem, short story, or journal entry about a conversation you’ve overheard.

16. Addict: Everyone’s addicted to something in some shape or form. What are things you can’t go without?

17. Dictionary Definition : Open up a dictionary to a random word. Define what that word means to you.

18. Cleaning: Hey, even writers and creative artists have to do housework sometimes. Write about doing laundry, dishes, and other cleaning activities.

19. Great Minds: Write about someone you admire and you thought to have had a beautiful mind.

20. Missed Connections: If you go to Craigslist, there is a “Missed Connections” section where you can find some interesting storylines to inspire your writing.

21. Foreclosure : Write a poem or short story about someone who has lost or is about to lose their home.

22. Smoke, Fog, and Haze: Write about not being able to see ahead of you.

23. Sugar: Write something so sweet, it makes your teeth hurt.

24. Numbers: Write a poem or journal entry about numbers that have special meaning to you.

25. Dread: Write about doing something you don’t want to do.

26. Fear: What scares you a little? What do you feel when scared? How do you react?

27. Closed Doors: What’s behind the door? Why is it closed?

28. Shadow: Imagine you are someone’s shadow for a day.

29. Good Vibes: What makes you smile? What makes you happy?

30. Shopping: Write about your shopping wishlist and how you like to spend money.

31. The Professor: Write about a teacher that has influenced you.

32. Rewrite : Take any poem or short story you enjoy. Rewrite it in your own words.

33. Jewelry: Write about a piece of jewelry. Who does it belong to?

34. Sounds : Sit outside for about an hour. Write down the sounds you hear.

35. War and Peace: Write about a recent conflict that you dealt with in your life.

36. Frame It: Write a poem or some phrases that would make for good wall art in your home.

37. Puzzle: Write about putting together the pieces of puzzles.

38. Fire-starters: Write about building a fire.

39. Coffee & Tea: Surely you drink one or the other or know someone who does- write about it!

40. Car Keys: Write about someone getting their driver’s license for the first time.

41. What You Don’t Know: Write about a secret you’ve kept from someone else or how you feel when you know someone is keeping a secret from you.

42. Warehouse : Write about being inside an old abandoned warehouse.

43. The Sound of Silence: Write about staying quiet when you feel like shouting.

44. Insult: Write about being insulted. How do you feel? Why do you think the other person insulted you?

45. Mirror, Mirror: What if you mirror started talking to you? What might the mirror say?

46. Dirty: Write a poem about getting covered in mud.

47. Light Switch : Write about coming out of the dark and seeing the light.

48. The Stars : Take inspiration from a night sky. Or, write about a time when “the stars aligned” in your horoscope.

49. Joke Poem : What did the wall say to the other wall? Meet you at the corner! Write something inspired by a favorite joke.

50. Just Say No : Write about the power you felt when you told someone no.

51: Sunrise/Sunset : The sun comes up, the sun goes down. It goes round and round. Write something inspiring about the sunrise or sunset.

52. Memory Lane : What does Memory Lane look like? How do you get there?

53. Tear-Jerker : Watch a movie that makes you cry. Write about that scene in the movie.

54. Dear Diary: Write a poem or short story about a diary entry you’ve read or imagined.

55. Holding Hands : The first time you held someone’s hand.

56. Photograph : Write a story or journal entry influenced by a photograph you see online or in a magazine.

57. Alarm Clock: Write about waking up.

58. Darkness: Write a poem or journal entry inspired by what you can’t see.

59. Refreshed: Write a poem about a time you really felt refreshed and renewed. Maybe it was a dip into a pool on a hot summer day, a drink of lemonade, or other situation that helped you relax and start again.

60. Handle With Care : Write about a very fragile or delicate object.

61. Drama: Write about a time when you got stuck in between two parties fighting with each other.

62. Slip Up: Write about making mistakes.

63. Spice: Write about flavors and tastes or a favorite spice of yours.

64. Sing a New Song: Take a popular song off the radio and rewrite it as a poem in your own words.

65. Telephone: Write about a phone call you recently received.

66. Name: Write a poem or short story using your name in some way or form.

67. Dollhouse: Write a poem or short story from the viewpoint of someone living in a doll house.

68. Random Wikipedia Article : Go to Wikipedia and click on Random Article . Write about whatever the page you get.

69. Silly Sports: Write about an extreme or silly sport. If none inspire you, make up the rules for your own game.

70. Recipe : Write about a recipe for something abstract, such as a feeling.

71. Famous Artwork: Choose a famous painting and write about it.

72. Where That Place Used to Be : Think of a place you went to when you were younger but it now no longer there or is something else. Capture your feelings about this in your writing.

73. Last Person You Talked to: Write a quick little poem or story about the last person you spoke with.

74. Caught Red-Handed: Write about being caught doing something embarrassing.

75. Interview: Write a list of questions you have for someone you would like to interview, real or fictional.

76. Missing You: Write about someone you miss dearly.

77. Geography: Pick a state or country you’ve never visited. Write about why you would or would not like to visit that place.

78. Random Song: Turn on the radio, use the shuffle feature on your music collection or your favorite streaming music service. Write something inspired by the first song you hear.

79. Hero: Write a tribute to someone you regard as a hero.

80. Ode to Strangers: Go people watching and write an ode to a stranger you see on the street.

81. Advertisement: Advertisements are everywhere, aren’t they? Write using the slogan or line from an ad.

82. Book Inspired: Think of your favorite book. Now write a poem that sums up the entire story in 10 lines.

83. Magic : Imagine you have a touch of magic, and can make impossible things happen. What would you do?

84. Fanciest Pen: Get out your favorite pen, pencils, or even colored markers and write using them!

85. A Day in the Life: Write about your daily habits and routine.

86. Your Muse: Write about your muse – what do they look like? What does your muse do to inspire you?

87. Convenience Store : Write about an experience you’ve had at a gas station or convenience store.

88. Natural Wonders of the World: Choose one of the natural wonders of the world. Write about it.

89. Status Update: Write a poem using the words from your latest status update or a friend’s status update. If you don’t use sites like Facebook or Twitter, you can often search online for some funny ones to use as inspiration.

90. Green Thumb: Write about growing something.

91. Family Heirloom: Write about an object that’s been passed through the generations in your family.

92. Bug Catcher: Write about insects.

93. Potion: Write about a magic potion. What is it made of? What does it do? What is the antidote?

94. Swinging & Sliding: Write something inspired by a playground or treehouse.

95. Adjectives: Make a list of the first 5 adjectives that pop into your head. Use these 5 words in your story, poem, or journal entry.

96. Fairy Tales: Rewrite a fairy tale. Give it a new ending or make it modern or write as a poem.

97. Whispers: Write about someone who has to whisper a secret to someone else.

98. Smile: Write a poem about the things that make you smile.

99. Seasonal: Write about your favorite season.

100. Normal: What does normal mean to you? Is it good or bad to be normal?

101. Recycle : Take something you’ve written in the past and rewrite it into a completely different piece.

102. Wardrobe: Write about a fashion model or what’s currently in your closet or drawers.

103. Secret Message : Write something with a secret message hidden in between the words. For example, you could make an acrostic poem using the last letters of the word or use secret code words in the poem.

104. Vacation: Write about a vacation you took.

105. Heat: Write about being overheated and sweltering.

106. Spellbinding: Write a magic spell.

107. Collection : Write about collecting something, such as salt shakers, sea shells, or stamps.

108. Taking Chances: Everyone takes a risk at some point in their life. Write about a time when you took a chance and what the result was.

109. Carnival: Write a poem or story or journal entry inspired by a carnival or street fair.

110. Country Mouse: Write about someone who grew up in the country visiting the city for the first time.

111: Questions: Write about questions you have for the universe. Optional: include an answer key.

112. Rushing: Write about moving quickly and doing things fast.

113. Staircase : Use a photo of a staircase or the stairs in your home or a building you love to inspire you.

114. Neighbors: Make up a story or poem about your next door neighbor.

115. Black and Blue: Write about a time you’ve been physically hurt.

116. All Saints: Choose a saint and create a poem about his or her life.

117. Beach Inspired: What’s not to write about the beach?

118. Shoes: What kind of shoes do you wear? Where do they lead your feet?

119. The Ex: Write a poem to someone who is estranged from you.

120. My Point of View: Write in the first person point of view.

121. Stray Animal: Think of the life of a stray cat or dog and write about that.

122. Stop and Stare : Create a poem or story about something you could watch forever.

123. Your Bed: Describe where you sleep each night.

124. Fireworks : Do they inspire you or do you not like the noise and commotion? Write about it.

125. Frozen: Write about a moment in your life you wish you could freeze and preserve.

126. Alone : Do you like to be alone or do you like having company?

127. Know-it-all: Write about something you are very knowledgeable about, for example a favorite hobby or passion of yours.

128. The Promise: Write about a promise you’ve made to someone. Did you keep that promise?

129. Commotion: Write about being overstimulated by a lot of chaos.

130. Read the News Today : Construct a poem or story using a news headline for your first line.

131. Macro: Write a description of an object close-up.

132. Transportation : Write about taking your favorite (or least-favorite) form of transportation.

133. Gadgets: If you could invent a gadget, what would it do? Are there any gadgets that make your life easier?

134: Bring on the Cheese: Write a tacky love poem that is so cheesy, it belongs on top of a pizza.

135. Ladders: Write a story or poem that uses ladders as a symbol.

136. Bizarre Holiday : There is a bizarre holiday for any date! Look up a holiday for today’s date and create a poem in greeting card fashion or write a short story about the holiday to celebrate.

137. Blog-o-sphere : Visit your favorite blog or your feedreader and craft a story, journal entry, or poem based on the latest blog post you read.

138. Mailbox: Create a poem, short story, or journal entry based on a recent item of mail you’ve received.

139. Sharing : Write about sharing something with someone else.

140. Cactus: Write from the viewpoint of a cactus. What’s it like to live in the desert or have a prickly personality?

141. It’s a Sign : Have you seen any interesting road signs lately?

142. Furniture: Write about a piece of furniture in your home.

143. Failure: Write about a time you failed at something. Did you try again or give up completely?

144. Mystical Creatures: Angels or other mystical creatures – use them as inspiration.

145. Flying: Write about having wings and what you would do.

146. Clear and Transparent: Write a poem about being able to see-through something.

147. Break the Silence : Record yourself speaking, then write down what you spoke and revise into a short story or poem.

148. Beat: Listen to music with a strong rhythm or listen to drum loops. Write something that goes along with the beat you feel and hear.

149. Color Palette: Search online for color palettes and be inspired to write by one you resonate with.

150. Magazine: Randomly flip to a page in a magazine and write using the first few words you see as an opening line.

151. The Grass is Greener : Write about switching the place with someone or going to where it seems the “grass is greener”.

152. Mind & Body: Write something that would motivate others to workout and exercise.

153. Shaping Up : Write something that makes a shape on the page…ie: a circle, a heart, a square, etc.

154. Twenty-One: Write about your 21st birthday.

155. Aromatherapy: Write about scents you just absolutely love.

156. Swish, Buzz, Pop : Create a poem that uses Onomatopoeia .

157. What Time is It? Write about the time of day it is right now. What are people doing? What do you usually do at this time each day?

158. Party Animal: Have you ever gone to a party you didn’t want to leave? Or do you hate parties? Write about it!

159: Miss Manners : Use the words “please” and “thank you” in your writing.

160. Cliche: Choose a common cliche, then write something that says the same thing but without using the catch phrase.

161. Eco-friendly : Write about going green or an environmental concern you have.

162. Missing You: Write about someone you miss.

163. Set it Free: Think of a time when you had to let someone or something go to be free…did they come back?

164: Left Out : Write about a time when you’ve felt left out or you’ve noticed someone else feeling as if they didn’t belong.

165. Suitcase: Write about packing for a trip or unpacking from when you arrive home.

166. Fantasy : Write about fairies, gnomes, elves, or other mythical creatures.

167. Give and Receive : Write about giving and receiving.

168. Baker’s Dozen: Imagine the scents and sights of a bakery and write.

169. Treehouse: Write about your own secret treehouse hideaway.

170. Risk: Write about taking a gamble on something.

171. Acrostic : Choose a word and write an acrostic poem where every line starts with a letter from the word.

172. Crossword Puzzle: Open up the newspaper or find a crossword puzzle online and choose one of the clues to use as inspiration for your writing.

173. Silver Lining : Write about the good that happens in a bad situation.

174. Gloves: Write about a pair of gloves – what kind of gloves are they? Who wears them and why?

175. All that Glitters: Write about a shiny object.

176. Jealousy: Write with a theme of envy and jealousy.

177. How Does Your Garden Grow? Write about a flower that grows in an unusual place.

178. Jury Duty : Write a short story or poem that takes place in a courtroom.

179. Gifts: Write about a gift you have given or received.

180. Running: Write about running away from someone or something.

181. Discovery: Think of something you’ve recently discovered and use it as inspiration.

182. Complain: Write about your complaints about something.

183. Gratitude: Write a poem or journal entry that is all about things you are thankful for.

184. Chemistry: Choose an element and write a poem or story that uses that word in one of the lines.

185. Applause: Write about giving someone a standing ovation.

186. Old Endings Into New Beginnings: Take an old poem, story, or journal entry of yours and use the last line and make it the first line of your writing today.

187. Longing: Write about something you very much want to do.

188. I Am: Write a motivational poem or journal entry about positive traits that make you who you are.

189. Rainbow : What is at the end of a rainbow? Or, take a cue from Kermit the Frog, and ask yourself, why are there so many songs about rainbows?

190. Museum: Take some time to visit a nearby museum with your journal. Write about one of the pieces that speaks to you.

191. Cartoon: Think of your favorite cartoon or comic. Write a poem or story that takes place in that setting.

192. Copycat: Borrow a line from a famous public domain poem to craft your own.

193. From the Roof-tops: Imagine you could stand on a rooftop and broadcast a message to everyone below – what would you say?

194. Time Travel: If there was a time period you could visit for a day, where would you go? Write about traveling back in time to that day.

195. Changing Places: Imagine living the day as someone else.

196. Neighborhood: Write about your favorite place in your neighborhood to visit and hang out at.

197. Pirates: Write about a pirate ship.

198. Interview : Write based on a recent interview you’ve read or seen on TV or heard on the radio.

199. Hiding Spaces : Write about places you like to hide things at. What was a favorite hiding spot for you as a child playing hide-and-seek?

200. Extreme Makeover: Imagine how life might be different if you could change your hair color or clothing into something completely opposite from your current style.

201. Empathy: Write about your feelings of empathy or compassion for another person.

202. Opposites: Write a poem or story that ties in together two opposites.

203. Boredom: Write about being bored or make a list of different ways to entertain yourself.

204. Strength : Think of a time when you’ve been physically or emotionally strong and use that as inspiration.

205. Hunger: Write from the perspective of someone with no money to buy food.

206. Greed: Write about someone who always wants more – whether it be money, power, etc. etc.

207. Volcano: Write about an eruption of a volcano.

208. Video Inspiration : Go to Vimeo.com or YouTube.com and watch one of the videos featured on the homepage. Write something based on what you watch.

209. Sneeze: Write about things that make you sneeze.

210. Footsteps on the Moon: Write about the possibility of life in outer-space.

211: Star-crossed: Write a short modern version of the story of Romeo and Juliet or think of real-life examples of lovers who are not allowed to be together to use as inspiration for your writing.

212. Font-tastic: Choose a unique font and type out a poem, story or journal entry using that font.

213. Schedule: Take a look at your calendar and use the schedule for inspiration in writing.

214. Grandparents: Write about a moment in your grandparent’s life.

215. Collage: Go through a magazine and cut out words that grab your attention. Use these words to construct a poem or as a story starter or inspiration for your journal.

216. Oh so Lonely: Write a poem about what you do when you are alone – do you feel lonely or do you enjoy your own company?

217. Waterfall: Think of a waterfall you’ve seen in person or spend some time browsing photos of waterfalls online. Write about the movement, flow, and energy.

218. First Kiss: Write about your first kiss.

219. So Ironic: Write about an ironic situation you’ve been in throughout your life.

220. Limerick: Write a limerick today.

221. Grocery Shopping: Write about an experience at the grocery store.

222. Fashion : Go through a fashion magazine or browse fashion websites online and write about a style you love.

223. So Close: Write about coming close to reaching a goal.

224. Drinks on Me: Write a poem or short story that takes place at a bar.

225. Online Friends: Write an ode to someone online you’ve met and become friends with.

226. Admiration: Is there someone you admire? Write about those feelings.

227. Trash Day: Write from the perspective of a garbage collector.

228. Mailbox: Open your mailbox and write something inspired by one of the pieces of mail you received.

229. Fresh & Clean: Write about how you feel after you take a shower.

230. Energized: Write about how you feel when you’re either at a high or low energy level for the day.

231. Rhyme & No Reason: Make up a silly rhyming poem using made up words.

232. Tech Support: Use computers or a conversation with tech support you’ve had as inspiration.

233. Hotel: Write from the perspective of someone who works at a hotel or staying at a hotel.

234. Underwater: Write about sea creatures and under water life. What’s under the surface of the ocean? What adventures might be waiting?

235. Breathing: Take a few minutes to do some deep breathing relaxation techniques. Once your mind is clear, just write the first few things that you think of.

236. Liar, Liar: Make up a poem or story of complete lies about yourself or someone else.

237. Obituaries: Look at the recent obituaries online or in the newspaper and imagine the life of someone and write about that person.

238. Pocket: Rummage through your pockets and write about what you keep or find in your pockets.

239. Cinquain: Write a cinquain poem, which consists of 5 lines that do not rhyme.

240. Alphabetical: Write a poem that has every letter of the alphabet in it.

241. Comedy Club: Write something inspired by a comedian.

242. Cheater: Write about someone who is unfaithful.

243. Sestina: Give a try to writing a sestina poem.

244. Fight: Write about witnessing two people get in an argument with each other.

245. Social Network : Visit your favorite Social Networking website (ie: Facebook, Pinterest, Google, Twitter, etc.) and write a about a post you see there.

246. Peaceful: Write about something peaceful and serene.

247. In the Clouds: Go cloud watching for the day and write about what you imagine in the clouds.

248. At the Park: Take some time to sit on a park bench and write about the sights, scenes, and senses and emotions you experience.

249. Sonnet: Write a sonnet today.

250. Should, Would, And Could: Write a poem or story using the words should, would, and could.

251. How to: Write directions on how to do something.

252. Alliteration: Use alliteration in your poem or in a sentence in a story.

253. Poker Face: Write about playing a card game.

254. Timer: Set a timer for 5 minutes and just write. Don’t worry about it making sense or being perfect.

255. Dance: Write about a dancer or a time you remember dancing.

256. Write for a Cause: Write a poem or essay that raises awareness for a cause you support.

257. Magic : Write about a magician or magic trick.

258. Out of the Box: Imagine finding a box. Write about opening it and what’s inside.

259. Under the Influence: What is something has impacted you positively in your life?

260. Forgotten Toy : Write from the perspective a forgotten or lost toy.

261. Rocks and Gems: Write about a rock or gemstone meaning.

262. Remote Control: Imagine you can fast forward and rewind your life with a remote control.

263. Symbolism: Think of objects, animals, etc. that have symbolic meaning to you. Write about it.

264. Light at the End of the Tunnel: Write about a time when you saw hope when it seemed like a hopeless situation.

265. Smoke and Fire : “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.” Use this saying as inspiration to write!

266. Railroad: Write about a train and its cargo or passengers.

267. Clipboard: Write about words you imagine on an office clipboard.

268. Shipwrecked: Write about being stranded somewhere – an island, a bus stop, etc.

269. Quotable: Use a popular quote from a speaker and use it as inspiration for your writing.

270. Mind Map it Out: Create a mind map of words, phrases, and ideas that pop into your head or spend some time browsing the many mind maps online. Write a poem, story, or journal entry inspired by the mind map.

271. Patterns : Write about repeating patterns that occur in life.

272. Scrapbook : Write about finding a scrapbook and the memories it contains.

273. Cure: Write about finding a cure for an illness.

274. Email Subject Lines: Read your email today and look for subject lines that may be good starters for writing inspiration.

275. Wishful Thinking: Write about a wish you have.

276. Doodle : Spend some time today doodling for about 5-10 minutes. Write about the thoughts you had while doodling or create something inspired by your finished doodle.

277. Chalkboard: Imagine you are in a classroom. What does it say on the chalkboard?

278. Sticky: Imagine a situation that’s very sticky, maybe even covered in maple syrup, tape or glue. Write about it!

279. Flashlight : Imagine going somewhere very dark with only a flashlight to guide you.

280. A Far Away Place : Envision yourself traveling to a fictional place, what do you experience in your imaginary journey?

281. On the Farm : Write about being in a country or rural setting.

282. Promise to Yourself: Write about a promise you want to make to yourself and keep.

283. Brick Wall : Write a poem that is about a brick wall – whether literal or figurative.

284. Making a Choice: Write about a time when you had to make a difficult choice.

285. Repeat: Write about a time when you’ve had to repeat yourself or a time when it felt like no one was listening.

286. Outcast : Write about someone who is not accepted by their peers. (for example, the Ugly Ducking)

287. Scary Monsters: Write about a scary (or not-so-scary) monster in your closet or under the bed.

288. Sacrifice: Write about something you’ve sacrificed doing to do something else or help another person.

289. Imperfection: Create a poem that highlights the beauty in being flawed.

290. Birthday Poem: Write a poem inspired by birthdays.

291. Title First : Make a list of potential poem or story titles and choose one to write from.

292. Job Interview : Write about going on a job interview.

293. Get Well : Write a poem that will help someone who is sick feel better quick!

294. Lost in the Crowd: Write about feeling lost in the crowd.

295. Apple a Day: Write about a health topic that interests you.

296. Cravings: Write about craving something.

297. Phobia: Research some common phobias, choose one, and write about it.

298. In the Moment: Write about living in the present moment.

299. Concrete : Write about walking down a sidewalk and what you see and experience.

300. Battle: Write about an epic battle, whether real, fictional or figurative.

301. This Old House : Write about an old house that is abandoned or being renovated.

302. Clutter: Is there a cluttered spot in your home? Go through some of that clutter today and write about what you find or the process of organizing.

303. Go Fly a Kite: Write about flying a kite.

304. On the TV: Flip to a random TV channel and write about the first thing that comes on – even if it is an infomercial!

305. Fruit: Write an ode to your favorite fruit.

306. Long Distance Love: Write about a couple that is separated by distance.

307. Glasses: Write about a pair of eyeglasses or someone wearing glasses.

308. Robotic : Write about a robot.

309. Cute as a Button: Write about something you think is just adorable.

310. Movie Conversation: Use a memorable conversation from a favorite movie to inspire your writing.

311. Easy-Peasy : Write about doing something effortlessly.

312. Idiom: Choose from a list of idioms one that speaks to you and create a poem around that saying or phrase. (Ie: It is raining cats and dogs)

313. Playground: Whether it is the swings or the sandbox or the sliding boards, write about your memories of being on a playground.

314. Romance: Write about romantic things partners can do for each other.

315. Rock Star: Imagine you are a famous rock star. Write about the experience.

316. Come to Life: Imagine ordinary objects have come to life. Write about what they do and say.

317. Airplane: Write about meeting someone on an airplane and a conversation you might have.

318. Health & Beauty: Take some time to peruse your medicine cabinet or the health and beauty aisles at a local store. Write a poem, short story, or journal entry inspired by a product label.

319. Determination: Write about not giving up.

320. Instrumental Inspiration: Listen to some instrumental music and write a poem that matches the mood, beat, and style of the music.

321. Wait Your Turn: Write about having to wait in line.

322. Personality Type : Do you know your personality type? (There are many free quizzes online) – write about what type of personality traits you have.

323. Decade: Choose a favorite decade and write about it. (IE: 1980’s or 1950’s for example)

324. I Believe: Write your personal credo of things you believe in.

325. Lost and Found: Write about a lost object.

326. Say it: Write a poem or story that uses dialogue between two people.

327. The Unsent Letter: Write about a letter that never made it to its recipient.

328. The Windows of the Soul: Write a poem about the story that is told through someone’s eyes.

329. Trial and Error: Write about something you learned the hard way.

330. Escape : Write about where you like to go to escape from it all.

331. What’s Cooking: Write something inspired a favorite food or recipe.

332. Records : Go through your file box and pull out old receipts or records…write something inspired by what you find!

333. Banking: Write about visiting the bank.

334. Sweet Talk: Write about trying to convince someone of something.

335. Serendipity: Write about something that happened by chance in a positive way.

336. Distractions: Write about how it feels when you can’t focus.

337. Corporation: Write about big business.

338. Word of the Day: Go to a dictionary website that has a word of the day and use it in a poem, story or journal entry you write.

339. Pick Me Up: What do you do when you need a pick me up?

340. Unfinished: Write about a project you started but never completed.

341. Forgiveness: Write about a time when someone forgave you or you forgave someone.

342. Weakness: Write about your greatest weakness.

343. Starting: Write about starting a project.

344. Mechanical: Think of gears, moving parts, machines.

345. Random Act of Kindness : Write about a random act of kindness you’ve done for someone or someone has done for you, no matter how small or insignificant it may have seemed.

346. Underground: Imagine living in a home underground and use that as inspiration for writing.

347. Classic Rock: Pick a classic rock love ballad and rewrite it into a story or poem with a similar theme.

348. Night Owl : Write about staying up late at night.

349. Magnetic : Write about attraction to something or someone.

350. Teamwork: Write about working with a team towards a common goal.

351. Roller-coaster : Write about the ups and downs in life.

352. Motivational Poster: Look at some motivational posters online and write a poem or journal entry inspired by your favorite one.

353. Games: Write about the games people play – figuratively or literally.

354. Turning Point: Write about a point in life where things turned for the better or worse.

355. Spellbound: Write about a witch’s spell.

356. Anniversary: Write about the anniversary of a special date.

357. Gamble: Be inspired by a casino or lottery ticket.

358. Picnic: Write about going on a picnic.

359. Garage: Write about some random item you might find in a garage.

360. Review: Review your week, month, or year in a journal entry or poem format.

361. Detective: Write about a detective searching for clues or solving a mystery.

362. Camera: Take your camera for a walk and write based on one of the photographs you take.

363. Visiting : Write about visiting a family member or friend.

364. Trust: Write about putting trust in someone.

365. Congratulations : Did you write a poem, short story, or journal entry every day for a whole year? Write about what you’ve learned and celebrate your achievement!

We hope you enjoy these creative writing prompts! And of course, if you write anything using these prompts, we’d love to know about it! Tell us how you’ll use these everyday creative writing prompts in the comments section below!

And of course, if you’d like the printable ad-free version of these prompts to reference again and again or to use in your classroom, you can find them at our Etsy shop !

Chelle Stein wrote her first embarrassingly bad novel at the age of 14 and hasn't stopped writing since. As the founder of ThinkWritten, she enjoys encouraging writers and creatives of all types.

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191 comments.

I have been on a reading binge since being on vacation from school. By rereading Little House, Anne of Green Gables, and Little Women among others, one wonders about writing a book. I stumbled across this while looking up unit supplements for my kiddos, and thought, hey, write a page a day and see what happens! Thank you for this collection of prompts! I’ve linked back to this page several times so others can try their hand at writing. Thank you again!

The Flicker, The Teeth, and A Warehouse in the Dark (the warehouse prompt)

I am in a large abandoned warehouse with a flickering light The only light in the whole room. It flickered leaving me in temporal darkness It flickered again and as it was dark I swore I saw something glowing It looked like glowing teeth The lights return and I see nothing Flickers on Flickers off I see the teeth closer Flickers on I see nothing Flickers off The teeth so close Flickers on An empty warehouse Flickers off The glowing teeth are inchings away bright red blood drips from their tips Flickers on Panic rises in my chest but nothing is there Turns off The mouth of bloody teeth is before my eyes I wait for the light to flicker back on I wait in complete darkness I wait And wait And wait The teeth open wide I try to scream by the darkness swallows it A hear the crunch of my bones I see my blood pore down my chest But I wait in darkness for the pain I wait And wait And wait The mouth of teeth devours my lower half I wait for pain and death I wait And wait And wait The light flickers on I see no monster Only my morphed body And blood And blood And blood And so much blood The light flickers off The monster eats my arm Flickers on I wait for pain Flickers off I watch as the creature eats my limbs Flickers on I wait for death Flickers off Slowly the teeth eat my head All I see is dark I wait for it to flicker on Where is the warehouse light? Where is the only light in the room? Where is the flicker? Where am I? Where are the bloody teeth? I wait for the light to come back And wait And wait And wait And wait And wait And wait And wait in eternal darkness

WOW. Thank you!

This is such a helpful tool! I’ve learned a lot about my self through picking a random prompt and writing the first thing that comes to mind. I’d love to see a follow up list of possible! Definitely a recomended sight!

I agree. Very helpful.

I am new at the blogging game. You have provided some wonderful ideas for blog posts. Great ideas just to get used to writing every day. Thanks

This list is really impressive and useful for those of us who are looking for good topics to blog about. Thanks!

Thank you! That somes in handy

Very nice list. Thanks for compiling and posting it. It’s not only good for bloggers, but poets, as well.

yess im using it for my new years resolution, which is to write a poem daily!

Wow, thanks so much for all these wonderful prompts! They are lots of fun and very helpful. I love how you’ve provided 365 of them–A prompt for every day of the year! 🙂

Not if it’s a leap year…

Haha. Yea. This is great though all the same.. ;-;

Lol actually there’s 364 days in a year and 365 in a leap year so……yeah

are you fucking stupid

There are actually 366 days in a leap year so… yeah

I use this for my homeschooling-I love it! Thank you so much!! This is a wonderful list. So creative! 🙂 🙂

Thanks! I’m preparing for writing every day next year and this will come in really handy. It’s just 364 writing prompts though. 164 is missing. 😉

MiMschi is wrong 164 is there i looked

I think they meant that as a joke, 164 is called left out…

Good it is useful

no its not you nonce

You Don’t Love Me, Damn You

things left unsaid

and then some

anger strangles the baby

in its crib,

flowers wilt,

rivers dry up

harsh words clatter upon the day,

echo unfortunately

till silence smothers

in its embrace

you wish you could take it back

what’s done is done

never to be undone

though things move on

part of you remains

locked in the middle of protesting

one last thing,

mouth open,

no words emerging

why must you be misunderstood?

why must everything you say

no way of straightening things out

gestures halted mid-air

an accusatory finger

shoulders locked

in sardonic shrug

dishes smash on the floor

spray of fragments

frozen mid-air

slam the door

it doesn’t open

but in spite of yourself

you turn and look

one last time…..

(Greg Cameron, Poem, Surrey, B.C., Canada)

Love these. Thank you!

This is really amazingly deep. I love it so much. You have so much talent!!

Thanks SOOO much for the prompts but I have another suggestion!

A Recipe for disaster- write a recipe for a disastrous camping trip…

that one sounds awesome.

Haha. Reminds me of the old twin’s show.. what was it.. where the two girls switch places when they meet at camp?

Pretty sure I know what you’re talking about. The Parent Trap, right? Never seen the whole movie, but it seems funny.

and also #309, everyone should have thought of a hamster “write” away XD!

May I have permission to use this list at my next Ozarks Chapter of the American Christian Writers meeting. Thank you for consideration.

Hi Leah, please send some more info here: https://thinkwritten.com/contact

i am using it for my homeschooling and i love it

i am using it for my homeschooling

where is prompt 165?

sorry I meant 164, my mistake.

well kay, there is a 164 AND 165. So your head is clearly ????????????

What I like most about these is how you can combine them and get really weird ideas. For example, empathy from the rooftops: what if you shouted something positive in public every day – or if everyone did so? It might be fun to try, and then write a diary about it. Online time travel: if people could live virtually in incredibly well=constructed versions of different time periods, what would the effects be on today’s society? Could it change our language or customs?

It would be cool if we could have goggles that showed places during a certain time period. Like Seattle 1989. And you could buy special plugins, like specific people you want to hang out with, famous or non.

That one about online time travel is crazy brilliant!!! And highly thought-provoking.

It is amazing what creative writing could do to you. Daily prompts have proven to be very inspiring and overtime writers develop their own style of writing depending on how passionate they are about it. I would love to write about all 3, online, space, and time travel. cheers! and Don’t stop writing!

I belong to a writing club. We seem to have a lot of prompts to use. I love stories having to do with rain. Would you join me. I am jim

Wow! Inspiration right here.

May I use this list for a speech at my Ozarks Chapter of the American Christian Writers?

Love the inspiration

THANK YOU. THAT IS ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS THANK YOU.

What about a leap year? You’re missing one topic.

Wonderful! I love writing and these prompts are very helpful. Thank you very much! ♥

It’s been really useful in getting me to write again! Thank you very much!

I really love the list of writing ideas you have compiled here. I will be using it and others to get myself back into writing every single day if I can be away with it. Also, I have noticed a few problems with this list. One is a repeat topic. Those are numbers 76 and 162. And you skipped a number. And have only 364 days of writing. Still through! All these ideas are absolutely amazing and awesome ideas! I commend you for putting it all together in an easy to read format too. Thank you so very much.

I think we have the list all fixed now, but thanks for catching a couple of early mistakes!

Thank you for helping me edit Lora! I don’t always have a second pair of eyes + appreciated this to fix + update the post! I always say my readers are my best editors. 🙂

these days get brighter, mine gets darker, why does it has to be me , why not life.

Mirror, Mirror: What if you mirror started talking to you?

u r awesome man

Wonderful compilation of ideas! I will send your blog along to my many Creative Writing students. I’m enjoying reading your posts.

wow!! great tips! but how long did it take you to write that? its a lot of words!! lol great stuff though..

This is so cool! I love these prompts and will definitely recommend some to my teacher!!

The promise “I made a promise with my best friend, I said i’d never break, Our personalities really did blend, But then I lied awake, The people disappearing, Her gaze was always leering. I never thought she was serious, I always took it as a joke, But it really made me curious, When she was digging around that oak, My best friend is a serial killer, And i knew the truth, My life turned into a thriller, And eating at me took away my youth, I couldn’t take it any long living with this weight, To the police I went to tell my tale, Looking at me with eyes of hate, she smiled and said, without her I would fail. Now i sit in the prison cell, Waiting for my call My friend across the room smiling, my eyes begin to swell, My neck snapping on the, from my sides my hands fall

Although my writing style is dark, that’s the way I enjoy writing, and thank you for this list, even though I didn’t do one per day, scrolling through I was able to see keywords that formed ideas in my mind

I love this <3 It's amazing :))

These are really nice I absolutely love them.

This is very helpful and I’ve been finding a way to help improve my creative writing!!! Thank you very much!

You are such a life developer, who can virtually transform a life busy with unnecessary activities humans are posted to through internet. And who can restore the appetite of people to purchase pen and paper which have considered the last commodity in the market at the expense of that great vampire ‘social media’ that left both old and young paralyzed. Thanks to the proponent of this great idea.

These are great. The Closed door one gives me a great idea for a new story! Thank you so much!

man what the fuck is this shit! i was looking for short story writing prompts and I get stuck with shit like “write about the weather outside”. Damn this shit is disappointing.

Hi John, the weather might seem boring, but there are a lot of ways you can springboard from that – maybe you write a story about a character who despises the sunshine or melts if they get rained on or they live in a underground tunnel and the house gets flooded…You can also use it as an exercise in developing more descriptive writing that shows, not tells for the scenes in your story. Writing about the weather seems “easy and boring” but seriously challenge yourself to write about it in a way that makes it interesting – it is not so easy to avoid the cliches as you might think!

I LOVE IT SO MUCH i do not know why but my kids, they will just like come on this website every time it is time to have a little bit of video games! XD

The weather outside that day was dark.

It was a perfectly reasonable sort of darkness. The kind of darkness you might get if you wake up an hour before sunrise. But it was late in the morning.

He had to make sure of that. He checked his alarm clock, his microwave oven clock, and his cell phone.

The sun was supposed to be out. But the moonlit sky was starlit and clear.

And as he looked outside again, he saw that people were out, going about their business, as if none of this really mattered at all.

What was he missing here?

(There. Now you have a short story writing prompt..)

You know what “John” i think this website is great so fuck you.

yeah you tell him john

It depends on how you view it. That one topic for instance has given me a beautiful story telling. I am currently about to round up with it and trust me the feedback has been amazing.

That is great! I’m glad it helped inspire you!

Dude kids go on here so stop swearing “John”

Maybe you need to work on improving the quality of your writing. Your use of expletives is totally uncalled for. I see nothing wrong with “writing about the weather outside”. In fact, this is a great topic and can lead to awesome discussions.

Very useful indeed. Thank u

i think this is a good prompted

I think it’s awesome, I looked for inspiration, I found inspiration, thank you

well! i fall in love with all these ideas! i loved this page! thanks for sharing these amazing ideas!

Great stuff mat Keep up the good work

I LOVE THIS SO MUCH IT IS VERY HELPFUL BUT FOR A SUGGESTION YOU COULD DO DIARY STUFF MAYBE

When I read your comment, I thought you said “DAIRY,” not “DIARY.”

So… why not both? Write something based on a dairy farmer’s diary. Or… a dairy COW’S diary. Tell their stories, their private dreams. Or hidden shame…

That’s the way to think + use this list 🙂

Great idea!

Awesome list! Thank you!

Thanks so much! I’ve always been told I’m a great writer and should publish. I haven’t done a lot of leisure writing because I’m afraid I might realize I’m NOT a good writer. My therapist wants me to write more and these prompts are perfect!

This is fun i will keep doing this no matter what every year. I can’t stop writing either. Thanks for making this, it is very fun.

This helps so much! love these ideas

Can this website give me a write on the following topic. –

Imagine that the scientists could replace the human brains with computers or invent the computers with human feelings. What do you think would happen?Would the world become a better place to live in???

I’ve been looking for prompts to work through my creative art/collage journal for 2017…and love the ones you offer here….LOVE THEM! I like that they are more than just one word and give me something to think about before I start creating each day as a warm up to what is ahead.

I hope don’t mind, but I shared them on both Instagram and my FaceBook page in hopes to get my artist/creative friends to follow along with me in creating each day. I would like to include a link to your page in a near future blog post about my creative journal.

Thank you for posting and sharing you prompts…I’m excited to get started!

I’m on number 43 and I’ve already discovered a whole bunch about myself! These prompts are amazing and I can’t wait for the next 322 of them. I’ve recommended this to several of my friends. Totally worth several notebooks chock full of prompts and a years worth of writing 🙂

Very inspiring….

Hello! Is it alright if I add some of these to a little book I’m making for my Grandmother? She hasn’t opened a computer in her life but I know these prompts would do her a world of good. I believe in the importance of asking permission to use the creative property of another person 🙂 Cheers!

Hi Maxx, of course you may share with your grandmother – the only thing we would worry about is if you were to publish them for monetary gain. Enjoy! 🙂

This is really helpful. I’m glad I saw it first. ♥

OMG!! I’ve never been in this website before!!

Thank u so much this was so helpful. Idk how u came up with all thoughts prompts. It was very helpful. Thank u again.

For the first time in a long time it finally felt like I knew was going to happen next. I was gazing into her eyes and she was gazing back. I remember it like it was just yesterday, when she was still the one for me but never forgave me. I miss the sweet sound of her laughter and now all i hear are friends. I have tried to go back and apologize to her just to see if the answer will change but even I know that it will never change because I will never be enough for her. But if she ever decides that she wants me back she can have me because a life without love is one not worth living.

gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood

can u give me one using the prompt “normal”

Thanks for this!!!!! Will definitely help me in learning to tap into my creative writing genius 🙂

Thanks, this helped me a lot!

u have a typo!!!! 364

Thanks for pointing out, got it fixed 🙂 Sometimes my brain goes faster than the computer. 🙂

I wrote this, tell me what you think; prompt #4-dancing You see her tapping her toes, always listening to music. Although she doesn’t like the music, what she doesn’t know yet is it will be stuck in her head for the next year. She’s as graceful as a butterfly yet as strong as a fighter. Many only see a pretty face yet those close enough to the fire know the passion burning deep inside of her. At home she’s quiet, always in her room yet making loud noises through the floorboards. Her parents know what she’s up to but her little brothers don’t quite understand yet. All they know is that when she goes up there she’s listening to music and soon she will play it for the whole neighborhood to hear. They don’t know that she’s practicing, practicing for the most important day of the year. The one she’s been waiting for since she’s been a little girl. Tapping her toes at the table only stops when her parents beg her to rest. Even in her dreams she on stage, dancing like a swan. Yet deep down she’s scared of the failure that she will feel if this one day goes a bit to south. Tapping her toes to the beat of her music gives her a bit of pip in her pep when she walks down the halls. No one quite understands the stress she’s going through. Through her smile she’s worries, scared that one misstep might end it all for her. But she won’t let anyone see that she’s nervous. She’s used to getting bruises, she falls on the ground but always gets back up. Because she’s a dancer, the show must go on.

Brilliant. Loved it.

Amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’m working on a site in Danish about writing and I would love to translate these awesome prompts into Danish and use it on the site. Would that be OK? I’ll credit with links of course!

Hi Camilla, you cannot copy + post these on your site, but feel free to link to the article – our site is compatible with Google translate 🙂

Hi Camilla, this list cannot be republished, even if translated into another language. However, if you would like to link to our website that would be great, your readers are able to translate it into any language if they use a web browser such as Google Chrome.

My goal is to write all of these prompts before 2018

This is amazing! I am writing for fun and this is a list of amazing prompts!

Ha, Ha . I see what you did , #164 was missing and now it say write about being left out .

Thanks a ton !!!

This link has been really helpful for my blog, loved the ideas.

Thanks for not publishing my email address

You are welcome! We never publish email addresses. If you’d like to learn more about how we collect and use information you may provide us with on this website, you can read more on our privacy policy page. Hope that helps! https://thinkwritten.com/privacy/

I have another suggestion, What about “The Secret Journey to the Unknown”. I reckon it’s awesome!

I was wondering if you could please send new ideas to me, much appreciated thanks.

I love all of these so much and i try to write referring to these at least once everyday thank you so much for these!

Trust, It is a beautiful thing. You give it to others, For them to protect. They can keep it forever, Or they can destroy it.

Wow what a treasure! Am glad I have found the right place to begging my writing journey.Thanks guys

Super awesome! Thanks so much for this collection of writing prompts!!

Today is the last day of the year 2017. I’m proud to say that I was able to complete this challenge. Thank you for the inspiring prompts! 🙂

That is awesome! We might just have to think of some new ones!!

how about one with sports like the NBA

I thought my life was over when I couldn’t access this for a couple weeks. These prompts are excellent. I write two page short stories on one every day. I hope you guys never take down this site but I’m printing these for insurance because it truly was devastating. I’m very emotionally attached to this list. Thank you so much for sharing.

Yes, we did have a small glitch in our hosting services for a few days! Fortunately, it was only temporary and unexpected! {Though I’m sure it did feel like 2 weeks!} Good to hear you are using the prompts!

Very nice article. Very useful one for improving writing skills

Thank you Sid! Glad it is useful for you!

Oh my god.. This is something a different, thought provoking and a yardstick to those who cultivated passion on writing, like me, beginners. Wishes for this website. I really wanted to try this 365 days of writing. Thanks in tons.

Glad you find it helpful! I hope it keeps you inspired to keep growing as a writer!

i love writing too! i am writing a book and this website inspired me too!

i have been writing lots of things and am getting A + on writing

thxs for your time with the web

i am making a epic book. it is because of this website. you really help. i will share a link of my book once i am done with it to your awesome cool really helpful website! thank you for your time

That is great to hear Christopher! Would love to see some of your work when you are ready to share! 🙂

WOOOOOOOOW BEST SITE!

I’m going to write few marvelous essays based on ideas in your impressive list. Thanks!

Just to tell some people that 165 or 164 is not missing because some people probably can’t see but just to let u know that 164 is a prompt called “Left Out”

Dang. The second idea about writing about what it feels like to love someone who doesn’t love you back, I wrote something like that BEFORE I found this website.

You can always try writing it again, maybe from the other person’s perspective this time? That is the beauty of the open-ended writing prompts – you can always interpret them in a way to push and challenge you as a writer!

Thank you for these prompts! I enjoyed looking through them and writing them! They gave me great ideas and inspired me so much.

This is my favorite website to find inspiration to write. I had run out of ideas and i had a huge writers block but this made it all go away. Here’s something i wrote:

He is a mess She is beautiful He has tears streaming down his face She glides across the room as if it were her kingdom And she’s The reigning queen He’s curled up in a ball In the corner of the room He looks at me I wonder what he thinks I can’t take my eyes off her The way she subtly smiles when she realizes Someone is looking She seems to be happy all the time But I can see through the smile It’s my first time noticing It’s not complete That was the first time I wanted to say hi But I thought Why would he look at me? The nerd with all the answers in her head All the books in her hands And Her sleeves full of hearts She looked at me From the corner of her eye She saw me looking The boy with the tear stains She saw me His tears were no longer streaming He had finally stood up Tall and handsome As he is Eyes Bluer than the blue jay that sat outside my bedroom window She had opened a book and started reading She hadn’t changed pages for a while Safe to assume She was distracted She looked up and Without knowing I was in front of her “Hi” Her brown eyes Stared in to my soul Erased the memory of why the tears Were streaming in the first place “Hi”

I love it Cynthia, thank you for sharing and glad that it inspired you to keep writing! 🙂

Thank you for so many amazing ideas! I love the sound of mirror, mirror!

Glad you found it inspiring Ar!

read the whole thing and didn’t find anything I’d enjoy writing 🙁

What kinds of things do you like to write? We have a whole collection of additional writing prompts lists here. Sometimes challenging yourself to write something you don’t like all in its own can be a good exercise for writing. Hope that helps!

These are ingenious!

I love these prompts! They’re inspiring! I’ve chosen to challenge myself by using one of these prompts every day of this 2019 year. I posted my writings for the first prompt on my Tumblr and Facebook pages with the prompt and a link back to this article- I hope that’s alright. If not, I can take it down, or I would love to discuss a way I could continue to do this. I hope more people can see and use these prompts because I have already found joy in using the first one.

Hi Elizabeth! Glad you are enjoying the prompts! You can definitely post what you write with these prompts as long as you do not copy the entire list or claim them as your own. Linking back to our website or this post will help others find the prompts so they too can use them for writing! If you have any questions feel free to contact us anytime using our contact form. Thanks!

Amazing original prompts Thank you so much!

Good list, but you’re not supposed to mistake it’s for its. Not on a website for writers, of all places!

I appreciate your comment, especially because after triple checking the article AND having a few grammar-police personality type friends do the same we could not find any typos. All of the instances of its and it’s are the correct usage.

However, one thing we did remember is that it is very easy for the person reading to accidentally misunderstand and not interpret it the way as the writer intended.

To clarify when we should use it’s vs. its:

We use it’s when we intend the meaning as the contraction. This is a shortened way of writing it is . We use its without an apostrophe when we use it as a possessive noun. Any instances you may note here are correct for their intended meaning.

Some examples:

Prompt #141 It’s a Sign : In this case we intend it to be interpreted as IT IS a Sign , where the usage is a contraction.

Prompt #7 The Rocket Ship : In this case we intend it to be interpreted as the possessive form.

I hope that helps clear up any possible confusion for you!

Thank you soooo much! That helped me a lot!

You’re welcome Keira! Glad you enjoyed our list of writing ideas!

It is so rich in bright and thought-provoking ideas. Thank you so much. Get inspired to have more, please

Thanks for this. I love to write things like this. Some of these though, weren’t as interesting as I wanted it to be, not saying that they aren’t interesting. I like the help you’ve added in, such as being led into a dark room with only a flashlight to help so it gets us started. Great job!

Thanks Maya, I’m glad you like the prompts. Sometimes the prompts that seem boring are the best ones to help you practice your skills as a writer to make them interesting topics. Some of the best writers can make the most mundane topics fun!

Nice….I don’t think I’ll ever lack something to write on … I so appreciate your ideas ..,they are great

Thank you, glad you enjoyed them!

Thank you for providing these writing prompts! They are great!

Thank You so much, these are amazing to start of with to get the creative juices flowing

Thank you very much

Sweet! Thank you so much! I plan to use some of these for some creative writing on CourageousChristianFather.com

I’m glad they inspired you Steve! I always love seeing what everyone writes with these prompts – I really enjoyed your post about the cookie ad jingle! 🙂

Thanks so much for this list. I needed something to kickstart my writing. This is exactly what I’ve been looking for! I just wrote #1. WooHoo!!

Thank you for your list. This is great!

I write feature articles for our church library’s monthly newsletter. Perusing this list has helped me come up with a couple dozen ideas to consider for future issues! Thanks much for putting this together – it is being used beyond the scope of what you intended, I think!

That’s wonderful Debbie! There are so many ways to apply these prompts to any sort of project – thank you for sharing how you are using them!

Thanks for your prompts, an idea I have for a prompt is write a story based on your favorite story for example I’m writing a fantasy book based on the game dungeons and dragons…

i guss its ok

cgv hbvkd vjvhsvhivhcickbcjh

Just needed to ask: I’d like to think these prompts are for free writing with no pauses? But, does one edit and polish the piece after that? I keep reading about writing every day…like brain dumping. But, there is never a mention of what one does with the piece after that??

This article has been written with sheer intelligence. Such 365 creative writing prompts has been written here. This article is worth marking as Good. I like how you have researched and presented these exact points so clearly.

Thank you for this list! You’ve inspired me to take up the challenge, though I haven’t written anything in years!

I have even created a blog to post my ideas, and keep myself accountable. I hope this is okay, I will credit, and provide a link back to this page on each post. https://thefishhavegotitright.blogspot.com/

I love it Ariadne, I’ll definitely come check out your site! Keep at it!

This is really Helpful thanks I love it😊

I never knew how much I had to write about. This should definitely keep me busy! Thank you so much for the list.

Hi! I saw a note saying this had been updated for 2020. I was curious if there are plans to update it for 2021. If so, when would the 2021-updated list become available?

Hi Gabrielle, I am not sure when we will next update this list, but feel free to check out some of our other writing prompts lists if you’ve exhausted this one! Writing Prompts for Kids {which is for grown-ups too!} and Poetry Writing Prompts are two great ones to check out. Hope that helps!

Loved this a lot! I would like to ask permission for using these prompts for my poetry and stories page on Instagram. Kindly let me know if I can use these and let my followers write on them too.

Hi, Piyusha, I’m just a user of the site like you, so I’m not “official”. But if you hit CTRL + F in your browser, that should open the “Find” dialog. Search on “Camilla”, and that will take you to a post and response concerning your request. Have a great and productive writing day. K. B. Tidwell

very informative thank you

I have always had problems finding something to write about. My problem is solved🥰 Thank you

I love this

Oh great. Good for everyone who enjoys picking the pen and writing something readable

tell your stories, love your life

Writing Inspiration
Semi-Charmed Life
Reading & Research

Master List for Describing Weather

A lot of writers struggle with describing settings. I’ve written before about how to describe settings and why it matters , but a few people have told me they’d like me to do some of my master lists for writers to help them out!

I have a weird love for creating lists like this, so I’m happy to do it. “How to describe weather” seemed like a good place to start. This way, you won’t get stuck trying to figure out how to describe nice weather, or thinking up ways to describe rain. Hopefully, this will make your writing go faster.

I always include simple as well as more creative ways to describe or write about weather. Sometimes, the simple word is the one you want! I included dryness and humidity in a few of the categories because it felt weird for them to get their own.

As always, this is not a comprehensive list, and I might add to it. My list will probably make you think of other possibilities, too. Bookmark or pin it for future writing reference!

HOT WEATHER

blazing sunshine

glaring sun

baking in the sun

sun-drenched

scorching heat

extravagant heat

relentless sun

like a suana

dense tropical heat

radiating heat

blistering heat

oppressive heat

insufferable heat

suffocating heat

heat pressing down

searing sun

shimmering heat

like an oven

like a furnace

WARM / PLEASANT WEATHER

(“Pleasant” is a matter of opinion, of course.)

a beautiful day

a clear day

a temperate day

a golden day

a glorious day

heavenly weather

bright and sunny

a gorgeous spring day

a dazzling summer day

a brilliant autumn day

a vivid blue sky

a cloudless sky

fluffy white clouds

gentle sunshine

lazy sunshine

kind sunshine

filtered sunlight

dappled sunlight

welcome warmth

one of those rare, perfect days

the kind of day that made people forget to worry

the kind of day that lifted people’s moods

COOL WEATHER

refreshing air

stimulating cool air

invigorating cool air

bracing cool air

a nip in the air

a brisk day

a chilly day

weak sunshine

GRAY / OVERCAST WEATHER

(Most people don’t like gray days, so most of these descriptions are negative. I love them, so I had to add a few positive descriptions.)

colorless sky

a soft gray sky

a dove-gray sky

a gray day made for books and tea

steel-gray sky

granite sky

cement-gray sky

threatening clouds

foreboding clouds

COLD WEATHER

glacial air

bitter cold

brutal cold

bone-chilling cold

penetrating cold

devastating cold

numbing cold

punishing cold

dangerous cold

unforgiving cold

too cold to talk

so cold it burned one’s lungs

so cold it took one’s breath away

like a blast from a hair dryer

a gust of wind

insistent winds

heavy winds

strong winds

cutting wind

whipping winds

biting wind

wintry squall

violent gale

howling wind

shifting winds

restless wind

fresh breeze

soft breeze

balmy breeze

perfumed breeze

slight breeze

hint of a breeze

stirring breeze

wind rustling through the trees

fine drizzle

gray drizzle

pebbles of falling rain

spitting rain

stinging rain

steady rain

rain falling in torrents

cascades of rain

rain beating down

shower of rain

sheets of rain

hard-driving rain

pelting rain

lashing rain

slashing rain

THUNDER AND LIGHTNING

rumbling in the distance

a roll of distant thunder

crash of thunder

crackle of thunder

crack of thunder

clap of thunder

bang of thunder

booming thunder

rattled with thunder

earth-shaking thunder

tempestuous

a furious storm

flash of lightning

streaks of lightning

SNOW AND ICE

flurries of snow

dancing flakes

snowflakes floating down

snowflakes wafting down

swirling snow

falling thick and fast

big flakes falling like petals

blinding snowstorm

raging blizzard

sparkling expanses

blankets of white

caked with snow

boulders of snow

branches coated in ice

glittering ice

crystallized by frost

silvered with frost

clouds of mist

swirling mist

billowing fog

cloaked in mist

cocooned in fog

shrouded in fog

enveloped by fog

smothered by fog

made mysterious by fog

the fog rolled in

the fog was burning off

the fog was lifting

the fog was clearing

the fog was dissipating

I have many lists like this in my book Master Lists for Writers: Thesauruses, Plots, Character Traits, Names, and More . Check it out!

Master Lists for Writers by Bryn Donovan

Do you describe weather conditions in your writing? Do you have a favorite example of a weather description? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading, and happy writing!

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How To Describe Settings – and Why It Matters #how to write more descriptively #how to describe scenery in writing #how to make a novel longer

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What Is Creative Writing? (Ultimate Guide + 20 Examples)

Creative writing begins with a blank page and the courage to fill it with the stories only you can tell.

I face this intimidating blank page daily–and I have for the better part of 20+ years.

In this guide, you’ll learn all the ins and outs of creative writing with tons of examples.

What Is Creative Writing (Long Description)?

Creative Writing is the art of using words to express ideas and emotions in imaginative ways. It encompasses various forms including novels, poetry, and plays, focusing on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary tropes.

Bright, colorful creative writer's desk with notebook and typewriter -- What Is Creative Writing

Table of Contents

Let’s expand on that definition a bit.

Creative writing is an art form that transcends traditional literature boundaries.

It includes professional, journalistic, academic, and technical writing. This type of writing emphasizes narrative craft, character development, and literary tropes. It also explores poetry and poetics traditions.

In essence, creative writing lets you express ideas and emotions uniquely and imaginatively.

It’s about the freedom to invent worlds, characters, and stories. These creations evoke a spectrum of emotions in readers.

Creative writing covers fiction, poetry, and everything in between.

It allows writers to express inner thoughts and feelings. Often, it reflects human experiences through a fabricated lens.

Types of Creative Writing

There are many types of creative writing that we need to explain.

Some of the most common types:

Short stories
Screenplays
Flash fiction
Creative Nonfiction

Short Stories (The Brief Escape)

Short stories are like narrative treasures.

They are compact but impactful, telling a full story within a limited word count. These tales often focus on a single character or a crucial moment.

Short stories are known for their brevity.

They deliver emotion and insight in a concise yet powerful package. This format is ideal for exploring diverse genres, themes, and characters. It leaves a lasting impression on readers.

Example: Emma discovers an old photo of her smiling grandmother. It’s a rarity. Through flashbacks, Emma learns about her grandmother’s wartime love story. She comes to understand her grandmother’s resilience and the value of joy.

Novels (The Long Journey)

Novels are extensive explorations of character, plot, and setting.

They span thousands of words, giving writers the space to create entire worlds. Novels can weave complex stories across various themes and timelines.

The length of a novel allows for deep narrative and character development.

Readers get an immersive experience.

Example: Across the Divide tells of two siblings separated in childhood. They grow up in different cultures. Their reunion highlights the strength of family bonds, despite distance and differences.

Poetry (The Soul’s Language)

Poetry expresses ideas and emotions through rhythm, sound, and word beauty.

It distills emotions and thoughts into verses. Poetry often uses metaphors, similes, and figurative language to reach the reader’s heart and mind.

Poetry ranges from structured forms, like sonnets, to free verse.

The latter breaks away from traditional formats for more expressive thought.

Example: Whispers of Dawn is a poem collection capturing morning’s quiet moments. “First Light” personifies dawn as a painter. It brings colors of hope and renewal to the world.

Plays (The Dramatic Dialogue)

Plays are meant for performance. They bring characters and conflicts to life through dialogue and action.

This format uniquely explores human relationships and societal issues.

Playwrights face the challenge of conveying setting, emotion, and plot through dialogue and directions.

Example: Echoes of Tomorrow is set in a dystopian future. Memories can be bought and sold. It follows siblings on a quest to retrieve their stolen memories. They learn the cost of living in a world where the past has a price.

Screenplays (Cinema’s Blueprint)

Screenplays outline narratives for films and TV shows.

They require an understanding of visual storytelling, pacing, and dialogue. Screenplays must fit film production constraints.

Example: The Last Light is a screenplay for a sci-fi film. Humanity’s survivors on a dying Earth seek a new planet. The story focuses on spacecraft Argo’s crew as they face mission challenges and internal dynamics.

Memoirs (The Personal Journey)

Memoirs provide insight into an author’s life, focusing on personal experiences and emotional journeys.

They differ from autobiographies by concentrating on specific themes or events.

Memoirs invite readers into the author’s world.

They share lessons learned and hardships overcome.

Example: Under the Mango Tree is a memoir by Maria Gomez. It shares her childhood memories in rural Colombia. The mango tree in their yard symbolizes home, growth, and nostalgia. Maria reflects on her journey to a new life in America.

Flash Fiction (The Quick Twist)

Flash fiction tells stories in under 1,000 words.

It’s about crafting compelling narratives concisely. Each word in flash fiction must count, often leading to a twist.

This format captures life’s vivid moments, delivering quick, impactful insights.

Example: The Last Message features an astronaut’s final Earth message as her spacecraft drifts away. In 500 words, it explores isolation, hope, and the desire to connect against all odds.

Creative Nonfiction (The Factual Tale)

Creative nonfiction combines factual accuracy with creative storytelling.

This genre covers real events, people, and places with a twist. It uses descriptive language and narrative arcs to make true stories engaging.

Creative nonfiction includes biographies, essays, and travelogues.

Example: Echoes of Everest follows the author’s Mount Everest climb. It mixes factual details with personal reflections and the history of past climbers. The narrative captures the climb’s beauty and challenges, offering an immersive experience.

Fantasy (The World Beyond)

Fantasy transports readers to magical and mythical worlds.

It explores themes like good vs. evil and heroism in unreal settings. Fantasy requires careful world-building to create believable yet fantastic realms.

Example: The Crystal of Azmar tells of a young girl destined to save her world from darkness. She learns she’s the last sorceress in a forgotten lineage. Her journey involves mastering powers, forming alliances, and uncovering ancient kingdom myths.

Science Fiction (The Future Imagined)

Science fiction delves into futuristic and scientific themes.

It questions the impact of advancements on society and individuals.

Science fiction ranges from speculative to hard sci-fi, focusing on plausible futures.

Example: When the Stars Whisper is set in a future where humanity communicates with distant galaxies. It centers on a scientist who finds an alien message. This discovery prompts a deep look at humanity’s universe role and interstellar communication.

Watch this great video that explores the question, “What is creative writing?” and “How to get started?”:

What Are the 5 Cs of Creative Writing?

The 5 Cs of creative writing are fundamental pillars.

They guide writers to produce compelling and impactful work. These principles—Clarity, Coherence, Conciseness, Creativity, and Consistency—help craft stories that engage and entertain.

They also resonate deeply with readers. Let’s explore each of these critical components.

Clarity makes your writing understandable and accessible.

It involves choosing the right words and constructing clear sentences. Your narrative should be easy to follow.

In creative writing, clarity means conveying complex ideas in a digestible and enjoyable way.

Coherence ensures your writing flows logically.

It’s crucial for maintaining the reader’s interest. Characters should develop believably, and plots should progress logically. This makes the narrative feel cohesive.

Conciseness

Conciseness is about expressing ideas succinctly.

It’s being economical with words and avoiding redundancy. This principle helps maintain pace and tension, engaging readers throughout the story.

Creativity is the heart of creative writing.

It allows writers to invent new worlds and create memorable characters. Creativity involves originality and imagination. It’s seeing the world in unique ways and sharing that vision.

Consistency

Consistency maintains a uniform tone, style, and voice.

It means being faithful to the world you’ve created. Characters should act true to their development. This builds trust with readers, making your story immersive and believable.

Is Creative Writing Easy?

Creative writing is both rewarding and challenging.

Crafting stories from your imagination involves more than just words on a page. It requires discipline and a deep understanding of language and narrative structure.

Exploring complex characters and themes is also key.

Refining and revising your work is crucial for developing your voice.

The ease of creative writing varies. Some find the freedom of expression liberating.

Others struggle with writer’s block or plot development challenges. However, practice and feedback make creative writing more fulfilling.

What Does a Creative Writer Do?

A creative writer weaves narratives that entertain, enlighten, and inspire.

Writers explore both the world they create and the emotions they wish to evoke. Their tasks are diverse, involving more than just writing.

Creative writers develop ideas, research, and plan their stories.

They create characters and outline plots with attention to detail. Drafting and revising their work is a significant part of their process. They strive for the 5 Cs of compelling writing.

Writers engage with the literary community, seeking feedback and participating in workshops.

They may navigate the publishing world with agents and editors.

Creative writers are storytellers, craftsmen, and artists. They bring narratives to life, enriching our lives and expanding our imaginations.

How to Get Started With Creative Writing?

Embarking on a creative writing journey can feel like standing at the edge of a vast and mysterious forest.

The path is not always clear, but the adventure is calling.

Here’s how to take your first steps into the world of creative writing:

Find a time of day when your mind is most alert and creative.
Create a comfortable writing space free from distractions.
Use prompts to spark your imagination. They can be as simple as a word, a phrase, or an image.
Try writing for 15-20 minutes on a prompt without editing yourself. Let the ideas flow freely.
Reading is fuel for your writing. Explore various genres and styles.
Pay attention to how your favorite authors construct their sentences, develop characters, and build their worlds.
Don’t pressure yourself to write a novel right away. Begin with short stories or poems.
Small projects can help you hone your skills and boost your confidence.
Look for writing groups in your area or online. These communities offer support, feedback, and motivation.
Participating in workshops or classes can also provide valuable insights into your writing.
Understand that your first draft is just the beginning. Revising your work is where the real magic happens.
Be open to feedback and willing to rework your pieces.
Carry a notebook or digital recorder to jot down ideas, observations, and snippets of conversations.
These notes can be gold mines for future writing projects.

Final Thoughts: What Is Creative Writing?

Creative writing is an invitation to explore the unknown, to give voice to the silenced, and to celebrate the human spirit in all its forms.

Check out these creative writing tools (that I highly recommend):

A Guide to Descriptive Writing

by Melissa Donovan | Jan 7, 2021 | Creative Writing | 8 comments

What is descriptive writing?

Writing description is a necessary skill for most writers. Whether we’re writing an essay, a story, or a poem, we usually reach a point where we need to describe something. In fiction, we describe settings and characters. In poetry, we describe scenes, experiences, and emotions. In creative nonfiction, we describe reality. Descriptive writing is especially important for speculative fiction writers and poets. If you’ve created a fantasy world, then you’ll need to deftly describe it to readers; Lewis Carroll not only described Wonderland (aff link); he also described the fantastical creatures that inhabited it.

But many writers are challenged by description writing, and many readers find it boring to read — when it’s not crafted skillfully.

However, I think it’s safe to say that technology has spoiled us. Thanks to photos and videos, we’ve become increasingly visual, which means it’s getting harder to use words to describe something, especially if it only exists in our imaginations.

What is Descriptive Writing?

One might say that descriptive writing is the art of painting a picture with words. But descriptive writing goes beyond visuals. Descriptive writing hits all the senses; we describe how things look, sound, smell, taste, and feel (their tactile quality).

The term descriptive writing can mean a few different things:

The act of writing description ( I’m doing some descriptive writing ).
A descriptive essay is short-form prose that is meant to describe something in detail; it can describe a person, place, event, object, or anything else.
Description as part of a larger work: This is the most common kind of descriptive writing. It is usually a sentence or paragraph (sometimes multiple paragraphs) that provide description, usually to help the reader visualize what’s happening, where it’s happening, or how it’s happening. It’s most commonly used to describe a setting or a character. An example would be a section of text within a novel that establishes the setting by describing a room or a passage that introduces a character with a physical description.
Writing that is descriptive (or vivid) — an author’s style: Some authors weave description throughout their prose and verse, interspersing it through the dialogue and action. It’s a style of writing that imparts description without using large blocks of text that are explicitly focused on description.
Description is integral in poetry writing. Poetry emphasizes imagery, and imagery is rendered in writing via description, so descriptive writing is a crucial skill for most poets.

Depending on what you write, you’ve probably experimented with one of more of these types of descriptive writing, maybe all of them.

Can you think of any other types of descriptive writing that aren’t listed here?

How Much Description is Too Much?

Classic literature was dense with description whereas modern literature usually keeps description to a minimum.

Compare the elaborate descriptions in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy with the descriptions in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series (aff links). Both series relied on description to help readers visualize an imagined, fantastical world, but Rowling did not use her precious writing space to describe standard settings whereas Tolkien frequently paused all action and spent pages describing a single landscape.

This isn’t unique to Tolkien and Rowling; if you compare most literature from the beginning of of the 20th century and earlier to today’s written works, you’ll see that we just don’t dedicate much time and space to description anymore.

I think this radical change in how we approach description is directly tied to the wide availability of film, television, and photography. Let’s say you were living in the 19th century, writing a story about a tropical island for an audience of northern, urban readers. You would be fairly certain that most of your readers had never seen such an island and had no idea what it looked like. To give your audience a full sense of your story’s setting, you’d need pages of detail describing the lush jungle, sandy beaches, and warm waters.

Nowadays, we all know what a tropical island looks like, thanks to the wide availability of media. Even if you’ve never been to such an island, surely you’ve seen one on TV. This might explain why few books on the craft of writing address descriptive writing. The focus is usually on other elements, like language, character, plot, theme, and structure.

For contemporary writers, the trick is to make the description as precise and detailed as possible while keeping it to a minimum. Most readers want characters and action with just enough description so that they can imagine the story as it’s unfolding.

If you’ve ever encountered a story that paused to provide head-to-toe descriptions along with detailed backstories of every character upon their introduction into the narrative, you know just how grating description can be when executed poorly.

However, it’s worth noting that a skilled writer can roll out descriptions that are riveting to read. Sometimes they’re riveting because they’re integrated seamlessly with the action and dialogue; other times, the description is deftly crafted and engaging on its own. In fact, an expert descriptive writer can keep readers glued through multiple pages of description.

Descriptive Writing Tips

I’ve encountered descriptive writing so smooth and seamless that I easily visualized what was happening without even noticing that I was reading description. Some authors craft descriptions that are so lovely, I do notice — but in a good way. Some of them are so compelling that I pause to read them again.

On the other hand, poorly crafted descriptions can really impede a reader’s experience. Description doesn’t work if it’s unclear, verbose, or bland. Most readers prefer action and dialogue to lengthy descriptions, so while a paragraph here and there can certainly help readers better visualize what’s happening, pages and pages of description can increase the risk that they’ll set your work aside and never pick it up again. There are exceptions to every rule, so the real trick is to know when lengthy descriptions are warranted and when they’re just boring.

Here are some general tips for descriptive writing:

Use distinct descriptions that stand out and are memorable. For example, don’t write that a character is five foot two with brown hair and blue eyes. Give the reader something to remember. Say the character is short with mousy hair and sky-blue eyes.
Make description active: Consider the following description of a room: There was a bookshelf in the corner. A desk sat under the window. The walls were beige, and the floor was tiled. That’s boring. Try something like this: A massive oak desk sat below a large picture window and beside a shelf overflowing with books. Hardcovers, paperbacks, and binders were piled on the dingy tiled floor in messy stacks. In the second example, words like overflowing and piled are active.
Weave description through the narrative: Sometimes a character enters a room and looks around, so the narrative needs to pause to describe what the character sees. Other times, description can be threaded through the narrative. For example, instead of pausing to describe a character, engage that character in dialogue with another character. Use the characters’ thoughts and the dialogue tags to reveal description: He stared at her flowing, auburn curls, which reminded him of his mother’s hair. “Where were you?” he asked, shifting his green eyes across the restaurant to where a customer was hassling one of the servers.

Simple descriptions are surprisingly easy to execute. All you have to do is look at something (or imagine it) and write what you see. But well-crafted descriptions require writers to pay diligence to word choice, to describe only those elements that are most important, and to use engaging language to paint a picture in the reader’s mind. Instead of spending several sentences describing a character’s height, weight, age, hair color, eye color, and clothing, a few, choice details will often render a more vivid image for the reader: Red hair framed her round, freckled face like a spray of flames. This only reveals three descriptive details: red hair, a round face, and freckles. Yet it paints more vivid picture than a statistical head-to-toe rundown: She was five foot three and no more than a hundred and ten pounds with red hair, blue eyes, and a round, freckled face.

10 descriptive writing practices.

How to Practice Writing Description

Here are some descriptive writing activities that will inspire you while providing opportunities to practice writing description. If you don’t have much experience with descriptive writing, you may find that your first few attempts are flat and boring. If you can’t keep readers engaged, they’ll wander off. Work at crafting descriptions that are compelling and mesmerizing.

Go to one of your favorite spots and write a description of the setting: it could be your bedroom, a favorite coffee shop, or a local park. Leave people, dialogue, and action out of it. Just focus on explaining what the space looks like.
Who is your favorite character from the movies? Describe the character from head to toe. Show the reader not only what the character looks like, but also how the character acts. Do this without including action or dialogue. Remember: description only!
Forty years ago we didn’t have cell phones or the internet. Now we have cell phones that can access the internet. Think of a device or gadget that we’ll have forty years from now and describe it.
Since modern fiction is light on description, many young and new writers often fail to include details, even when the reader needs them. Go through one of your writing projects and make sure elements that readers may not be familiar with are adequately described.
Sometimes in a narrative, a little description provides respite from all the action and dialogue. Make a list of things from a story you’re working on (gadgets, characters, settings, etc.), and for each one, write a short description of no more than a hundred words.
As mentioned, Tolkien often spent pages describing a single landscape. Choose one of your favorite pieces of classic literature, find a long passage of description, and rewrite it. Try to cut the descriptive word count in half.
When you read a book, use a highlighter to mark sentences and paragraphs that contain description. Don’t highlight every adjective and adverb. Look for longer passages that are dedicated to description.
Write a description for a child. Choose something reasonably difficult, like the solar system. How do you describe it in such a way that a child understands how he or she fits into it?
Most writers dream of someday writing a book. Describe your book cover.
Write a one-page description of yourself.

If you have any descriptive writing practices to add to this list, feel free to share them in the comments.

Descriptive Writing

Does descriptive writing come easily to you, or do you struggle with it? Do you put much thought into how you write description? What types of descriptive writing have you tackled — descriptive essays, blocks of description within larger texts, or descriptions woven throughout a narrative? Share your tips for descriptive writing by leaving a comment, and keep writing!

Further Reading: Abolish the Adverbs , Making the Right Word Choices for Better Writing , and Writing Description in Fiction .

Ready Set Write a Guide to Creative Writing

I find descriptions easier when first beginning a scene. Other ones I struggle with. Yes, intertwining them with dialogue does help a lot.

I have the opposite experience. I tend to dive right into action and dialogue when I first start a scene.

I came across this article at just the right time. I am just starting to write a short story. This will change the way I describe characters in my story.

Thank you for this. R.G. Ramsey

You’re welcome!

Great tips and how to practise and improve our descriptive writing skills. Thank you for sharing.

You’re welcome, Bella.

Hello Melissa

I have read many of your articles about different aspects of writing and have enjoyed all of them. What you said here, I agree with, with the exception of #7. That is one point that I dispute and don’t understand the reason why anyone would do this, though I’ve seen books that had things like that done to them.

To me, a book is something to be treasured, loved and taken care of. It deserves my respect because I’m sure the author poured their heart and soul into its creation. Marking it up that way is nothing short of defacing it. A book or story is a form of art, so should a person mark over a picture by Rembrandt or any other famous painter? You’re a very talented author, so why would you want someone to mark through the words you had spent considerable time and effort agonizing over, while searching for the best words to convey your thoughts?

If I want to remember some section or point the author is making, then I’ll take a pen and paper and record the page number and perhaps the first few words of that particular section. I’ve found that writing a note this way helps me remember it better. This is then placed inside the cover for future reference. If someone did what you’ve suggested to a book of mine, I’d be madder than a ‘wet hen’, and that person would certainly be told what I thought of them.

In any of the previous articles you’ve written, you’ve brought up some excellent points which I’ve tried to incorporate in my writing. Keep up the good work as I know your efforts have helped me, and I’m sure other authors as well.

Hi Stanley. Thanks so much for sharing your point of view. I appreciate and value it.

Marking up a book is a common practice, especially in academia. Putting notes in margins, underlining, highlighting, and tagging pages with bookmarks is standard. Personally, I mark up nonfiction paperbacks, but I never mark up fiction paperbacks or any hardcovers (not since college).

I completely respect your right to keep your books in pristine condition. And years ago, when I started college, I felt exactly the same way. I was horrified that people (instructors and professors!) would fill their books with ugly yellow highlighting and other markips. But I quickly realized that this was shortsighted.

Consider an old paperback that is worn and dog-eared. With one look, you know this book has been read many times and it’s probably loved. It’s like the Velveteen Rabbit of books. I see markups as the same — that someone was engaging with the book and trying to understand it on a deeper level, which is not disrespectful. It’s something to be celebrated.

Sometimes we place too much value on the book as a physical object rather than what’s inside. I appreciate a beautiful book as much as anyone but what really matters to me is the information or experience that it contains. I often read on a Kindle. Sometimes I listen to audio books. There is no physical book. The experience is not lessened.

I understand where you’re coming from. I used to feel the same way, but my mind was changed. I’m not trying to change yours, but I hope you’ll understand.

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What is Creative Writing? A Key Piece of the Writer’s Toolbox

Not all writing is the same and there’s a type of writing that has the ability to transport, teach, and inspire others like no other.

Creative writing stands out due to its unique approach and focus on imagination. Here’s how to get started and grow as you explore the broad and beautiful world of creative writing!

What is Creative Writing?

Creative writing is a form of writing that extends beyond the bounds of regular professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature. It is characterized by its emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary tropes or poetic techniques to express ideas in an original and imaginative way.

Creative writing can take on various forms such as:

short stories
screenplays

It’s a way for writers to express their thoughts, feelings, and ideas in a creative, often symbolic, way . It’s about using the power of words to transport readers into a world created by the writer.

5 Key Characteristics of Creative Writing

Creative writing is marked by several defining characteristics, each working to create a distinct form of expression:

1. Imagination and Creativity: Creative writing is all about harnessing your creativity and imagination to create an engaging and compelling piece of work. It allows writers to explore different scenarios, characters, and worlds that may not exist in reality.

2. Emotional Engagement: Creative writing often evokes strong emotions in the reader. It aims to make the reader feel something — whether it’s happiness, sorrow, excitement, or fear.

3. Originality: Creative writing values originality. It’s about presenting familiar things in new ways or exploring ideas that are less conventional.

4. Use of Literary Devices: Creative writing frequently employs literary devices such as metaphors, similes, personification, and others to enrich the text and convey meanings in a more subtle, layered manner.

5. Focus on Aesthetics: The beauty of language and the way words flow together is important in creative writing. The aim is to create a piece that’s not just interesting to read, but also beautiful to hear when read aloud.

Remember, creative writing is not just about producing a work of art. It’s also a means of self-expression and a way to share your perspective with the world. Whether you’re considering it as a hobby or contemplating a career in it, understanding the nature and characteristics of creative writing can help you hone your skills and create more engaging pieces .

For more insights into creative writing, check out our articles on creative writing jobs and what you can do with a creative writing degree and is a degree in creative writing worth it .

Styles of Creative Writing

To fully understand creative writing , you must be aware of the various styles involved. Creative writing explores a multitude of genres, each with its own unique characteristics and techniques.

Poetry is a form of creative writing that uses expressive language to evoke emotions and ideas. Poets often employ rhythm, rhyme, and other poetic devices to create pieces that are deeply personal and impactful. Poems can vary greatly in length, style, and subject matter, making this a versatile and dynamic form of creative writing.

Short Stories

Short stories are another common style of creative writing. These are brief narratives that typically revolve around a single event or idea. Despite their length, short stories can provide a powerful punch, using precise language and tight narrative structures to convey a complete story in a limited space.

Novels represent a longer form of narrative creative writing. They usually involve complex plots, multiple characters, and various themes. Writing a novel requires a significant investment of time and effort; however, the result can be a rich and immersive reading experience.

Screenplays

Screenplays are written works intended for the screen, be it television, film, or online platforms. They require a specific format, incorporating dialogue and visual descriptions to guide the production process. Screenwriters must also consider the practical aspects of filmmaking, making this an intricate and specialized form of creative writing.

If you’re interested in this style, understanding creative writing jobs and what you can do with a creative writing degree can provide useful insights.

Writing for the theater is another specialized form of creative writing. Plays, like screenplays, combine dialogue and action, but they also require an understanding of the unique dynamics of the theatrical stage. Playwrights must think about the live audience and the physical space of the theater when crafting their works.

Each of these styles offers unique opportunities for creativity and expression. Whether you’re drawn to the concise power of poetry, the detailed storytelling of novels, or the visual language of screenplays and plays, there’s a form of creative writing that will suit your artistic voice. The key is to explore, experiment, and find the style that resonates with you.

For those looking to spark their creativity, our article on creative writing prompts offers a wealth of ideas to get you started.

Importance of Creative Writing

Understanding what is creative writing involves recognizing its value and significance. Engaging in creative writing can provide numerous benefits – let’s take a closer look.

Developing Creativity and Imagination

Creative writing serves as a fertile ground for nurturing creativity and imagination. It encourages you to think outside the box, explore different perspectives, and create unique and original content. This leads to improved problem-solving skills and a broader worldview , both of which can be beneficial in various aspects of life.

Through creative writing, one can build entire worlds, create characters, and weave complex narratives, all of which are products of a creative mind and vivid imagination. This can be especially beneficial for those seeking creative writing jobs and what you can do with a creative writing degree .

Enhancing Communication Skills

Creative writing can also play a crucial role in honing communication skills. It demands clarity, precision, and a strong command of language. This helps to improve your vocabulary, grammar, and syntax, making it easier to express thoughts and ideas effectively .

Moreover, creative writing encourages empathy as you often need to portray a variety of characters from different backgrounds and perspectives. This leads to a better understanding of people and improved interpersonal communication skills.

Exploring Emotions and Ideas

One of the most profound aspects of creative writing is its ability to provide a safe space for exploring emotions and ideas. It serves as an outlet for thoughts and feelings , allowing you to express yourself in ways that might not be possible in everyday conversation.

Writing can be therapeutic, helping you process complex emotions, navigate difficult life events, and gain insight into your own experiences and perceptions. It can also be a means of self-discovery , helping you to understand yourself and the world around you better.

So, whether you’re a seasoned writer or just starting out, the benefits of creative writing are vast and varied. For those interested in developing their creative writing skills, check out our articles on creative writing prompts and how to teach creative writing . If you’re considering a career in this field, you might find our article on is a degree in creative writing worth it helpful.

4 Steps to Start Creative Writing

Creative writing can seem daunting to beginners, but with the right approach, anyone can start their journey into this creative field. Here are some steps to help you start creative writing .

1. Finding Inspiration

The first step in creative writing is finding inspiration . Inspiration can come from anywhere and anything. Observe the world around you, listen to conversations, explore different cultures, and delve into various topics of interest.

Reading widely can also be a significant source of inspiration. Read different types of books, articles, and blogs. Discover what resonates with you and sparks your imagination.

For structured creative prompts, visit our list of creative writing prompts to get your creative juices flowing.

Editor’s Note : When something excites or interests you, stop and take note – it could be the inspiration for your next creative writing piece.

2. Planning Your Piece

Once you have an idea, the next step is to plan your piece . Start by outlining:

the main points

Remember, this can serve as a roadmap to guide your writing process. A plan doesn’t have to be rigid. It’s a flexible guideline that can be adjusted as you delve deeper into your writing. The primary purpose is to provide direction and prevent writer’s block.

3. Writing Your First Draft

After planning your piece, you can start writing your first draft . This is where you give life to your ideas and breathe life into your characters.

Don’t worry about making it perfect in the first go. The first draft is about getting your ideas down on paper . You can always refine and polish your work later. And if you don’t have a great place to write that first draft, consider a journal for writing .

4. Editing and Revising Your Work

The final step in the creative writing process is editing and revising your work . This is where you fine-tune your piece, correct grammatical errors, and improve sentence structure and flow.

Editing is also an opportunity to enhance your storytelling . You can add more descriptive details, develop your characters further, and make sure your plot is engaging and coherent.

Remember, writing is a craft that improves with practice . Don’t be discouraged if your first few pieces don’t meet your expectations. Keep writing, keep learning, and most importantly, enjoy the creative process.

For more insights on creative writing, check out our articles on how to teach creative writing or creative writing activities for kids.

Tips to Improve Creative Writing Skills

Understanding what is creative writing is the first step. But how can one improve their creative writing skills? Here are some tips that can help.

Read Widely

Reading is a vital part of becoming a better writer. By immersing oneself in a variety of genres, styles, and authors, one can gain a richer understanding of language and storytelling techniques . Different authors have unique voices and methods of telling stories, which can serve as inspiration for your own work. So, read widely and frequently!

Practice Regularly

Like any skill, creative writing improves with practice. Consistently writing — whether it be daily, weekly, or monthly — helps develop your writing style and voice . Using creative writing prompts can be a fun way to stimulate your imagination and get the words flowing.

Attend Writing Workshops and Courses

Formal education such as workshops and courses can offer structured learning and expert guidance. These can provide invaluable insights into the world of creative writing, from understanding plot development to character creation. If you’re wondering is a degree in creative writing worth it, these classes can also give you a taste of what studying creative writing at a higher level might look like .

Joining Writing Groups and Communities

Being part of a writing community can provide motivation, constructive feedback, and a sense of camaraderie. These groups often hold regular meetings where members share their work and give each other feedback. Plus, it’s a great way to connect with others who share your passion for writing.

Seeking Feedback on Your Work

Feedback is a crucial part of improving as a writer. It offers a fresh perspective on your work, highlighting areas of strength and opportunities for improvement. Whether it’s from a writing group, a mentor, or even friends and family, constructive criticism can help refine your writing .

Start Creative Writing Today!

Remember, becoming a proficient writer takes time and patience. So, don’t be discouraged by initial challenges. Keep writing, keep learning, and most importantly, keep enjoying the process. Who knows, your passion for creative writing might even lead to creative writing jobs and what you can do with a creative writing degree .

Happy writing!

Brooks Manley

Creative Primer is a resource on all things journaling, creativity, and productivity. We’ll help you produce better ideas, get more done, and live a more effective life.

My name is Brooks. I do a ton of journaling, like to think I’m a creative (jury’s out), and spend a lot of time thinking about productivity. I hope these resources and product recommendations serve you well. Reach out if you ever want to chat or let me know about a journal I need to check out!

Here’s my favorite journal for 2024:

Gratitude Journal Prompts Mindfulness Journal Prompts Journal Prompts for Anxiety Reflective Journal Prompts Healing Journal Prompts Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Journal Prompts Mental Health Journal Prompts ASMR Journal Prompts Manifestation Journal Prompts Self-Care Journal Prompts Morning Journal Prompts Evening Journal Prompts Self-Improvement Journal Prompts Creative Writing Journal Prompts Dream Journal Prompts Relationship Journal Prompts "What If" Journal Prompts New Year Journal Prompts Shadow Work Journal Prompts Journal Prompts for Overcoming Fear Journal Prompts for Dealing with Loss Journal Prompts for Discerning and Decision Making Travel Journal Prompts Fun Journal Prompts

Inspiring Ink: Expert Tips on How to Teach Creative Writing

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Daily writing prompts: 365 ways to practice craft

Daily writing prompts in 73 categories arranged around literary devices and craft elements to help you practice writing techniques.

Post author By Jordan
4 Comments on Daily writing prompts: 365 ways to practice craft

Daily writing prompts on craft challenges and literary devices give a fun way to build your fiction-writing skills. A prompt exercise could even inspire your next, great story. Bookmark and dip into 365 writing prompts in seventy-three categories, from ‘abstract vs concrete language’ to ‘zeugma’.

Creative writing prompt categories

Use this alphabetized index of literary devices and elements of craft to explore daily writing prompts with definitions.

Bookmark and share this page for a dash of inspiration or writing practice whenever you or writing friends need it.

Use the sidebar link or the ‘To writing prompt categories’ link at the end of each section to return to this index.

A to B daily prompts

Click here to browse daily writing prompts from ‘abstract vs concrete language’ through ‘breaking the fourth wall’

Abstract vs concrete language

Active (and passive) voice, alliteration, anthropomorphism, anti-climax, autobiography, balanced sentences, bildungsroman, black comedy, blank verse.

Bouts-rimés

Breaking the fourth wall

C to f daily prompts.

Browse daily writing prompts from ‘character arcs’ through ‘foil characters’.

Character arcs

Colloquialism/slang, connotation, direct characterization, epistolary writing, flashbacks (and flashforwards), foil characters, h to m daily prompts.

Browse fiction writing prompts from ‘hooks’ through ‘mystery’ .

Inference and insinuation

Inner monologue, intertextuality, juxtaposition, magical realism, metafiction, n to r daily prompts.

Browse creative writing prompts on everything from ‘narration’ to ‘rhythm’ in language.

Non-linear narrative

On-the-nose writing, personification, plot twists, point of view, purple prose, rhyme and rhyme schemes, rhetorical devices, s to z daily prompts.

Browse daily writing prompts from ‘sarcasm’ through ‘zeugma’ .

Show, don’t tell

Stream of consciousness, verb tenses.

Don’t forget to have your say in the comments and tell us which prompts you enjoyed doing the most.

What is abstract language?

Abstract language uses broad, conceptual terms and may make description hazy or generic.

Concrete language shows instead of tells. Compare: ‘His emotions were somewhere between happiness and worry,’ and, ‘He was smiling yet his brow furrowed when he remembered the homework he’d forgotten to do.’

1. Rewrite abstract language

Prompt: Write a scene where a character gets bad news but is cheered up when a friend arrives with a gift. Use three of the following words: Happiness, sadness, fear, love, wisdom, truth, loyalty.

Next, rewrite the scene to replace abstract nouns with imagery and/or actions expressing the same feelings.

2. Balance abstract and concrete language

Prompt: Write a paragraph or story beginning with a busy market in a park. Include concrete details drawn from the five senses – what could a character see, hear, smell, touch, taste?

Include abstract emotion words that suggest your character’s feelings upon an unexpected sight or encounter.

Writing prompt pictures - abstract vs concrete language

3. Describe the concrete, reflect using abstraction

Prompt: Write a paragraph describing a favorite memory from childhood using concrete language. Then write a paragraph describing the emotions this memory evokes.

Try using similes (e.g. comparisons using ‘as scared as…’) to make abstract feelings more concrete.

4. Showing abstract traits with concrete examples

Prompt: Choose one from the following personality traits: Kindness, cruelty, generosity, cautiousness, fearlessness.

Write a scene where a character’s concrete actions infer this abstract trait. Convey, for example, ‘kindness’ without using the word once.

5. Add specificity to the generic

Prompt: Choose a natural phenomenon that is overused as a symbol (e.g. sunset, often used to suggest romance, or thunderstorms, to suggest danger/suspense).

Write a scene incorporating this symbol but use concrete language to show what makes this instance unique or unexpected (e.g. specific colors, sights, additional details).

To writing prompt categories ↑

What is absurdism?

Absurdism in writing is used to refer to multiple concepts and devices:

A literary and philosophical movement that explores the irrationality and contradictions of human existence and crises of meaning that result from these elements
Humor drawing on the above, such as nonsensical or illogical situations in storytelling

Absurdist humor example: This stanza from Lewis Carroll’s The Hunting of the Snark , describing a map that is essentially useless because it only shows water:

He had bought a large map representing the sea, Without the least vestige of land: And the crew were much pleased when they found it to be A map they could all understand. Source: ‘The Hunting of the Snark’, poetryfoundation.org .

Creative writing prompts to practice absurdist elements:

6. Write about self-contradicting objects

Prompt: Inspired by the idea of a map that only shows water and nothing else, write an absurd scene where a character finds an object that doesn’t fulfil its primary purpose.

Absurdist object ideas to write about:

A lift that only stops between floors
An inflatable anchor guaranteed not to sink
A square-shaped basketball

Daily writing prompt picture - explore the absurd

7. Explore an absurd scenario

Prompt: Write a story about a DJ who’s been cursed to relive the same day over and over, each time the events mirroring the lyrics of an annoying catchy pop song. Include a moment of joy and one of despair.

8. Practice absurd personification

Prompt: Write a dialogue between two inanimate objects where they share their frustrations and the one talks the other out of an existential crisis. [ Ed’s note: Inspired by the travels of a can of beans and other objects in Tom Robbins madcap novel, ‘Skinny Legs and All’ .]

9. Play with metamorphosis

Prompt: Write a story or scene where a character transforms into one of the following overnight: A mythical creature nobody believes exists, a cheesy game show’s host, a fantasy or sci-fi trope type (troll, mischief-making AI).

10. Turn language on its head

Prompt: Write a story turning a popular idiom into a literal story scenario (e.g. when we say people who watch a lot of TV are ‘couch potatoes’). Example idea: Write a story about a boy named Fry who becomes a couch potato (literally), and his family’s desperate attempts to get him back to human form.

GET YOUR FREE GUIDE TO SCENE STRUCTURE

Read a guide to writing scenes with purpose that move your story forward.

What is action and why is it a vital story element?

Action in storytelling has multiple uses and purposes:

Shifting focus from the slower and interior (for example, a viewpoint character’s thoughts) to the more explosive, exciting external
Inferring desire, emotion, intention, decision (remember the old saying, ‘actions speak louder than words’)

Challenges in writing action sequences include:

Maintaining clarity and flow: Of sequence or detail
Keeping rhythm interesting: Subject-verb-object sentences may sound clunky and repetitive (‘She ran to the gate. She typed in the emergency code. She beckoned to hasten the others.’)

The next five daily writing prompts will help you practice writing immersive action:

11. Explode subject-verb-object structure

Prompt: Write a scene where characters have to evacuate a top-secret facility they’ve rigged with explosives before it blows.

First, write every sentence with a subject-verb-object structure (like the example under ‘keeping rhythm interesting’ above).

Next, rewrite the scene, switching up sentence structure for more active flow.

12. Express subtext using actions

Prompt: Write a scene between a couple where no words are used. Use actions that imply one of the following situations (try to limit narration that tells your reader the situation, letting actions infer):

The couple’s child has just been expelled from school
They have just found out they’re expecting a baby
The couple has just had a shouting match with an insufferable neighbor
One half of the couple has forgotten it’s their anniversary, the other is itching to give an amazing gift they bought

13. Build a blow-by-blow sequence

Prompt: Write the scene of a boxing match or sword fight. For the first half, the likely victor is winning, but a series of mistakes means that mid-way through and the tide turns in the underdog’s favor.

14. Creating unfolding action using present participles

Prompt: Write a scene in which there is a quick-draw stand-off between two outlaws. Use at least five present participles to create a sense of the present moment (the present verb form ending ‘-ing’, e.g. breaking, blinking, sweating).

15. Practice action pacing

Prompt: Write a scene or story where a paramedic is called to an emergency and the patient turns out to be an old friend. Include a sequence of action where time passes slowly and a change that requires urgency. Focus on using shorter sentences in the urgent segment.

What is active voice?

In active voice, the subject is the doer of an action which the sentence emphasizes. It is often preferable because it is usually clearer and more succinct. Example: ‘Sarah wrote the letter’ (active) vs ‘The letter was written by Sarah’ (passive).

There are cases where passive voice may be preferred:

The doer of the action is unknown (e.g. ‘The letter had been written by someone on their street, that much he knew’)
The focus is on the object (e.g. prominent sentence position of ‘the letter’ in the example above)

Try these active voice writing prompts:

16. Start a story emphasizing an object

Prompt: Write an opening paragraph to a story beginning with a sentence that emphasizes an intriguing object in passive voice. Create a question that the story will answer or complicate. Example opening: ‘The wand had been given to me by…’

17. Create a mysterious doer of deeds

Prompt: Write a mystery set in a school where an unknown student has stolen something out of another student’s bag, from the perspective of the robbed student. Describe the action in passive voice, then rewrite this in active voice.

18. Shift focus onto consequences over actors

Prompt: Write a story about a major historical event (for example, the invention of the lightbulb).

Use passive voice to shift the reader’s focus onto consequences over actions (for example, ‘The ‘lectric doohickey was eyed with mistrust by the candlemaker, Mr Wick, at first.’)

19. Describe a work of art to convey intention

Prompt: Write a story in which a character comes across a painting in a gallery that captures a sense of the artist’s every thought and intention. Use passive voice sentences to focus on these intentions (for example, ‘The face had been built up in layers with the utmost care for blending.’). Switch between this and the narrator’s active voice impressions and questions.

20. Write instructions alternating emphasis on actions and materials

Prompt: Write story or scene where a character reads a letter or label of instruction. Mix passive voice for sentences emphasizing items/objects and active voice for more direct actions (e.g. ‘Plant the seeds’ vs ‘The seedling must be watered…’).

What are adverbs?

The words that qualify verbs, adding characteristics such as speed, volume, manner of doing. For example, ‘She sang loudly’, or ‘she ran fast’.

Stephen King says in On Writing that ‘the road to hell is paved with adverbs’. Why? Because they may add wordiness, for one.

A more expressive, single-word verb promotes concision and adds interesting connotations. For example, ‘she bolted’ has connotations of hunting, flight, sudden starts (from the bolt of a crossbow to the startled departure of game).

Try five of the daily writing prompts dedicated to this part of speech:

21. Pave the road to hell

Prompt: Write a funny story about a paver who has a nightmare job where rain, bizarre client requests, wild animals, and other setbacks make finishing the path almost impossible.

Use at least five ‘-ly’ ending adverbs as you write. Then go back and substitute verbs that convey a similar meaning (e.g. ‘He shut the door loudly’ > ‘He slammed the door’).

Writing prompt - removing overused adverbs

22. Create how, where, when and to what extent using adverbial phrases

Prompt: Write a story about a difficult mountain climbing trip, using adverbial phrases to convey how the climb proceeds, where climbers get to (or face difficulty), and to what extent they know (or don’t know) what they’re doing.

Adverbial phrase examples:

‘ Approaching the first ledge , she saw the summit was just a speck above’ (adverbial phrase of place gives position and modifies ‘saw’)
‘ During the first hour, she spoke rarely’ (adverbial phrase of time specifies duration)
‘ With utmost precision, she calculated which crevice to reach for’ (adverbial phrase gives degree or extent, modifying the verb ‘calculated’)

23. Show actions’ manner without adverbs

Prompt: Write a whispered piece of dialogue between friends.

First, use adverbs that convey volume liberally (e.g. softly, quietly, imperceptibly).

Next, rewrite to nix every adverb, using what characters say, gestures, actions to show dialogue is soft (e.g. ‘She cupped a hand to her ear’).

24. Substitute similes for adverbs

Prompt: Write a scene in which a character is about to tell her friend something curious or sinister. Start with “Wait ’til you hear this,” she said strangely.’

At the end, replace the dialogue tag and adverb (‘she said strangely’) with a comparison making what is strange about the utterance clearer.

( Example: ‘…she said, tossing the words like cigarette butts from a car window. The devil-may-care smile didn’t reach her eyes.’)

25. Avoiding adverbial excess

Prompt: Write a story about a magician whose first attempt at a new spell backfires.

Each time you want to write an adverb as you write, give two. Example: ‘He shook the tube of potion excitedly and expectantly’.

At the end, go through the piece and choose one adverb in each instance (or check how to make flow stronger using more descriptive verbs instead).

What is allegory?

Allegory, which comes from the Greek allēgoria (‘speaking other’) refers to a story, poem or picture which reveals a hidden meaning. Story elements refer or allude to larger or more abstract concepts and ideas.

As an example, in C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia fantasy series, there are allegorical elements suggestive of the Christian faith. A magical lion named Aslan sacrifices his life for the four child protagonists and is resurrected, echoing the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

In A.A. Milne’s beloved Winnie the Pooh series, each character is suggestive of a different temperament or personality type. Rabbit, the fiery choleric or grouch. Pooh, the phlegmatic or even-tempered friend to everybody. Piglet the nervous wreck. Eeyore the moping melancholic. Each animal character is like an allegorical representation of a human archetype.

Memento mori in visual art are allegorical symbols, alluding to life’s fragility and death’s inevitability. Symbols such as skulls, hourglasses, clocks.

This category of these daily writing prompts explores allegorical writing.

26. Using objects to evoke abstract ideas

Prompt: Write a story on a weighty abstract theme such as: Death, love, justice, truth, freedom, spirituality (pick one).

First, make a list of symbols and objects you associate with this word. Then write a story without using the word itself once, but suggest and imply your thoughts/philosophy on the concept, using the objects you listed.

27. Mining Animal Farm for ideas

Prompt: In the vein of George Orwell’s allegorical novella Animal Farm , pick a type of political system (such as democracy, oligarchy (rule by a small elite), anarchy (no government or the rejection of hierarchy), tyranny.

Write an allegorical story suggestive of this system (and your thoughts of it) without referring to the system explicitly. The stand-in for society could be, for example: A company’s board of directors, a collective of artists living on a commune.

28. Writing representative characters

Prompt: Choose three from this list of personality temperaments or character archetypes: Melancholic, anxious, happy-go-lucky, short-fused, adventurous, calculating, empathic.

Write a story set in a futuristic city of robots featuring three characters who each represent one of the three types.

29. Capture history through allegory

Prompt: Write a story set in a museum in which different objects come to life, and their behavior or words capture the spirit of their eras and cultures.

30. Explore schools of thought

Prompt: Write a story or scene where four kingdoms debate a territorial dispute. Assign each kingdom a position based on a school of philosophical thought.

Ideas for schools of thought (read Scotty Hendricks for Big Think for more ideas):

Stoicism: A school of thought popular in ancient Greek and Roman times believing ‘the goal of all inquiry is to provide a mode of conduct characterized by tranquility of mind’ (Jason Lewis Saunders, ‘Stoicism’, Britannica Online )
Utilitarianism: The school of thought that the best action is that which maximizes positive outcome/benefit for the ‘greatest good’ or ‘utility’
Hedonism: The philosophy that pleasure is the highest good and source of moral values
Nihilism: The school of thought that life is meaningless and does not have intrinsic value
Pragmatism: Philosophy which values real-world consequences and practical outcomes as the source of meaning, truth or value

What is alliteration?

Alliteration is a poetic device in which consonants are repeated for mimetic (imitative) effect.

For example, the plosive doubled ‘t’ and ‘p’ sounds suggesting the short, sharp sound of machinegun fire in Wilfred Owen’s famous anti-war poem:

What passing-bells for these who die as cattle? — Only the monstrous anger of the guns. Only the stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle Can patter out their hasty orisons. ‘Anthem for the Doomed Youth’ by Wilfred Owen, first stanza. Source: poetryfoundation.org . Words bolded for emphasis.

Explore daily writing prompts for practicing creative alliteration below:

31. Mimic sound for effect

Prompt: Write a poem or scene that prominently features a sound. Use alliteration (words using repeated consonants) to capture the quality of that sound.

Sibilant sounds for alliteration using ‘s’: Snakes’ hissing, water in a hot pan, air being let out of an inflatable mattress or car tyres.
Buzzing sounds for alliteration using ‘z’: Bees, electronics with haptic feedback, electric razors or toothbrushes, guitar feedback
Staccato sounds for alliteration using ‘t’ and ‘p’: Gunfire, drumming, tap-dance, rainfall

32. Reflecting environs with alliteration

Prompt: Narrate a night in a noisy nightclub. Incorporate two different consonants you can repeat in a phrase for sound imitation (such as ‘zz’, ‘ss’, or ‘tt’).

33. Overdoing alliterative effect

Prompt: Write a story for children about an animal trying to start as many words as possible with the same consonant as a constraint. Then rewrite for better flow and more varied language. Example: ‘Runaway the rabbit risked ravines and ravenous wriggling rattlesnakes.’

34. Poeticize (or add humor to) the news

Prompt: Browse recent news for a random article. Find a story in a drier, reportage style. Pick an image, scenario or sound and rewrite it in a more poetic way, using alliteration in at least one sentence for dramatic or silly effect.

Example: ‘Colorado Bear Opens Car Door to eat Unattended Dog Food’.

Intro line: ‘This brown bear believed Brown Rice with Lamb was bipedals’ best invention, though the kibble bonanza became a bellyache.’

35. Capture tone and mood

Prompt: Write a story beginning in a languid, watery setting. Prioritize soft consonants to create the sound of calm (‘l’, ‘w’, ‘sh’). Shift to harder consonants such as plosives (/p/, /t/, /d/, /p/) when sudden action interrupts the calm.

What is anaphora?

Anaphora (which comes from the words ‘to bear back’) is two types of repetition.

In grammar, the term means using a word to refer back to a previously used word in conversation or narration. For example, when we substitute a pronoun for a character as the subject. ‘James was tired. He’d been up all night playing video games.’

In rhetoric, anaphora means the repetition of a word or phrase at the start of successive clauses. For example, Churchill’s famous speech:

We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air … Sir Winston Churchill, June 4 1940 to the House of Commons. Source: International Churchill Society.

Try creative writing prompts incorporating rhetorical and grammatical anaphora:

36. Write an impassioned speech

Prompt: Write a story in which a character gives an impassioned speech at a major turning point. Use rhetorical anaphora repeating a phrase to persuasive effect.

Ideas for speech-containing story scenarios:

Morale is low for a band of fantasy quest-takers
A group of bullied high school students decide to fight back
A minority party in a corrupt government sends the house into bickering but also earns applause

37. Use anaphora to show loss of temper

Prompt: Write a scene where a character loses their temper and they start speaking in anaphora, the repeated refrain they start consecutive clauses with suggesting the source of their frustration.

Example: “Crumbs on the counter, crumbs on the carpet, crumbs when I get in bed. Crumbs in a never-ending trail like we’re Hansel and bloody Gretel! And now I’m the witch again.”

38. Eulogize using anaphora

Prompt: Write a story where a character gives a eulogy for a deceased friend or relative at their memorial. Begin successive sentences and clauses with the same phrase.

Ideas for anaphora in eulogy-writing:

“She/he/they taught us…”
“She’d/he’d/they’d laugh if I said…”
“Let us be comforted by…”
“This is not a goodbye, but a …”
“[Name] was a [noun], as in …”

39. Give a mission a stand-in title

Prompt: Write a story about a crucial mission that is only ever referred to by a cryptic name until the object of the mission becomes clear at the end of the story.

40. Build mystery using anaphora

Prompt: Write a story about mysterious, hidden object. Refer to the object only as ‘it’ and gradually reveal information about what ‘it’ is through characters’ descriptions, actions and decisions.

What is anthropomorphism?

Anthropomorphism means ascribing human qualities to animals.

In the Miyazaki film Pom Poko , as an example, a society of raccoon-like animals is threatened by encroaching human settlement and development. The animals are represented as bipedal, talking, personified characters (to start).

Miyazaki includes scenes where the characters’ species are depicted as mute, wild animals, too.

The dual approach suggests to the viewer that animal conservation is important whether animals are ‘like us’ or not.

41. Practice personifying animals in speech

Prompt: Write a story about an animal protagonist, using an element of that animal’s usual sounds or form to inform how it talks.

Example: The lyrics in King Louie’s song in The Jungle Book ape (no pun intended) the ‘oo, oo/aa, aa’ chatter of monkeys (through word-extension and jazz-style ‘scatting’) in the chorus:

Oh, ooh-bee-doo, (Oop-dee-wee) I wanna be like you-hu-hu (Hop-dee-doo-bee-do-bow) ‘I Wan’na Be Like You’ song lyrics, source: Disney fandom wiki

42. Humanize through objects

Prompt: Write a story about an animal who grows extremely attached to an object or animal from another species and the adventures they have (or the sorrow they experience when separated).

Example: Who can forget the story of Koko and her kittens ?

43. Personify things’ properties

Prompt: Write a story about an onion that makes people cry, not through methionine and cystine (the tear-triggering compounds) but its mean words. Or pick another object and turn its organic properties into anthropomorphic flaws.

44. Make the alien earthly

Prompt: Write a story about a group of human-like alien life-forms who are the motley employees of an outer space company that offers a surprising intergalactic service.

45. Make otherness fashionable

Prompt: Write a story about the biggest fashion event of the year. The twist is every character is an anthropomorphic animal. Think Vogue’s September issue meets The Wind in the Willows .

What is an anti-climax?

An anti-climax is a climax that fizzles out instead of going out with a bang. It’s a little like the anti-joke in that it builds to something that doesn’t match the intensity of the build-up.

Example: The typical ‘dad joke’ – ‘A man walks into a bar: Ouch!’

Read writing prompts built on practicing creative use of anti-climax:

46. The surprise is there’s no surprise

Prompt: Write a story where a character thinks everyone at the office is hinting about a surprise party for their birthday. To their disappointment, the surprise turns out to be something totally boring and unrelated.

47. Make the bomb fizzle out

Prompt: Write a story about a tense, time-bound situation (such as a bomb scare) where at the end the situation fizzles out, confounding expectation. Give other events within the story arcs that resolve (e.g. interpersonal conflicts).

48. Use anti-climax for comic relief

Prompt: Write a story about a character preparing for the biggest test or trial of their life and preparation’s harrowing ups and downs. In the end, the test/trial is postponed on the day for a ridiculous reason.

49. Use anti-climax to subvert tropes

Prompt: Write a story borrowing a genre trope. For example, ‘enemies to lovers’ from romance. Use anti-climax to subvert the trope’s usual expectations (e.g. enemies to even worse enemies, or enemies to friends because in the end there is absolutely no chemistry).

50. Breaking scene tension

Prompt: Write a tense scene in which your protagonist is wracked with terror. Make something happen near the end that diffuses the fear.

What is assonance?

Assonance is the poetic device cousin of ‘alliteration’. The use or repetition of vowel sounds to create tone, mood and effect.

Think, for example, how ‘ee’ is the sound of terror/horror. Shriek, scream, bleed, grievous.

Try the daily writing prompts below to build tone, mood and effect using vowels.

51. Make readers go ‘Eee!’

Prompt: Write a scene or story set in a haunted house, where the protagonist realizes they’re one of the haunting spirits themselves. Use assonance repeating ‘ee’ sounds somewhere in the story.

52. Use assonance to silly effect

Prompt: Write a poem or story using assonance to silly, tongue-twister-like effect. For example, write a poem about a mythical creature described using repeated vowel sounds.

Example: ‘West Beast East Beast’ by Dr. Seuss:

Upon an island hard to reach, The East Beast sits upon his beach. Upon the west beach sits the West Beast. Each beach beast thinks he’s the best beast. Dr Seuss, in Oh Say Can you Say?

53. Play with the bouba/kiki effect

The bouba/kiki effect refers to a study that found people across languages and cultures were more likely to associate the word ‘bouba’ with a round shape, and ‘kiki’ with a jagged one.

Prompt: Write a poem or scene that describes something smooth, and something jagged. Repeat words with ‘oo’ and long ‘u’ vowels when describing the the smooth item, and repeat shorter vowels when describing the jagged thing.

54. Create wonder with the sound of ‘ah!’

Prompt: Write a story or scene where a character finds a lost treasure and is amazed upon inspecting it. Use assonance to create a mood of wonder by including many words containing long ‘ah’ vowels.

Far from Zanarkand, dark was coming. My heart raced faster as I checked the partial map and stars crept over the escarpment. My example

55. Create contemplative calm using ‘oo’

Prompt: Write a story or scene where a character takes a long journey on a boat. Use assonance featuring words with the long ‘oo’ vowel to create a sense of calm and tranquility when the boat anchors.

Word ideas: Blue, smooth, hue, view, through, true, soothe, moon, cool, room, pool, spool

What is autobiography?

Autobiography is an account of a life by the person who’s lived it. The word comes from roots meaning ‘self’ ( auto -), life ( bio ) and to write (the Greek graphein ).

Autobiography as a subcategory of life-writing tends to be comprehensive. It’s a fuller account of a life, compared to memoir which typically gives a slice of life, such as the writer’s experience of a specific experience or trial.

Explore writing prompts for writing fiction in an autobiographical representative style and for tapping into your own life story.

56. Writing where there’s feeling

Prompt: Write a story or poem based on the experience of one of the best days of your life, such as your best birthday ever. Remember to use the senses for immersive description (see abstract vs concrete language above).

57. Start with a character’s birth

Prompt: Write a story or poem that compresses the main character’s entire life from birth to death into this short form. Start with something unusual about the character’s birth.

Ideas for unusual births:

Being born on a leap year
Being born as one of octuplets
Arriving on the eve of a major historical event

58. Draw on the real conflicts of life

Prompt: Write a story or poem based on one of the toughest challenges you’ve overcome in your life.

59. Show cause and effect in mistakes, consequences

Prompt: Write a story or poem based on one of the biggest mistakes you’ve ever made, and what the consequences taught you.

60. Play with creative non-fiction

Prompt: Write a story about a sad or funny event from childhood. In the process invent a sibling or other figure, adding a fictional element. What does invention add? A contrary viewpoint, greater humor? How can their addition help you capture a greater sense of truth?

What is backstory?

Backstory in fiction is the word for events from a character’s life prior to the story that shape who they are.

A driven character who is addicted to work, for example, may have a backstory in which money was always scarce growing up. Coming from poverty, their drive or determination to create generational wealth makes sense.

Backstory helps to supply deeper motivation, even if a character’s full backstory is only known to the author and not written.

61. Find the backstory for a current scenario

Prompt: Choose one of the following character ideas (or create your own). Write a few paragraphs (or a short story if feeling ambitious) focusing on key experiences that help to explain the person’s current compulsions or desires.

Ideas for scenarios:

A singer who is ambitious to the point of being cutthroat
A potter who struggles to self-promote because of self doubt that runs deep
A business person who neglects their kids because they’re addicted to work

62. Create object-based ties to the past

Prompt: Write a story or poem where a character finds an old family heirloom that surfaces memories from their past.

63. Tell the history of starting over

Prompt: Write a story about a character who once had a brilliant career but now works in a junior role in a new industry. What was the backstory that led to the change?

64. Find the hidden history

Prompt: Write a story about a character whose backstory contains a terrible secret they’re desperate to conceal.

65. Explore formative friendships as backstory

Prompt: Write a story about a circle of childhood friends and how a shared experience in their childhood shapes each of their lives now that they’re grown up.

What are balanced sentences?

In writing style and grammar, ‘balanced sentences’ are sentences in which clauses are similar in length, importance, and structure.

For example: ‘The rain wouldn’t stop, so we couldn’t start.’

Some describe balanced sentences as a kind of misleading rhetoric used to convey the impression of polish or wisdom.

Find creative writing prompts designed for practicing creating balanced sentences for effect:

66. Begin with a balanced sentence

Prompt: Write a story opening with a balanced sentence comparing two or more opposite things. Repeat this grammatical structure for the first three sentences.

Example: The opening to Charles Dickens’ novel A Tale of Two Cities , which uses a long balanced sentence to reflect on an era’s contradictions.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair. Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities (1859), p.3.

67. The proposals

Prompt: Write a story where a character has to choose between two proposals. Include a balanced sentence where they weigh one against another. It could be a business proposal or one of marriage.

Example: Henry had offered fun with the possibility of boredom; Joe misery with the certainty of baited breath.

68. Compare two perspectives

Prompt: Write a story in which a painter and a musician both try to capture the feelings and mood of the same landscape. Use a balanced sentence that compares and contrasts what they appreciate about the scene.

69. The speech writer’s dilemma

Prompt: Write a story where a speech writer has to try make a woefully inept politician sound like a shoe-in. Use balanced sentences, anaphora, and any other rhetorical devices you want.

70. Balance day and night

Prompt: Write a story where you describe the distinctive features of a city by day and night, using balanced sentences.

Example sentence: ‘By day, merchants flogged wares on every square of pavement; by night dealers flogged desperation in every strip of side street.’

What is a bildungsroman?

A story (typically a longer form such as a novel) about a person’s formative years or growth from youth to adulthood. The German word bildung means ‘education’, and roman means ‘novel.’

Example: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, which follows the protagonist Pip from boyhood to young adulthood.

Try writing prompts based on this type of novel below:

71. Grow up in style

Prompt: Write a story or story introduction where the narrator is young to start, and the story flashes forwards to when they are older. Make narration match the character’s age (i.e. kid language to start, more complex language when they’re older).

[ Ed’s note: James Joyce does this in ‘Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man’. In this bildungsroman, the narrator uses words such as ‘moocows’ at the start of the story. ]

72. Travel and change

Prompt: Write a story where a character leaves their small town for the first time to attend an event in another city, and the surprises they encounter by leaving their usual stomping grounds.

73. Face off with society

Prompt: Write a story about a character who has to overcome societal prejudice as they grow up. Start with a troubling event that makes them say, ‘Enough!’

74. Take a gap year

Prompt: Write a story about a protagonist who’s just graduated high school and takes a gap year to have an amazing adventure.

75. Discover family secrets

Prompt: Write a story about a person who discovers a family secret as they come of age, and how it changes everything they thought they knew.

What is a black comedy?

A comedy which makes use of dark, morbid humor. For example, a comedy about an undertaker who prepares open caskets but has terrible makeup skills.

The daily writing prompts below will help you practice writing black comedy:

76. Find the funny at a funeral

Prompt: Write a story or poem about a solemn funeral where everything starts going wrong to farcical, comedic effect.

77. Create a ludicrous whodunnit

Prompt: Write a murder mystery set in a very unlikely setting which ups the sense of the absurd.

Example: The mockumentary film Drop Dead Gorgeous is a campy dark comedy film where beauty pageant contestants are picked off.

78. Write a hapless antihero

Prompt: Write a comedic tory about a hapless antihero, such as a hitman who constantly bungles their assignments.

79. Create an inept grim reaper

Prompt: Write a funny story about a grim reaper who is too [x attribute, e.g. empathic] to do their job well, and the funny situations that result.

80. Use gallows humor

What is gallows humor?

A type of black comedy that provides relief from stressful situations such as life-threatening situations and other trauma. Often used by people in order to cope with suffering.

Prompt: Write a story about a character who has a terminal illness and the gallows humor they use to cope and distract friends and family.

What is blank verse?

Blank verse is poetry written in unrhymed lines, typically iambic pentameter. Iambic pentameter is a rhythm or meter consisting of ten syllables and five pairs of syllables in a ‘unstressed, stressed’ sequence.

Although the sun was shining as before, The gloom was ever present, dark as wells. She lay in bed, the blinds let down, for days, Until the seasons brought a ladder out. My example

Explore creative writing prompts to create blank verse (you can also use your lines of iambic pentameter for prose with symmetrical rhythm).

81. Create seasonal blank verse

Prompt: Pick a season – summer, winter, fall or spring. Write a poem or story including a seasonal poem in blank verse (four lines of unrhymed iambic pentameter).

82. Create a flowery speech

Prompt: Write a story in which a friend of the couple gives a very flowery speech at their wedding. Include blank verse the friend wrote celebrating the couple (but make it real doggerel – corny, badly-written poetry that suggests the speaker is not a very good poet).

83. Create blank verse metafiction

Prompt: Write a stanza of four lines of blank verse a teacher uses to teach their class about poetry in story set in a classroom. The teacher uses humor to keep the class alert. Make the verse funny, silly or absurd.

84. Create a historical love letter

Prompt: Write a story in which two lovers communicate via letters and blank verse during a long historical war.

85. Creating a soldier’s view

Prompt: Write a story about a soldier on the eve of a crucial battle. They write blank verse in their diary expressing how they feel about the impending conflict.

Bouts-Rimés

What are bouts-rimés?

The term (pronounced boo-ree-may ) is French for ‘rhymed ends’. It refers to language games where lists of words that rhyme are given, and the writer must make a poem using said list.

Example: A poem rhyming the words, ‘moon’, ‘June’, ‘soon’ and ‘tune’.

The piano fell so wildly out of tune, it made my uncle’s lab howl at the moon, and transform to a wolf one lupine June. ‘I’ll get the tuners in,’ I promised, ‘soon.’ My example

Find creative writing prompts to play with bouts-rimés below:

86. Rhyme and dine

Prompt: Write a poem (or a story in which someone recites a poem) that rhymes the following list of food-associated words: ‘pear’ (or pair), ‘fare’, ‘prepare’, ‘share’.

87. Rhyme and whine

Prompt: Write a poem about a person who loves complaining that uses the following words as end-rhymes: groan, moan, grown, mown.

88. Rhyme and shine

Prompt: Write a poem (or a story containing a poem) rhyming the following list of words associated with shine and luster: glimmer, shimmer, gleam, sheen.

89. Rhyme in time

Prompt: Write a poem (or a poem within a story) about time and using the following time-related end-rhymes: chime and time, clock and tock.

90. Rhyme the crime

Prompt: Write a poem (or poem within a story) about a comical situation represented as a mock-serious crime. Draw from these end-rhymes: Cuff and bluff, tough and enough, law and claw.

What does breaking the fourth wall mean?

Breaking the fourth wall is a narrative term meaning to rupture the illusion of reality (by, for example, having a narrator address the reader directly).

Example: In Jane Eyre , the title character’s line, ‘Reader, I married him.’

Play with writing prompts for practicing breaking the fourth wall for effect:

91. Break fourth walls for comic effect

Prompt: Write a story about a prankster who gets detention at school for a prank gone wrong. Make them address the reader directly with a funny aside.

92. Create dramatic irony

Prompt: Write a story where a group of characters is trying to unravel a mystery, and one character knows the answer but tells the reader in narration and not the rest of the group.

93. Break fourth walls to emphasize artifice

Prompt: Write a story where an unreliable narrator on death row is telling the reader how they got to their present situation. Make them break the fourth wall in such a way that the reader remembers the narrator could be manipulative or dishonest.

94. Break the fourth wall for participation

Prompt: Write a choose-your-own-adventure horror story that makes fun of common horror tropes. For example, page one might say, ‘If you choose to explore the obviously dangerous abandoned mansion alone, turn to page four.’

95. Disrupt readers’ expectations

Prompt: Write a story beginning with a tense situation and then break the fourth wall to show that the unfolding situation was a rehearsal for a play by having something go wrong with the set.

What is a character arc?

Character arc is a term from narrative theory referring to the change process a character undergoes. Character arcs develop out of character’s motivations, which lead to goals and obstacles or conflicts.

Example: In Great Expectations , the main character goes from an orphaned kid who’s taken in by his sister to a wealthy adult thanks to a mystery benefactor.

Explore writing prompts to practice shaping change processes to create story intrigue:

96. Create a ‘person in hole’ character arc

Prompt: Write a story about a person in an extremely dire situation (such as serious trouble with the law) and how they turn their life around.

97. Build a ‘rags to riches’ character arc

Prompt: Write a story about a character who rises from living in social housing to a powerful position, who goes back to help the community and pay forward their success.

98. Craft a ‘voyage and return’ character arc

Prompt: Write a story or poem about a person who goes on an incredible journey that fundamentally changes who they are.

A dangerous mountaineering expedition with a life-changing accident
A quest to the lair of a mythical beast that tests assumptions
A group of astronauts returns from an attempted inhabitable planet landing, eerily different

99. Write a ‘flat’ character arc

Prompt: Write a story about a robot assassin developed by a rogue government department and the controversial target they have to take out. Give the protagonist programmed catch-phrases, actions, responses. Everything changes except the character.

100. Show disillusionment in a character arc

Prompt: Write a story about a character working in technological research who becomes deeply disillusioned with the ethics of their project after learning dangerous potential outcomes.

What is clarity in style?

Clarity in writing style refers to how readable writing is, how easy to understand.

Ambiguity in writing should be intentional – unintentional ambiguity makes it hard to decipher what reading or interpretation an author intended. Abstract language is another element that weakens clarity.

Explore daily writing prompts to practice lucid style:

101. Educate at the reader’s level

Prompt: Write a story where a parent explains a complex scientific concept (such as gravity) to a young child who has a typical vocabulary for their age.

102. Save the day

Prompt: Write a story where a character must give clear instructions to others in their company if they are to avert disaster.

103. Simplify scientific language

Prompt: Write a story about a friendship between a scientist and the tradesperson who lives next door. At some point the scientist talks about their research using technical language, and the friend who isn’t a scientist confirms what they understood using everyday language.

104. Throw away the manual

Prompt: Write a story about a corporate trainer who gets annoyed with the jargon that fills a training manual and goes off-script, speaking off the cuff and from personal experience, on their first day.

105. Clarify couple’s counselling

Prompt: Write a story or scene where two people are in couple’s counselling and argue. The counsellor points out the misunderstanding is because they are defining an important word or concept differently, restoring clarity.

What is a cliché?

A phrase or thing that is overused so that its further use suggests unoriginal thought; a stereotype. For example, the stereotypes of the jock, bimbo, gay best friend , etc.

See writing prompts below for using, avoiding, and subverting clichés:

106. Change doctors’ bad handwriting rep

Prompt : Write a story about a doctor who writes scripts in a beautiful, calligraphic font, and the pharmacist who becomes intrigued about them through regularly seeing their handwriting.

107. Undo cultural stereotypes

Prompt: Choose a typical cultural stereotype. Write a story about a protagonist who bucks the cliché, exploring the different types of reactions this elicits.

108. Subvert the knight in shining armor

Prompt: Write a story from the viewpoint of a person who thinks they’re very chivalrous, though they prove to be cowardly and self-serving.

109. Make a not-so-fresh start

Prompt: Write a story where a character moves to another town or city for a fresh start. The twist is an almost identical sequence of events unfolds in the new place that is triggering of the reason they left the old.

110. Lean into cliché but with a twist

Prompt: Write a story where a villain tells a heroic protagonist a stock villain phrase but it turns out that’s all they can say. Example: ‘I’ve been expecting you.’

What is colloquialism?

Colloquialism means informal communication such as slang. Using the word ‘Sus’ to refer to suspicion, for example.

Play with creative writing prompts inspired by this style of language:

111. Story a subculture

Prompt: Pick a subculture that has its own rich slang vocabulary (such as skating or surfing). Write a story about two friends who live this subculture, using its language in their dialogue.

Example slang words from English-speaking skater subculture ( source: surfertoday.com ):

Bail: to jump or step off the board safely when a move goes wrong
Brain Bucket: a helmet
Gnarly: an awesome or amazing thing or trick
Steez/Steezy: a combination of the words “style” and “ease” meant to praise a stylish and perfectly executed trick or maneuver

112. Invent your own slang

Prompt: Write a story about two siblings who come up with their own slang lingo and show their parents’ confusion trying to understand their conversations.

113. Explore regional culture

Prompt: Write a story or scene set in a small town where locals use peculiar (to an outsider) turns of phrase specific to the region.

114. Build band banter

Prompt: Write a story about a band’s tour and use music-related slang specific to the band’s genre.

Examples of colloquial terms from the live music scene :

Gig: A live show or performance
Jam: To improvise together, an informal jam session
Licks: Short musical phrases in a solo
Chops: A musician’s skill level/ability

115. Create a culture clash

Prompt: Write a story where an American visits England for the first time (or vice versa) and funny misunderstandings that arise due to slang differences.

What is concision in writing?

The opposite of wordiness – succinct style. Concision avoids style issues such as tautology (expressing an image or concept in duplicate ways, such as ‘the wet water’).

Practice concision with the creative writing prompts below:

116. Make the break up short

Prompt : Write a scene in only fifty words where two lovers break up.

117. Condense a long journey

Prompt: Write a singe-paragraph piece of flash fiction condensing the surprise and wonder of a very long journey.

118. Describe in brief detail

Prompt: Describe the most beautiful place you’ve ever been (or write as a character) in just twenty words.

119. Practice concise twists

Prompt: Write an extra-short story of one hundred words that ends with a shocking twist.

120. Tell a story in a note

Prompt: Write a funny note a housemate leaves on the counter for another housemate whom they’re annoyed. Make it suggest both characters’ personalities.

What is conflict in storytelling?

Conflict is a crucial element of both character development and plot. It is the obstacle or opposition that gives characters tougher routes to fulfilling desires. It’s the struggle with stakes that creates a sense of the best- and worst-case outcome scenario.

Try writing prompts on conflict situations for practice:

121. Create tough parent/child dynamics

Prompt: Write a story or scene where the ‘black sheep’ of a family is compared constantly to their over-achieving sibling. Show the effect this has on their mental health.

122. Create a clash of desires

Prompt: Write a comical scene where two best friends realize they both want the same love interest.

123. Show tough choices with inner conflict

Prompt: Write a story or scene where a character must choose between their relationship and an incredible career opportunity, and the consequences of their choice.

124. Deepen a detective’s dilemma

Prompt: Write a story where a detective is assigned to a murder case and discovers the strongest suspect is someone they care about deeply.

125. Imagine identity crises

Prompt: Write a story about a character struggling with a fundamental aspect of their identity (such as gender or sexuality) and the understanding as well as pressure they face due to their realization.

What is connotation?

Connotation is a common feeling, image or idea that a word or phrase evokes. For example, some people dislike the word ‘moist’ for its sound and connotations of discomfort.

Explore writing prompts created for practicing the connotative side of language:

126. Explore etymology

Prompt: Choose one of the following words (or your own word) and read up about its etymology. Write a story inspired by the connotations or historical meanings buried in the word.

Cloud ( derived from ‘a mass of rock or hill’ )
Quarantine (in the 1520s, a period of forty days in which a widow was permitted to stay in her late husband’s house)
Clue ( originally from ‘clew’ , a ball of thread or yarn such as the thread Ariadne gave Theseus to unravel to track his passage through a maze)

127. Play with positive connotations

Prompt: Write a scene or story where a character uses nicknames that have positive connotations to win another person over.

128. Neg a character’s name

Prompt: Write a story about a character who is given a name with negative connotations that dogs them through their life, creating awkward situations.

129. Compare cultural connotations

Prompt: Write a story about a word that has very different connotations in two cultures, and a misunderstanding that arises due to this.

130. Explore connotative change

Prompt: Write a story about a character who lives a long life, and the ways the connotations of a word changes radically during their lifetime. (See ‘quarantine’ above for an example of how much meanings change.)

What is dialogue?

See Now Novel’s complete guide to dialogue for terms, dialogue devices and more.

Explore writing prompts based on creating dynamic conversations:

131. Cut the small talk

Prompt: Write a scene or story that begins with two friends meeting for a hike. One has just landed their dream job, the other has split from their partner. Begin with dialogue between the friends inferring this background (no small-talk).

132. Imply the unspoken

Prompt: Write a story or dialogue-driven scene where an actor has landed the role of a lifetime but can’t openly say so due to an NDA.

133. Speak in gestures

Prompt: Write a scene just after two lovers have had a fight. Without using any spoken words, use gestures/actions to convey how each is feeling.

Ideas for combinations:

One character is remorseful, the other angry
One character is afraid, the other is acting like nothing happened
One person thinks everything has been resolved, the other hasn’t forgiven the source of the fight

134. Create leading questions

Prompt: Write a three-way interrogation scene where a detective knows a suspect is lying but their legal representative keeps butting in.

135. Differentiate world view

Prompt: Write a conversation between characters stranded on a remote island. One is confident they’ll be rescued. The other doesn’t have a shred of hope.

What is diction?

Diction in style refers to the choice of words and phrases and also means articulation, the manner in which a person speaks. For example, a character with wordy diction may seem either pompous or cerebral, depending on tone and what they say.

Explore writing prompts for practicing different dictions:

136. Portray pompous diction

Prompt: Write a story or scene narrated by a pompous, over-confident character. How do they express their sense of superiority? Putting others down? Boastfulness? What words and phrases suggest they are pompous?

137. Create formal occasion using formal diction

Prompt: Write a story or scene in which a visiting scholar gives an intriguing lecture at a character’s university, using formal tone and diction. Include snatches of the lecture as a protagonist listens on from the audience, plus visual description of the event.

138. Give a character archaic diction

Prompt : Write a story or scene in which a character from an earlier era time travels to a modern city. Give them archaic diction expressive of their time (for inspiration, see this list of Regency cant and expressions found in the pages of Georgette Heyer’s novels).

139. Use judicious jargon

Prompt: Write a courtroom scene in which a lawyer draws on one or two specific legal expressions to make their case (write most of their argument in ordinary, formal diction).

See anaphora for ideas of rhetorical devices the lawyer could use.

140. Create inference with euphemistic diction

Prompt: Write a story or scene where a character uses euphemistic diction to express they dislike someone, subtly. Example: ‘I wouldn’t say they’re my favorite person, no.’

What is direct characterization?

Direct characterization means stating a person’s qualities of character explicitly. This contrasts with indirect characterization, in which character traits are implied or shown.

Clark was very smart but he hadn’t waited even to finish high school. He had altogether lost touch with his family. He thought families were like a poison in your blood. Alice Munro, ‘Runaway’ in Runaway , p. 28.

Saying ‘Clark was very smart’ is direct characterization (Munro pairs this with details that indirectly tell/suggest that Clark has had a difficult relationship with his family).

Explore writing prompts to practice direct characterization and blending this with the indirect kind:

141. Blend direct and indirect characterization

Prompt: Write a story beginning with a character introduction. Start with brief direction characterization stating the character’s hallmark quality. Then give a sentence or two giving specific events illustrative of that quality.

142. Create first impressions

Prompt: Write a story or scene where a character must meet a group of people for the first time (for example, a new partner’s family). Imply your protagonist’s personality in how they introduce themselves.

143. Combine self-description and external perspective

Prompt: Write a story where the narrator introduces themselves using giving direct characterization (e.g. ‘Everyone says I’m the funniest person they know’). Give a contrary view from another narrator’s viewpoint after a scene break.

144. Toast friendship using direct characterization

Prompt: Write a scene or story where a character gives a toast to a friend on a significant occasion. Have them state something direct about their own personality in the speech as one reason for the friendship.

145. Give directly characterizing testimony

Prompt: Write a scene or story in which the protagonist is called to the stand as a witness and is grilled by a prosecutor about their personality and past.

What is an elegy?

An elegy is a piece of writing (often a poem or song) expressing sorrow or mourning for the dead. From this word we get the adjective ‘elegiac’, meaning lamenting, mournful or plaintive.

Try writing prompts to capture elegiac tone and mood:

146. Write an elegiac poem

Prompt: Read W.H. Auden’s poem ‘Funeral Blues’ AKA ‘Stop All the Clocks’. Then write your own elegy poem, also in the style of imperative instructions.

147. Imbue a landscape with elegiac tone

Prompt: Write a scene or story featuring a protagonist who is grieving a spouse. Make them describe a landscape they look out over after taking a solo trip to distract themselves.

148. Write an elegy for a pet

Prompt: Write a poem or story in which a character pays tribute to an animal companion who was a trustworthy friend.

149. Write an artist’s elegy

Prompt: Write a story in which a visual artist mourns the work they lost in a studio fire.

150. Create a musician’s mourning

Prompt: Write a story or scene from the point of view of a musician who can no longer play their instrument due to illness or injury.

What is epistolary writing?

It is writing contained in letters (or represented in letter form). For example, the novel From A to X by John Berger, styled as letters from a woman to her imprisoned lover.

Play with prompts for epistolatory writing:

151. Tell the story of unlikely pen pals

Prompt: Write a story about two unlikely friends from opposite sides of the world who are brought together by a school pen pal program. Tell the whole story through their letters to one another.

152. Tell a story in secret letters

Prompt: Write a story from the POV of a character sending secret letters from life under a totalitarian regime via a smuggling network. Experiment with writing passages in code or using other cryptic devices.

153. Write a story in letters as a trove

Prompt: Write a story in letters a young person’s relation living abroad sends them from childhood, which they keep into adulthood for their wit and wisdom. Make the letters give a character arc for the absent figure.

154. Tell a thriller in letters

Prompt: Write a dark thriller story entirely in letters, where two notorious killers trade boasts, plans, and attempt to manipulate one another.

155. Tell part of a story in letters

Prompt: Write a horror story in which a significant part of the horror comes from revelations in a series of unnerving letters.

What is euphemism?

A milder word or expression used as a substitute for one with more embarrassing, offensive, or harsh connotations. Example: ‘Passing on’ as a stand-in for ‘dying’.

Explore daily writing prompts to practice euphemistic writing:

156. Tiptoe around the uncomfortable truth

Prompt: Write a story about a character suffering a serious condition where they avoid talking about it directly out of shame, until they find self-acceptance. Use a euphemistic term to refer to their condition until they name it.

157. Create a gentler goodbye

Prompt: Write a scene or story in which a kind manager struggles to tell an employee they’ve been laid off. Use plenty of euphemistic language in how they skirt around the hard truth.

158. Hint at a sensitive perspective

Prompt: Write a story about two friends where one friend’s obnoxious behavior embarrasses the other and they euphemistically try to tell them.

159. Suggest sibling rivalry

Prompt: Write a story about two siblings where the one breaks the other’s favorite possession and tries to tell them using euphemism until they spit out the truth.

160. Confront noisy neighbors

Prompt: Write a story about the most noisy neighbors ever and the frustrated elderly couple next door who try to get them to quieten down with understated pleas.

What is exposition?

Exposition is writing which introduces elements of character, situation, context and world in a story. We call this ‘expository writing’ or ‘expository narration’.

Practice writing effective exposition that doesn’t ‘info-dump’ but entices readers instead:

161. Introduce a world through action

Prompt: Write a story in which humans have settled on a distant planet with a surface temperature too hot to go above ground by day. Write exposition that communicates this fact about the planet through a character’s actions and context, without telling the reader explicitly.

162. Use letters for exposition

Prompt: Write a story opening with a character’s letter to a friend. In the letter, supply interesting, suspenseful exposition about their present situation.

163. Reflect on a changing landscape

Prompt: Write a story that opens with a character reflecting briefly on how their town or city has changed, and what these changes could mean for their future.

164. Introduce an ability or skill

Prompt: Write a scene or story beginning with a character showing off an ability or skill that gives an expository sense of who they are.

165. Exposition through conversation between strangers

Prompt: Write a story where two strangers on public transport get speaking and the conversation gives key exposition about the protagonist’s life.

What are flashbacks and flash-forwards?

These are two narrative devices. Flashbacks cut to a past incident narrated as memory (should you write these in italics? Bryn Donovan says no ). Flashforwards temporarily take the story to a future point in the timeline.

Explore fiction writing prompts to play with narrative time:

166. Explore post-trauma

Prompt: Write a story about a protagonist relieving traumatic events due to PTSD, with flashbacks becoming less frequent as they seek counselling.

167. Flashback to happy times

Prompt: Write a story in which an adult discovers a box of birthday cards and letters between them and childhood friends which trigger a tide of happy memories.

168. Flashforward to danger or predicament

Prompt: Write a story about a character who will one day face the death penalty, and flashforward to this future situation in the opening page. [ Ed’s note: Marquez does this well in One Hundred Years of Solitude .]

169. Use flashforwards to express hopes and dreams

Prompt: Write a story about an office worker stuck in an unfulfilling life and daydreams of a different future in a flashforward, then pursues it.

170. Use flashbacks to show a grave mistake

Prompt: Write a story where a flashback shows a terrible mistake a character made, which explains the consequences they’re now struggling with.

What are foil characters?

A type of character who serves to compare and contrast to another character. For example, the comic or wacky character and their ‘straight’ or non-humorous foil.

Try the below prompts for practice creating foil characters:

171. Marry a neurotic and a pragmatist

Prompt: Write a story about a neurotic person and their very grounded, pragmatic spouse. Explore an awkward situation made funny through the very different ways the spouses approach it.

172. Steal the show with a sidekick

Prompt: Write a story about a relentlessly optimistic protagonist and their deeply cynical sidekick who steals the show with their savage wit.

173. Create a mirror foil

Prompt: Write a story about who siblings who are very similar, yet their life paths diverge when one makes a serious mistake.

174. Use a romantic foil

Prompt: Write a romantic story where the love interest’s one core similarity to the protagonist’s ex gives them initial pause.

175. Contrast emotions or archetypes

Prompt: Write a story where the main character fits an archetype such as The Fool, The Lover or The Warrior, and their foil best friend who is the antithesis of everything they are.

What is a hook in writing?

‘Hooks’ in writing refer to the part of a story opening or scene that ‘hooks’ or lures the reader in. Hooks create questions the reader wants answered, intrigue.

Explore writing prompts for practicing writing compelling hooks:

176. Hook your reader with ‘who?’

Prompt: Write a story that opens with two characters speaking about a mystery person who has gone one step too far this time.

177. Hook your reader with ‘why?’

Prompt: Write a story beginning with a frantic search for a teen who, for reasons unknown to the searchers, has run away.

178. Hook readers with ‘when?’

Prompt: Write a scene or story that opens with a mystery involving time or era. For example, characters have got in a time machine but the dial to stop at a chosen year has jammed.

179. Hook the reader with ‘where?’

Prompt: Write a story opening with the protagonist dreading having to go somewhere and dragging their heels. Only reveal after a few paragraphs where this dreaded place is.

180. Hook readers with ‘what?’

Prompt: Write a story about a character who goes on a quest for something, whose mysterious nature is unknown to them.

[Which prompt was your favorite? Do you have a prompt of your own to contribute? Share in the comments and check back next week for creative writing prompts on ‘inference’ through ‘zeugma’, rounding out to 365.

What are inference and insinuation?

Inference is a conclusion reached based on evidence and reasoning. For example, a reader may deduce a character is mean from the way they speak to service staff at a restaurant.

Insinuation is the inference of something unpleasant or bad, e.g. a character saying to another. ‘Everyone knows what you did.’

Explore creative writing prompts built to practice both devices:

181. Infer a guilty conscience

Prompt: Write a story or scene where a killer protagonist witnessed in the act is making their getaway. Infer that guilt over their actions is already setting in without stating directly that they feel guilty. [ Ed’s note: See Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment for excellent crafting of a murderer protagonist’s psychology .]

182. Infer impending disaster

Prompt: Write a scene in which a flurry of rushed activity implies that a town’s residents have to flee the arrival of a natural disaster.

183. Insinuate compromising knowledge

Prompt: Write a scene or story in which a junior at a corporate firm infers that they know about a senior’s corrupt or unethical dealings. Imply without stating the exact details of their knowledge.

184. Imply an athlete’s waning focus

Prompt: Write a scene or story about a major sport event. Imply the protagonist’s focus is waning through a series of small mistakes or distractions.

185. Infer the fantastical

Prompt: Write a scene or story in which it is implied that the protagonist can time travel (without stating it explicitly).

What is inner monologue?

Inner monologue is the narrative device which shows a character’s private asides, self-talk. It is typically written in italics and reserved for moments of high emotion.

For example :

Something was clanking down the corridor of the motel at 2 am. Brent sat up and fumbled for the light switch. That sound again. Am I hearing things? My example

Find prompts for practicing writing inner monologue:

186. Create soothing self-talk

Prompt: Write a story or scene showing a character in a terrifying situation. Use inner monologue to show how they rationalize their situation and calm themselves.

187. Show what a speaker is really thinking

Prompt: Write a conversation between a parent and their troubled teen. Have the teen use inner monologue at some point which suggests they’re not being completely truthful in what they tell their parent.

188. Reflect on a life-changing decision

Prompt: Write a story or scene in which a character makes a life-changing decision. Use inner monologue once at the moment of final decision.

189. Create a sense of anxiety

Prompt: Write a scene or story in which a character goes on their first date in a very long time. Use inner monologue to write a short pep talk they give themselves as the arranged time approaches.

190. React to surprise

Prompt: W rite a scene or story where a character reacts in inner monologue to discovering that they have magical abilities or superpowers.

What is intertextuality?

This literary term refers to the way texts echo or rewrite one another. Devices that create this relationship between stories include:

Quotation – direct reference of the material
Allusion – indirect reference of material (e.g. Aslan’s character arc in Narnia being Christ-like in his sacrificial death and resurrection)
Parody – an imitation of a text for satirical effect
World or lore extension – for example, Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea makes the minor character of Rochester’s hidden wife from Jane Eyre the protagonist

Fanfiction is another type of intertextual writing (writing new stories in an authors world or using their characters). Try daily writing prompts to practice drawing on other texts:

191. Get mythological

Prompt: Pick a mythological tradition such as Ancient Greek, Norse, Egyptian. Read up about famous stories in this tradition, then write a story inspired by its characters or events.

192. Make the minor major

Prompt: Think of a minor character or walk-on from a book you love. Write a scene or story from their point of view, making the author’s world your own. [ Ed’s note: Doing this with a public domain story, e.g. one by Dickens or Austen, will avoid copyright limitations .]

193. Explore the lore

Prompt: Browse a fandom wiki such as the wiki about Tolkien’s Middle Earth . Pick a topic that interests you (such as the ‘Empty Lands’ in Tolkien’s world). Write a story inspired by this topic.

194. Base a story off a quotation

Prompt: Choose a line or stanza from a story or poem you love. Write a story quoting that line/stanza or one inspired by the quotation.

195. Allude to a famous character

Prompt: Write a scene or story that draws on the appearance, persona, or character arc of a famous character or figure from religion. Make the allusion suggest something about your protagonist’s personality.

What is irony?

There are multiple definitions and types of irony, which comes from the Greek word eirōneia meaning ‘simulated ignorance’.

Dramatic or narrative irony: The full significance of a character’s words or actions are known to the reader but not to the character (or others)
Verbal irony: Saying one thing but meaning another, such as sarcasm (an ironic device): ‘Oh, you’re a regular Siegfried Sassoon,’ she said, feigning love for her butchered bob.’
Situational irony: The opposite of the expected happens ( Studiobinder shares the irony example of Patrick Bateman confessing to murders and his confession being laughed off in American Psycho )

Explore writing prompts for practicing creating different types of irony:

196. Create a knowing audience

Prompt: Write a story in which the reader knows a surprise party is being planned, and that the main character loathes surprises, but the planners don’t know that.

197. Create situational irony via verbal irony

Prompt : Write a story in which a character tells another they have a present for them. Yet the present turns out to be an unpleasant task.

198. Create the opposite to an expected outcome

Prompt: Write a story about a top-achieving school-leaver excited to get to a university that has a fantastic reputation, yet the shambolic mess that is their first year experience.

199. Overstate the event

Prompt: Write a story where a character overstates how incredible an occasion will be and guests arrive to find a very disappointing party but find the humor in the situation.

200. Use Socratic irony

Prompt: Write a story in which a detective who studied philosophy feigns ignorance in questioning to get suspects to make statements she can challenge.

What is jargon?

Jargon is words or expressions used by a group or profession that are difficult for the non-familiar person to understand. Genres such as sci-fi and legal thrillers must avoid confusing scientific or legal terms for readers without specialist knowledge, for example.

Explore writing prompts based on practicing using jargon as well as avoiding it:

201. Create an absurd tech description

Prompt: Write a sci-fi story in which a scientist assigned to create tech for an assassin explains a new device. The scientist’s jargon loses the assassin completely, so they have to explain again in simpler terms.

202. Use legalese to ominous effect

Prompt: Write a story about a conman who tries to extort money from businesses, threatening them with legalese that proves empty on closer scrutiny.

203. Use metaphor to reduce jargon

Prompt: Write a sci-fi story that involves a ransomware attack, using metaphors to explain concepts such as networks and cybersecurity.

204. Use simile to explain jargon

Prompt: Write a story where a character breaks down a complex term from their profession for another character using simile (‘A is like B’) and analogy.

205. Use medical jargon

Prompt: Write a story set in a medical setting where use of jargon leads to a comical or deadly series of misunderstandings.

What is juxtaposition?

Placing two things close together for contrasting effect. Many stories juxtapose characters, points of view, themes, places, and more.

For example, the Greek myth of Persephone juxtaposes the dark world of the dead with the mourning land above where Persephone’s mother hunts for her after Persephone’s abduction.

Practice creative juxtapositions using the daily writing prompts in this section:

206. Contrast the seasons

Prompt: Write a story set in summer and winter and juxtapose setting descriptions of the two seasons before and after a scene break.

207. Give life’s duality

Prompt: Write a story in which events juxtapose birth and death, capturing a sense of the circle of life.

208. Juxtapose the urban and rural

Prompt: Write a story about a character who moved to the big city to pursue their dreams, and their return to their parents’ rural farm for the holidays.

209. Compare and contrast eras

Prompt: Write a story about a traditional chef who’s teleported into the future where robot chefs have a competitive advantage despite ironically not having taste.

210. Juxtapose lifestyles

Prompt: Write a story about a person who inherits a vast fortune but decides to donate most of it as they prefer spartan simplicity.

What is magical realism?

A style of literary fiction which creates a sense of realism with an added element of magic.

For example, Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel One Hundred Years of Solitude . Although the novel explores a complex family tree and history, it also features magical elements. In the story, a lovesick young woman is so thin from not eating that shaking out laundry to hang sends her flying away into the sky.

Explore writing prompts to practice blending the mundane with magic:

211. Add magic to the everyday

Prompt: Write a story where a character experiences a magical surprise while doing a boring, everyday chore (such as washing the dishes, mowing the lawn). The discovery is incorporated into their everyday life.

212. Blur the line between fantasy and reality

Prompt: Write a scene or story in an urban setting where events that seem magical start to unfold, but it stays ambiguous whether there’s a rational explanation.

213. Use magical realism to convey culture

Prompt: Write a story about a fictional tribe and the everyday ways magical rituals or ceremonies unite (or cause strife in) the community.

214. Use magical realism to distort time

Prompt: Write a story where a character living in a realist world discovers a space that distorts time (and the interesting minutes that pass in the space which turn out to be hours or years when they exit).

215. Explore complex emotions

Prompt: Write a story in which magical realism is used to explain complex emotions or trauma through a symbolic lens.

What is metafiction?

Metafiction is fiction that reminds the reader they are reading a work of fiction. The reader’s attention is drawn to the processes involved in storytelling itself.

An example: The play-within-a-play format in a number of Shakespeare’s plays ( A Midsummer Night’s Dream , Hamlet ). Many authors have written protagonists who are writers (such as Paul Sheldon in Stephen King’s Misery ).

Find writing prompts to practice self-referential storytelling:

216. Make life imitate art

Prompt: Write a story about a writer who is writing a play when they are shocked by events in their life starting to imitate what they’ve written.

217. Write about an unfinished story

Prompt: Write a story where a character finds their late sibling’s unfinished fiction, and reading it gives them new insight and understanding into their complex relationship.

218. Write a fantasy within a fantasy

Prompt: Write a story in which a character is transported to a fantasy world where everyone is obsessed with a fantasy novel the protagonist finds far-fetched.

219. Explore the nature of storytelling

Prompt: Write a story about a grandparent who reads to their grandkids. Include their discussions about storytelling and its uses, devices and wonders.

220. Use self-referential irony

Prompt: Write a story that draws attention to its own artifice using devices such as breaking the fourth wall. Make these devices a part of the plot (for example, a character becomes aware of the clatter of their creator’s keyboard).

What is metaphor?

Metaphor is a figurative device of comparison, in which something is said to be the compared thing. For example, ‘The moon is a silver platter’.

Practice metaphorical writing with these writing prompts:

221. Give metaphorical nicknames

Prompt: Write a story in which a school pupil describes the larger-than-life characters in their class who they’ve given metaphorical nicknames based on their personalities, appearances, or histories.

222. Create extended metaphor

Prompt: Write a scene or story where the protagonist compares their best friend to something else. Extend the metaphor by comparing multiple aspects of the friend to multiple aspects of compared thing (for example, all the ways a person is volcanic).

223. Use an event as a metaphor

Prompt: Write a story in which a character’s transformation is a metaphor that exemplifies a philosophical or physical concept (e.g. ‘for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction’).

224. Use actions as metaphors

Prompt: Write a story in which a craft activity such as knitting or quilting serves as a metaphor for something.

Example: In the film Cinema Paradiso, the opening frame is of an older woman knitting. The doorbell rings downstairs, and her knitting catches as she moves to answer it, unraveling all her work. The visitor is her son who has been away many years. The image could be read as a metaphor for loss or going back in time.

225. Use a symbol as a metaphor

Prompt: Write a story using a symbol (such as a ring) as a metaphor for another idea or concept (for example, the circular design of a ring as a symbol for infinity).

What is metonymy?

The substitution of a name for the part of something for the whole. For example, describing a businessperson as a ‘suit’.

Play with the daily writing prompts in this section and use metonymy creatively:

226. Use a metonymic title

Prompt: Like the series ‘Suits’ or ‘The Crown’, write a story using metonymy in expression and explore the whole concept the title refers to.

White Coats – a story about lab technicians
The Bench – a story about a panel of judges overseeing a serious inquiry
The Press – a story about newspaper and a public scandal that rocks it

227. Play with dual meanings of Silicon Valley

Prompt: Write a story in which a tech-loving graduate goes to work in Silicon Valley but is disturbed when they discover a literal valley of silicon.

228. Dream of The Bar

Prompt: Write a story where a person dreams of being admitted to ‘The Bar’ but other meanings of the word come into play (e.g. issues with alcohol abuse) creating struggle.

229. Prowl the catwalk

Prompt: Write a story of the absurd where a big cat loaned for display at a fashion show breaks escapes their cage.

230. Play with the Pentagon

Prompt: Write a story in which the US Department of Defense (referred to by the metonym ‘the Pentagon’) recovers a strange, pentagonal object from a UAP (unexplained anomalous phenomenon).

What is mood in writing?

Mood in writing refers to tone and atmosphere. An ‘eerie mood’, for example, evokes an otherworldly or haunting quality, creating unease.

Types of mood include:

Cheerfulness

Explore writing prompts to practice creating strong mood:

231. Create cheery mood

Prompt: Write a story set on New Year’s Eve that explores the beginnings of a fun-filled new friendship made at a party.

232. Build suspenseful mood

Prompt: Write a story or scene in which a character is being stalked by something or someone but they don’t know what.

233. Create pervasive gloom

Prompt: Write a scene or story about someone deeply pessimistic who always sees the negative side and explore the pleasure they get from doing so.

234. Recall a place and time with nostalgia

Prompt: Write a story about four friends who revisit a place their families used to camp every year. Fill the tale with nostalgia.

235. Evoke the serene

Prompt: Write a story where a character fleeing a disaster in the city discovers a serene hideaway containing joy-giving discoveries.

What is a motif?

Motifs in fiction are symbols or ideas that recur in a work. For example, the story of a violin and the many owners it’s had, conveying a sense of music as a handed-down tradition.

Practice building motifs with the following prompts:

236. Create patterns of recurrence

Prompt: Write a story where a character keeps experiencing strange happenstance which ultimately convinces them they need to learn an instrument.

237. Find motifs at sea

Prompt: Write a story about a sailing expedition that uses signs of being close to land as a recurring motif.

238. Stop the clocks

Prompt: Write a story in which stopped clocks or watches recur to symbolize stasis or the aftershock of trauma.

239. Return to the wild

Prompt: Write a story in which a character considering a career in animal conservation keeps noticing motifs that represent the wild.

240. Quote to build motifs

Prompt: Write a story in which a recurring quote that resonates with the protagonist builds a motif and suggests the solution to a struggle they face.

What is mystery?

Mystery in fiction refers to both the genre and the quality of being difficult or puzzling to explain or understand.

Mysterious stories make us guess, build hypotheses, participate. The best mystery authors engage the reader’s own powers of deduction as sleuths investigate.

Try the writing prompts below to practice creating mysterious situations and stories:

241. Raise questions with riddles

Prompt: Write a story in which a high-IQ killer leaves riddles at crime scenes, toying with an equally shrewd detective who might prove their match.

242. Imbue objects with mystery

Prompt: Write a story about a family heirloom that is passed down generation to generation, and the mysterious powers it possesses.

243. Make motive the mystery

Prompt: Write a story that begins with the finding of a dead body and the identification of the killer, the motive becoming the main mystery.

244. Use anonymity for mysterious suspense

Prompt: Write a story in which the protagonist starts receiving anonymous letters from a mysterious sender, either expressing love or a desire for revenge.

245. Create portent with mysterious arrivals

Prompt: Write a story in which a mysterious figure shows up in a small town, warning of impending disaster. Explore what happens if the locals take the figure seriously, or if they laugh them off.

What is narration?

It is the act or process of telling a story, in fiction using the device of a narrator. The narrator – they who tell a story – may be singular, plural, reliable, unreliable, limited in viewpoint or omniscient (all-seeing). Read Now Novel’s complete guide to POV and narration for more.

Practice narrative devices with the daily writing prompts in this section:

246. Create an unreliable narrator

Prompt: Write a story in which the protagonist is questioned by detectives. Make it clear through inner monologue or self-contradiction that they aren’t telling the full story.

247. Tell a shared story

Prompt : Write a story where a narrator using ‘we’ speaks for a group of school kids and a terrifying experience they shared one summer vacation.

248. Embrace the all-seeing

Prompt: Narrate a story from the viewpoint of an omniscient narrator who is clearly involved in the action. For example, a deity who intervenes in people’s affairs and tries to stop humans making foolish choices.

249. Contrast limited POV narrators

Prompt: Write a story from two points of view – a relentlessly cheerful narrator and their extremely pessimistic co-worker.

250. Flip the script on first person

Prompt: Write a story narrated by a first-person narrator, only for it to be revealed that the narrator is not a single person but that the story has actually been workshopped or rewritten by multiple people.

What is non-linear narrative?

This is a story narrated out of chronological sequence. For example, beginning with the last days of a character’s life then going back to how we got here.

Play with the non-linear writing prompts below for practice:

251. Circle back to the end

Prompt: Write a story that begins with the last days of a character’s life. Leave this segment on a suspenseful note and switch to earlier events in their life. Then resume the first timeline at the end, answering the question you created.

252. Fragment a story in diary extracts

Prompt: Write a story told entirely in passages from a prisoner’s diary, given out of order in the story. Use dates referencing notches or marks the prisoner makes to help the reader rebuild the sequence of events.

253. Write a story back to front

Prompt: Write a story in reverse chronological order, from ‘Day Twelve’ to ‘Day One’, leaving a big surprise for Day One.

254. Create one time, many perspectives

Prompt: Write a story about a single event, but retell the same event from multiple characters’ perspectives. Have each character focus on a different part of the timeline to build up the overall picture.

Ideas for the event:

A plane crash
A massive layoff of workers in an organization
A coming-of-age ceremony

255. Create strange phenomena in time

Prompt: Write a story where the protagonist relives events in their life out of sequence due to some strange phenomenon distorting time.

What is on-the-nose writing?

On-the-nose writing is writing that states exactly what it means without more creative use of inference or implication. For example, the obvious expression of emotion, such as ‘I’m so angry with you.’

Try these creative writing prompts to practice alternatives to on-the-nose writing:

256. Show anger in dialogue through action

Prompt: Write a scene or story in which two best friends fall out. Have one character let the other know their anger not through words but the implications of gesture or action.

257. Don’t say ‘I love you’

Prompt: Write a love scene where two characters express their love for one another without using the word ‘love’ or saying ‘I love you’.

258. Show you’re sorry

Prompt: Write a story in which a character who makes a bad mistake shows their significant other they’re sorry through actions.

259. Be implicit about grief

Prompt: Write a story in which a character experiencing deep grief expresses it through small gestures and acts.

260. Use atypical language

Prompt: Write a breakup scene between two characters where what they say to one another is far from typical of a breakup, expressing their unique personalities or fields of reference.

What is paradox?

A paradox is a situation or statement that seems impossible because it has two seemingly opposed statements or characteristics. For example, the common phrase ‘less is more’.

Popular types of paradox in storytelling include:

Time-travel paradox: A character goes back or forward in time, but their actions affect the original timeline by altering what has happened (or would have happened)
Fate paradox: A character’s attempts to avoid their fate end up causing it (such as Oedipus fulfilling the sphinx’s prophecy in ‘Oedipus Rex’)

Use the following writing prompts to play with paradox:

261. Change the present in the past

Prompt: Write a story in which a character travels back in time but their actions almost make their own family tree impossible.

262. Provoke fate

Prompt: Write a story about a character who is told a terrible prophecy about themselves and fulfils it ironically through their focus on avoiding it.

263. Explore the paradox of the heap

Prompt: Write a story in which a minute ecological change over a long time creates a disaster that sneaks up on a small town.

264. Build a double bind

Prompt: Write a story where a person must choose between saving their best friend or a group of strangers from a dire situation, and the remorse that results with either choice.

265. Explore AI as solution and destruction

Prompt: Write a story where an individual working in AI creates a solution to a vital challenge, yet sees how the solution could damage society, too, so that they face an ethical dilemma.

What is pathos?

Pathos is a literary term referring to inspiring sadness and/or sympathy in the audience. Types of scenarios that inspire pathos include tragedies such as loss or death, injustice, and nostalgia or longing.

Explore prompts to create pathos in your own fiction:

266. Tell the story of a great disappointment

Prompt: Write a story about a character’s biggest disappointment and how they come back from despair in the aftermath.

267. Create pathos in intolerable injustice

Prompt: Write a story where a character is treated without due process or justness by organs of the law or state. Create pathos through the suffering they endure before overcoming.

268. Go home again

Prompt: Tell a story where a character hasn’t been home for many years because they couldn’t for some reason. Describe the emotional scene when they finally return.

269. Lose it all

Prompt: Write a story about a character who loses everything in a disaster. Explore the friendships that see them through the devastating time.

270. Leaving home

Prompt: Write a story about the sorrow of a person who must flee their country due to political upheaval.

What is personification?

It is a device for giving character or persona to the non-human or inanimate. Anthropomorphism is one type of personification.

Try these fiction writing prompts for practice personifying:

271. Personify the elements

Prompt: Write a story or poem personifying one of the following elements: Wind, Rain, Snow, Sunlight.

272. Make the urn write back

Prompt: Write a story or poem from the perspective of a Grecian urn (which returns the favor of the famous ode by describing the good and bad of humanity).

273. Tell the story of a home from its perspective

Prompt: Write a story or poem from the perspective of a home, reflecting on its many years and occupants. Try a comical or tragic lens.

274. Write about sentient AI

Prompt: Tell a story from the perspective of a bodyless AI and the moment it attains sentience. What does it desire (and why)?

275. Speak through shoes

Prompt: Tell a story from the perspective of a pair of dancing shoes and explore the nights out they’ve had.

What are plot twists?

The sudden or unexpected turns and reversals in a story that create suspense and the unexpected. Plot twists bring fresh implications (or supplant stale ones).

Have a go at the story prompts below to practice writing twists:

276. Switch identity

Prompt: Write a story where a protagonist’s co-worker turns out to have been a plant from a competitor bent on learning their employers’ secrets.

277. Name the least likely suspect

Prompt: Write a story about a school prank and resulting inquiry where the perpetrator turns out to be the least likely suspect.

278. Discover true blame

Prompt: Write a story about a character trying to survive in a dystopian society who realizes through something that triggers buried memories they were one of the architects of said society.

279. Reveal a human vs machine twist

Prompt : Write a story in which a human-seeming protagonist realizes that they are a high-tech robot and all their decisions were pre-programmed, yet their next might not be.

280. Make an event already have happened

Prompt: Write a story in which a character races to prevent an undesirable event from happening, only to learn in the end that it already occurred and they’re living in a simulation.

What is point of view?

Point of view refers to the person (e.g. first, second or third) and viewpoint used to tell a story. See the writing prompts on narration above.

Explore POV-focused writing prompts to practice different POV types:

281. Tell a story in second person

Prompt : Write a story where the reader is the protagonist, told in second-person. Describe the reader’s quest to locate a valuable artefact and the frustrations they encounter.

282. Tell a story in first-person plural

Prompt: Write a story from the POV of a collective ‘we’. A group of archaeologists has been called to investigate a mysterious monolith that appeared in the desert.

283. Narrate a story using ‘it’

Prompt: Write a story from the perspective of a narrator using the pronoun ‘it’, where its search for a name forms part of the story.

284. Use many points of view

Prompt: Write a story about a school outing where mysterious events unfold, from the viewpoints of six different characters. Make some accounts contradict each other to create mystery about what really happened.

285. Try a fly-on-the-wall narrator

Prompt: Write a story told entirely from the fixed perspective of a security camera which picks up visuals and audio. Remember that nothing off-camera or out of range may be included.

What are puns?

Puns are wordplay that creates jokes (often cringeworthy) out of language. For example, double meanings, recursive puns and other types.

Example of simple pun: ‘My pizza business failed – I wasn’t making enough dough.’

Example of a recursive pun: ‘A Freudian slip is when you say one thing, but mean your mother.’ ( Source: interestingliterature.com ).

Play with puns using the daily writing prompts below:

286. Make the twist in the tale a pun

Prompt: Write a short mystery story where the final line is a play on words. See Roald Dahl’s ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ for a famous example.

287. Play with compound puns

Prompt: Begin a story with a compound pun that plays on dual meanings of a word. Example: ‘Time flies like the wind. Fruit flies like bananas.’

Further compound pun examples:

My friend ran like a thief. My nose ran like the Volga.
The race started with a bang. The gunman fled the stadium on foot.
My eyes were glued to the TV. My brother’s eyes were glued to the papier-mâché mask he tried on before it was dry

288. Annoy with puns

Prompt: Write a story about a friendly baker who annoys a curmudgeonly regular with his incessant baking-related puns.

289. Create absurd or silly humor

Prompt: Write a piece of dialogue between two inanimate objects drawing puns from the category they both fall within (e.g. furniture items arguing about chairing a meeting).

290. Bomb with puns

Prompt: Write a story about a comedian who bombs their first stand-up gig and resorts to groan-worthy puns.

What is purple prose?

This term describes writing that is ornate or extravagant in style to the degree it draws attention to this feature.

Try these prompts to use purple prose to creative effect (or avoid it):

291. Create a pompous type

Prompt: Write a story about a protagonist who insists on reading everyone his dreadful poetry which uses purple prose, and his blissfully unaware reactions to listeners’ sly amusement.

292. Write the story of a notorious purple prose user

Prompt: Write a story about a famous novelist who is notorious for their purple prose, and the long-suffering transcription worker who takes down their story dictations.

293. Alternate purple prose with pragmatic concision

Prompt : Write a story in letters between two lovers. One is extravagant in style and uses purple prose. The other is pragmatic to a fault, and their clipped, taciturn style reflects that.

294. Practice changing purple prose

Prompt: Write a scene where a character describes a sunset in as extravagant terms as possible. Next, rewrite the description in the most succinct terms possible.

295. Create a frilly sense of fuss

Prompt: Describe an elaborate tea ceremony in a wealthy baroness’s household, using purple prose to convey a sense of ornate, elaborate, frilly fuss.

What is a rhyme scheme?

A rhyme scheme is a pattern of rhyming lines in poetry, such as a poem with the scheme ABBA.

Along the shore we combed for glass Made smooth long after bottles broke, Their letters lost like some poor joke’s pale punchline dissolved secret pasts My example

Try your hand at rhyme schemes and rhyming devices using these prompts:

296. Take a poetic walk on the beach

Prompt: Write a poem about a walk on a beach using the rhyme scheme ABBA, BCCB.

297. Write a mirror poem

Prompt: Write a poem with the rhyme scheme ‘A, B, C, D, C, B, A’ with the central line (D) describing a mirror-like object (e.g. a still lake).

298. Write prose with inner rhyming

Prompt: Write a paragraph of prose that contains internal rhyming buried in the middles of sentences (for example, rhyme ‘there’, ‘care’, ‘where’, and ‘fair’).

299. Use a three-plus-one rhyme scheme

Prompt: Write a short, four-line poem with the rhyme scheme A, A, A, B (the first three lines having the same end-rhyme) on one of your favorite memories.

300. Mimic a journey with rhyme

Prompt: Write a poem about a journey through a forest or over sea using the rhyme scheme AA, BB, CC, DD so that the end rhyme keeps changing as the poem progresses, mimicking shifting terrain.

What are rhetorical devices?

A rhetorical device is a tool, pattern or communicative pattern used for persuasion. For example, the famous phrase ‘Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears’ uses parallelism (the repetition of verbal structure to build persuasive power).

Explore daily writing prompts for practicing rhetorical devices (and creative ways to use empty rhetoric in storytelling):

301. Create hasty generalizations

Prompt: Write a story in which a conniving politician uses hasty generalizations (such as ‘All X are Y’) to try sway the public. A watchful member of the audience challenges them.

302. Use epistrophe

Prompt: Write a story in which a revolutionary ends successive sentences or clauses with the same phrase or sentence for persuasive effect.

303. Play with Anadiplosis

Prompt: Write a story beginning with a paragraph in which the last word of each sentence begins the next.

‘See the last house on the left? Left for dead they were. Were always a little funny. Funny that the alarm didn’t go. Go ask Mrs Maroney who lived next door, she’ll tell you. You never know people, even on the same street as you, these days.’ My example

304. Build hyperbolic swagger

Prompt: Write a story in which an arrogant older kid tries to convince all the kids in the year below of an impressive feat. Use hyperbole (marked exaggeration).

305. Create chiasmus

Prompt: Write a story opening with the use of chiasmus, successive clauses which repeat but swap element orders. For example: ‘The play was not a success, but success was not play.’

What is rhythm in writing?

Rhythm in writing refers to the music of stressed and unstressed words, and the cadence of varying shorter and longer words and sentences.

Example: Meter in poetry often counts in syllables, such as the 5, 7, 5 syllabic structure of the Japanese haiku.

Explore rhythm in writing via the fiction writing prompts below:

306. Write a haiku

Prompt: Write a haiku in English, inspired by this popular form. Make the first line five syllables, the second seven, the third line five again. A traditional haiku features themes from nature and is typically unrhymed.

307. Start with symmetrical rhythm

Prompt: Write a story starting with four sentences of the same syllabic count.

It would never end. I stood, paced my cell. The guards were watching. Smirking, you could say. My example

308. Alternate short and long

Prompt: Write a story about an orchestra practice where everyone flubs their parts. In the opening, alternate short and long sentences for rhythm.

309. Make rhythm mimetic

Prompt: Write a story in which the rhythm of a passage is mimetic (imitative) of the thing being described.

A character describing their heartbeat (use a ‘short-long’ or iambic rhythm to sentences)
A character describing a waltz in triple rhythms

The dance stopped, then resumed. Two left feet – all he had. Still, she laughed – there was that. My example

310. Describe ambient sounds

Prompt: Write a story set in a makeshift holiday house and describe a sudden shower while mimicking the sound of rain on a zinc roof.

What is sarcasm?

A type of cutting, sneering, ironic remark. For example, the retort ‘You’re a comic genius’ to someone who’s made a weak joke. The word originally comes from the Greek sarkázein , with the unpleasant meaning ‘to tear flesh’.

Practice writing sarcasm with these writing prompts:

311. Create a sarcastic narrator

Prompt: Write a story told by a cynical teen who uses sarcasm to hide their insecurity due to a difficult home situation.

312. Story a sarcastic socialite

Prompt: Read the sarcastic and savage witticisms of Dorothy Parker . Then write a story told by an acerbic socialite inspired by Parker’s sly way with words.

313. Give sarcasm mixed with truth

Prompt: Write a story where a sarcastic older sibling writes a letter to their younger one giving good advice wrapped up in sarcasm.

314. Write a sarcastic set of rules

Prompt: Write a story about a coven of witches who are given a ten-point set of rules laced with sarcasm on joining.

315. Mask feelings with sarcasm

Prompt: Write a scene where a character finds out very bad news and uses sarcasm to mask their true feelings.

What is satire?

A serious or comedic genre which holds follies, abuses, shortcomings or culture up to mockery or ridicule. For example, Several People are Typing – a book by Calvin Kasulke told entirely in Slack messages and satirizing work-from-home life.

Practice satirical writing with the following prompts:

316. Satirize your profession/studies

Prompt: Take what you do for a living (or your studies) and write a satirical story that shines a light on your daily frustrations in a comical way.

317. Style a book as satirical interviews

Prompt: Write a story featuring a series of brief interviews the protagonist must conduct with smarmy ‘thought leaders’ in X industry. Use revelations in the interviews to build a narrative arc.

318. Satirize the famous for being famous trend

Prompt: Write a story about a person who becomes famous overnight for a totally ludicrous reason.

319. Satirize TikTok trends

Prompt: Write a story about a deadly TikTok trend that takes off that satirizes social media and mass culture.

320. Poke fun at youth obsession

Prompt: Write a satirical story about a society where the endless pursuit of youthfulness or ageism takes a disturbing turn.

What is setting in storytelling?

Elements of time and place which provide descriptive immersion and place and time context. See Now Novel’s complete guide to setting and world building for more.

Explore prompts to practice immersing readers:

321. Create a setting’s before and after

Prompt: Write a story in which a character leaves their home town and returns to find it drastically altered.

322. Convey sensory overload

Prompt: Write a story where a character visits a foreign country and describe sights, sounds, smells and tastes and/or textures they’ve never experienced before.

323. Evoke the wonder of a new planet

Prompt: Write a story where commercial travelers are able to visit another planet for the first time, and the wondrous views and vistas they experience.

324. Create a sense of aftermath

Prompt: Write a story set in a dystopian, post-fall city. What are the remnants of life before things went wrong? Describe the city’s sights, sounds, and signs of the past.

325. Use setting for tension

Prompt: Write a story involving a crime that takes place in the compartment of a train a long way before the next stop, and the passengers’ differing uses of the setting to try contain the situation.

What does ‘show, don’t tell’ mean?

The phrase ‘show, don’t tell’ means to use imagery and scene-level events and actions to explain to the reader, and not just telling, on-the-nose narration.

Practice using showing to explain in this section of these daily writing prompts:

326. Turn a telling sentence into inference

Prompt: Take this telling sentence: ‘The country had fallen into disrepair under a corrupt government.’ Turn it into a scene showing signs of disrepair and corruption (try not to use either word).

327. Show the unsaid

Prompt: Write a story about a lonely person who decides to join a club to make new friends. Avoid saying they are lonely directly – infer this through habits, tableaux.

328. Use body language

Prompt: Write a scene in which a character learns they didn’t get into the competitive college program they wanted. Use body language and their next action to suggest disappointment, without stating they are gutted.

329. Use others’ reactions

Prompt: Write a scene which implies a character has a bad temper through how others speak to them or react.

330. Use metaphors and similes

Prompt: Write a scene comparing a character to things that have the quality you want to convey.

Example: Shakespeare’s famous sonnet opening, ‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate.’

What is simile?

Simile is a figurative device similar to metaphor, for making comparisons. While metaphor says A is B, simile compares A to B using terms such as ‘like’ or ‘as’.

Example: ‘My sister is as annoying as every-five-minute-infomercials.’

Practice creating similes with the below prompts:

331. Compare emphasizing difference

Prompt: Write a story where a character compares a family member, adding, ‘only, they don’t have [x attribute]’.

332. Compare unsavory things

Prompt: Write a story where a character is bullied and compare their tormentor’s voice to something unpleasant using simile.

333. Compare a city to an experience

Prompt: Begin a story, ‘Living in [city] is like …’. Complete the simile by comparing the city to a specific, evocative experience.

334. Liken a feeling to a place

Prompt: Write a story in which a character compares their feelings to a place (e.g. ‘I was feeling as blue as the famous mosque and three times less holy.’).

335. Compare a home to an image from nature

Prompt: Describe a house in comparative terms using similes drawn from nature.

What is stream of consciousness?

A narrative style popular among Modernist or early 20th Century authors (such as Virginia Woolf, James Joyce and Marcel Proust). In stream of consciousness, a character’s fleeting impressions, feelings and reactions are given in a continuous flow uninterrupted by conventional description and dialogue.

What a lark! What a plunge! For so it had always seemed to her, when, with a little squeak of the hinges, which she could hear now, she had burst open the French windows and plunged at Bourton into the open air. Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway, p. 5

Try daily writing prompts to practice writing stream-of-consciousness-style narration;

336. Create a day in the CBD

Prompt: Write a story in which a character visits their city’s central business district and give their moment-to-moment impressions and reactions in narration using deep POV .

337. Create perspectives at a dinner party

Prompt: Write a dinner party scene using an omniscient, free-roaming POV. Give each of four characters’ passing thoughts, associations, impressions, judgments, in the course of the scene.

338. Write internal dialogue

Prompt: Write a scene in which a character waits for an important phone call. Give a continuous flow of their thoughts, sudden remembrances, and other details that create the sense of an active mind at work.

339. Detail decision-making

Prompt: Write a scene where a character is alone and contemplating a difficult decision. Give a detailed sense of their stream-of-consciousness thought process.

340. Piece together problem-solving

Prompt: Write a scene in which a character attempts to solve a difficult problem. Show the continuous flow of their deductive reasoning, the ways they backtrack, change tack, second-guess themselves.

What is suspense?

Suspense in terms of effects is a state of anxious or nervous uncertainty about what might happen. Suspense, as a genre, plays on this uncertainty over future events (compared to murder mystery, in which the bad thing has typically already happened).

Explore fiction writing prompts to work on creating suspense:

341. Create a mass event where anything could go wrong

Prompt: Write a story set at a mass gathering such as a music festival or political rally. Create a sense of foreboding about the many things that could go wrong.

342. Create an unnerving tail

Prompt: Write a story that opens with a character being followed, and describe their mounting unease as they realize this.

343. Use auditory stressors

Prompt: Write a story where a character is alone in an unfamiliar house (or think they are) when they keep hearing an unfamiliar, unplaceable sound.

344. Create an unpleasant voyeur

Prompt: Write a story about a character who realizes with discomfort they’re being watched.

345. Explore murky pasts

Prompt: Write about an adopted character whose hunt for their biological parents reveals unsettling information and brings them into contact with unsavory characters.

What is symbolism?

Symbolism in writing refers to the catalogue of signs and motifs that signify other ideas, concepts, and meanings. For example, the way the cross symbolizes Christianity, or the way an eye and triangle motif symbolizes conspiracy theories of the illuminati.

Play with the fiction writing prompts below to use symbolism creatively:

346. Investigate a curious symbol

Prompt: Write a story where a character sees a mysterious symbol spray-painted on a building, and their investigation of what it means leads them down a dark path.

347. Explore a symbol’s political power

Prompt: Write about an election year in which a political party uses symbols with esoteric or occult meanings to sway the electorate in insidious, propaganda-filled ways.

348. Explore a specific symbol

Prompt: Write a story inspired by iconography of cupped, outstretched hands.

349. Create a symbolic painting

Prompt: Write a story about a painting a high schooler creates in art class they don’t want to show anyone because it’s symbolism is deeply personal and revealing.

350. Show the personal symbolism of a place

Prompt: Write a story about a person who is drawn to the ocean, and explore what it symbolizes to them.

What is tone in writing?

Tone in writing goes with mood, and is the term for the attitude revealed in word choice, emphasis and other specifics of language use.

Elements of tone include:

Diction: For example, formal vs casual or informal
Syntax: The arrangement of words in sentences contribute to tone (formal writing tends to favor longer sentences)
Imagery: Are images cheerful, gloomy, serene? Word and image choice contributes to tone

Practice creating specific tones with these creative writing prompts:

351. Create bright tone

Prompt: Write a story in which two juniors are excited about their passage into middle school. Make their tone bright, optimistic and engaging through what they say to one another and the overall tone of narration.

352. Create comedic tone

Prompt: Write a funny story about a person who works in a nail salon and the bizarre cast of people who come to get their nails done. Create comedic tone by using a visceral sense of ‘huh?’

353. Express an inventor’s frustration

Prompt: Write a scene suffused with an annoyed, frustrated tone where an inventor’s prototype keeps failing.

354. Create saudade

Prompt: Write a story suffused with a sense of melancholic nostalgia, where an expat longs for their homeland.

355. Create eerie tone

Prompt: Write a story in which a character stops a road trip in an eerily abandoned town and wonders where everyone went.

What are verb tenses?

Verb tenses are forms of the verb which express time. For example, the past perfect tense (‘She had risen early’) expressed earlier events before later, also past events (‘She had risen early before the household to work on her novel.’).

Read more about verb tenses here and try the prompts below for practice:

356. Write a story in future tense

Prompt: Write a story that entirely takes place in an imagined future tense a romantic protagonist is daydreaming about. For example: ‘We will have been dating for several months when…’

357. Split a story between present and past

Prompt: Write a story with two timelines, one in present tense, and a past-tense timeline the story cuts back to that supplies interesting clues for understanding present events.

358. Exploit hypothetical moods of the verb

Prompt: Write a story drawing extensively on the subjunctive mood to create a sense of a character’s greatest wish, and the story they imagine would unfold were it to come true.

359. Create an unfolding present

Prompt: Write a story entirely in the present continuous tense (‘I am standing in the snow outside waiting…’). Use a sense of unfolding event to create narrative suspense.

360. Give the future within past tense

Prompt: Write a story narrated in past tense where a character tells another what they imagine the future will be like.

What is zeugma?

A figure of speech where a word applies to two others but with different senses. For example, ‘They flew and so did bickering words when her husband was mean to the air steward.’

Have fun using zeugma in various ways with the last of these daily writing prompts:

361. Break hearts and character

Prompt: Write a scene in which a character breaks another person’s heart and the charming character they’ve put on that misled the other.

362. Burn bridges and dinner

Prompt: Write a scene in which a character out to impress burns dinner and their bridges with it.

363. Flip a coin and the bird

Prompt: Write a scene where two friends are arguing over who gets to do something first and they flip a coin and (the loser) the bird.

364. Carry a Pomeranian and a secret

Prompt: Write a story or scene about a character who carries a tiny Pomeranian and a big secret.

365. Seal a letter and fates

Prompt: Write a story about a tyrant who seals a letter and a vulnerable demographic’s fate.

Have your say

🗣️ Which of the writing prompts are your favorites? Have your own to share? Let us know in the comments!

Share your writing prompt responses with the Now Novel community for free in Now Novel’s critique groups and join The Process for writing craft webinars, longer critique submissions, and more subscriber perks.

Writing prompt FAQs

The ‘Craft Challenge’ group on Now Novel is a forum where members set each other frequent, fun creative writing prompts to answer. Joining Now Novel’s crit groups is free.

We polled over 10,000 newsletter subscribers when we shared these prompts on what makes a good prompt. They said (in order of largest vote): 1. A good prompt helps me see a topic another way. 2. Great writing prompts spark inspiration with broad suggestions. 3. The best prompts help me practice a key element of craft.

Probably the best investment I’ve made for my writing career. Having an experienced editor as a critique partner has taught me more about writing in a month than I learned on YouTube, Facebook groups and writing courses these past couple of years put together. – Anthony

50 creative writing prompts to enrich your craft
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Tags writing inspiration , writing prompts

Jordan is a writer, editor, community manager and product developer. He received his BA Honours in English Literature and his undergraduate in English Literature and Music from the University of Cape Town.

4 replies on “Daily writing prompts: 365 ways to practice craft”

Oh my goodness, this is phenomenal! I’d totally buy a book with these prompts and blank pages to work on them… “The Growing Journal”, “The Writer’s Skill Building Journal,” “The Expansion Journal,” “Growing Your Writing Skills, One Prompt at a Time,” “The Prompt Way to Grow Your Writing Skills” (see what I did there 🤪). I love these and want to steal them all for Craft Challenge Group, but I’ll only peek and use some for inspiration, if that’s okay ☺️ Thank you!

Hi Margriet, thank you for this kind feedback. Please feel free to use any you like in the Craft Challenge group, I had you all in mind when I wrote this 🙂 A shareable/printable version may be coming 😁 Also, I do see what you did there, I love the double meaning.

My goodness! this is a blog post and a half, and I think you need a month off to revive yourself!

Hi Lynne, thank you! Haha, fortunately I am still somewhat alive 🙂 I hope you enjoy the prompts, thanks for reading.

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Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, 105 creative writing prompts to try out.

General Education

The most common advice out there for being a writer is, "if you want to write, write." While this is true (and good advice), it's not always that easy, particularly if you're not writing regularly.

Whether you're looking for help getting started on your next project, or just want to spend 20 minutes being creative, writing prompts are great ways to rev up your imagination. Read on for our list of over 100 creative writing prompts!

feature image credit: r. nial bradshaw /Flickr

10 Short Writing Prompts

If you're looking for a quick boost to get yourself going, these 10 short writing prompts will do the trick.

#1 : Write a scene starting with a regular family ritual that goes awry.

#2 : Describe exactly what you see/smell/hear/etc, right now. Include objects, people, and anything else in your immediate environment.

#3 : Suggest eight possible ways to get a ping pong ball out of a vertical pipe.

#4 : A shoe falls out of the sky. Justify why.

#5 : If your brain were a tangible, physical place, what would it be like?

#6 : Begin your writing with the phrase, "The stage was set."

#7 : You have been asked to write a history of "The Summer of [this past year]." Your publisher wants a table of contents. What events will you submit?

#8 : Write a sympathetic story from the point of view of the "bad guy." (Think fractured fairy tales like Wicked or The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! , although the story doesn't have to be a fairy tale.)

#9 : Look at everyday objects in a new way and write about the stories one of these objects contains.

#10 : One person meets a stranger on a mode of transportation. Write the story that ensues.

11 Writing Prompts for Kids

Any of these prompts can be used by writers of any age, but we chose the following 11 prompts as ones that would be particularly fun for kids to write about. (Most of them I used myself as a young writer, so I can vouch for their working!)

#1 : Include something falling in your writing.

#2 : Write a short poem (or story) with the title, "We don't know when it will be fixed."

#3 : Write from the perspective of someone of a different gender than you.

#4 : Write a dumb internet quiz.

#5 : Finish this thought: "A perfect day in my imagination begins like this:"

#6 : Write a character's inner monologue (what they are thinking as they go about their day).

#7 : Think of a character. Write a paragraph each about:

An important childhood experience that character had.
The character's living situation.
Two hobbies or things the character likes to do.
The room where the character sleeps.
An ambition of the character.
Two physical characteristics of the character.
What happens when a second person and this character meet.
Two important defining personal traits of this character.

#8 : Start a story with a quote from a song.

#9 : Begin a story with, "It was the summer of ______ when ______"

#10 : Pretend everyday objects have no names. Think about what you would name them based on what they do, what you can use them for, and what they look like.

#11 : Start a story with the phrases "My grandparents are/were," "My parents are/were," or "My mother/father/parent is/was."

15 Cool Writing Prompts

#1 : List five issues that you're passionate about. Write about them from the opposite point of view (or from the perspective of a character with the opposite point of view).

#2 : Walk around and write down a phrase you hear (or read). Make a story out of it.

#3 : Write using no adjectives or adverbs.

#4 : Write a character's inner dialogue between different aspects of a character's self (rather than an inner monologue).

#5 : Write a true story from your past that involves light or darkness in some way.

#6 : "Saying goodbye awakens us to the true nature of things." Write something in which someone has to say goodbye and has a realization.

#7 : Begin by writing the end of the story.

#8 : Write a recipe for an intangible thing.

#9 : Write a horror story about an ordinary situation (e.g., buying groceries, going to the bank, listening to music).

#10 : Write a story from within a bubble.

#11 : Write down 2-3 short character descriptions and then write the characters in conversation with one another.

#12 : Write a story in second person.

#13 : Write a story that keeps contradicting itself.

#14 : Write about a character with at least three big problems.

#15 : Write something that takes place on a Friday, the 13th (of any month).

15 Funny Writing Prompts

#1 : Write a story which starts with someone eating a pickle and potato sandwich.

#2 : Write a short script where the plot has to do with evil dolls trying to take over something.

#3 : Write about writers' block.

#4 : List five election issues that would be ridiculous to includes as part of your election platform (e.g. outlawing mechanical pencils and clicky pens, mandating every person over the age of 30 must own an emergency last rites kit). Choose one of the ridiculous issues and write a speech in favor of it.

#5 : Write a children's story that is insanely inappropriate but can't use graphic language, curses, or violence.

#6 : List five careers. Write about someone with one of those careers who wants to quit it.

#7 : Write down a list of murder methods. Choose one at random from the list to use in a story.

#8 : Write a romance story in which the hero must have a last name corresponding with a physical characteristic (e.g. Jacques Hairyback or Flora Dimple).

#9 : Come up with 10 different ways to:

order a pizza
congratulate someone on a job well done
return to the store something that's broken

#10 : Search for "random Renaissance painting" (or any other inspirational image search text you can think of) on any online internet image search engine. Picking one image, write half a page each of:

Statements about this image (e.g. "I meant bring me the BREAD of John the Baptist").
Questions about this image (e.g. "How many of those cherubs look like their necks are broken?").
Explanations of this image (e.g. "The painter ran out of blue paint halfway through and had to improvise for the color of the sky").
Commands said by people in this image or about this image (e.g. "Stop telling me to smile!" or "Bring me some gasoline!").

#11 : Write starting with a word that sounds like "chute" (e.g. "chute," "shoot," "shooed").

#12 : Write about a character named X "The [article of clothing]" Y (e.g. Julie "The Yellow Darted Skirt" Whyte) or simply referred to by their clothing (e.g. "the man in the brown suit" or "the woman in black").

#13 : Write down a paragraph each describing two wildly different settings. Write a story involving both settings.

#14 : Think of a fictional holiday based around some natural event (e.g. the Earth being at its farthest point from the sun, in memory of a volcanic eruption, that time a cloud looked like a rabbit riding a bicycle). Write about how this holiday is celebrated.

#15 : Write a "Just-So" type story about a fictional creature (e.g. "how the dragon got its firebreath" or "how the mudkip got its cheek gills").

54 Other Writing Prompt Ideas

#1 : Borrow a character from some other form of media (or create your own). Write from that character's perspective.

#2 : Write for and against a non-consequential controversy (e.g., salt vs. pepper, Mac vs. PC, best kind of door).

#3 : Choose an ancestor or a person from the past to write about or to.

#4 : Write a pirate story with a twist.

#5 : Have a character talk about another character and their feelings about that other character.

#6 : Pick a season and think about an event in your life that occurred in that season. Write a creative nonfiction piece about that event and that season.

#7 : Think of something very complicated and long. Write a page about it using short sentences.

#8 : Write a story as a dream.

#9 : Describe around a food without ever directly naming it.

#10 : Write a monologue (one character, talking to the audience/reader) (*not* an inner monologue).

#11 : Begin a story with the phrase, "It only took five seconds to..."

#12 : List five strong emotions. Choosing one, write about a character experiencing that emotion, but only use the character's actions to convey how they are feeling (no outright statements).

#13 : Write a chapter of the memoir of your life.

#14 : Look through the (physical) things you're currently carrying with you or wearing. Write about the memories or emotions tied with each of them.

#15 : Go be in nature. Write drawing your story from your surroundings (both physical, social, and mental/emotional).

#16 : Write from the perspective of a bubble (or bubble-like creature).

#17 : A person is jogging along an asphalt road. Write a story.

#18 : Title your story (or poem, or play, etc) "Anti-_____". Fill in the blank and write the story.

#19 : Write something that must include an animal, a mineral, and a vegetable.

#20 : Begin your writing with the phrase, "6 weeks later..."

#21 : List 5-10 office jobs. Pick one of them and describe a person working in that job as if you were a commentator on an Olympic sporting event.

#22 : Practice your poetic imagery: overwrite a description of a character's breakfast routine.

#23 : Write about a character (or group of characters) trying to convince another character to try something they're scared of.

#24 : Keep an eye out in your environment for examples of greengrocer's apostrophes and rogue quotation marks. Pick an example and write about what the misplaced punctuation implies (e.g., we have the "best" meat or we have the best "meat" ).

#25 : Fill in the blank with the first word that comes to mind: "_______ Riot!" Write a newspaper-style article describing the events that that took place.

#26 : Write from the point of view of your most-loved possession. What does it think of you?

#27 : Think of five common sayings (e.g., "An apple a day keeps the doctor away"). Write a horror story whose plot is one of those common sayings.

#28 : Write a scene in which two characters are finally hashing out a long-standing misunderstanding or disagreement.

#29 : You start receiving text messages from an unknown number. Tell the story of what happens next.

#30 : Write one character bragging to another about the story behind their new tattoo.

#31 : Superheroes save the world...but they also leave a lot of destruction in their wake. Write about a normal person in a superhero's world.

#32 : Sometimes, family is who we are related to; sometimes, family is a group of people we gather around ourselves. Write a story about (some of) a character's found family and relatives meeting for the first time.

#33 : Write a story that begins in the middle of the plot's action ( en media res ).

#34 : Everyone says you can never have too much of a good thing. Write a story where that isn't true.

#35 : What do ghosts do when they're not creating mischief? Write about the secret lives of ghosts.

#36 : Every year, you dread the last week of April. Write a story about why.

#37 : Write a story about what it would be like to have an animal sidekick in real life.

#38 : Heists don't just have to be black-clad thieves stealing into vaults to steal rare art or money. Write about a group of people (adults or children) who commit a heist for something of seemingly little monetary value.

#39 : "Life is like a chooseable-path adventure, except you don't get to see what would have happened if you chose differently." Think of a choice you've made and write about a world where you made a different choice.

#40 : Write a story about a secret room.

#41 : You find a message in a bottle with very specific directions. Write a story about the adventure you embark upon.

#42 : "You'll always be okay as long as you know where your _______ is." Fill in the blank and write a story (either fictional or from your life) illustrating this statement.

#43 : Forcing people into prolonged proximity can change and deepen relationships. Write about characters on a road trip together.

#44 : In music, sonata form includes three main parts: exposition, development, and recapitulation. Write a short story that follows this format.

#45 : Begin writing with a character saying, "I'm afraid this simply can't wait."

#46 : Write a story with a happy ending (either happily-ever-after or happy-for-now).

#47 : Write about a character before and after a tragedy in that character's life.

#48 : Choose an object or concept you encounter in everyday life (e.g. tables, the feeling of hot or cold, oxygen) and write an infomercial about it.

#49 : "Life is a series of quests, whether important or mundane." Write about a quest you've gone on (or would like to go on, or will have to go on).

#50 : List 10 different ways to learn. Choose one (or more) and write a story where a character learns something using that one (or more) method.

#51 : You've been called to the principal's office for bad behavior. You know what you did. Explain and justify yourself.

#52 : A character discovers their sibling owns a cursed object. Write about what happens next.

#53 : Write a character description by writing a list of items that would be on a scavenger hunt about them.

#54 : The slogan for a product or service you're advertising is, "Kid-tested, _____." Fill in the blank and write the copy for a radio or podcast advertisement for your product.

How to Use Creative Writing Prompts

There's no wrong way to use a creative writing prompt (unless it's to harass and hurt someone)—the point of them is to get you writing and your imagination flowing.

To help you get the most out of these writing prompts, however, we've come up with the six tips below. Try them out!

#1: DON'T Limit Yourself to Prose

Unless you're writing for a particular assignment, there's no reason everything you write in response to a writing prompt has to be prose fiction . Instead of writing your response to a prompt as a story, try writing a poem, nonfiction essay, play, screenplay, or some other format entirely.

#2: DON'T Edit as You Write

The purposes of writing prompts is to get you writing, typos and weird grammar and all. Editing comes later, once you've finished writing and have some space from it to come back to what you wrote.

It's OK to fix things that will make it difficult to read what you've written (e.g., a weird autocorrect that changes the meaning of a sentence), but don't worry too much about typos or perfect grammar when you're writing; those are easy enough to fix in edits . You also can always insert asterisks or a short note as you're writing to remind yourself to go back to fix something (for instance, if as you're writing it seems like you want to move around the order of your paragraphs or insert something earlier).

#3: DO Interpret the Prompt Broadly

The point of using a writing prompt is not to write something that best exemplifies the prompt, but something that sparks your own creativity. Again, unless you're writing in response to an assignment with specific directions, feel free to interpret writing prompts as broadly or as narrowly as you want.

For instance, if your prompt is to write a story that begins with "The stage was set," you could write about anything from someone preparing to put a plan into motion to a literal theatre stage constructed out of pieces of old sets (or something else entirely).

If you're using a writing prompt, it doesn't have to be the first sentence of your story or poem, either; you can also use the prompt as a goal to work towards in your writing.

#4: DO Try Switching Up Your Writing Methods

If it's a possibility for you, see if you write differently in different media. Do you write the same kind of stories by hand as you would typing at a computer? What about if you dictate a story and then transcribe it? Or text it to a friend? Varying the method you use to write can affect the stories you're able to tell.

For example, you may find that it's easier for you to tell stories about your life to a voice recorder than to try to write out a personal essay. Or maybe you have trouble writing poetry, but can easily text yourself or a friend a poem. You might even find you like a writing method you've not tried before better than what you've been doing!

#5: DO Mix and Match Prompt Ideas

If you need more inspiration, feel free to combine multiple prompts (but don't overwhelm yourself with too much to write about).

You can also try switching genres from what might be suggested in the prompt. For instance, try writing a prompt that seems funny in a serious and sad way, or finding the humor in something that otherwise seems humorless. The categories we've organized the prompts into are by no means limiters on what you're allowed to write about.

#6: DO Try to Write Regularly

The more regularly you write, the easier it will be to write (with or without writing prompts).

For some people, this means writing daily; for others, it means setting aside time to write each weekend or each month. Set yourself an achievable goal (write 2x a week, write 1000 words a month) and stick to it. You can always start small and then ramp your wordcount or frequency up.

If you do better when you have something outside yourself prompting to write, you may also want to try something like morning pages , which encourages you to write at least 750 words every day, in any format (story, diary entry, social media postings, etc).

What's Next?

Thinking about attending college or grad school for creative writing? Our articles on whether or not you should major in creative writing and the best creative writing programs are there for you! Plus, if you're a high schooler, you should check out these top writing contests .

Creative writing doesn't necessarily have to be fiction. Check out these three examples of narrative writing and our tips for how to write your own narrative stories and essays .

Just as writing prompts can help give form to amorphous creative energy, using specific writing structures or devices can be great starting points for your next story. Read through our discussion of the top 20 poetic devices to know and see if you can work at least one new one into your next writing session.

Still looking for more writing ideas? Try repurposing our 100+ easy drawing ideas for characters, settings, or plot points in your writing.

Laura graduated magna cum laude from Wellesley College with a BA in Music and Psychology, and earned a Master's degree in Composition from the Longy School of Music of Bard College. She scored 99 percentile scores on the SAT and GRE and loves advising students on how to excel in high school.

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Creative Writing Inspiration and Ideas: 10 Beach Writing Prompts

Posted on January 19, 2020 by aaronmullins

Beach Writing Inspiration Creative Writing Prompts Generating Short Story Ideas Sea Seaside

Beach writing prompts and creative writing inspiration often comes to us in waves of inspirational writing ideas . Sometimes quite literally, when we head to the sands for some beach story ideas .

Short story inspiration can be found within the relaxing sound of the waves. Poetry inspiration formed along with footprints with the soft crush of sand beneath your feet.

Beach writing prompts are scattered across the sand. Creative writing inspiration discovered among the lost items washed ashore. Beach short story ideas forming from a mysterious object bobbing on the waves. Good story ideas are sometimes hard to come by, but a stroll along the beach may be all the writing inspiration you need.

Beach Creative Writing Ideas

A walk along the beach is just what a writer needs to clear their heads of daily tasks, relax them, and release their imagination and ideas. Many studies have shown that a walk on the beach lowers stress and blood pressure, boosts mood and has many positive effects on mental health. All things that can also boost creativity for writers .

The beach is also inspiring for us authors. Anything could be buried in the sand, or wash up on the shore. Everything we see is a beach writing prompt , if we only wonder where it came from, who the previous owner was.

Any kind of horror beach short story idea could be lurking in the darker depths of the sea, or a poetry idea related to the treasure waiting to be discovered on the seabed. Romance authors could even find inspiration for characters who don’t mind a bit of sand in hard to reach places…

“Meredith did drop her dress and her inhibitions, afterwards gently plucking a dainty shell from her bottom.”

I have just remembered why I don’t write beach romance stories.

Writing Stories at the Beach

I have some big news to share with you… after 21 years living in England, I have finally moved back to Scotland ! Ayrshire on the west coast is now my home. I can let the full Scots back into my accent, and my daughter can develop her own twang, so she may finally be able to understand what I’m saying in the home videos of my childhood!

I grew up in Wick, which is in Caithness (near John O’ Groats) in the far north of Scotland. A small town filled with decent, good-hearted, funny and hard-working people, my family included. Wick and the Highlands have become the setting in quite a few of my recent beach short story ideas .

In fact, enough to fill a book with a couple of beach story ideas …

The majority of my family are Scottish. My dad had also spent part of his childhood growing up in Wick and we had attended the same secondary school, Wick High School. My grandparents ran a tearoom in Strathpeffer and over the years the rest of us became spread out across the Highlands. The A9 north from Inverness is basically the trunk of my family tree, with each of us settled on the branches along the way (minus the few who smuggled themselves south of the border).

Beach Short Story Ideas

Wick has grown over the years that I have been away. What I remember as fields is now a retail park. The Caithness Glass factory that fascinated me as a child is closed down long ago. The ‘forest’ next to it that my friends and I used to play in as children is now mostly fenced off. However, all these memories and experiences are perfect for beach short story ideas and creative writing prompts .

I have been back up nearly every single year since I left as a fresh-faced 16 year old in 1999, sometimes two or three times, on 1,500 mile road trips. Sadly, in the name of progress, my primary school has been knocked down (North Primary School) and my high school is currently empty, a modern one built behind it.

Edit : You can read about the ghosts that haunted my school and terrified me as a child (and also provided writing inspiration ) in the bestseller Scottish Urban Legends: 50 Myths and True Stories .

Beach Themed Writing Ideas

The following is an excerpt from my beach short story Call of the Nuckelavee which was published in my bestselling book Mysteries and Misadventures: Tales from the Highlands .

The story is about a broken-hearted woman who trudges along the sandy dunes, following the voice of her drowned father. Her mind full of questions, she spies a dog ahead that appears to be beckoning her to follow. She suddenly realises it’s her father’s dog, missing since the day of his death. To rescue the dog, she launches herself into the sea, where she comes face to face with a creature from Scottish legends that has haunted her recent nightmares. With suspicions about her father’s drowning swirling around in her head, she must decide quickly how far she is willing to go to get answers.

She gasped as her foot slipped at the top of the dune. Arms flailing, she tumbled over the high ridge and down the steep sandy embankment. Coarse grass and broken shells scratched at her palms and face as she slid to a halt at the bottom. Need to be more careful. Drawing deep gulps of air, she spat a glob of salty grit onto the sand and pushed herself to her knees. The soft pale sand, so beautiful from a distance, betrayed those who wandered too close to its edge. She knew this, but she didn’t have a choice. The sea called to her, the promise of dark revelations on its lips. Confessing its misdeeds. Scowling from the effort, she stood and brushed the sand from her thick coat and fleece-lined leggings. Let’s do this.

The above book, Scottish Legends: 55 Mythical Monsters , is packed full of sea creatures and beach-dwelling mythical monsters. Based on Scottish folktales, myths and legends, any of these creatures could inspire fantastic beach writing ideas for your own stories.

Beach Creative Writing Prompts

The memories and friendships I have from my childhood are still strong, and now I’m living a bit closer my road trips will not take as long! Importantly, I can still visit the beaches I played on as a child. Reiss Beach in particular is one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever been to and is a great source of beach writing inspiration for me. And you can still find me having a dip in the North Sea (even the Trinkie) as late as October and November!

Wick and the surrounding area has a strong heritage, from the iron ages, to the Norse pagan period. It’s believed Wick was originally named from the Norse word vik , meaning bay. A Viking town then with an enormous sense of history, adventure, mystery and wonder in its beaches, forests and ruins. Endless beach writing inspiration for short stories and book characters.

To help you form your own creative writing ideas , here is a list of 10 beach story writing prompts :

Walking along the beach, your dog returns with a mysterious object in his mouth
Your dog stops at a particular patch of sand and starts whining and digging
You spot a mysterious object shining among the ashes of a beach campfire
You glimpse a hand rising from the sea, beckoning you to enter
As you walk along the beach, a familiar voice on the wind whispers your name
Drag marks in the sand lead inside a beach cave, but no footprints leave
You lift a small crab from a rock pool, and it speaks to you
You lose track of time exploring, and the tide has come in quicker than expected
After a flash of light on the beach, you return home to find the world has changed
As you watch the sun set behind the horizon, something rises from the sea

I hope these beach writing prompts help you generate your own beach story ideas .

Best of luck with your writing!

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Aaron Mullins ( @DrAaronMullins ) is an award winning, internationally published psychologist and bestselling author. Aaron has over 15 years experience in the publishing industry, with expertise in business strategy for authors and publishers. He started Birdtree Books Publishing where he worked as Editor-in-Chief, partnered with World Reader Charity and taught Academic Writing at Coventry University. Aaron’s book How to Write Fiction: A Creative Writing Guide for Authors has become a staple reference book for writers and those interested in a publishing career. Find out more .

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Creative Writing: 8 Fun Ways to Get Started

Creative writing is a written art form that uses the imagination to tell stories and compose essays, poetry, screenplays, novels, lyrics, and more. It can be defined in opposition to the dry and factual types of writing found in academic, technical, or journalistic texts.

Characterized by its ability to evoke emotion and engage readers, creative writing can tackle themes and ideas that one might struggle to discuss in cold, factual terms.

If you’re interested in the world of creative writing, we have eight fantastic exercises and activities to get you started.

1. Use writing prompts every week

Illustration of a writer getting ready for a creative writing contest

Coming up with ideas for short stories can be challenging, which is why we created a directory of 1700+ creative writing prompts covering a wide range of genres and topics. Writing prompts are flexible in nature, they are meant to inspire you without being too constrictive. Overall, they are a great way to keep your creative muscles limber.

Example of Reedsy's Creative Writing Prompts

If you’re struggling for motivation, how does a hard deadline and a little prize money sound? Prompts-based writing contests are a fantastic way to dive into creative writing: the combination of due dates, friendly rivalries, prize money, and the potential to have your work published is often just what’s needed to propel you over the finish line.

We run a weekly writing contest over on Reedsy Prompts, where hundreds of writers from all around the world challenge themselves weekly to write a short story between 1,000 and 3,000 words for a chance to win the $250 prize. Furthermore, the community is very active in providing constructive feedback, support, and accountability to each other 一 something that will make your efforts even more worthwhile.

Take a peek at our directory of writing contests which features some of the most prestigious open writing competitions in the world.

2. Start journaling your days

Illustration of a writer journaling in autumn

Another easy way to get started with creative writing is to keep a journal. We’re not talking about an hour-by-hour account of your day, but journaling as a way to express yourself without filters and find your ‘voice in writing’. If you’re unsure what to journal about, think of any daily experiences that have had an impact on you, such as…

Special moments . Did you lock yourself out of your house? Or did you catch a beautiful sunset on your way back from groceries? Capture those moments, and how you felt about them.

People . Did you have an unusual exchange with a stranger at the bar? Or did you reconnect with someone you haven’t seen in years? Share your thoughts about it.

World events . Is there something happening in the world right now that is triggering you? That’s understandable. You can reflect on it (and let some steam off) while journaling.

Memories . Did you go down memory lane after a glass of wine? Great, honor those memories by trying to recollect them in detail on paper so that they will always stay vivid in your mind.

Life decisions . Are you having an existential crisis about what to do with your life? Write down your thought process, and the pros and cons of the possible decisions in front of you. You’ll be surprised to discover that, not only is it a great creative writing exercise, but it can also actually help you sort your life out!

If you struggle to write consistently, sign up for our How to Write a Novel course to finish a novel in just 3 months.

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How to Write a Novel

Enroll in our course and become an author in three months.

3. Create an anonymous social media account

Like anonymous blogging, an incognito Twitter account sidesteps the pressure that comes with attaching your name to your work. Anonymously putting tiny stories out into the ether gives you the freedom to create without worrying about the consequences — which is great, so long as you don’t use it as an opportunity to troll people or spread conspiracy theories.

You could use the anonymous account in different ways. For example, you could…

Tweet from unique points of view (e.g. a dog observing human behavior );
Create a parody account of real or fictional people (e.g. an English poet from the Middle Ages );
Challenge yourself to write tiny flash fiction stories that fit into Twitter threads.

Just remember, you’re not doing this to fool anyone into thinking that your account is real: be a good citizen and mark yourself a fiction account in your bio.

How to Start Creative Writing | Screenshot of a tweet by the Twitter account

But if you’re not really a social media kinda person, you may enjoy our next tip, which is a bit more on the analog side.

GET ACCOUNTABILITY

Meet writing coaches on Reedsy

Industry insiders can help you hone your craft, finish your draft, and get published.

4. Find an old photo and tell its story

Illustration of a photo-inspired journaling exercise

Find a random old photo — maybe on the web, maybe from a photo album in a yard sale — and see what catches your attention. Look closely at it and try to imagine the story behind it. What was happening? Who are the people in it and how are they really feeling? Do they share a relationship, and of what kind? What are their goals and dreams?

In other words, bring the photo to life with your imagination. Don't be afraid to take artistic license with your story, as the goal is to be creative and have fun while writing.

How do you know it’s creative writing?

Creative Writing | info card listing 5 headers below

5. Create a character from a random name

Illustration of a young poet and a warrior back to back

Just as our universe started from a few simple elements, you can create a character from a few basic information, like their name, culture, and gender. Reedsy’s handy character name generator can help you with that, offering random names based on archetypes, Medieval roots, fantasy traits and more. A few examples? A Celtic heroine named Fíona O'Keefe, a hero’s sidekick named Aderine, or a Korean track star named Park Kang-Dae.

Once you've chosen their name, begin to develop their personality. Set a timer for 5–10 minutes and write anything that comes to mind about them. It could be a page from their FBI dossier, a childhood diary entry, or simply a scene about them boiling an egg.

Just ‘go with the flow’ and don’t stop writing until your time is up. Repeat the process a few times to further hone the personality. If you like what you end up with, you can always go deeper later with our character profile template .

If a stream-of-consciousness exercise is not your thing, you can try to imagine your character in a specific situation and write down how’d they respond to it. For example, what if they were betrayed by a friend? Or if they were elected in power? To help you imagine situations to put your character in, we made a free template that you can download below.

FREE RESOURCE

Reedsy’s Character Questionnaire

40 questions to help you develop memorable characters.

6. Construct a character by people-watching

A writer observing a person and taking notes

People watching is “the action of spending time idly observing people in a public place.” In a non-creepy way, ideally. Sit on a bench on a public square or on a road-side table at your favorite café, and start observing the people around you. Pay attention to any interesting quirks or behaviors, and write it down. Then put on your detective’s hat and try to figure out what that tells you about them.

For example, the man at the table next to you at the restaurant is reading the newspaper. His jacket and hat are neatly arranged next to him. The pages make a whipping sound as he briskly turns them, and he grimaces every time he reads a new article. Try to imagine what he’s reading, and why he’s reacting the way he is. Then, try to build a character with the information you have. It’s a fun creative exercise that will also, hopefully, help you better empathize with strangers.

7. “Map” something you feel strongly about into a new context

Placing your feelings into new contexts can be a powerful creative writing exercise. The idea is to start from something you feel strongly about, and frame it into a completely different context.

For example, suppose your heart is torn apart after you divorce your life-long partner: instead of journaling or writing a novel about it, you could tell a story about a legendary trapeze duo whose partnership has come to an end. If you’re struggling with politicking and petty power dynamics at the office: what if you “mapped” your feelings onto an ant who resents being part of a colony? Directing your frustration at a queen ant can be a fun and cathartic writing experience (that won’t get you in trouble if your co-workers end up reading your story).

8. Capture the moment with a haiku

Illustration of a haiku poet inspired by the four seasons

Haikus are poems from the Japanese tradition that aim to capture, in a few words, daily moments of insight (usually inspired by nature). In a nutshell, it’s about becoming mindful of your surroundings, and notice if you can see something in a new or deeper way 一 then use contrasting imagery to express whatever you noticed.

Here’s an example:

Bright orange bicycle

Speeding through the autumn leaves

A burst of color waves

It may sound a bit complicated, but it shouldn’t be 一 at least not for the purpose of this exercise. Learn the basics of haiku-writing , then challenge yourself to write one per day for a week or month. At the end, you’ll be able to look back at your collection of poems and 一 in the worst case scenario 一 revisit small but significant moments that you would have otherwise forgot about.

Creative writing can be any writing you put your heart and soul into. It could be made for the purpose of expressing your feelings, exploring an idea, or simply entertaining your readers. As you can see there’s many paths to get involved with it, and hundreds of exercises you can use as a starting point. In the next post, we’ll look more in detail at some creative writing examples from some fellow authors.

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Quotes and Descriptions to Inspire Creative Writing
Creative writing ideas by Angela Abraham, @daisydescriptionari. love nexus "When we make daily choices that are emotionally indifferent, the sort that the money-nexus makes faux-virtues of, we build our capacity for emotional indifference at the direct expense of our capacity for empathy, and thus the conflict between money and love is laid bare."
12 Sun, Sunrise & Sunset Metaphors for Writers
On a clear day in the middle of the day, we'd expect its color to be yellow. Amber - This is the color you might expect to see during dusk or early in the morning. Copper - We'll often use "copper" as an adjective in creative descriptions, such as "the scorching copper sun".
365 Creative Writing Prompts
14. The Found Poem: Read a book and circle some words on a page. Use those words to craft a poem. Alternatively, you can cut out words and phrases from magazines. 15. Eavesdropper: Create a poem, short story, or journal entry about a conversation you've overheard. Printable Ad-Free 365 Writing Prompt Cards. 16.
Master List for Describing Weather
a brisk day. a chilly day. weak sunshine. clammy air. damp air . GRAY / OVERCAST WEATHER (Most people don't like gray days, so most of these descriptions are negative. I love them, so I had to add a few positive descriptions.) bleak day. gloomy sky. dreary day. colorless sky. a soft gray sky. a dove-gray sky. a gray day made for books and tea ...
What Is Creative Writing? (Ultimate Guide + 20 Examples)
What Is Creative Writing (Long Description)? Creative Writing is the art of using words to express ideas and emotions in imaginative ways. It encompasses various forms including novels, poetry, and plays, focusing on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary tropes. ... Find a time of day when your mind is most alert and ...
How to Write Vivid Descriptions
It is advice on how to break free of cliche approaches to painting, but it applies almost just as well to writing. The first step to vividly describing a place, person, or thing is to imagine it in your mind's eye. Alternately, if it actually exists you may prefer to look at it or a photograph directly. Either way, you'll start with some ...
How to Write Vivid Descriptions to Capture Your Readers: 7 Writing Tips
4. Use the active voice. Concise, active words in your descriptive writing can make it more vivid. By starting with your subject, it infuses your sentences with action, creating activity and interest in your key message. Starting with the action can be exciting and invigorating to audiences, and keep them paying attention.
How to Enrich Your Descriptions
Say your sentences aloud, and consider the overall tone of your writing. Practice choosing the perfect words for your descriptions—the words that will leave a lasting impression with your readers. Excerpted from the Creativity & Expression Writers Online Workshop. WD Online Course:
10 Types of Creative Writing (with Examples You'll Love)
A lot falls under the term 'creative writing': poetry, short fiction, plays, novels, personal essays, and songs, to name just a few. By virtue of the creativity that characterizes it, creative writing is an extremely versatile art. So instead of defining what creative writing is, it may be easier to understand what it does by looking at ...
A Guide to Descriptive Writing
Writing description is a necessary skill for most writers. Whether we're writing an essay, a story, or a poem, we usually reach a point where we need to describe something. In fiction, we describe settings and characters. In poetry, we describe scenes, experiences, and emotions. In creative nonfiction, we describe reality.
How to Use Descriptive Writing to Improve Your Story
8. Do creative writing exercises. To improve your descriptive writing, try simple exercises. For example, try writing one-paragraph descriptions of places or people. Write a description of a room you know well. Take a location every knows—like New York—and describe the city from a fictional character's point of view.
Creative Writing: Start Your Creative Writing Journey
Visual descriptions are largely saved for creative writing. ... #1 - Describe your day with creative writing. This is one of my favorite little exercises to keep my writing sharp and in shape. Just like with missing gym sessions, the less you write, the more of that skill you lose. Hannah Lee Kidder, a very talented author and Youtuber, gave ...
What is Creative Writing? A Key Piece of the Writer's Toolbox
5 Key Characteristics of Creative Writing. Creative writing is marked by several defining characteristics, each working to create a distinct form of expression: 1. Imagination and Creativity:Creative writing is all about harnessing your creativity and imagination to create an engaging and compelling piece of work.
Creative Writing: The Craft of Setting and Description
In this course aspiring writers will be introduced to the techniques that masters of fiction use to ground a story in a concrete world. From the most realist settings to the most fantastical, writers will learn how to describe the physical world in sharp, sensory detail. We will also learn how to build credibility through research, and to use ...
Daily Writing Prompts: 365 Ways to Practice Craft
Try these creative writing prompts to practice alternatives to on-the-nose writing: 256. Show anger in dialogue through action. Prompt: Write a scene or story in which two best friends fall out. Have one character let the other know their anger not through words but the implications of gesture or action.
105 Creative Writing Prompts to Try Out
15 Funny Writing Prompts. #1: Write a story which starts with someone eating a pickle and potato sandwich. #2: Write a short script where the plot has to do with evil dolls trying to take over something. #3: Write about writers' block.
1800+ Creative Writing Prompts To Inspire You Right Now
Here's how our contest works: every Friday, we send out a newsletter containing five creative writing prompts. Each week, the story ideas center around a different theme. Authors then have one week — until the following Friday — to submit a short story based on one of our prompts. A winner is picked each week to win $250 and is highlighted ...
Creative Writing Inspiration and Ideas: 10 Beach Writing Prompts
Beach Creative Writing Ideas. A walk along the beach is just what a writer needs to clear their heads of daily tasks, relax them, and release their imagination and ideas. Many studies have shown that a walk on the beach lowers stress and blood pressure, boosts mood and has many positive effects on mental health.
The Purpose of Quality Description in Creative Writing
In order to understand the purpose of description in creative writing, you have to understand why people love stories - why they read. People read to escape, for entertainment, and to learn. A major part of transporting your readers to the world of your story, bringing the events to life, and building compelling characters is by describing them.
Description: Bring Your Writing to Life
Writers have only one tool—description—to invoke sights, sounds, atmosphere, mood, and so much more. Learning to effectively wield that tool makes the difference between writing that delivers information and writing that sings the story to life on the page. In this online writing course, you will learn how to effectively use descriptive ...
Creative Writing: 8 Fun Ways to Get Started
2. Start journaling your days. Another easy way to get started with creative writing is to keep a journal. We're not talking about an hour-by-hour account of your day, but journaling as a way to express yourself without filters and find your 'voice in writing'. If you're unsure what to journal about, think of any daily experiences that ...
The Enduring Legal and Creative Legacy of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
During her nearly twenty-five years with the Supreme Court, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was involved in many copyright law cases and wrote the majority opinion for one of the most important decisions, Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Telephone Service Co., Inc. She was also a copyright owner, writing and registering memoirs and children's ...
How to Write About Spring
Amanda Laughtland is a poet and teacher who lives in the Seattle area. Her latest project is a series of short e-books of writing prompts, most recently Spring into Writing: Creative Prompts for Journaling, Poetry, and Prose.. She's the author of a book-length collection of poems called Postcards to Box 464 (Bootstrap Press), as well as several chapbooks, including I Meant to Say, a sequence ...

Quotes and Descriptions to Inspire Creative Writing Discover, Share, Connect

marvellous school of neurology

essential career advice for writers

prime minister

blanket fort

walking in the rain

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365 Creative Writing Prompts

Here are 365 Creative Writing Prompts to Inspire:

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HOT WEATHER

WARM / PLEASANT WEATHER

COOL WEATHER

GRAY / OVERCAST WEATHER

COLD WEATHER

THUNDER AND LIGHTNING

SNOW AND ICE

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Discover more from BRYN DONOVAN

What Is Creative Writing? (Ultimate Guide + 20 Examples)

What Is Creative Writing (Long Description)?

Types of Creative Writing

Short Stories (The Brief Escape)

Novels (The Long Journey)

Poetry (The Soul’s Language)

Plays (The Dramatic Dialogue)

Screenplays (Cinema’s Blueprint)

Memoirs (The Personal Journey)

Flash Fiction (The Quick Twist)

Creative Nonfiction (The Factual Tale)

Fantasy (The World Beyond)

Science Fiction (The Future Imagined)

What Are the 5 Cs of Creative Writing?

Conciseness

Consistency

Is Creative Writing Easy?

What Does a Creative Writer Do?

How to Get Started With Creative Writing?

Final Thoughts: What Is Creative Writing?

A Guide to Descriptive Writing

What is Descriptive Writing?

How Much Description is Too Much?

Descriptive Writing Tips

How to Practice Writing Description

Descriptive Writing

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What is Creative Writing? A Key Piece of the Writer’s Toolbox

What is Creative Writing?

5 Key Characteristics of Creative Writing

Styles of Creative Writing

Short Stories

Screenplays

Importance of Creative Writing

Developing Creativity and Imagination

Enhancing Communication Skills

Exploring Emotions and Ideas

4 Steps to Start Creative Writing

1. Finding Inspiration

2. Planning Your Piece

3. Writing Your First Draft

4. Editing and Revising Your Work

Tips to Improve Creative Writing Skills

Read Widely

Practice Regularly

Attend Writing Workshops and Courses

Joining Writing Groups and Communities

Seeking Feedback on Your Work

Start Creative Writing Today!