Prompts
There are many benefits to writing regularly, but developing that habit can be challenging. How do you start? When do you write? Where do you write? What do you write about? The answers to the first three questions are actually pretty simple.
How do you start?
You just start. Sit your behind in a chair (either before a keyboard or a blank piece of paper) and start writing.
When do you write?
When you write is not important. What is important is that you make it a regular habit. Some writers like to start their day with writing while others use it to close out their day and still others just snatch moments during the day to write. Find a small pocket of time to write and then just write. Some writers have the luxury of choosing the time of day, but for many of us it is more about carving time out of our busy lives.
Where do you write?
Similarly, where you write depends on what is available. Some writers like to travel around their home (or hometown) to write in various locations and other writers are forced to do so by the vagaries of life. You do not need a dedicated space to write and, in fact, might find variety is the spice of life.
What do you write about?
The final question is one that perplexes many would-be writers, which is in part why I provide the following collection of writing prompts, but as you develop your writing habit you will find that you rely on prompts less and only return to them for inspiration when you want to play or experiment or simply need a writing break.
5 random writing prompts to get you started:
These prompts can help jumpstart your writing habit and might help you learn something about yourself and your world in the process.
And now, #JustWrite using one of these writing invitations:
- Celebrating All Aspects of Love
- Tennessee
- Maryland
- Advent of Love
- Kentucky Verses
- Was the journey worth taking?
- What If You Hoped?
- What If You Dreamed?
- What If You Noticed?
- What If You Remembered?
- Transitions
- West Virginia
- Ripples
- What Lens Do You Use?
- Perspective
- Layers
- What is your quest?
- Cross Over
- Ancestors
- Key Conversations
- Important Lessons
- Ingenuity
- The Weavers
- Snapshots
- Memories
- Arizona
- California
- Connecticut
- Virginia
- Grief and Love
- 2023 LexPoMo
- Life
- Georgia
- Survival
- Thorns
- Life Choices
- Nebraska
- Calling Relief
- Hawaii
- Tasks
- Waves
- Fire and Darkness
- Balance
- Change
- Generations
- Truth
- Honeysuckle
- Mushrooms
- Are you even?
- What voyages shaped you?
- Crosscurrent
- Reflection Poems
- Joy and Pain
- Reflecting on the World
- What Needs Fixing?
- Good vs. Bad
- Symptoms and Root Causes
- Looking For Problems
- Tell It Slant
- Games as mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors
- Gaming layers
- Can a game help us know ourselves?
- Something you should know
- Playing for life and learning
- What Does Play Teach Us?
- The Importance of Games
- A Winter Solstice Writing Challenge
- Lessons
- Truth and Manifestos
- Who Are You?
- Sound and Silence
- What If?
- Writing Sparks
- Reflections
- Outlaws and Other Labels
- Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors
- What Can Stories Teach Us?
- What Stories Matter?
- Invitations
- Creeds
- Writing A More Perfect Union
- Writing Home
- Flint Testimony
- California Dreaming
- Pittsburgh GPS
- Come Home To Kentucky
- Meet Virginia
- What Happens Here…
- Noise
- Emancipation
- Folding
- Angel’s Share
- Ghosts
- Hinges
- Bridges
- Cartography
- Reflection
- How do you see the world?
- What do you want for your people?
- What Is A Small Poem?