Multiple of these prompts have come from writing professors, colleagues, and my internships. I hope you are able to find one that sparks something in you and inspires you to write something! Some have more detail and some are broader. Happy searching!

Individual Prompts

1. Think of an abstract idea. (Love, Happiness, Fear, etc.) Now think of a moment where that abstract idea has affected your life. Write for 5 minutes and see where that moment takes you.
2. Make a real-life social media post. Many people post about the good things in life and not the bad, make a social media post and then write about everything behind the scenes that you wouldn’t want to tell the world.
3. Write about a near-death experience.
4. Write something you wouldn’t want your mom to read.
5. Write about a vacation you took as an adult that you also took as a child.
6. It is (insert season here). Summon a memory from another season. Summon quickly. Go fast. Something that just pops into your head. Then, treat it with care. Try to get it right. Try to present it carefully. Take your time now. Go slow.
7. Staircase Wit – write about that conversation you had that you wish you would have thought to say that one smart comment back. How could have the conversation have gone and what does it mean to you?
8. Write about a time where you felt regret.
9. I hate to admit it, but…
10. Write a scene of a somewhat important day of your life.
11. Describe a significant physical space that you can recall with detail.
12. Imagine you’re at dinner with someone you don’t know well and they ask you about a significant person in your life. What would you say about them?
13. Explore or tell a story about _______ but don’t use the word _____. (Ex. A story about fear without using the word scared).
14. Choose a random name and write a character description based on that name.
15. Personify your genius.
16. Poem Revisions – Find a poem that you like and revise it as your own.
17. Put your favorite book character into the setting of a different novel. (Ex. Percy Jackson in The Shire).
18. Halloween themed prompt – You have been ghosted by an actual ghost. What happened and how did you react?
19. Write about a road trip you could take 100 years from now.
20. Choose a character from a novel or a character you have created before. Place this character in a different time period.
21. Personify an inanimate object.
22. Pick a color and write about it without saying the name of the color.
23. 1920 vs 2020
24. What to Keep and What to Throw Away
25. Something Always Hurts
26. The Only Thing That’s Difficult
27. Glass People
28. False Start
29. Where the Line of Trouble Hides Itself
30. Echoes and Loneliness
31. Bad Love
32. Re-purposing Birds
33. What Is It?
34. You’re Not Listening

Group Prompts

1. Create a character description and give it to someone else to use in a story.
2. Write out a bunch of setting options and character names. Each person draws one of each and writes a story with that setting and character.
3. Use a song lyric or a quote and write a poem based on it.
4. Hang up pictures of random people and have the group secretly choose a picture to write a character description for. Then, have the group guess which picture the writer chose.
5. One sentence stories – Write a sentence and then pass the paper to the next person to add a sentence. Fold the top sentence down so that the most recent sentence is visible. This way the next person only has one sentence to prompt from. This will create an interesting storyline.
6. Make a list of your favorite fall things. Write from a prompt for 20 minutes and every 5 minutes, draw one thing from the list and find a way to add it to your story.
7. Character Creation – Have each person write down something from each category Prominent Physical Feature, Prominent Emotional/Mental Feature, Flaw, Labels (Geek, Nerd, Jock, Goth Kid), Ethnic Background or Race, Personality Trait, and something random. Next, have each person draw one of each of the categories to receive a very random character. Write this character’s eulogy. (A variety of different prompts can be used with these descriptors).
8. Make a list of genres and have each person draw a genre to write in.

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