WRITING PROMPTS
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The following writing prompts were conducted in-class. Be sure to archive your work for your Common Place Book.
INTRODUCTORY PROMPT (Monday Feb. 1)
Respond, however you feel prompted, to the sentence, “People are Strange Birds”.
PROMPT #1 (Tuesday, Feb. 2)
Write a 250-word introduction to your own imaginary published collection of work. Assume your working life has undergone a struggle, from obscurity to hard-won fame. This is your final opportunity to say something wise to your readers and critics. What were your strengths, and why did your audience first ignore your writing, then welcome it? State what you think the future holds for your work.
PROMPT #2 (Wednesday, Feb. 3)
From the three words chosen from the Idea Bag, write a scene using these rules:
1. Third-person POV
2. Realistic/logical
3. Present tense
The three words chosen in class were crest, zombie, and wolf.
PROMPT #3 (Thursday, Feb. 4)
Using the character profile template, the class contributed physical, psychological, and historical details in the creation of a fictional character for each student.
PROMPT #4 (Monday, Feb. 8)
Write a short fictional passage that tells a backstory without using characters or narration.
PROMPT #5 (Tuesday, Feb. 9)
Using the "So...But..." method for plot generation, create a plot outline for three characters. Do not revise as you write—write continuously for ten minutes.
PROMPT #6 (Thursday, Feb. 10)
In short story form, write the next scene of Patrick Hughes' short film Signs using only physical details in action, characters, and setting. Do not use internal narration. To view the film, click here.
PROMPT #7 (Friday, Feb. 12)
In the form of a play, write ten lines of dialogue for the first encounter between two characters. When you are finished, remove two lines of dialogue that are unnecessary. Then take out four more lines, but keep them for reference. Now turn your dialogue into short fiction by adding descriptive sentences, action, and speaker tags.
PROMPT #8: The Cheever Arms (Monday, Feb. 15)
View and download the prompt here.
PROMPT #9: A Room with a View (Tuesday, Feb. 16)
Choose one of the characters from the scene you wrote for Writing Prompt #8. The rules for this prompt are as follows:
1. The time is spring, some time after the scene in Writing Prompt #8.
2. You are writing in first-person POV
3. The situation is writer's choice, but you must start with the line "It was there, and now it's gone."
PROMPT #10: The Pressure Cooker (Wednesday, Feb. 17)
This writing prompt will provide the final pieces for our modular narrative collection of stories about "The Cheever Arms" apartment building in beautiful Brooklyn, New York. Here are the instructions:
1. One character from Writing Prompt #9 must be present in this new scene.
2. Point-of-view is writer's choice. (If you're feeling adventurous, why not try second-person POV?)
3. The ending must be open—try not to tie everything up into a neat package. Let your characters yearn.
4. The time is summer . . . ten years after your scene in Writing Prompt #9.
PROMPT #11: The Childhood Kitchen (Monday, Feb. 22)
The kitchen is the nexus of family drama in the home. For this prompt, you will need to close your eyes and try to picture the kitchen of your childhood. Gather as many details as you can. Picture the size and shape of your kitchen, the cupboards, the doors, the windows. Focus on textures and colours. Look for plants on the window sill. Open the fridge and cupboards and catalog their contents. Check the stove to see if anything is cooking and try to see what it might be. Find your favourite glass or bowl. Approach the kitchen table. Is there anyone else in the room? Are they speaking? Listen.
Now open your eyes. Write for ten minutes about what you have seen. Stick to details. This is not a story. It’s a kitchen.
PROMPT #12: The Worst Work Experience (Wednesday, Feb. 24)
This writing prompt is based on the in-class reading of Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall's article, "A Day in the Life of a Human Lab Rat" (found here).
1. Choose one or two aspects of a horrible work experience you have had in the past.
2. Use specific "weird" details and dialogue to describe setting and character.
3. Write in present tense, first-person POV
4. Open with an implied question (a lead paragraph that intrigues, yet puzzles the reader).
5. Muse—try not to lecture or rant.
6. Try to write 250 words.
PROMPT #13: Find the Story (Friday, Feb. 26)
This writing prompt is based on the class-conducted interview of teacher candidate K. Greene.
1. Find a story focusing on a particular aspect of Ms. Greene's life.
2. Write in present tense, first-person POV.
3. Incorporate dialogue, descriptive details, actions, and reactions.
4. Remember: this is creative non-fiction. You are allowed to imagine parts of the story, but whatever "realia" you have gathered from the interview will be your anchor point.
5. Do not forget to place yourself in the story. After all, you conducted the interview.
PROMPT #14: The Quiet Spaces (Thursday, Mar. 5)
This writing prompt was performed during one class period. It explores the authorial voice by forcing the writer to compose from interiority and awareness of space. If you are trying this prompt at home, give yourself about a minute per question. Do not answer the questions, but use them as a launchpad for your writing.
Write in first-person POV, present tense.
1. Enter the space. Be sure to use an action verb.
2. Where is the source of light?
3. What special or important object is there with you?
4. Notice what you are wearing.
5. Why are you wearing these clothes?
6. What can you hear from here?
7. What can you hear if you listen very carefully?
8. Mention the position of your body.
9. Where were you before you arrived here?
10. Who was there?
11. Describe your interaction with that person or persons.
12. Was that interaction the one you would have wanted?
13. What do you wish had happened?
14. Change the position of your body.
15. Reach out and touch or handle an object in this space.
16. What is your biggest fear?
17. When you leave this space, where will you go?
18. Is there someplace you would rather be going?
19. Why?
20. Shift the position of your body again.
21. When was the last meal you ate?
22. What did you eat?
23. Are you hungry?
24. What do you know now, at the time of this writing, at the age you are now, that would have been useful to know then?
25. Take a deep breath. What do you smell?
26. How will you know it's time to leave this place?
27. How will you prepare yourself to leave?
28. What did you know then, what are you sure of, that you see now, at this writing, at the age you are now, to be false?
29. Can you still hear what you heard before? Any new sounds?
30. What has changed since you entered the space?
31. Prepare to leave; begin by moving your body.
32. And, finally, exit the space.
PROMPT #15: That's What I Like About Me (Wednesday, March 10)
Write about a personal characteristic that you would not change for all the tea in China or, maybe, all the tulips in Amsterdam.
PROMPT #15: That's What I Like About Me (Wednesday, March 10)
Write about a personal characteristic that you would not change for all the tea in China or, maybe, all the tulips in Amsterdam.
PROMPT #16: Name Game (Monday, March 29)
Write a prose selection that is somehow connected to the meaning of your name(s).
PROMPT #17: Three Degrees of Description (Wednesday, April 7)
A. Write a description of every tiny detail of our walk around the block. Use abundant adjectives, over-doing the descriptions. The sky isn’t just blue, it’s a glorious cerulean blue. The trees and grass aren’t just green, their verdant hues are lush, in variegated shades from emerald to puce to chartreuse to avocado.
B. Write another description leaving out all descriptive modifiers. You want stark or bland prose here. You didn’t pass a bright blue door, you passed a door. You didn’t notice a rambling ranch-style home, you noticed a house.
C. Write a third version using balanced description and a comfortable number of adjectives.
Prompt #18: Explode the Moment (May 3)
The situation being described in the quotation marks below lacks details…imagery….meat! Take the described moment and EXPLODE it! Consider all of the senses: how did the diner smell when the man walked in? Consider the action: how did the man walk? Did he saunter? Did he creep at a snail’s pace? EXPLODE the described moment by adding the missing details that allow the scene to be formed in the reader’s mind.
"The man walked into a restaurant. He sat down. He ordered a cup of coffee. He paid and left."
Prompt #19: The Nature of Metaphor (May 10)
Describe as an extended metaphor, one object observed on our walk up to the reservoir behind the school.
Prompt #20: The Red Phone (May 12)
Write one conversation/ story that potentially happened over the red phone that Mr. Brady found as a boy, and shared in class.
Prompt #21: Kent Haruf vs. Your Own Sacred Place (May 13)
Describe your own "sacred" writing space, real or imagined, and the totemic objects you appreciate. Then, similar to Haruf, make a list of your own keys to good writing (five minimum).
Prompt #22: Imagery Chain (June 1)
Create a chain of three-line entries composed primarily of images. Including the following samples, you need seven complete entries.
Icarus
Delicate wings and delicate hands,
A delicate boy, plunges into the ocean
And the sun sets without him.
Chemical Eyes
Delicate hands bathed in chemicals,
Hands that rub exhausted eyes,
Eyes that smile by the campfire.
Prompt #18: Explode the Moment (May 3)
The situation being described in the quotation marks below lacks details…imagery….meat! Take the described moment and EXPLODE it! Consider all of the senses: how did the diner smell when the man walked in? Consider the action: how did the man walk? Did he saunter? Did he creep at a snail’s pace? EXPLODE the described moment by adding the missing details that allow the scene to be formed in the reader’s mind.
"The man walked into a restaurant. He sat down. He ordered a cup of coffee. He paid and left."
Prompt #19: The Nature of Metaphor (May 10)
Describe as an extended metaphor, one object observed on our walk up to the reservoir behind the school.
Prompt #20: The Red Phone (May 12)
Write one conversation/ story that potentially happened over the red phone that Mr. Brady found as a boy, and shared in class.
Prompt #21: Kent Haruf vs. Your Own Sacred Place (May 13)
Describe your own "sacred" writing space, real or imagined, and the totemic objects you appreciate. Then, similar to Haruf, make a list of your own keys to good writing (five minimum).
Prompt #22: Imagery Chain (June 1)
Create a chain of three-line entries composed primarily of images. Including the following samples, you need seven complete entries.
Icarus
Delicate wings and delicate hands,
A delicate boy, plunges into the ocean
And the sun sets without him.
Chemical Eyes
Delicate hands bathed in chemicals,
Hands that rub exhausted eyes,
Eyes that smile by the campfire.
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