Writing Free

Start a Writing Journal!

Find a small notebook/journal you can't live without and spend 10-15 minutes writing from the prompt posted on this page twice a week. Don't stop to rewrite/edit/proof--that comes later. Just write and amaze yourself! Just for fun, find a free graphic to illustrate your words. Pixabay.com is a good source.

Image by KateCox from Pixabay

Prompts from 5-Minute Daily Writing Prompts by Tarn Wilson

I recommend purchasing this book for your writing library. It contains "501 Prompts to Unlease Creativity and Spark Inspiration". The prompts are divided by themes: Fantasy, Plot/POV, Settings/Memoir, Voice/Slice of Life, Setting, Mystery, Poetry, Dialogue, Science Fiction, Scene, Dialogue, Setting, Adventure, Science Fiction, Humor, Memoir, POV/Character, Plot/ and many, many others. Whatever your mood on any given day, you'll find something to write about in this well-organized book!

Prompt #15

What is your earliest memory? Is it warm and fuzzy or terrifying? Using yourself as a character--or a fictitious character--write one or two paragraphs about enjoying the good memory or escaping from the bad one. Be sure to include all the senses: sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste.

Prompt #14

October is the month of Halloween and all things spooky. Think back to a particular Halloween tradition you experienced (i.e. school carnivals, trick or treating, special costumes) and spin a story around one of those using a fictional character. The character can be an adult looking back or actually re-creating a special experience.

Prompt #13

You are a student sitting in the classroom, and your teacher quotes the old adage, "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything." Later that day, one of your friends tell s you that they are making a plan for the weekend which you know is wrong. They try to convince you otherwise and even make fun of you and threaten to cut off contact. How will you react?

Write two scenarios: one in which you go along with them; on in which you refuse to go against your principles.

Prompt #12

Create a character with a sudden challenge--physical, mental, or emotional. Perhaps they are facing a monumental life change or a natural disaster. How does the character react? How is he/she changed by this challenge?

PROMPT #11

Your character is trying to save the life of another character. He/she must navigate three places in a big city. Describe the places to be visited and what must be done in each. What obstacles are in the way? How can they be overcome? Does the character succeed in his mission? Why or why not?

PROMPT #10

Describe your bedroom through the eyes of an FBI agent who thinks you've committed a crime.What do they find (1) to incriminate you or (2) to prove your innocence?

PROMPT #9

Imagine in detail a secret hideaway. What does it look like? Where is it? Give directions for getting there. Decide who is giving directions and to whom and why they are revealing it. What is the purpose of the hideaway?

PROMPT #8

(an original from me!)

You're sitting in your favorite chair watching a documentary series on archaeology. Suddenly you find yourself transported to a "dig". Where are you? What are you looking for? What do you find? (Change this to anthropology, cold cases, police on patrol, etc. The possibilities are endless!

(And watch for my blog along these same lines on Thursday!)

PROMPT #7

Describe a characters whose choice of a pet, or relationship with their pet, reveals something surprising about them. Then describe the character from the pet's point of view.

PROMPT #6

Choose a noun that creates a strong image or emotion (snow, fire, father etc.) or a word that has multiple meanings (retreat, play). Write eight or more sentences that contain that word. Follow up with arranging the strongest lines into a poem.

The lines don't have to rhyme!

PROMPT #5

Choose a character you've already created (or create one)

Describe them wearing the clothes in which they are most comfortable.

Where did they get the clothes? Thrift store? Hand-me-downs? Designer store? Department store clearance?

PROMPT #4

A character finds a coin with an unfamiliar symbol on it.

He takes it to a coin shop, but the owner of the shop won't touch it or talk about it.

Where did he find the coin? What was he doing? What does it look like? What was the conversation between the finder and the owner of the coin shop?

***

PROMPT #3

The first time I saw...

(What did you see? A person, a place, an event, an incident...how did you react...did this sighting affect your life?)

PROMPT #2

The sign said...

Is the sign telling you what to do? Where to go? Advertising something? Is it warning you about something? What happens if you do what it says? What happens if you don't?

PROMPT #1

Here is your first prompt and, to get you started, the 157 words I wrote from it. It needs editing and adding to--either a beginning or an end or an expanded middle--but the point is, I have a starting point if I want to create a complete short story from what I've already written. It has possibilities!

Prompt: Opening a Time Capsule

Who would have put the old lard bucket under the floor and why? And why did the wooden floor choose this time to crack and partially collapse beneath my feet?

A musty smell rose from the pier-and-beam foundation of my grandparents' old farm house--recently come into my possession through a lengthy court battle. My brother wanted to demolish it and sell the land for six figures to a land developer.

Now it was over, and I'd come to look things over and see if the century-old home could be restored. As soon as I stepped through the double doors between the living and dining rooms, the floor cracked and splintered beneath my feet.

I lifted the bucket out of the hole and went outside on the porch where I pried the lid off with a screwdriver from the toolbox in my car. But when I began to life out the contents, I began to understand why they'd been hidden away...