At times we need a little push to sharpen our writing skills or take us away from the dreaded WRITERS BLOCK. (Which I have never had.) *knock on wood*
Here are a some good ones that I thought you'd like to try. I got them from the Writers Digest list of Writing Prompts There are literally hundreds.
1. Get out a photo album. Pick out number 14. Count anyway you like, but make sure to stop on number 14. Look at the photo for 2 minutes. Then for 10 minutes write all the ways that photo made you feel.
2. Pick out ten words from the dictionary. Create your own meanings for these words. What do the words make you think of?
3. Pick a fairy tale and write your own ending. Feeling sinister? Funny? Make it YOUR way. Actually this is a great exercise for any book you loved reading or hated.
4. Pick your favorite poem and write a new one.Make the last line of the favorite poem the first line of the new one.
5. Write down all the cliches you can think of. Choose the one you're most familiar with and make it the first line of a poem.
We all need exercises every so often. Whether it be our physical selves or our writing selves.
Add to these in the comments. What works for you? :)
There are some great tips there Robyn, thanks for sharing them.
ReplyDeleteWhen I'm planning a blog post I usually have a general idea of what I'm going to write about, but there will be times where I'll have a nice picture I want to use or I might just have a title in mind and I'll try and work around that.
I suppose that everyone is different so I'm looking forward to reading other bloggers thoughts on this :)
Great stuff, Robyn! I love using quotes as a prompt, and then write about the circumstances I think might have initiated the quote.
ReplyDeleteThanks, hugs, and blessings,
Karen :)
Paul, using pics ALWAYS helps bring new ideas into my head. Love the title idea. :)
ReplyDeleteKaren, love the quote idea. I'm adding these to my list. Hugs Karen. Gorgeous pic, btw. :)
ReplyDeleteI got a lot of my ideas from reading family history stories. At least I did for my first book. Great prompts.
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas. Last summer I did a whole series of blogs on writing prompts. I collect them.
ReplyDeleteThat photo idea is a good one.
ReplyDeleteWhen my writing group did it last winter, I cranked out an 8 pager about my dad!
Oh, super idea, Patti. :) Adding to my list. :)
ReplyDeleteMe too, Bish. I love writing prompts. :) Great minds...
ReplyDeleteJennie,I love it when that happens. I bet it was fun to write too. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas. I am going to write these down.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing.
Smiles to you.
Sometimes photos help me, or focusing on a character.
ReplyDeleteSmiles to you, too, Choices. I am collecting these prompts. Can't have too many. :)
ReplyDeletePaul, photos are great prompts. I like to look at cartoons and make stories up about them. :)
ReplyDeleteI love the photo idea. Music usually inspires me - lyrics and melodies paint pictures and characters in my mind.
ReplyDeleteMusic is a great one Jayne. I love what you said about how they paint pictures and characters in your mind. Great stuff! :)
ReplyDeleteI am totally stealing some of these for my composition classes! I use photos a lot to generate stronger writing, especially to teach the use of description and detail. :-)
ReplyDeleteI love the cliche one!! Great writing prompts girl!
ReplyDeleteGreat prompts! Just what I need today to get my writing mind back on track.
ReplyDeleteShannon, steal away, pal. :) Photos are a great way to think about using detail and description too. :)
ReplyDeleteKatie, that one is my favorite. :)I love these prompts. :)
ReplyDeleteHey Susan! These will definitely get writing mind back on track. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting these! I'm in a writing funk these days (not writer's block, more like writer's unfocused-ness) and I love the first prompt. Will have to try it tonight.
ReplyDeletePersonally I just like to enter as many contests as possible. It gives me room to find different levels of creativity on a regular basis:)
ReplyDeleteI like to sit on my front porch at odd times of the day, and just let nature dictate my fancy, jotting down images and phrases. From there, I usually pull a poem or essay out of the mixture of words and phrases.
ReplyDeleteThose are some great prompts. My dad tried to get me to read through the dictionary once. No go. But now I love to look up words whenever.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! Good teasers!
ReplyDeleteCool days, autumn leaves, a lake dancing with shimmer waves of sunlight, orange Gerber daises, Pavarotti, clear crisp photographs of misty morns, or ivy covered gateways, black and white photographs of faces lined with time; and babies soft and round, Samuel Barber's Adagio for strings, to kiss the softest place of a horses nose, a butter gold full moon, the silhouette of a solitary crow, the scent of lavender, spring wonder Pusssy-willow...ahhhh, sigh! The are a few of the things that inspire me. Just a few.
Happy happy!
Fun ideas and different! :O)
ReplyDeleteLove all the ideas, Robyn. Will try the cliche one.
ReplyDeleteI love this. I'll definitely check your link. I've used movie titles, cliches reinterpreted, hilarious country western song titles, funny listst, an interview format, current stories in the newspaper, Olympics, and interpreting politics from the perspective of a mother of four boys. But when I just run dry and that deadline's coming up, I'll try Creative Writing Prompts and that will often shake something loose, and out comes a column!
ReplyDeleteI'm always looking for fresh material.
Those are awesome ideas Robyn. Thank you!! I love to use music as an inspiration. Sometimes just a certain lyric or even a mood from a song can get me writing. Hope you have a terrific day my friend. Thanks for keeping my eyes on the page :)
ReplyDeleteRobyn, thank you SO much for this! These will certainly come in handy for me, as I am making the commitment to writing everyday. Thanks so much, again for your sweet comment. Praying daily for your little one. :)
ReplyDeleteCool writing prompts!
ReplyDeleteI love opening the dictionary and picking out words, even if I'm after the actual definition.
following you back from thebabybottomline.com
ReplyDelete