20 Writing Prompts for When You Don't Know What to Write About
Unique prompts to get your mind fired up
We’ve all been there.
The dreaded writing slump.
It can strike anytime, anywhere.
So here are 20 unique prompts that (hopefully) encourage you to get out of your creative rut and into a space of action once again.
Remember, not all writing has to be your personal best. Write as if you were back in middle school creative writing class. Write with whimsy. Write with no agenda. Write, first and foremost, for yourself. If you decide to post later, that’s up to you! (tag me when you do!)
Just write.
1. Describe today’s weather in your area in the form of a poem as if to someone who has never visited before.
2. Discuss the contents of your pantry/refrigerator/freezer. What ingredients do you have and what are they earmarked for?
3. Write a love letter to a good meal you’ve had recently.
4. List and discuss your favorite month and your least favorite month.
5. Write down any dreams you can remember, even if they were from a long time ago. Write them out as if they were epic stories waiting to be told, even if you barely remember some silly fragments from when you were 6.
6. Write about the progression of professions you wanted to be as a kid, and how that shaped or didn’t shape what you’re doing now.
7. Contemplate what you would do if 1 million dollars got deposited into your account right now.
8. Explore the themes, plot, cinematics, soundtrack, etc. of your favorite movie. Why do you gravitate towards this movie above all others?
9. Explain the last creative project you worked on as if to somebody who has no knowledge of that medium.
10. List all of the things you can think of that are your favorite color. Why do you like this color? What emotions or thoughts does it evoke in you?
11. Write and share a haiku for your morning, afternoon, and evening.
12. Explain your personal approach and relationship to physical fitness.
13. Explain your personal approach and relationship to sleep.
14. Reminisce about the best vacation you’ve ever taken. Where was it? What did you do? What made it stand out?
15. Contemplate your own existence. Explore the narratives of the meaning of life in the context of your personal experiences.
16. Pen an open letter to the author of your favorite book, your favorite teacher, or any other influential person who has helped shape you.
17. Discuss what superpower you would choose, if you could only have one, and why.
18. Identify areas that you believe you are doing well in. Now work backwards and contemplate how you got good at these things. Write about how you can use the same methods you used to excel at these things to improve other areas of your life as well.
19. Describe your personal style. Write about your daily attire and what image you hope to project to the world through your clothing.
20. Write an informative essay about a topic you wish to get more familiar with. Research it as if you were in grad school. Really pour yourself into the deep lore of that topic and present your facts and evidence, complete with sources, for others to learn from.
Did anything on this list inspire you to write something? Or at least make you curious to try?
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Thank you so much for reading. I hope you’ll try on one or more of these prompts! (If you do, please tag me in any posts you make using them!)