Whether you are blazing away on your writing New Year’s Resolutions or still churning out excuses why you aren’t, one thing that I’ve found useful is to have a list of writing prompts handy. If I’m stuck, a writing prompt can help loosen the word jam. If I’m falling out of love with my project, a prompt can give me a needed diversion without requiring me to abandon my work for a younger, prettier novel. So, my gift to you this month is a list of prompts. I hope you find them useful, or at least amusing.
haiku from leaf and twig – as autumn’s color departs/we store its memory for winter sustenance – what are you storing for winter, why, and who else wants it?
Create and describe a unique holiday celebration.
You see the last of something – the last train, the last cookie, the last spotted owl, the last Jack-in-the-Box for 300 miles – and you feel compelled to act. Do you want this thing? If so, do you want it for yourself or someone else? What do you do?
The sun is about to rise over the water. There’s a rustle in the reeds, and a splash not far from shore. You sense living beings around you. Do they sense you? Where are you, and what happens now?