Past Prompts

Here's a place for the prompts we've used recently. I will be adding more to the blog monthly.

The goal for using prompts is to get creative juices flowing and have fun. Bring in short pieces (1000 words or so) that can be shared out loud (printing is optional but can be helpful) at the start of the meeting for off-the-cuff feedback before the full critiques begin. 

Note: I am finding a lot of prompts aren't gender neutral. Definitely feel free to go in other directions in gender (and age) whenever you feel it appropriate…

prompts taken from The Writer’s Book of Matches from Writer’s Digest Books:

--"Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. A lot."
--A teenage girl browsing at a department store notices a wealthy-looking woman casually shove merchandise into a purse.
--"I don't know.... Something about that guy creeps me out."
--At the reading of their father's will, a group of estranged siblings are provided with a string of clues leading to a buried treasure, one clue for each sibling.
--A man takes lunch to his wife's office, and he's told that she hasn't worked there in three weeks.
--A woman contemplating suicide visits a psychic.

--A man aspiring to be a pro bowler loses to his young daughter.

--A gambler at a private high stakes poker game is caught cheating.

--“Thanks for seeing me. I need to discuss something important, and I didn’t want to do it over the phone.”

--Two people are emptying out a deceased relative's house.

--A writer begins to lose the ability to discern between fantasy and reality.

--"I promised I wouldn’t tell anyone, but I guess I can trust you.”

--“This is the most boring party I’ve ever been to. Let’s sneak out.”

--two convenience store employees are stuck at work during a hurricane [original prompt had "blizzard"]

--You are riding a crowded subway [or any other mode of public transport] with a huge wad of cash in your inside coat pocket [or other garment or accessory]

--"I'm here to answer the ad in the paper."

--During your weekly housecleaning you find an unfamiliar cell phone in the cushions of your couch--but you can't recall having any recent visitors. It rings. (Writer's Digest Feb. 2011)

Poetry Prompt: Write a poem with a hole in it. This can be an actual hole (an ode to your holey socks?) or something as nuanced as a hole (or multiple holes) in logic. For instance, try writing a poem and removing all of the verb and adjectives. (Writer's Digest)

--A nosy [person] eavesdrops on coworkers and immediately regrets it. (Writer's Digest contest #44)

Prompts for the Poetry-minded (pretty sure these were from WD but not sure where now)

--Write a poem that take place at a specific time of the day

--Write a poem that includes at least three different flavors and two odors

--Write a poem that begins and ends with the same word

Note: Two photo prompts didn't come through.