What were your happiest moments last week? or last month? or last year?’
You can also write on the opposite:
Most annoying, frustrating, angry moments of last week, or last month, or last year.
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I want to tell you about . . . Prompt #506
If you want someone to understand you, what would you tell them about your past?
Imagine a room full of people, they are looking at a speaker behind a podium. They want to know more about the topic. In a way, they want to be entertained.
They are talking about you.
Who knows more about you than you? Who best to celebrate the essence of you, than you?
Write about you . . . Provide enough information so the people in that room have a clear vision or impression of you and your life.
Prompt: I want to tell you about . . .
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Significant Events . . . Prompt #505
Make a List.
Start with the year you were born and make a list of significant events that happened in your life, both personally and historically.
If you are having trouble thinking of major events, here are a few:
1950-1975 Vietnam Conflict
1958 Explorer I, first American satellite is launched
January 1959 Alaska becomes the 49th state
August 1959 Hawaii becomes the 50th state
January 1961 John F. Kennedy is inaugurated as the 35th president
August 1963 Martin Luther King Jr., I Have a Dream” Speech
Nov. 1963 President Kennedy is assassinated
1964 Beatles appear on the Ed Sullivan Show
April 1968 Martin Luther King is assassinated
June 1963 Sen. Robert Kennedy is assassinated
July 1969 Astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin walk on the moon
1973 Roe v. Wade, legalizes abortion
1973 Watergate cover-up.
July 1974 Nixon resigns
1986 Space shuttle Challenger explodes 73 seconds after liftoff
1990 Iraqi troops invade Kuwait, leading to Persian Gulf War
9/11/2001 Two hijacked jetliners ram two towers of World Trade Center
April 2009 Swine flu
June 2009 Michael Jackson dies at age 50
Writing Prompt: Take one item from your list and write in detail what happened to you that year. If you have time, take another year and write what happened to you that year.
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What are you looking forward to? Prompt #504
What are you looking forward to?
A simple writing prompt for these difficult times.
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Write about an important person. Prompt #503
Write about someone who was, or is, important to you. Write how that person impacted you. Bonus points for a crazy coincidence . . . The unexplainable event . . . The hilarious accident. The outsized personality. Write about how that person impressed you or changed you.
Today’s Prompt is inspired by Brandon Stanton and his Humans of New York project.
I learned about Brandon Stanton around 2009 as he began his Humans of New York project. Intrigued, I pre-ordered his book, which is now a prized possession.
From Brandon’s Humans of New York’s May 17 Facebook Page, about not being able to have personal interviews on the streets.
I was initially worried about doing these interviews remotely. I thought that without the context of the street-—the stories might lose their sense of immediacy and randomness. But the experiment has been quite a success. These remote interviews have been a real joy for me. It’s been great to connect—even over video. The stories have been really beautiful, and the extra supply of photographs have added another dimension.
So I’m looking forward to exploring this process even more.
You can submit your story and photo to Brandon:
Thanks to everyone who’s submitted. Many of the strongest submissions involve relationships. I think our voices tend to be most compelling when talking about other people. And not just ‘why this person is great.’ But ‘what this person did, and how it impacted me.’ A story can be strong without a twist. It cannot be strong without a transformation. So tell me how you were changed. But more importantly, tell me who changed you.
It always helps to include a photo. Strong writing is not a requirement. There’s no need to write three pages. And don’t worry about being a master storyteller. Just tell what happened in two or three paragraphs. If the story is selected, we’ll do a video interview and figure out all the details together. It doesn’t matter where you live. It doesn’t matter if you’re fancy, or fascinating. Just tell me the best thing that’s ever happened to you! Or even better—tell me about the best person that’s ever happened to you.
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Entering a cave . . . Prompt #502
For this writing prompt, we’ll go through a visualization first, then I’ll suggest the writing prompt.
Please remember: The prompts are only suggestions. Go with what is on your mind while you are writing.
Listen to what you really want to write about . . . what you really want to say. Honor that. That is how to do a freewrite . . . go with what is uppermost on your mind
The Visualization
As we go through this visualization, you can tap on your chest, just above the breast bone, with the tips of your fingers. This is a calming and centering activity.
As we go, take deep breaths, another calming technique.
Sit back in your chair. Get comfortable. Take a deep breath in. Hold for a moment. Release.
Imagine you are about to enter a cave. You see the opening to the cave and see the darkness ahead. You are apprehensive, but you know you need to go into the cave.
Stepping into the cave, you smell the dank air and feel the coldness of the cave. A few more steps in. It’s getting darker.
You are still a bit apprehensive but you are determined to see this through.
Up ahead you make out a shape.
Continue with tapping.
As you get closer, you realize . . . the shape is you. Like in a dream, you see yourself chained to rocks.
Take a deep breath in. Let it out.
Listen.
Your heart tells you that when you get quiet you will hear what you need to hear.
Your Self that feels chained might talk about fear, anger, frustration, hope.
Take a deep breath in. Release. Continue tapping if you want.
Take a few minutes to check in and note how you are feeling right now.
The chains that were holding you have slipped away.
You are magically transported to outside the cave, where it’s a bright and sunny day.
Writing Prompt: What is the chained version of yourself telling you?
What does this version of yourself want you to know?
Just write whatever comes up for you.
This prompt is inspired from a writing class given by Lara Zielin, Author Your Life Now.
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A wish . . . Prompt #501
Write about a wish that came true.
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Today I celebrate . . . Prompt #500
Today I celebrate Prompt #500 on The Write Spot Blog.
That’s a lot of prompts!
I didn’t know what would happen when I started this blog September 24, 2003. That seems so long ago, and yet it’s only 17 years. A life-time for some, a blip for others.
Since that first blog post, my daughter married, both my sons married, two granddaughters were born, we renovated our yard, bought tons of groceries, did umpteen loads of laundry, and so much happened locally, state-wide, nationally, and internationally.
And I learned to Zoom.
There are 1,252 posts on The Write Spot Blog: Places to submit your writing, book reviews, quotes, and guest bloggers sharing their thoughts about writing. Hopefully some of the posts have been inspirational to help you and your writing.
Since 2003, five Write Spot anthologies have been published.
I’ve given talks about freewrites, blogging, and how to write about traumatic events at workshops, college classes, and writing communities.
I continue to read about writing and attend writing workshops, furthering my education about writing.
Yep, I am passionate about writing.
Today, I celebrate you.
I’m raising my glass in a toast to you.
I hope you are writing and keep writing.
If you want to write, but haven’t started yet, maybe you will find inspiration in one of these Write Spot posts.
Here are some prompts that might inspire your writing.
What happened for you these past seventeen years?
What will you celebrate today?
What will you celebrate in the future?
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What works for you? Prompt #499
“Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace.” — May Sarton
During this shelter in place, have you discovered what works for you as an “instrument of grace?”
Or:
Are you feeling you should be doing something differently than what you
are doing?Today’s prompts are inspired by the article “Gardens deemed ‘essential,’” — David Templeton, April 30, 2020, Petaluma Argus Courier.
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An Award . . . Prompt #498
Write about an award you received or a recognition you achieved.
Or write about a goal you accomplished.