What door do you need to walk through, but don’t want to?
What is nagging at you?
What do you really want to do?
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Category: Prompts
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What? . . . Prompt #774
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What bothers me . . . Prompt #773
Writing Prompts:
What bothers me . . .
Or: I don’t care about . . .
Or: I’m tired of . . .
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Glimmers . . . Prompt #772
“The opposite of a trigger. Glimmers are those moments in your day that make you feel joy, happiness, peace, or gratitude. Once you train your brain to be on the lookout for glimmers, these tiny moments will appear more and more.” Author Unknown
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More First Lines From Books . . . Prompt #771
“A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness . . .”
“The Glass Castle” by Jeanette Walls
“I was sitting in a taxi, wondering if I had overdressed for the evening, when I looked out the window and saw Mom rooting through a dumpster.”
“Lessons in Chemistry” by Bonnie Garmus
“Back in 1961, when women wore shirtwaist dresses and joined garden clubs and drove legions of children around in seatbeltless cars without giving it a second thought; back before anyone knew there’d even be a sixties movement, much less one that its participants would spend the next sixty years chronicling; back when the big wars were over and the secret wars had just begun and people were starting to think fresh and believe everything was possible, the thirty-year-old mother of Madeleine Zott rose before dawn every morning and felt certain of just one thing: her life was over.”
More: First Lines From Books . . . Prompt #571
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Life . . . Prompt #770
More than one friend recently told me their difficulties, about how things seem impossible, how hard everything is.
Sometimes I wonder why these things happen.
And then I remember: Life.
Life happens.
There are ups and downs.
Situations that seem hopeless.
And then time goes by.
We find solutions. Or the situation remedies somehow.
Write about a time that seemed hopeless. What happened?
Or, if you are in a situation now that seems hopeless, write as if the problem has been resolved.
What would your life look like if this situation was remedied?
Writing About Difficult Times In Your Life by Guest Blogger Nancy Julien Kopp
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Beyond a warm house . . . Prompt #769
What are you grateful for?
Let’s go beyond a warm house and plenty of food.
Dig a little deeper.
Did something happen that curved your lips into a smile?
Did someone catch your eye and give a knowing nod?
Did someone unexpectedly reach out to help you?
What are you thankful for?
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What do you need to unsubscribe from? . . . Prompt #768
What do you need to unsubscribe from?
What do you need to let go of?
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Chinese New Year . . . Prompt #767
Chinese New Year
2024 Year of the Dragon
According to legend, Chinese New Year started with a mythical beast called the Nian (a beast that lives under the sea or in the mountains) during the annual Spring Festival.
One year, the villagers decided to hide from the beast.
An older man appeared before the villagers and said that he would stay the night and get revenge on the Nian.
The old man put red papers up and set off firecrackers.
The next day, the villagers returned and saw that nothing had been destroyed.
They assumed that the old man was a deity who came to save them.
The villagers learned that the old man discovered that the Nian was afraid of the color red and loud noises.
The tradition grew as New Year approached.
The villagers wore red clothes, hung red lanterns and red scrolls on windows and doors.
They used firecrackers and drums to frighten away the Nian.
From then on, Nian never came to the village again.
Look at the chart below. Find your birth year. Discover your Chinese animal.
The writing prompt is after the list of animals.
Chinese New Year animals
Rat 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984
Ox 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985
Tiger 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986
Rabbit 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987
Dragon 1952, 1964, 1976
Snake 1953, 1965, 1977
Horse 1954, 1966, 1978
Sheep/goat 1955, 1967, 1979
Monkey 1956, 1968, 1980
Rooster 1957, 1969, 1981
Dog 1958, 1970, 1982
Boar/Pig 1947, 1959, 1971
Prompt 1:
Write something that intrigued you with the Nian legend.
Or: Write about a new year, a new beginning.
Write about what scares you. Then, write about what calms you.
Thinking about your Chinese animal . . .
Does that animal’s behavior and characteristics match how you go through life?
How?
If not, how are you different?
How do you go through life?
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What have you forgotten? . . . Prompt #766
Excerpt from “Happy to be Here,” by Elizabeth Berg.
“Last time my friend Phyllis visited me, she said, ‘Don’t you ever comb your hair?’”
“’I forget,’ I told her.”
I laughed at that moment of recognition.
Sometimes, during the day, I’ll glance at a mirror as I walk by and realize, “forgot to comb my hair.”
Writing prompt:
What have you forgotten? And then (obviously) remembered.
Or:
What might you have forgotten?
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The challenge of freewriting . . . Prompt #765
The challenge of freewriting is getting Self out of the way.
Let your writing flow with no judging.
Release your worries about your writing.
Allow your creative mind to play with words.
With freewrites, you are writing for yourself, not for an audience.
Give yourself permission to be open to whatever comes up while you are writing.
A freewrite is a way of writing freely, with no worries about the outcome.
Choose a time when you will not be interrupted.
Select a prompt. Set a timer for 15-20 minutes and write without pausing to think.
If you run out of things to say, write “I remember” and go from there.
Or, write “What I really want to say . . .”
Give your inner critic time off during this writing.
Lists are a great way to inspire freewrites.
~ Make a list of issues and experiences, important or trivial, in your life right now.
~ What frustrated you in the past month?
~ What made you laugh or cry?
~ What caused you to lose your temper?
~ What was the worst thing that happened?
~ What was the best thing that happened?
~What was the most disturbing or weird thing that happened?
Choose one thing from your list and write about it. Write whatever comes to mind.
When you are finished writing, take a deep breath in and release your breath out.
Next prompt: Write about the same incident from the other person’s point of view.
Next prompt: Think back to when you were a teenager or a young adult and respond to one of the questions above as your younger self would have responded.
The Write Spot series of books, edited by Marlene Cullen, features a variety of writing, all ending with a writing prompt, to inspire your writing.
There are over 700 prompts on The Write Spot Blog, plus places to submit your writing, Sparks (memorable writing), and guest spots.
Just Write!