The Write Spot Blog by Marlene Cullen

Category: Prompts

  • The thing about grief . . . Prompt #754

    Inspired by an email from Susan Bono:

    I was at Dollar Tree the other day and didn’t have quite enough cash to cover my Halloween garlands.

    As I fumbled with my card, the cashier said, “I never carry cash anymore.”

    I said, “I don’t either, but I miss it sometimes.”

    She looked at me full in the face and said, “There are things I miss every single day about the way things used to be.”

    I saw such grief in her face before she smiled and urged me to have a nice day.

    Prompt: Write whatever comes up for you . . .

    Shopping at the Dollar Tree store

    Halloween

    Cash vs credit card

    I miss . . .

    The way things used to be . . .

    The thing about grief is . . .

    Susan Bono is the author of “What Have We Here: Essays about Keeping House and Finding Home.” Available on Amazon.

    “The world is full of stories. Mine collect in journals, spill onto postcards and scraps of paper, come to conclusions in computer files, call to me in dreams. I write what I believe is true about my experiences, not just events that happened to me. 

    I’m not sure what’s more important: the raw aliveness of a dashed-off journal entry or the carefully developed and edited essay, finally (one hopes) complete.  I only know that every story is a shard of mirror that shows me pieces of who I am and what it means to be human.” —Susan Bono

  • As a teen, I would never . . . Prompt #753

    Writing Prompt: As a teenager, I would never . . .

  • Got away with it . . . Prompt #752

    Sit back. Relax into your chair. Take a deep breath in. Hold. Release.

    Empty your mind. Let go of thoughts. Settle your mind.

    Remember back to your teenage years. Full of promise and full of hope for fun.

    Hope that special someone notices you.

    Looking forward to fun times.

    Hope you won’t get caught doing whatever you weren’t supposed to be doing.

    Because this was a time to take risks, to sneak past authority, to try new behavior.

    Prompt: Write about one of those times . . . you got away with something you shouldn’t have been doing.

  • Delights . . . Prompt #751

    There are big delights . . . being treated to a meal, a stimulating conversation where the other person looks right at you and hears you.

    Medium delights . . .

    And small delights . .

    Write about something that delighted you.

    Writing Prompt: Delights

    Prompt inspired by “The Book of Delights” by Ross Gay.

  • Kindness . . . Prompt #750

    Write about a time someone was kind to you, especially when you didn’t expect it.

    Or, write about a kindness you witnessed.

    Or, a kindness you showed someone.

    Write Spot prompts about kindness:

    Kindness. Prompt #482

    A Time You Fumbled. Prompt #602

    Random Acts of Kindness. Prompt #698

    #justwrite  #iamawriter  #iamwriting

  • Birth Day . . . Prompt #749

    Remember self-care when writing about difficult topics:

    Get up, walk around.

    Take a sip of water or herbal tea.

    Choose something in your surroundings to look at when the writing gets difficult.

    Look at that focal point as a reminder to breathe.

    Take a deep breath in. Hold. And release.

    Take a few more calming breaths.

    Write this in your notebook or on a piece of paper.

    What I really want to say . . .

    I remember . . .

    I don’t remember . . .

    If you are stuck with writing, you can use one of these phrases and go from there.

    Writing Prompt: Birth Day

    Think about your Birth Day.

    Maybe you had many birthday parties.

    Maybe you had a handful of parties, or one or two.

    Maybe your Birth Day is a big deal and you wildly celebrate.

    Or, maybe you are the quiet type, preferring not to call attention to yourself.

    Maybe you think of your Birth Day as “just another day.”

    Whether you celebrate or not, you travel around the sun once a year in your personal orbit.

    Let’s visit our Memory Bank and go back in time.

    Think about your birthday when you were 16 years old.

    Think about your birthday when you were 8 . . . 6 . . . 4.

    Go back farther, to when you can’t remember your birthday.

    Go back to your actual Birth Day. A miracle of a birth.

    You were born.

    Maybe it wasn’t a planned birth. Maybe there was some discord.

    That happens.

    Take a deep breath in. Hold. Let it out.

    Take a few minutes to think about, to reflect, what your Birth Day meant to your parents, your grandparents, you aunts, uncles. Your family.

    Write about the day you were born. You could write about the date, or the time of year, the season you were born.

    You could write about what the weather was like or the facility where you were born, as you have been told or as you imagine.

    Who was there, during your birth?

    You can write fact, or fiction based on fact, based on stories you have heard.

    Just Write.

  • Change . . . Scary or exciting?    Prompt #748

    Is change scary or exciting for you?

    With a palpitating heart, sweaty palms, and a fluttering stomach, I changed the name of my Facebook/Meta Writing Page from “Writers Forum” to:

    “Marlene Cullen’s Write Spot,”

    to better reflect what this Facebook page is about.

    But, I wonder, why was I nervous . . . okay . . . scared to do this?

    I think the answer is: Consequences.

    I didn’t know if it would trigger an avalanche of problems.

    I was willing to take my changes.

    Sometimes you just have to take the plunge and make a change.

    Writing Prompt:

    Is change scary or exciting?

    Or:

    Sometimes you have to take the plunge.

    Write about a time you took a chance and made a change. What happened?

    #justwrite #iamawriter #iamwriting

  • Start with a list . . . Prompt #747

    A freewrite is . . . writing freely with no thoughts nor worries about the outcome.

    When you write in this unrestricted style, brush off the editor that sits on your shoulder. Let go of your worries and fears. Just write.

    Our big stories come from our little stories.

    Sometimes the big story is too much to write about.

    So, break it down into bite-sized pieces.

    Making lists might help organize your thoughts.

    Lowlights . . . Highlights

    Our normal, everyday lives contain lowlights and highlights.

    Spend a few minutes making some lists.

    List #1 Lowlights

    Regrets

    Things you wish hadn’t happened

    What you would like to do over

    List #2  Highlights

    Warm memories

    Happy thoughts

    What you would like to do again

    List #3 Just Weird

    Weird things that happened

    Writing Prompt #1:

    Choose an item from one of your lists.

    Write about what happened.

    Who? What? When? Where?

    Writing Prompt #2:

    Choose a topic from Lowlights List.

    What would you do differently?

    To-do

    Choose another item from your list and Just Write.

    #iamawriter #iamwriting #justwrite

  • Hop, skip, jump . . . Prompt #746                 

    Below is a list of things you may have experienced.

    As you read the list, when a word causes a reaction . . . when you notice a feeling in your body . . . use that word or phrase as a writing prompt and start writing.

    Write about where you were and who was with you.

    If you ate it, played with it, read it, or wore it, write about it.

    Add sensory detail of texture . . . what did these things feel like?

    Add your memory of taste, smell, sound, and what the item looked like.

    And, of course, you may have also experienced these things as a teen-ager and as an adult.

    Just Write!

    Jello salad

    Hot Wheels

    Roller Skates

    Sugar Frosted Flakes

    Poodle skirt

    Hopscotch

    Petticoats

    Barbie dolls

    Marbles

    Jacks

    Skipping

    Nancy Drew books

    Jump rope

    Little League

    Drive-in movies

    Hula hoop

    Trampoline Parks

    Used a manual typewriter

    Watched dance shows on TV

    Sunday nights: Ed Sullivan, The Magical World of Disney

  • Childhood Stories . . . Prompt #745

    Stories from our childhood can be rich material to write about.

    Let’s start with going back in time.

    See yourself at 6 years of age, five years, 4 years.

    See yourself at the kitchen table where you ate breakfast.

    Maybe swinging your legs because your feet couldn’t reach the floor.

    Listen. Hear the adult chatter. 

    Maybe there was no ‘round the kitchen table time for you.

    Maybe it was a picnic table, or a dining room table.

    Perhaps there was no table.

    Maybe family time was in the family room, or the TV room, the den, or the rumpus room.

    Possibly there was no family time. Friends might have been significant in your child life.

    Maybe most of your childhood was spent outside.

    Take a deep breath in. Let it out.

    See the room or the place where you spent a lot of time as a child.

    Write about that place.

    Describe the place.

    Why did you go there?

    When did you go there?

    What happened there?

    Step into it. What do you see? What do you smell? What do you notice?

    Just write!

    #amwriting #iamawriter #justwrite