Category: Prompts

Maybe you have biological children, or adopted children, maybe you were, or are, a mother figure to someone. Maybe you have taken care of, or are still, taking care of someone. Write about someone you are caring for . . . either as mother, grandmother, aunt, sister, spouse, partner, sibling, friend. Someone you are responsible for. Or someone you do things for. It could be big things: Cook, take to doctor visits, oversee finances. It could be little things. Write about a person who trusts you, who calls on you, who looks forward to being with you. A friend. Write about being a mother, a mother figure, a caretaker, or someone who other people depend on. If that doesn’t work, write about dreams you had . . . when you were a teenager, when you were dreaming of your future, what did you envision? Just write!

Write about how you became who you are. Why you are the way you are. Is it genetics, epigenetics, nature, nurture, not nurtured? Remember a pivotal event. Something happened that changed the trajectory of your life. You may not have known it at the time. But looking back, you might discover the “aha” moment. How to find that pivotal event, that “aha” moment: You might not find a pivotal event during this writing. However, if you keep writing, it might pop up. Just Write!

Write about yourself. Ideas on how to start: Basically I am [optimistic], sometimes I am [pessimistic]. When no one is listening, I [sing out oud]. When no one is watching, I [dance]. I am slow to [warm up to people]. I quickly [form opinions]. You can use these sentence starts: I am determined . . . Basically I am . . . Sometimes I am . . . When no one is listening, I . . . When no one is watching, I . . .     I am slow to . . . I quickly . . . I am determined . . . Marlene’s Musings: I have often thought about how to “show” body language when writing. When we interact with others, there is much about body language that conveys our mood, emotions, reactions. How to show these things? The Emotion Thesaurus to our rescue!

I was going to . . . and then . . . OR: I planned to . . . but then . . . OR: I thought I would . . . but then . . .

Write about a space you have been in: Library, cathedral, top of mountain, a castle, Grand Canyon, Grand Central station, Emporium, head spaces. A tight space, a small space, a crawl space, outer space. Just Write!

What do you want to let go of?

Now vs then What did success mean to you when you were in your twenties? What does success look like to you now?