Containers you put items in or on.
Choose one and Just Write. If there is time, pick another one and write.
Baskets
Bowls
Chests
Drawers
Garage
Glove compartment
Pouches
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Who would you want . . . Prompt #887
If you were a bartender, who would you want to sit at your barstool for a chat?
If you were a hairdresser, who would you want to sit in your swivel chair?
If you were a coach, who would you want on your team?
Who would you want to help you when you need help?
Who do you trust with your life?
Who do you want to spend more time with?
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Hot Mess . . . Prompt #886
“There is a comfort that I miss about certainty, it was solid, grounding, safe. I don’t say I miss it too much. I’ve found that surprises are commonplace, and that life can be very unexpected.
This current world is so far from certain, so far from being solid and tangible. I have been questioning reality in a way that I didn’t think was possible. Not in a Timothy Leary out of your skull on LSD questioning of reality, but more like a what-type-of-weird-perverted-telenovela has this world turned into?”
Excerpt from “Hot Mess,” by Brendan Farrell in the 2nd edition of “Connections: Inspiration to Write.”
Writing Prompt: Write whatever comes up when you read this.
OR: What have I gotten myself into?
“Connections: Inspiration to Write” is available from your favorite bookseller or on Amazon, including Kindle Unlimited.
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I meant what I said . . . Prompt #885
Dr. Seuss’s 1940 book “Horton Hatches the Egg,” Horton the Elephant repeats the mantra, “I meant what I said, and I said what I meant.”
Write about a time you meant what you said or meant what you did.
OR Write about a time you didn’t mean what you said or did.
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We won’t forget . . . Prompt #884
My Dear Writing Friends,
This isn’t the writing prompt I originally planned for today, September 11, 2026.
As the 25th anniversary of 9/11 approached, there were many mentions of that horrific day.
So, I pivoted, thinking it’s a good time to reflect, to remember.
If you are inclined, write what that day was like for you.
Or write about the days that followed.
Were you in a daze?
Did your life change after those events? If yes, how?
Did you feel the need to be around people?
Or did you need to isolate, to cocoon?
How did you cope?
Why write about this now? Because one way to manage intense feelings is to write about them.
September 11, 2001
My neighbor called early in the morning. “Do you think it’s safe for the kids to walk to school?”
I stepped outside. The sky was blue. Birds were singing.
We were safe here in Northern California, I thought. Many others are not okay. But we are. For now.
That Saturday my daughter left for college, having to cross the Golden Gate Bridge. I was sure the bridge would be bombed while she was on it.
A ridiculous fear? Maybe. Probably. But that’s what tragic events can do. Plant irrational fears.
I remember the days after, attending to what needed to be done while carrying disbelief, holding grief.
“We’ll never be the same,” I thought.
American flags appeared on porches as if to say, “We’re in this together.”
Women At Ground Zero
A few weeks after the attack, Susan Hagen and Mary Carouba boarded a plane for New York City to interview female responders.
“Women at Ground Zero” is a powerful collection of first-person stories told by female firefighters, police officers, paramedics, EMTs, and others who risked their lives to save others.
Write to Heal
“When we experience an emotional event, we tend to replay it in our minds. Sometimes we want uncomfortable situations to disappear, so we try to ignore and suppress what happened.
But we don’t forget.” — Excerpt from Write to Heal
Write to Heal has tips on taking care of yourself when writing about difficult topics.
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Memoir: You are the narrator and a character
“You are both the narrator—the storyteller—and a character in the story. You get to curate your voice and experience as you wish.
Though memoirs and essays are constructed from true experience, the writer still has a significant amount of leeway in how they tell their story.
Memoir and essay writers are often relieved to learn that developing a curated persona—a crafted version of you on the page—puts control back in your hands. It allow you to choose the manner and degree of truth you wish to tell.”
Excerpted from “Curating a Persona in Memoir to Control Your Narrative,” by Jordan Rosenfeld, Sept/Oct 2026 Writer’s Digest
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Returning Home . . . Prompt #883
Thinking about a trip you took, what were your thoughts and emotions upon returning home?
As you got closer to home:
Were you anxious to get home?
What were you looking forward to?
What were you dreading?
Let’s say this was a plane trip.
You arrive at your home airport.
As you leave the plane and enter the terminal, what do you smell?
Perhaps diesel fuel, leftover food, sweat, the dank, musky odor of the walkway into the terminal.
Notice the smells as you walk through the airport to the baggage claim, and then to your car or a bus.
You arrive at your home entry door. What are the smells of your yard, the area around your doorway?
What smells hit you as you walk inside your house?
What smells did you miss while you were gone from home?
What do you regret leaving behind on your trip? Will you go back? Have you gone back?
See Prompt #882 for ideas on writing about a trip.
After you come to a good stopping place with this writing, use appositives to add to your writing.
Or, use appositives for any of your writing.
Appositives: A word or group of words that add detail to the original sentence. Appositives are not essential for the sentence to have meaning.
Pick a section from something you have written.
For each sentence, write one to three sentences, appositives, to add detail. Add details using the senses of touch, smell, sight, hearing, and taste.
Appositives can enrich the writing.
An example from writing teacher Adair Lara, italics are appositives:
“Within fifteen minutes a new scent began to waft its way through the kitchen, edging through the other, more pleasant odors like an impatient man pushing his way through a crowd.”an impatient man pushing his way through a crowd.”
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Sights and Smells . . . Prompt #882
Think about a trip you took by airplane.
Or, a car or train ride.
To a vacation spot.
A place where there were new sights and new-to-you smells.
There was excitement, maybe apprehension about going on this trip.
There were steps to take, hoops to get through and now, here you are.
Your destination spot that was planned and now a reality.
Remember walking down a street, a path, a beach.
Inhale. What do you smell?
Where did you stay? Hotel, Airbnb, a lodge, with friends.
Look around your room. Describe it as if telling a person who is blind.
Expand your vision: Describe the lobby, or the living room, or a communal room. Or the outside area.
Where did you go? What did you do?
Just Write!
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Dare to be idle
“Dare to be idle,” wrote Brenda Ueland in her classic writing manual If You Want to Write: A Book About Art, Independence and Spirit.
Her advice offers respite from information overload, lists of things to do, overbooked schedules and looming deadlines. Relaxing, said Ueland, is good for your soul and your writing. The imagination needs moodling—long, inefficient, happy idling, dawdling, and puttering.
Moodling is just being, letting your mind drift, as you lounge on the patio, take a walk, stare at the moon or sit at your desk. It’s in this state of dreamy idleness that the imagination kicks in.
Excerpt from “Ode to moodling,” by Elfrieda M. Abbe, The Writer magazine, August 2002
Note from Marlene: Brenda Ueland’s book If You Want To Write, is one of my favorite writing books.
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What do you notice? . . . Prompt #881
What do you notice as you go about your day?
What catches your attention?
What are you obsessed with?
Try using Anaphora, Epiphora, Symploce . . . Prompt #880 in your writing.
Just Write!