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Here are a few prompts you can use:
You wake up on a beautiful Sunday morning, feeling happy and ready to take on the day. Then you remember. A wave of anxiety washes over you, and the beautiful day turns foreboding in an instant. Who are you? Where are you? What has happened to make you feel anxious and ruin your day?
You’re taking a walk on the beach early in the morning. The beach is nearly deserted. You notice something half buried in the sand, and when you examine it you see it’s an old, rusted metal box. You open the box. What’s inside the box? How does it make you feel? What are you going to do about it?
You’re sitting on the couch watching TV when you notice a receipt on your coffee table. You know you didn’t leave a receipt there, and you live alone. What is the receipt for? How did it get on your coffee table?
4. Write about your expertise.
Think about something you know how to do well. It can be anything from washing the dishes to selling stocks.
Write a few paragraphs (or more if you wish) explaining some aspect of how to do what you do.
Assume your reader is completely ignorant about the subject.
This writing shouldn’t sound like a dry instruction manual. Try to write in a conversational style, as though you’re verbally explaining the process.
Break down the steps in a way that makes the reader understand exactly what to do, without using business jargon or buzzwords.
5. Write a stream of consciousness page.
This is an easy and fun exercise. You want to write it in longhand rather than typing on your computer, as handwriting slows down the process and allows more time for your creative brain to do its work.
Grab a pen and blank pad and simply start writing. Write down whatever comes into your brain, no matter how nonsensical or disjointed.
In her book, The Artist’s Way, author Julia Cameron calls this free writing, “Morning Pages.” She asks the reader to write three pages of stream of consciousness writing every morning. Here’s what she says about Morning Pages:
There is no wrong way to do Morning Pages — they are not high art. They are not even “writing.” They are about anything and everything that crosses your mind– and they are for your eyes only. Morning Pages provoke, clarify, comfort, cajole, prioritize and synchronize the day at hand. Do not over-think Morning Pages: just put three pages of anything on the page…and then do three more pages tomorrow.
6. Write a story told to you.
In this exercise, you want to recount a story told to you by another person.
It can be a story one of your parents or grandparents shared about something that happened many years ago, or it can be a more recent event a friend or family member recounted.
Or you can tell a story you learned in school or through reading about a well-known person or event. The story can be funny, sad, or educational — but it should be interesting, entertaining, or engaging in some way.
Whether your book is fiction or non-fiction, readers love stories. They enjoy relating to the lives and experiences of other people.
When you share stories in your writing, you humanize your writing and take your readers on a small journey.
7. Pretend to be someone else.
In this exercise, you’ll practice writing from another person’s perspective. You can choose a person you know well, or you can write from the point of view of an imagined character.
Put yourself in this person’s shoes, see things through their eyes, and react the way they would react.
Choose one situation, encounter, or setting, and write what you see, hear, think, and feel about the scenario. Get inside of this person’s brain, and try to be as descriptive as possible. You can write a paragraph or several pages if you’re inspired.
8. Write about something or someone who changed your life.
In this exercise, rather than telling the story of someone else or pretending to be another person, you want to share your story from your perspective.
Write about a person or event that has profoundly impacted you and changed your life.
Rather than simply recounting the situation, talk about how it made you feel, what your reactions were, and how you were changed on the inside as well as the outside.
Pour your heart into this writing. Remember, you don’t have to show it to anyone, so be completely vulnerable and real in this exercise.
9. Describe your surroundings.
Simply write a paragraph or two about your surroundings.
You can write in first person (“I am sitting at my desk, which is littered with papers and old coffee cups.”), or write in third person, simply describing what you see (“The room is bleak and empty except for one old wooden chair.”).
Challenge yourself to use descriptive language to set the scene.
Rather than saying, “The light is shining through the window,” you might say, “The morning sun is streaming through the window, spotlighting a million dancing dust particles and creating mottled shadows on my desk.”
Whether you write fiction or non-fiction, you want to write intriguing descriptions that invite the reader into the setting so they can “see” what you see.
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