WRITERS, ASSEMBLE! Here is your first batch of writing prompts for the new year. Do whichever you like, and post one (200 words or less please) to the comments!
Prose Exercises
Do you have a memory of one place in childhood where you felt completely welcomed and loved? It doesn’t have to be your own home, perhaps it was the home of a neighbor, a grandmother or grandfather, an aunt or an uncle, or maybe it was in a library, under a favorite tree, or at school — a place where the world seemed cheerful an safe. Describe this place in abundant detail.
–taken from Writing Toward Home by Georgia Heard
Write a story about a person who is illiterate. It can be about someone you have met before or just someone that you completely create in your imagination. Think about the difficulties that this person faces in everyday life, and the emotions involved in having to admit that you can’t read in a world that is so communications-driven. Why are they illiterate? What are their strengths and weaknesses? What do they love to do?
Poetry Exercises
“Dancing Around the Senses”
Write a poem that evokes the sensations of one or more of the five senses without using nouns or verbs that are directly related to the senses themselves. Think about how the word “boom” tickles your ears just a little bit and you’ll get the idea. Examples of words to avoid: smell, scent, aroma, odor, taste, touch, feel, sight, see, view, hear, listen, etc.
–from Melissa Donovan’s website, “Writing Forward”
“Repulsion”
Make a list of things you find repulsive – the smell of garbage, fast food employees, people who never shut up, etc. Choose one (or more) and write a poem in which you describe that person, place or thing in such a way that it becomes beautiful.
–from the “Poetry Resource Page” author unknown
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