Sometimes it’s hard to come up with ideas for a story or article and we turn to writing prompts to get our creative juices flowing. Other times we simply want to challenge ourselves to write something spontaneous, or need a prompt to keep us writing regularly. Although writing prompts can be written, pictures, people, scenery, or tidbits of overheard conversation can also prompt our creativity.
I seldom participate in the creative writing prompts posted on the forums where I’m a member, and I haven’t bothered getting any of the books on writing prompts. What I find most effective is looking through a catalog or photo album, or sitting in a restaurant or mall, and wondering about the things I see.
The story I wrote for the Flash Fiction 40 Anthology was inspired by a mall security guard I noticed while I sat in the Food Court waiting for my daughter. I’m currently writing an article on cleaning based on ideas I came up with while cleaning my house. I have hundreds of pictures stored on my computer, and I get lots of inspiration while watching them glide by as a screensaver.
Here are a couple of pictures that have acted as writing prompts for me:
There are sites that offer written prompts to help spark your creativity. Here are a couple you might find useful:
http://www.creativewritingprompts.com/
What type of writing prompts do you use to spark your creativity?
I tend to like photos best, something I can refer back to as I’m writing.
Laura, I like using photos but need to figure out some way to organize them to make it easier to find the ones I want to look at again. Mine are mostly filed by the date they were taken, and I have trouble remembering when and where the ones I’m interested in were taken.
Carol
I’ll take whatever comes my way. Some stories have come from prompts. Others, like you, have come from observing people. Then, there are sparks from dreams. Or butterfly-catches of conversation, which is where my latest project has come from.
I’m not one of those that forces the muse. I have a book on writing prompts; however, if a prompt doesn’t inspire, then I don’t write. Oh, I can try, but it’s not really writing. Or it never amounts to something I would call writing. It’s more like doodling because you’re bored with the lecture.
Stephen, I seldom have trouble coming up with ideas for nonfiction, but fiction is difficult for me. I get inspiration for characters or a bit of dialogue, but a story is harder even using a prompt. Like you, if I force myself to write, I’m just wasting time.
Carol
I seem to just stumble upon something that sparks an idea. Once I have the idea I start mulling. Mulling can often take a few minutes or a few weeks. Sometimes months.
But the inspiration is always something that just hits me out of the blue, be it a photo, an observation, conversation, or simply a word. The other day the word Flanders popped into my head. By the time I got home with the dog I had a complete story in my head. Flanders? Go figure.
~jon
Jon, The Dog of Flanders was one of my favorite books as a child. I cried so hard over it that my mom got mad. It was almost as sad as Of Mice and Men.
I love the idea of “mulling.” I’m going to try that. 😉
Carol
[…] is “writing prompts,” so I thought I’d spend some time talking about them. In earlier posts I mentioned where to look for ideas to write about, but I didn’t discuss how to get started […]