A Few Creative Writing Prompts
My wife asked me this morning, “Honey, did you just spend two hours coming up with writing prompts? Did you do any editing or actual writing?”
“Dear,” I said, feigning a hurt look. “I really don’t think you understand how important these are. These prompts might create the next Great American Novel.”
“Oh, please.”
So, fellow writers. Please help me justify my idleness. Take one of these prompts and create a bestseller. Or at least have a lot of fun.
· How about a new way to think about Vampires? Think of alternatives to current vampire lore. How about one that survives on something other than blood? One that can stand sunlight. How about one who is allergic to blood?
· Your main character gets a message from someone surprising, perhaps someone they thought was dead, or someone they loved but lost. This person surprises your MC with a phone call, or your MC finds a letter with no return address. Who is this interesting person? What do they want after all these years?
· A sudden storm. Dorothy started her adventure with a tornado. Some type of storm is forming, and your character is in the absolute worst place they can be.
· Trouble with Junior. Your character's child got into a fight at school, but your character isn't angry. In fact, it looks like are trying to hide a smile. Why in the world would they be happy about that?
· A field trip to a museum is about to go horribly wrong. One of these artifacts is not what it first appeared.
· Garage sale mystery. Did your MC really find one of these at a garage sale? How do they figure out what power the item has? How do they know what to do with it? Who allows it to be sold at a garage sale?
· A weird note. Your MC finds a currency note in an old book. It is not a US Dollar. The MC doesn’t recognize the country of origin. And there is writing on the back, or is that some type of code?
· The narrator starts the story off with the line, “If I had known then what I know now, I would have killed that man when I first met him.”
· Take five words at random and work them into a paragraph. Use that paragraph as the start of your story. For example, what do you think you could do with these words: ghost, dynamite, acid, attorney, and depressing?
· Global Warming to the Max. It is getting hot outside … I mean, boiling. Good God, why is it so damn hot?
· Start with the ridiculous. Imagine the most unimaginable character. Everything about them is odd, unique, illogical, unlikely, and perplexing. How did they get this way? What will they do with their interesting traits?
· Fun with the Alphabet. Your first sentence must use a sequence of letters. Any run of letters in alphabetical order. A Boy Can Destroy Even Fun Gizmos. I am sure you can do much better than that.
· It’s the end of the world as we know it. The apocalypse is this afternoon. What are your plans?
· And nary a drop to drink. The MCs house has no water. Not a single faucet works. It is the same in the neighbor’s house… all the neighbors. The whole town, even. What in the world is going on?
· Your MC can now read thoughts. Not of other humans, or even animals. Your hero can read the thoughts of …. Pick something fun. How did they get this power? What are they going to do with it?
· Your MC finds a box on their front porch. In the box is a costume. What kind of costume? Also in the box is a slip of paper with a date, time, and location scribbled in barely legible handwriting. Where is your MC going? And will she wear the costume?
Eric Myers
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