Creative Writing Prompts and Story Starters

Creative writing prompts can be a big help when you sit staring at the computer with nothing to write. It happens. Sometimes I move past this lapse in creativity by writing out whatever fills my mind—the dinner menu that needs planning, a happy moment I want to enjoy a few minutes longer, worries and concerns, anything that will allow me to type, as the act of typing anything often stimulates new ideas and productivity.

Other times I use spontaneous prompts. What does this image of a man holding his head cause you to think? I often use images to get started. I open a catalogue and describe the models. Here's one I wrote about a female model:

This one’s quiet. She likes to sit back and listen, not to give advice at your first pause but out of genuine interest. Her eyes reflect knowledge, and that awful sadness around them says she knows about pain but chooses to keep it to herself. She prefers to smile, and she listens with such serenity I think nothing could possibly rattle her. She makes me laugh just enough that I can’t think of anywhere I'd rather be, and then she runs a hand through her hair and squeezes my arm. “Did I show you my collection of hats,” she says, and she guides me to a cupboard where she extracts something knitted and pulls it over her ears. “I have dozens,” she says. “They hold my head together.” I laugh because I'm certain no one has a head more together than hers.

It doesn't matter that the writing is rough, or too sentimental. All that matters is that the paragraph got me writing. There are lines in that bit of description that I may use someday, or that may give me ideas for a character trait. It's also possible that I'll look at the writing a few months down the road and think it stinks, that not one word of it is usable. That's all right, too. Writing isn't precious. We can use what is useful and throw the rest away.

Sometimes I use a bit of impromptu writing like that to describe a character I’m working on. If the description isn't useful in the moment, I save it to a special file to search through some other dry day. Occasionally, I copy a line from a book or magazine and rewrite it from a different perspective, or I stare out the window and describe what I see. I might find a photograph and describe the image.

What you write doesn't matter. Just get your fingers moving! The creative writing prompts that follow are meant to get you started. Use them in any order and in any way that fuels the creative spark. There are no rules, except that you enjoy yourself and keep writing!

A fun site for Creative Writing Prompts

UNphotographable A wealth of writing ideas in "photos never taken," each beginning with the sentence, "This is a picture I did not take of..." www.unphotographable.com