He thought back. To an earlier time. But the memory was fragmented. In pieces. Colliding with other memories. Just out of reach. Accessible to him only during rapid eye movement. In a room. No. In the womb. During a full moon. In June. Y.. |
I auditioned for an off-off-Broadway production entitled "A Widow from Montclair," written by a sixty-four-year-old dentist, recently retired, who was now pursuing a career as a playwright. When I finished reading my prepared monologue, the di.. |
Happiness Do you remember real happiness, can you conjure it up? All the wonder and joy of it, you wish it had stuck, Away it drifted, like cottonwood seed, with the warm summer air. Off to that place in the distance, like.. |
You are sweet I am savorEach of us a different flavorOnce mixed can you separate sugar from salt?Both a different taste, no one's at faultWhere does darkness end and light begin?Me without and you withinRoots become trunk, trunk turns to limbsAll now.. |
Autumn in the garden what a sight to see! Leaves begin to fall from almost every tree. Straggling flowers linger to brighten up the scene and the gardener rakes the golden snow to keep the pathways clean. Pots and tubs replan.. |
I wonder if its just shades of gray Or maybe, just black and white How can a king give his Thorne To a court jester just laughs But never sheds a tear As we surrounded by tyranny Father sky how can we pray If its means the end I wonder if we .. |
Vulture, dog, pig and chicken what we call people that us sicken But then what is in a name did someone not say that a rose by any other would smell the same Excuse me for stealing verses a little better than robbing peop.. |
A promising superstitious tale of incomplete-distances readings to the lines/helmets of capitalism's (foreign?) shields. |
It’s Christmas Eve. It’s raining. None of the presents are wrapped. We’re watching “Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer.” Brittany cries when all of the other reindeer laugh and call Rudolph names.Raphael’s roasting ches.. |
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Heroes and villains, write a story in the form of a list of new year's resolutions., end your story with two characters reconciling., set your story at a large entertainment venue, after the show has ended, amongst the discarded plastic cups and confetti., your main character has a secret superpower; the gossip they spread always comes true., write a story about someone trying to track down the source of a rumor..
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Are you struggling to find an outlet for your imagination as an adult? There's an easy solution for that: creative writing prompts for adults. Though writing prompts might look like simple questions and topics on the surface, they are powerful tools that can help you put pen to paper and explore such topics as food, technology, family, people, life, and the universe around us through a story.
Best of all, they work for authors of all stages, whether you're a beginner looking to overcome writer's block or an established writer thinking about exploring different genres. So what are you waiting for? You, too, might find that a writing prompt will inspire and give you ideas for everything from a short story to a full-blown book.
If you're looking to cut to the chase, here's a top ten list of writing prompts for adults:
If you'd like to go beyond the world of writing prompts and dip a toe into becoming an author, check out our free resources on the topic:
Ready to start writing? Check out Reedsy’s weekly short story contest for the chance of winning $250! You can also check out our list of writing contests or our directory of literary magazines for more opportunities to submit your story.
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An essential part of being a writer is daily practice —even if that practice is only a few minutes.
And even when the results are less inspired than you hoped.
As long as you’re committed to building a writing habit and practicing your craft, you’re a writer—not just an “aspiring” one.
Sometimes, all you need is a generous supply of fun writing prompts for adults to get you started.
We’re happy to help with that.
The best, most effective writing topics for adults are those you enjoy. They should stimulate your memory and imagination and create connections in the mind. All you need to do at that moment is to let the words flow onto the page.
Writing prompts can do this in one or more of the following ways:
Here are a few ideas for using adult writing prompts:
The best ideas for using the list of prompts below are those you’ll actually use and enjoy.
Read through the following list of adult writing prompts and let your imagination respond to each one. Some will get your mind going more quickly than others. Some will have a stronger effect at different times.
You’re welcome to keep this whole list handy or make a smaller list with your favorites.
1. You’ve just been jolted out of a dream you’d give all your worldly possessions to return to. What was it about?
2. Someone you look up to makes an unexpected and hurtful remark about your body. What goes through your head, and how do you respond?
3. You’re alone at night in your apartment in the city, and the doorbell starts ringing repeatedly. You look through the peephole and…
4. You write an anonymous advice column and one day discover the unintended consequences of advice you thought was helpful.
5. By day, you’re a responsible, if reclusive, college student. By night, you fly over your city as a dragon.
6. On the advice of her therapist, you write about a character from her dreams, and they show up at your door.
7. Your significant other interrupts your work one day to say, “I need to tell you something.” What goes through your mind?
8. You don’t really want a pet, but when a friendly stray follows you home, your tender heart wins out and you let it in.
9. You meet someone with whom you feel not only safe but wanted and cherished. One day you catch them with someone else.
10. You wake up in a different place lying next to someone else and, for some reason you feel more at home. But which life is real?
11. You’re a few short hours away from facing your worst nightmare. What is it, and how do you prepare?
12. You wake up with a headache in a coffin-size box and hear voices outside it speaking a different language.
13. What comes to mind with the words, “What were you thinking ?”
14. For some reason, everyone is giving you strange looks and tip-toeing around you.
15. Figures. Just when you get good at coding, the internet shuts down — everywhere.
16. You were digging in your yard when you found it. And you fully intend to keep it secret.
17. You’re comfortable with anonymity, so it’s unsettling when, one day, everyone you meet acts as if they’ve known you all your life.
18. Your spouse thinks you’re leaving for work, but you know the truth. Maybe, one day, you’ll tell them—if you survive today.
19. Someone slips a note underneath your apartment door. You unfold it to find a phone number and a brief, urgent message.
20. Your spouse asks if you’re interested in trying something different with your marriage. And it’s not fantasy role-play.
21. You wake up one day, and everyone seems shocked to see you alive. You look in the mirror and understand why.
22. You wake up in the body of a famous historical figure you’ve been studying. How does your day go?
23. Ever since the accident, you’ve been hearing voices—not all the time but often when it’s least convenient.
24. You show up alone at an old friend’s funeral to pay your respects, but when you reach the coffin, the face you see is your own.
25. You’ve always taken comfort in the presence of your own shadow, but it’s started taking on a life of its own.
26. You have one day to do whatever you want without any consequences. What do you do?
27. You’re visited one night by the disembodied spirit of someone you know (still living). Why do they visit you?
28. You’re on the worst vacation ever. And you’re about to do something crazy to change it for the better.
29. An evil genius hires you as his personal assistant. Your first day on the job is life-changing.
30. Your life is the subject of a favorite TV show. Describe your character and write about an important scene of your own making.
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31. You find a high-paying job doing something you love. But when your devoutly religious relatives ask what you do, you lie.
32. Your parents have just revealed a family secret they hoped they’d never have to tell you. You’re about to share it with your partner.
33. You’re in couple’s therapy, and the therapist suggests something you initially consider outrageous but are then… surprisingly open to it.
34. Write about a time when you had to hide from someone. Were you protecting yourself—or them?
35. Write about an animal you identify with and describe the traits you share with them—or wish you shared.
36. Describe a moment when someone you were once attracted to tried to intimidate you, and you turned the tables.
37. Write about how different your life might be if, back at a pivotal moment in your life, you’d taken a different turn.
38. Write about a relationship that taught you an important lesson and what you would tell that person now.
39. You inherit a house and discover a secret door leading to a surprise your deceased relative clearly knew about.
40. You meet and become friends with someone who’s the living equivalent of a favorite character from a novel you’ve read—or written.
41. You become famous, and your life changes overnight. Write about how it happens and what it leads to.
42. Create a powerful antagonist character and describe them. What kind of relationship would you or your protagonist have with them?
43. “She looked at me as if seeing me for the first time. When she finally spoke, she said… “
44. You did or said something that has left your family and friends speechless with shock. What is it, and what are the consequences?
45. You have this eerie feeling someone or something is following you home. You’re right. What or who is it, and what do they want?
46. You make a birthday wish, and it comes true. Describe what happens as a result.
47. You stand up to a bully, and the results are mixed. What happens?
48. You finally get your dream job (or gig), and then you learn something about it that changes everything.
49. For the first time in your life, you feel free to express your thoughts and see them as worth expressing. Why?
50. You write a book that becomes a bestseller , and someone you meet tells you it’s their new favorite. Describe the book and your fan.
51. You get a dream job, and your boss turns out to be something other than human. The problem? You’re falling hard for them.
Now that you’ve looked through all the above writing prompts, which ones stood out for you as favorites? And which will you use today?
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Thoughts on creativity, writing & making
If you’re looking for creative writing prompts for adults, you’ve come to the right place. In this blog post, we will provide a list of prompts that will help get your creative juices flowing. Whether you are an experienced writer or just starting out, these prompts will help you improve your writing skills and produce great content.
Creative writing is important because it allows for self-expression and exploration. It can be a way to work through emotions or to explore new ideas. It can also be a form of release, allowing for the expression of thoughts and feelings that might otherwise be bottled up. For experienced writers, creative writing can be a way to practice and improve writing skills. These writing prompts will help you do exactly that!
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A selection of fun creative writing exercises that can be completed solo, or with a group. Some are prompts to help inspire you to come up with story ideas, others focus on learning specific writing skills.
I run a Creative Writing Meetup for adults and teens in Montpellier or online every week. We start with a 5 to 20 minute exercise, followed by an hour and a half of silent writing, during which each participant focuses on their own project. Every exercise listed below has been run with the group and had any kinks ironed out. Where the exercises specify a number of people, if you have a larger group, simply split everyone up into smaller groups as appropriate.
The solo exercises are ideal to help stimulate your mind before working on a larger project, to overcome writer’s block, or as stand-alone prompts in their own right. If a solo exercise inspires you and you wish to use it with a larger group, give every member ten minutes to complete the exercise, then ask anyone who wishes to share their work to do so in groups of 3 or 4 afterwards.
Looking for something quick to fire your imagination? Check out these creative writing prompts for adults .
While you can enjoy the exercises solo, they are also designed for online writing groups using Zoom, WhatsApp, or Discord.
If you're running a group and follow a ' Shut Up and Write ' structure, I recommend connecting on WhatsApp (for example) first, doing the exercise together, sharing writing samples as needed. Next, write in silence for an hour and a half on your own projects, before reconnecting for a brief informal chat at the end. This works great with small remote groups and is a way to learn new techniques, gain online support, and have a productive session.
If you have a larger online group, it's worth looking into Zoom, as this has a feature called Breakout Rooms . Breakout Rooms let you split different writers into separate rooms, which is great for group activities. The free version of Zoom has a 40 minute limit, which can be restrictive, but Zoom Pro is well worth it if you're going to use it on a regular basis. In my experience, Zoom has a better connection than Facebook chat or WhatsApp.
Spend ten minutes writing a letter from a character in your novel to you , the author, explaining why you should write about them. This serves three purposes:
If you're doing this exercise with a group of teens or adults, and some of the group haven't already started working on their masterpiece, they can instead choose any fictional novel they love. Ask participants to imagine that a character within the book wrote to the author in the first place to ask them to write their story. How did they plead their case?
The opening sentence has to grab the reader's attention and make them want to keep reading. Many authors achieve this by starting with an action scene. In modern literature, it's best to avoid starting with someone waking up, or a description of the weather. In this exercise the task is to write an opening sentence either to a book you're currently writing, or simply for an imaginary piece of literature. Here are some of my favourite opening sentences to get you going:
It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.
George Orwell , 1984
The Golem's life began in the hold of a steamship.
Helene Wecker , The Golem and the Djinni
All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
Leo Tolstoy , Anna Karenina
It wasn't a very likely place for disappearances, at least at first glance.
Diana Gabaldon , Outlander
You better not never tell nobody but God.
Alice Walker , The Color Purple
The cage was finished.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez , Balthazar’s Marvelous Afternoon
Imagine that you are living your life out of order: Lunch before breakfast, marriage before your first kiss.
Audrey Niffenegger , The Time Traveler's Wife
Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.
Douglas Adams , The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
There are a plethora of ways you can start a book, however two ways that help engage the reader immediately are:
Spend 5 minutes working on your own opening sentence, then share it with the other participants.
Exercise for 2 writers, or can be done solo.
According to John Gardner:
"Failure to recognise that the central character must act, not simply be acted upon, is the single most common mistake in the fiction of beginners."
Spend 5 minutes writing a scene where the protagonist is passive in a conversation with one other character. It could be that the other character says something dramatic, and the protagonist just listens, or it could be anything else of your choice!
Once the 5 minutes is up, swap papers with another writer. If you're using Zoom, or working online, send it to each other in a private chat. Now the other person spends 8 minutes rewriting the scene to make the protagonist as active as possible. This might include:
Read both scenes together. Which makes you want to keep on reading?
If you're doing this as a solo writing exercise, simply complete both parts yourself.
Are you staring at a blank page or stuck for any story ideas? This exercise will help anyone who's experiencing writer's block with a particular piece of writing. If this isn't you, that's great, others will value your input!
If anyone has a particular scene they're stuck with (a pool of blood on the floor they have no explanation for, a reason why the rich lady just walked into a particular pub, etc.) then at the start of the exercise everyone briefly describes their scenes (if working online with a large group, typing it into the chat might be best). Everyone then chooses one scene to use as a writing prompt to write a short story for 10-15 minutes.
Afterwards, split into small groups if necessary, and read out how you completed someone else's writing prompt. As everyone listens to everyone else's ideas, this can be a wonderful source of inspiration and also improves your writing. As an alternative solo exercise, try free writing. With free writing, simply write as quickly as you can on the topic without editing or censoring yourself - just let your creative juices flow. If you're not sure what happens next, brainstorm options on the page, jot down story ideas, or just put, "I don't know what happens next." Keep going and ideas will come.
There are several different types of character arc in a novel, the 3 most common being:
For this exercise choose either a positive or negative character arc. Spend 8 minutes writing a scene from the start of a novel, then 8 minutes writing a scene towards the end of a novel showing how the character has developed between the two points. Don't worry about including how the character has changed, you can leave that to the imagination.
The point here is to capture the essence of a character, as they will be the same, but show their development.
In this exercise, we will look at how to sew seeds. No, not in your garden, but in your story. Seeds are the tiny hints and indicators that something is going on, which influence a reader's perceptions on an often unconscious level. They're important, as if you spring a surprise twist on your readers without any warning, it can seem unbelievable. Sew seeds that lead up to the event, so the twists and turns are still surprising, but make intuitive sense. Groups : Brainstorm major plot twists that might happen towards the end of the novel and share it in a Zoom chat, or on pieces of paper. Choose one twist each. Individuals : Choose one of the following plot twists: - Your friend is actually the secret son of the king. - Unreliable narrator - the narrator turns out to be villain. - The monster turns out to be the missing woman the narrator is seeking. - The man she is about to marry happens to already have a wife and three kids.
Write for ten minutes and give subtle hints as to what the plot twist is. This is an exercise in subtlety. Remember, when the twist occurs, it should still come as a surprise.
This is a fun writing activity for a small group. You’ve found a magic potion labelled ‘Cat Chat’ and when you drink it, you turn into whichever animal you’re thinking about; but there’s a problem, it also picks up on the brainwaves of other people near you!
Everyone writes down an animal in secret and then reveals it to the other writers. The spell will turn you into a creature that combines elements of all the animals. Each person then spends 5 minutes writing down what happens when they drink the potion.
After the 5 minutes is up, everyone shares their story with the other participants.
If you enjoy this exercise, then you may also want to check out our Fantasy and Sci-Fi writing prompts full of world building, magic, and character development prompts..
Joe Brainard wrote a novel called: I Remember It contains a collection of paragraphs all starting with “I remember”. This is the inspiration for this exercise, and if you’re stuck for what to write, is a great way to get the mental gears turning. Simply write “I remember” and continue with the first thing that pops into your head.
Spend 5 minutes writing a short collection of “I remember” stories.
Here are a couple of examples from Joe Brainard’s novel:
“I remember not understanding why people on the other side of the world didn't fall off.”
“I remember waking up somewhere once and there was a horse staring me in the face.”
If you're running a workshop for more experienced adult authors and have at least an hour, this is a good one to use. This is the longest exercise on this page, but I felt it important enough to include.
Give each author the option to bring a piece of their own work. This should be double spaced and a maximum of 3 pages long. If you're running a workshop where not everyone is likely to bring a manuscript, ask everyone who wants to bring one to print two copies each. If someone forgets but has a laptop with them, the reader can always use their laptop.
Print out a few copies and hand them around to everyone in the workshop of the guide on: 'How to give constructive feedback to writers'
Each author who brought a sample with them then gives them to one other person to review. They write their name on the manuscript in a certain colour pen, then add any comments to it before passing it to a second person who does the same (commenting on the comments if they agree or disagree).
Then allow 5 minutes for everyone to discuss the feedback they've received, ensuring they are giving constructive feedback.
Painting by Giovanni Battista Manerius - The Five Senses
Choose a scene and write it for 5 minutes focusing on one sense, NOT sight. Choose between:
Hearing Taste Smell Touch
This can be internal as well as external (I heard my heartbeat thudding in my ears, or I smelt my own adrenaline).
After the 5 minutes stop and everyone reads it out loud to each other. Now write for another 5 minutes and continue the other person's story, but do NOT use sight OR the sense they used.
You can use any sense to communicate the essentials, just focus on creating emotions and conveying the story with the specific sense(s).
If you need some writing prompts, here are possible scenes that involve several senses:
2 or 3 people
A lot of writing guides will advise you to, "Show, don't tell". What does this actually mean?
If you want to evoke an emotional reaction from your reader, showing them what is happening is a great way to do so. You can approach this in several ways:
Split up into pairs and each person writes down a short scene from a story where they "tell" it. After this, pass the description of the scene to your partner and they then have 5 minutes to rewrite it to "show" what happened. If there are an odd number of participants, make one group of three, with each person passing their scene clockwise, so everyone has a new scene to show. After the 5 minutes, for small groups everyone reads their new description to everyone else, or for large groups, each person just reads their new scene to their partner.
World building is the art of conveying the magic of living in a different world, whether it's a spaceship, a medieval castle, a boat, or simply someone's living room. To master world building, it's not necessary to know every intricate detail, rather to convey the experience of what it would be like to live there.
Choose one of the above images as a prompt and spend 10 minutes writing a scene from the perspective of someone who is seeing it for the first time. Now, move your character six months forward and imagine they've spent the last six months living or working there. Write another scene (perhaps with an additional character) using the image as a background, with the events of the scene as the main action.
Click the above image for a close-up.
Judy Blume says that she tells her family about her characters as if they’re real people.
Chris Claremont said, "For me, writing the 'X-Men' was easy - is easy. I know these people, they're my friends."
Today’s exercise has 2 parts. First, spend 5 minutes jotting down some facts about a character you’ve invented that might come up if you were telling your friends about them. Either choose a character in something you’ve already written, or invent one from scratch now.
Answer the questions:
What are they up to? How are they? What would you say if you were gossiping about them?
Then split up into groups of 4 to 6 writers. 2 volunteers from each group then role-play talking about their character as if they were a friend (perhaps another character in the story). The other participants will role-play a group of friends gossiping about the character behind their back and ask questions. If you don’t know the answer, invent it!
This is based on an acting game, to help actors understand how to perform with different degrees of emotion.
Ask everyone to write the following 4 emotions:
For groups of 5 or less, write down numbers starting with 1 and going up until everyone has a number, then give them out in order. For groups of 6 or more, divide groups into 3's, 4's or 5's.
Each person has to write a scene where the protagonist is alone and is only allowed to say a single word, e.g. "Banana". The writer with number 1 should write the scene with a very low level of the emotion (e.g. happiness), number 2 increases the intensity a bit and the highest number writes a scene with the most intense emotion you can possibly imagine.
Once each writer has written about happiness, rotate the numbers one or two spaces, then move onto anger, then fear, then sadness.
It can help to give everyone numbers showing the intensity of the emotions to write about at the start of the exercise, in which case you may wish to print either the Word or PDF file, then use the ones corresponding to 3, 4 or 5 writers.
Everyone shares their scene with the other course participants.
The first paragraph of a surprising number of best-selling novels serves multiple purposes. These are to:
Nearly every chapter in a novel also serves all three purposes. Instead of establishing a goal though, the protagonist either moves towards it, or encounters an obstacle that hinders them from achieving it.
Some books manage to meet all three purposes with their opening lines, for example:
Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.
J.K. Rowling , Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
A little more than one hundred days into the fortieth year of her confinement, Dajeil Gelian was visited in her lonely tower overlooking the sea by an avatar of the great ship that was her home.
Iain M. Banks , Excession
"We should start back," Gared urged as the woods began to grow dark around them.
George R.R. Martin , A Game of Thrones
For this exercise write a sentence or short paragraph that serves all three purposes. If you're already writing a novel, then see if you can do this for the first line in a chapter. If not, choose any combination from the following table:
Escape | Penthouse suite | Reckless |
Succeed in love | Castle | Cowardly |
Survive | Graveyard | Greedy |
In pairs one writer spends a minute or two describing a character they're writing about, or alternatively they can describe a celebrity or someone from a work of fiction. The next writer then describes their character.
The story is that these 2 characters (or in my case, person and alien, as I'm writing a sci-fi) have accidentally ended up on a blind date with each other. Perhaps the waiter seated them in the wrong location, perhaps it's an actual blind date, or perhaps they met in some other fashion the writers can determine.
Now spend 10 minutes discussing what happens next!
This exercise works best for online groups, via Zoom, for example. The instructions to give are:
"In a few words describe a success in your life and what it felt like to achieve it. It can be a small victory or a large one."
Share a personal example of your own (mine was watching my homeschooled sons sing in an opera together).
"Once you have one (small or large), write it in the chat.
The writing exercise is then to choose someone else's victory to write about for 10 minutes, as if it was the end of your own book.
If you want to write for longer, imagine how that book would start. Write the first part of the book with the ending in mind."
This is great for reminding people of a success in their lives, and also helps everyone connect and discover something about each other.
You’re going on a dream holiday together, but always disagree with each other. To avoid conflict, rather than discuss what you want to do, you’ve decided that each of you will choose a different aspect of the holiday as follows:
Decide who gets to choose what at random. Each of you then writes down your dream holiday destination/activity/travel/food & clothes in secret. Next spend 5 minutes discussing your dream holiday and add any other details you’d like to include, particularly if you’re passionate about doing something in real life.
Finally, everyone spends another 5 minutes writing down a description of the holiday, then shares it with the others.
A haiku is a traditional Japanese form of non-rhyming poetry whose short form makes it ideal for a simple writing exercise.
They are traditionally structured in 3 lines, where the first line is 5 syllables, the second line is 7 syllables, and the third line is 5 syllables again. Haiku tend to focus on themes of nature and deep concepts that can be expressed simply.
A couple of examples:
A summer river being crossed how pleasing with sandals in my hands! Yosa Buson , a haiku master poet from the 18 th Century.
And one of mine:
When night-time arrives Stars come out, breaking the dark You can see the most
Martin Woods
Spend up to 10 minutes writing a haiku. If you get stuck with the 5-7-5 syllable rule, then don’t worry, the overall concept is more important!
See How to write a haiku for more details and examples.
Unlike a haiku, which is profound and sombre, a limerick is a light-hearted, fun rhyming verse.
Here are a couple of examples:
A wonderful bird is the pelican. His bill can hold more than his beli-can He can take in his beak Food enough for a week But I'm damned if I see how the heli-can.
Dixon Lanier Merritt, 1910
There was a young lady named Bright, Whose speed was far faster than light; She started one day In a relative way, And returned on the previous night.
Arthur Henry Reginald Buller in Punch, 1923
The 1 st , 2 nd and 5 th line all rhyme, as do the 3 rd and 4 th line. The overall number of syllables isn’t important, but the 3 rd and 4 th lines should be shorter than the others.
Typically, the 1 st line introduces the character, often with “There was”, or “There once was”. The rest of the verse tells their story.
Spend 10 minutes writing a limerick.
Imagine that your future self as an old man/woman travels back in time to meet you, the adult you are today. Alternatively, you as a child travels forward in time to meet yourself as an adult. Or perhaps both happen, so the child you, adult you, and senior you are all together at the same time. In story form write down what happens next.
Participants then share their story with other writers either in small groups, or to the whole group.
Solo exercise.
One challenge writers face is describing a character. A common mistake is to focus too much on the physical features, e.g. "She had brown eyes, curly brown hair and was five foot six inches tall."
The problem with this is it doesn't reveal anything about the character's personality, or the relationship between your protagonist and the character. Your reader is therefore likely to quickly forget what someone looks like. When describing characters, it's therefore best to:
Here are three examples of character descriptions that leave no doubt how the protagonist feels.
“If girls could spit venom, it'd be through their eyes.” S.D. Lawendowski, Snapped
"And Ronan was everything that was left: molten eyes and a smile made for war." Maggie Stiefvater, The Dream Thieves
"His mouth was such a post office of a mouth that he had a mechanical appearance of smiling." Charles Dickens
Spend 5 minutes writing a character introduction that is animated, uses metaphors or similes and involves your protagonist.
If working with a group, then form small groups of 3 or 4 and share your description with the rest of the group.
Today's session is all about sound.
Several authors recommend reading your writing out loud after you've written it to be sure it sounds natural. Philip Pullman even goes as far as to say:
"When I’m writing, I’m more conscious of the sound, actually, than the meaning. I know what the rhythm of the sentence is going to be before I know what the words are going to be in it."
For today's exercise, choose the name of a song and write for 10 minutes as if that's the title for a short story. Focus on how your writing sounds and aim to include at least one onomatopoeia, rhyme or alliteration. At the end of the 10 minutes, read it out loud to yourself, or to the group.
Alliterations
An alliteration example from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”
The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew, The furrow followed free; We were the first that ever burst Into that silent sea.
Onomatopoeias
Buzz, woof, quack, baa, crash, purr, beep, belch,...
This is a novel way to write a story as a group, one word at a time. The first person starts the story that begins with any word starting with “A”, the next person continues the story with a word starting with “B”, and so on.
Keep going round until you have completed the alphabet. Ideally it will all be one sentence, but if you get stuck, start a new sentence. Don’t worry if it doesn’t make complete sense!
It can be tricky to remember the alphabet when under pressure, so you may wish to print it out a couple of times, so the storytellers can see it if they need to, this is particularly helpful if you have dyslexics in the group.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Here’s an example of an alphabet story:
A Band Can Dance Each Friday, Ghostly Hauntings In Jail Kill Lucky Men, Nobody Or Perhaps Quiet Rats, Still That Unifies Villains Who X-Ray Your Zebras.
As I mentioned, it doesn’t need to make sense!
Small or large groups
The standard format in our group is a short writing exercise followed by an hour and a half of silent writing on our projects.
At one point I felt like we'd done a lot of small group exercises, and wanted to gain an insight into what everyone was working on, so we did the following exercise instead:
Go round the table and ask everyone to briefly talk about their writing. Each person then asks one or two yes/no questions.
Everyone responds either by raising their hand for 'yes' or shaking their heads for 'no'. You can also leap up and down to indicate a very strong 'yes'.
Questions can be about anything, and you can use them either to help guide your writing or to help find other people in the group who have similar interests.
Here are some random examples you might ask:
This works best when you give participants some advance notice, so they have time to think of a question.
Groups of 3 or 4
This exercise takes 20-30 minutes and allows participants to create a murder mystery outline together.
Each person then writes a police report as if they are either describing the scene of the crime, or recording the notes from their interview with a single suspect:
Write the following:
Write the following (from the perspective of the investigator):
See more ideas on creating murder mystery party games
Pick a famous movie and spend 5 minutes writing a scene from it from an unusual perspective. Your aim is to achieve a balance between being too obscure and making it too obvious. Feel free to add internal dialogue.
At the end of the 5 minutes, everyone reads their movie scene to the others and all the other participants see if they can guess what the movie is.
Write a scene with two people in a group, where you hint that one is romantically interested in the other, but the feelings aren’t reciprocated.
The goal of this exercise is to practice subtlety. Imagine you are setting a scene for the future where the characters feelings will become more important. Choose a situation like a work conference, meeting with a group of friends, etc. How do you indicate how the characters feel without them saying it in words?
Some tips for hinting at romantic feelings:
Take it in turns to tell everyone else about a current project you’re working on (a book, screenplay, short story, etc.)
The other writers then brainstorm ideas for related stories you could write, or directions your project could take. There are no right or wrong suggestions and the intention is to focus on big concepts, not little details.
This whole exercise takes around 15 minutes.
Exercise for groups of 3-5
If you're in larger group, split up into groups of 3 or 4 people.
Everyone writes the first line of a story in the Zoom chat, or on paper. Other people can then choose this line as a writing prompt.
For this exercise:
Once everyone's written a prompt, each author chooses a prompt (preferably someone eles's, but it can be your own if you feel really inspired by it.) Then write for 10 minutes using this prompt. See if you can reveal who the protagonist is, what their motivation is (it can be a small motivation for a particular scene, it doesn't have to be a huge life goal), and introduce at least one new character.
Take turns reading out your stories to each other.
Cut up a piece of paper and write one word on each of the pieces of paper, as follows:
Robot | Happy | Whirlwind | Angry |
Give each participant a couple of pieces of paper at random. The first person says the first sentence of a story and they must use their first word as part of that sentence. The second person then continues the story and must include their word in it, and so on. Go round the group twice to complete the story.
You can also do this creative writing exercise with story dice, your own choice of words, or by asking participants to write random words down themselves, then shuffling all the cards together.
Every Christmas adults tell kids stories about Santa Claus. In this exercise you write a Christmas story from an alternative dimension.
What if every Christmas Santa didn't fly around the world delivering presents on his sleigh pulled by reindeer? What if gnomes or aliens delivered the presents? Or perhaps it was the gnomes who are trying to emulate the humans? Or some other Christmas tradition entirely that we humans have never heard of!
If you're working with a group, give everyone a couple of minutes to write two possible themes for the new Christmas story. Each theme should be 5 words or less.
Shuffle the paper and distribute them at random. If you're working online, everyone types the themes into the Zoom or group chat. Each writer then spends 10 minutes writing a short story for children based on one of the two themes, or their own theme if they really want to.
If working alone, choose your own theme and spend 15 minutes writing a short story on it. See if you can create the magic of Christmas from another world!
In a murder mystery story or courtroom drama, there's often conflicting information and lots of links between characters. A mind map is an ideal way to illustrate how everything ties together.
Split into groups of 3 or 4 people each and place a blank piece of A3 paper (double the size of A4) in the middle of each group. Discuss between you who the victim is and write their name in the middle of the piece of paper. Then brainstorm information about the murder, for example:
Feel free to expand out from any of these, e.g. to include more information on the different characters involved.
The idea is that everyone writes at the same time! Obviously, you can discuss ideas, but anyone can dive in and write their ideas on the mind map.
If you’re writing a piece of fiction, ask yourself how your protagonist would react to an everyday situation. This can help you to gain a deeper insight into who they are.
One way to do this is to imagine what their New Year’s resolutions would be.
If completing this exercise with a group, limit it to 3 to 5 resolutions per person. If some participants are historical fiction or non-fiction writers, they instead pick a celebrity and either write what their resolutions will be, or what their resolutions should be, their choice.
Stephen King said, "I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs, and I will shout it from the rooftops."
He also said, "Take any noun, put it with any verb, and you have a sentence. It never fails. Rocks explode. Jane transmits. Mountains float. These are all perfect sentences. Many such thoughts make little rational sense, but even the stranger ones (Plums deify!) have a kind of poetic weight that’s nice."
In this fiction writing exercise, start by brainstorming (either individually or collectively) seven verbs on seven different pieces of paper. Put those aside for later. Now brainstorm seven nouns. Randomly match the nouns and verbs so you have seven pairs. Choose a pair and write a piece of fiction for ten minutes. Avoid using any adverbs.
It’s the end of the world! For 5 minutes either:
If working as a team, then after the 5 minutes is up each writer reads their description out to the other participants.
For use after your first draft
I’ve listened to a lot of masterclasses on writing by successful authors and they all say variants of your first draft won’t be good and that’s fine. Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman summarise it the best:
“The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.”
Terry Pratchett
“For me, it’s always been a process of trying to convince myself that what I’m doing in a first draft isn’t important. One way you get through the wall is by convincing yourself that it doesn’t matter. No one is ever going to see your first draft. Nobody cares about your first draft. And that’s the thing that you may be agonising over, but honestly, whatever you’re doing can be fixed… For now, just get the words out. Get the story down however you can get it down, then fix it.”
Neil Gaiman
Once you’ve written your first draft, it will need editing to develop the plot, enhance the characters, and improve each scene in a myriad of ways – small and large. These seven creative editing exercises are designed to help with this stage of the process.
Read the first paragraph of the novel, in particular the first sentence. Does it launch the reader straight into the action? According to On Writing and Worldbuilding by Timothy Hickson, “The most persuasive opening lines are succinct, and not superfluous. To do this, it is often effective to limit it to a single central idea… This does not need to be the most important element, but it should be a central element that is interesting.” Ask yourself what element your opening sentence encapsulates and whether it’s the best one to capture your readers’ attention.
Consistency is crucial in creative writing, whether it’s in relation to location, objects, or people.
It’s also crucial for personality, emotions and motivation.
Look at scenes where your protagonist makes an important decision. Are their motivations clear? Do any scenes force them to choose between two conflicting morals? If so, do you explore this? Do their emotions fit with what’s happened in previous scenes?
As you edit your manuscript, keep the characters’ personality, emotions and motivation in mind. If their behaviour is inconsistent, either edit it for consistency, or have someone comment on their strange behaviour or be surprised by it. Inconsistent behaviour can reveal that a character is keeping a secret, or is under stress, so characters don’t always need to be consistent. But when they’re not, there has to be a reason.
This exercise is the first in The Emotional Craft of Fiction by Donald Maass. It’s a writing guide with a plethora of editing exercises designed to help you reenergize your writing by thinking of what your character is feeling, and giving you the tools to make your reader feel something.
Search for the following words in your book:
Whenever these words occur, ask yourself if you can demonstrate how your characters feel, rather than simply stating it. For each occasion, can you use physiological descriptors (a racing heart), actions (taking a step backwards) or dialogue to express what’s just happened instead? Will this enhance the scene and engage the reader more?
Find a scene where your characters disagree – in particular a scene where your protagonist argues with friends or allies. What happens next?
It can be tempting to wrap up the action with a quick resolution. But what if a resentment lingers and mistrust builds? This creates a more interesting story arc and means a resolution can occur later, giving the character development a real dynamic.
Review how you resolve the action and see if you can stretch out the emotions for a more satisfying read.
Ensure that the words used don’t detract from the enormity of the events your character is going through. Can you delete words like, “Quite”, “Little”, or “Rather”?
Of “Very” Florence King once wrote: “ 'Very' is the most useless word in the English language and can always come out. More than useless, it is treacherous because it invariably weakens what it is intended to strengthen .” Delete it, or replace the word after it with a stronger word, which makes “Very” redundant.
“That,” is another common word used in creative writing which can often be deleted. Read a sentence as is, then reread it as if you deleted, “That”. If the meaning is the same, delete it.
When talking about chapter endings, James Patterson said, “At the end, something has to propel you into the next chapter.”
Read how each of your chapters finish and ask yourself does it either:
Review how you wrap up each of your chapters. Do you end at the best point in your story? Can you add anticipation to cliff hangers? Will you leave your readers wanting more?
The editing exercises are designed to be completed individually.
With the others, I've always run them as part of a creative writing group, where there's no teacher and we're all equal participants, therefore I keep any 'teaching' aspect to a minimum, preferring them to be prompts to generate ideas before everyone settles down to do the silent writing. We've recently gone online and if you run a group yourself, whether online or in person, you're welcome to use these exercises for free!
The times given are suggestions only and I normally get a feel for how everyone's doing when time's up and if it's obvious that everyone's still in the middle of a discussion, then I give them longer. Where one group's in the middle of a discussion, but everyone else has finished, I sometimes have a 'soft start' to the silent writing, and say, "We're about to start the hour and a half of silent writing now, but if you're in the middle of a discussion, feel free to finish it first".
This way everyone gets to complete the discussion, but no-one's waiting for ages. It's also important to emphasise that there's no wrong answers when being creative.
Still looking for more? Check out these creative writing prompts or our dedicated Sci-Fi and Fantasy creative writing prompts
If you've enjoyed these creative writing exercises, please share them on social media, or link to them from your blog.
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Story starters are a brilliant way to fix blank page syndrome (or writer's block). Did you know that 67% of authors say the most challenging part of writing is starting their story? We have thousands of story starters to get you writing in no time! And that's not all, if you're still stuck for inspiration we even have a ton of artwork to inspire you.
With thousands of story combinations to keep you writing stories every day. Our simple-to-use story idea generator comes with tons of fun and wacky prompts to inspire you. Whether you're into pirates or princesses we got writing prompts to suit every child out there.
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To use Imagine Forest simply explore the site or click the 'Create a Story' button at the top of this page to access the story creator. Once inside the story creator, you can select the type of story you want to write and continue following the on-screen instructions. At the end, you can download a PDF of your book. You can also explore the rest of the site to find some interesting activities and writing resources to help you become a better story writer.
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Whether you’re putting together a cover letter, drafting an email, or penning a LinkedIn post, details like spelling and grammar affect how you come across, whatever you’re writing. Trying to translate what you want to say into well-structured and easy-to-read sentences, however, is often easier said than done. Luckily, there are plenty of free tools that offer a helping hand! We’ve curated seven free tools and platforms to help save you time and keep your written work accurate.
Good for: Real-time spelling and grammar checking Pricing: Free, with optional paid premium
One of the most popular and well-known writing tools for a reason, Grammarly provides grammar and spelling checks, style and tone suggestions and a plagiarism checker. With the option of integrating across your internet browser, Grammarly will tell you in real time if you’re about to send an email with a spelling mistake or if there’s a way to reword something to improve how it reads.
Check it out here .
Good for: Improving readability Cost: Free
Good for: Spelling and grammar Cost: Free, with optional paid premium
Available in over 25 languages and powered by AI, LanguageTool is a writing assistant that helps with grammar, spelling, punctuation, style and formatting. Particularly useful as a browser add-on, the software can correct spelling mistakes as you go, whether you’re writing an email or a Google doc.
Good for: Real-time spelling, grammar and style checking Cost: Free, with optional paid premium
Another bit of software using AI to check your writing, on the surface ProWritingAid offers very similar functionalities to Grammarly in terms of spelling and grammar, but was also designed with a focus on storytelling in mind. It offers suggestions to improve style, clarity and readability, as well as including a thesaurus, word explorer and a plagiarism checker.
Good for: Spelling and grammar checking Cost: Free
SEO specialists Ahrefs host a number of AI-powered tools on their site relating to writing. Although most relate to marketing copy, their grammar checker is useful for inputting any chunk of text. It uses a language model that learns patterns, grammar and vocabulary, then uses that knowledge to generate human-like text. It only operates on their site rather than integrating into other platforms, but if you’re looking for more straightforward checking, this might be for you.
Good for: Word processing Cost: Free
If you need somewhere to draft your writing that isn’t your notes app, LibreOffice is a free, open-source, cross-platform office suite that can perform many of the same functions as Microsoft Office, but for free! You can write documents, create spreadsheets and embed images on the downloadable app. It does lack more complex features like collaboration, built-in translation or a dictation option, but if you want an affordable alternative it might be worth trying out.
Good for: Paraphrasing Pricing: Free If you’re trying to summarise your work experience into some key skills, or cut down the intro of a brief you’re writing, this tool can help! Another AI-powered writing tool, amongst the usual spelling and grammar suggestions, Quillbot is designed to assist users in rephrasing and paraphrasing content. Also able to be integrated into platforms like Microsoft Word and Google Docs, it is especially useful for help rewriting content to refine things like sentence structure.
... If you have any other suggestions for affordable creative software, feel free to get in touch and let us know at [email protected] !
Written by Creative Lives in Progress
12 free and affordable creative tools and software, all the design teams you might not know exist in tech.
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3. Creativity Portal. This is a wonderful hub for helpful resources that has been around for a whopping nineteen years! Here you can find writing prompts, creative coaching, printable writing templates, and interviews with authors that will help nourish the right side of your brain. 4.
Here's how our contest works: every Friday, we send out a newsletter containing five creative writing prompts. Each week, the story ideas center around a different theme. Authors then have one week — until the following Friday — to submit a short story based on one of our prompts. A winner is picked each week to win $250 and is highlighted ...
Top online writing communities. 1. Absolute Write Water Cooler. With over 68,000 members, this is a large and highly active community. Here you can find threads on every genre imaginable, as well as discussions about freelance writing, the publishing industry, pop culture, writing prompts and exercises, and much more.
Take the 30-Day Creative Writing Challenge. Press the GENERATE button above. (If it doesn't work, refresh the page.) The text box will generate a short creative writing prompt or topic you can write about today. (If you can't see the whole line, use your cursor to highlight the text and keep scrolling to the right.)
Here are some ways to approach writing prompts: Set a timer for 10-15 minutes and write without stopping. Use the prompt as a warm-up exercise before you start working on your main writing project. Share your completed prompt with a writing buddy or in a writers' group to gather feedback and suggestions.
The Teacher's Corner. This site is aimed at teachers who give their students a period of free-writing or journal writing ever day, but it can work for any writer. You can use them for freewriting/morning pages/writing practice, or you might use them to spark ideas for seasonal stories (which publications love).
For today's prompt, write about someone contemplating a horizon. By Moriah Richard Jan 30, 2024. See More. Need an idea to help you get started writing? You'll find hundreds of fun writing prompts here - perfect for beginning a new novel or short story, or simply giving your writing muscle a workout.
4. FICTIONAUT. fictionaut.com. "Part self-selecting magazine, part community network," Fictionaut operates as a sort of literary-journal alternative, allowing writers to upload short stories, poetry and more in hopes of fostering a place where writers and readers can connect through literary endeavors. 5.
7. "I wasn't sure why my boyfriend said he needed to talk.". 8. Picture what a different life could have led you to. 9. Write about a day when you have to face your worst nightmares in real life. 10. "For some reason, everyone started looking at me differently.". 11.
Use these creative writing prompts for adults to get you started on the right path to a successful story and suffer from writer's block for the last time. This list of writing prompts for adults can be taken and used in any way you want. Details can be changed, and characters can be added or removed. They are meant to be a fun way to get your ...
Welcome to Writing Exercises and Prompts. This site provides (completely free) creative writing prompts and exercises to help you get started with creative writing and break through writing blocks - as well as some fun anagram vocabulary games. Generate random story ideas, plots, subjects, scenarios, characters, first lines for stories and more.
Welcome to Promptwhisper, a haven for creative minds seeking inspiration and storytelling adventures. Whether you're an aspiring writer or a seasoned wordsmith, our curated collection of diverse writing prompts will ignite your imagination and spark your creativity. From thrilling sci-fi odysseys to heartfelt romance tales, our prompts ...
16. Story Starters Writing Prompts. 17. Unusual Creative Writing Prompts. Bonus: Other Writing Prompts Websites . Writing Prompts that don't suck: List of Writing Prompts. Romance Writing Prompts [Read detailed tips about how to write a romantic scene her e.] Writing Prompt 1: On the night before his marriage, Robert gets a visit.
WritersCafe.org is an online writing community where writers can post their work, get reviews, befriend other writers, and much more.. Post your poetry, short stories, novels, scripts, and screenplays. Get reviews and advice from thousands of other writers. Enter hundreds of free writing contests. Join writing groups or start your own.
If you're looking to cut to the chase, here's a top ten list of writing prompts for adults: Write a story about a 40th birthday party. Set your story at a retirement party. It's your wedding day, and as you're saying your vows, a voice from the crowd yells, "I object!" Start your story with the line 'Back in my day…'.
This selection represents this year's creativity-centric websites for writers. These websites fuel out-of-the-box thinking and help writers awaken their imaginations. 1. Creative Thinking. creativethinking.net. Here, "creativity expert" Michael Michalko shares creative exercises, thought experiments, and explanations of the workings of your ...
5. By day, you're a responsible, if reclusive, college student. By night, you fly over your city as a dragon. 6. On the advice of her therapist, you write about a character from her dreams, and they show up at your door. 7. Your significant other interrupts your work one day to say, "I need to tell you something.".
If you enjoyed these 40 Daily Creative Writing Prompts for Adults, please share them on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Pinterest. I appreciate it! Sincerely, Jill. journalbuddies.com. creator and curator. Stretch your perspective, expand your imagination, and start writing with these daily creative writing prompts for adults and for writers of all ...
Gotham Writers Workshop is a creative home where writers develop their craft and come together in the spirit of discovery and fellowship. We've been teaching creative writing and business writing since 1993. Fiction. Nonfiction. Scriptwriting. Comedy, Poetry. & Song. Professional. Development.
Write about a time when you were forced to confront your fears. Write about a time when you were forced to make a tough choice. Write about a time when you were forced to stand up for yourself. Write about an experience that changed the course of your life. Write about an experience that made you stronger as a person.
Writing.Com welcomes writers of all interests and skill levels. Whether you're a writer looking for the perfect place to store and display your poetry, stories and other writing or a reader willing to offer feedback for our writers and their writings, this is the website for you. Meet and bond with fresh creative minds!
A selection of fun creative writing exercises that can be completed solo, or with a group. Some are prompts to help inspire you to come up with story ideas, others focus on learning specific writing skills. Intro. I run a Creative Writing Meetup for adults and teens in Montpellier or online every week. We start with a 5 to 20 minute exercise ...
More Writing Resources for Adults. 56 Writing Questions for All Ages; 53 Writing Prompts for Adults; The best books on creative writing; Imagine the horrors of being plagued by writer's block whenever you pick up a pen to write…the good news is that you don't have to with the endless categories of writing prompts, creative writing ideas ...
To use Imagine Forest simply explore the site or click the 'Create a Story' button at the top of this page to access the story creator. Once inside the story creator, you can select the type of story you want to write and continue following the on-screen instructions. At the end, you can download a PDF of your book.
Good for: Real-time spelling, grammar and style checking Cost: Free, with optional paid premium Another bit of software using AI to check your writing, on the surface ProWritingAid offers very similar functionalities to Grammarly in terms of spelling and grammar, but was also designed with a focus on storytelling in mind.