WRITING PROMPTS & INSPIRATION

first lines

Start a scene with:

The only thing left in the pantry was Crisco.

My parents named me for [the musician at number one on your birthday].

I hope they don't mention [blank] in my eulogy.

They better mention [blank] in my eulogy.

Building a fence is hard, and I was in a hurry.

"You're taking your grandparent to prom?"

Today I received the best compliment ever.

Today I received the worst insult ever.

I thought they were only staying the weekend.

"Why don't you like scary movies?"

It's not that cute.

The tent stayed up... until 2 a.m.

"I've never seen this line before," said the palmreader.

My friends won't play board games with me anymore.

"What is that smell?"

The wanted ad described me perfectly.

The wanted poster described me perfectly.

I didn't expect God to answer my very first prayer.

My sign was the biggest and the prettiest...except for the horrible typo.

points of view

Write from the point of view of:

a keg

your best friend in elementary school

a new box of crayons

cashier at the bodega

an unmade bed

a dogwalker

a mason jar

someone trying to change their name

a white picket fence

a celebrity turning down an award

a pulpit or altar

a falsely-accused criminal

a vinyl record

someone thinking of their own argument instead of listening

a cowboy hat

the last person to leave the grocery store

a deer stand or duck blind

an AP exam grader

true stories

Get inspired by weirder than fiction headlines.

"I remember thinking to myself, 'it would be nice to fly away somewhere'. The next thing I had a really vivid dream that I was on a plane - it was very, very realistic, but I didn't think much of it and just went back to sleep."

Lad's boozy night out in Essex ends with him waking up 900 miles away in Barcelona

"Three pals dodged security guards to take pictures on top of the Jin Mao Tower in Shanghai, China – before being caught by police and quizzed for seven hours."

Dare-devil teens take stomach-churning selfies

Manor informed officials in Basel that one person "was not able to remove the ... Rottin' Teeth independently."

Rottin' Teeth Recalled After Grins Turn Ugly — for Good

"The words 'Per audacia ad ignotum' drawn in the snow in the absolute middle of nowhere, yet no footprints around them. The words were probably a few hours old. The closest translation we could find was 'through audacity towards the unknown.'"
25 Hikers And Backpackers Reveal The Creepiest, Scariest Things They’ve Found In The Wild

"The boy had previously told his parents that he was scared at night because he could hear someone talking to him over the phone. Jay and Sarah were confused as to what he meant until the hair-raising moment Sarah walked into her son's room to hear a voice say, 'wake up little boy, daddy's looking for you.'"
Stranger hacks family's baby monitor

"Neither driver was hurt, but you had Doritos and Busch beer all over I-95."
Beer, Chips Spill All Over I-95 After Florida Truck Crash

"'My biggest fear is that someone dangerous or violent is going to visit our house because of this,' said Saba by email. 'If or when that happens, I doubt our polite explanations are gonna go very far.'"
The Find My Phone app is leading people to this couple's house at all hours of the day and night -- often accompanied by police.

From Wikipedia:
"Gloria Ramirez was a Riverside, California, woman dubbed "the toxic lady" by the media when several Riverside General Hospital workers became ill after exposure to her body and blood."
Analysis of a Toxic Death at Discover

"Graphic designer John Koenig has sought for years to fill holes in language that describe the emotions that we all feel, but fail to communicate. Since 2009, his website: The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows has been a “a compendium of invented words."
23 New Words for Emotions That We All Feel, But Can't Identify

music

Write a scene per song
(with special thanks to Tracey Neithercott, Katherine Locke, & Jessica Spotswood for their additions back in 2016)

photos

Scroll a site like Unsplash.com. Write about a photo that speaks to you.

other resources