Writing Prompts: Writing prompts are a wonderful way to fuel up your creativity, whether you’re searching for help getting started on your next project or want to spend 20 minutes being creative. Talking about being creative, the creative writing prompts, as the name suggests, are of great help to get a quick boost to get your work and writing going.
Writing prompts are bits of information and thought-provoking questions that may be utilised to spark creativity in your writing. They can also serve as a springboard for your writing by giving a beginning point. Any of these prompts can be utilised by writers of any age; however, the article below includes writing prompts for kids as well as writing prompts for adults.
Creative Writing Prompts
- What is a Writing Prompt?
- Purpose of a Writing Prompt
- Types of Writing Prompts
- Some Examples of Writing Prompts
- How to Create Your Own Prompts for Writing
- Takeaway from the Article
What is a Writing Prompt?
Giving a person a cue to assist them to focus on a certain topic, task, or goal is referred to as prompting. A written passage, a word, or even a picture might serve as a stimulus. Writing prompts are a form of assessment or exercise that instructs people to write on a specific topic in a specific manner. It is a written guideline that serves as a prospective topic or beginning point for a variety of writing projects.
A writing prompt is a topic that will help you focus and lead your work. The prompt might be anything (a question, a statement, an image, etc.), but the goal is to give you something to think about as you write. Prompts might lead to a short response or a lengthy essay.
Purpose of a Writing Prompt
The goal of a writing prompt is to put a writer’s analytical and reasoning skills to the test, as well as to inspire a point of view and test writing skills. A writing prompt helps you focus on the issue you’re writing about. It also includes guidelines for completing the writing prompt.
Figuring out what type of writing is required is one of the most difficult aspects of writing prompt interpretation. Prompts may indicate the type of writing to be utilised or provide strong suggestions, such as the term “persuade,” for persuasive writing. Other times, figuring out which writing style to utilise is part of the problem. The trick is to figure out what the hints in the prompt mean.
Types of Writing Prompts
Writing prompts can be of different forms or even have different styles of writing, which are mainly of five types that are listed below:
- Narrative
When responding to narrative prompts, writers employ actual or invented experiences. Dialogues, sensory details, and logical sequencing should all be included in their work.
- Opinion
In an opinion writing assignment, authors are required to express their thoughts on a topic and back them up with facts and logic. The material supplied should be well-organised and backed up with specifics.
- Descriptive
Descriptive writing prompts frequently encourage authors to incorporate details that aid the reader in conjuring up a vivid image by appealing to the reader’s five senses:
- Sight
- Smell
- Hearing
- Taste
- Touch
Descriptive writing may also be utilised to assist the reader in understanding how the character feels or reacts.
- Research
In research prompts, writers are tasked with finding knowledge about a given topic utilising books, internet resources, video, and other media. Writers should take thorough notes and keep track of the materials they use.
- Informative or Expository
Informative or expository writing prompts require the writer to describe the topic before adding supporting facts and details clearly. Expository or informative writing, in other words, is writing that aims to enlighten the reader on a certain topic.
- Persuasive
Persuasive writing challenges inspire authors to strive to persuade the reader to agree with their point of view or thoughts.
Some Examples of Writing Prompts
If you wish to utilise writing prompts, don’t be concerned with where your ideas lead you or whether what you’ve written is excellent. The goal is to just get into a writing flow. If you like, you may come back and polish it later. Hence, below are some examples of writing prompts for both kids and adults to help you get your creative juices flowing.
Writing Prompts for Kids
The writing prompts listed below are some of the examples that kids can use to write, as these prompts are very much fun and interesting to write about.
- Write a description of your ideal bedroom. What would be in it, and why would it be there?
- You’re stranded on a desolate island with nothing except the belongings in your backpack. So, what exactly do you do?
- Write about a special place in your life.
- When I uncovered hidden riches in the backyard, I…
- Write your instructor a letter explaining why your favourite book should be examined in class.
- Describe a particular relationship you have with an animal.
- You get to spend a day as your favourite animal. So, what exactly do you do?
- Create a tale in which all your favourite characters from literature and movies cross paths. What do they do in their spare time?
- Create a different conclusion for your favourite book or film.
- If you were famous, describe a day in your life.
- I couldn’t believe what I saw as I peeked out the window…
- You have a magical pen. What does it have to offer, and how will you put it to use?
- Describe a blunder you’ve made and what you’ve learnt because of it.
- Prepare a speech that explains why you should be a student leader to the entire school.
- Write a letter to a younger sibling explaining what they need to know about Grade 7.
- If you had the ability to travel through time, would you choose to see the past or the future? Also, explain why.
- Describe a well-known individual and why you admire them.
- Describe the nicest present you’ve ever received. What made it so incredible?
- The dinosaurs have returned, and they’ve landed on your block. So, what’s next?
- If I had the opportunity to go to another planet, I would go to…
- You’re in charge of the class for the day. What are your plans for the lesson?
- If I could have any ability, it would be…
- If I had the power to alter only one thing in the world, it would be…
- Create a tale about a sea voyage.
- You have a budget of $1,000 to spend. What will you purchase?
- Create a “quarantine tale” that takes place in a single home.
- Make a tale out of one of your craziest dreams.
- Make a book or movie recommendation for a friend. What makes you think they’d love it?
- Create an adventure narrative set in a forest.
- Come up with a narrative about a snow day.
- You are teleported into your most recent video game. Where have you gone?
- What would you invent if you had unlimited resources?
- If I could only eat one meal for the rest of my life, it would be… because…
- You’re a detective working on a major investigation. What exactly is it, and how do you deal with it?
- Create a narrative in which the main character conceals a major secret.
- An alien visits your home. What comes next?
- You reach the top of your neighbourhood’s tallest tree. What are you able to see that you couldn’t see from the ground level?
- Create a scenario in which a regular, daily situation is transformed into a grand adventure.
- Describe the qualities you seek in a friend.
- You’re throwing a friend’s ultimate birthday bash. What do you have in store for them?
- You can swim like a fish and breathe underwater. What are your plans for your newfound power?
- My objective for this year is to…
- Write a letter of gratitude to someone who has aided you in some manner.
- Which season is your favourite and why?
- Describe the individual who is the oldest you know.
- Describe a trek to the peak of a massive mountain.
- You’ve developed wings and can now fly. What route will you take?
- Would you like to live in a chilly, snowy climate or one that is hot and sunny? Why?
- What do people who live in the clouds do?
- Which holiday is your favourite and why?
Writing Prompts for Adults
From a newbie to a skilled professional, adult writers may benefit from using writing prompts to improve their writing skills. The following examples listed below will surely help you to start off.
- Describe what you’re seeing, smelling, hearing, or feeling right now. Objects, people, and everything else in your local area should be included.
- Create a scene that begins with a normal family ritual gone wrong.
- A slipper drops from the sky. Justify your reasoning.
- What would your brain be like if it were a real, physical place?
- Begin your writing by saying, “The stage was set…”
- Consider everyday items in a fresh light and write about the stories they carry.
- On a public transportation system, one person encounters a stranger. Make up a tale based on what happens next.
- Make a list of five problems about which you are passionate. Write about them from a different perspective or from the perspective of a character who has a different perspective.
- Begin your writing with the sentence, “Once again, I was late for…”
- Go on a walk and jot down a word you hear or read. Make it into a tale.
- Write something without using any adjectives or adverbs.
- Create an interior conversation between distinct components of a character’s self for a character (rather than an inner monologue).
- Write a genuine tale about a time in your life when light or darkness played a role.
- Begin by penning the story’s ending.
- Make a recipe for something that doesn’t exist.
- Write a horror story set in an everyday circumstance, such as shopping, bathing, going to the gym, or any other ordinary task.
- Create a tale inside a bubble.
- Make a list of 2-3 brief character descriptions, then write the characters speaking to one another.
- Write a second-person tale.
- Construct a tale that contradicts itself.
- Create a character with at least three major issues.
- Describe an event that occurs on a Friday, the 13th of any month.
- Write a short script about cursed dolls attempting to seize control of something.
- Begin your writing with the sentence, “The clocks were pointing at twelve…”
- Write a story about writer’s block.
- Write an outrageously inappropriate children’s story without using explicit language, cursing, or violence.
- Make a list of five professions. Write about someone who wants to leave one of those jobs.
- Write two paragraphs, one for each of the two vastly different contexts. Create a tale that includes both settings.
- Select an ancestor or a historical figure to write about or to.
- Make up a pirate tale with a twist.
- Begin a tale using the line “It only took five seconds to…”
- Make a list of five intense emotions. Choose one and write about a character who is experiencing that emotion, relying solely on the character’s actions to describe their feelings without using any outright statements.
- Write a chapter in your life’s narrative.
- My deepest and darkest secret.
- On an asphalt road, a person is running. Make up a tale.
- Begin your writing with the line “7 months later…”
- Write a scenario in which two characters are finally working out a long-standing conflict or misunderstanding.
- Write from the perspective of your most treasured thing. What is its opinion of you?
- Consider some well-known proverbs. Write a horror story with a premise based on one of those catchphrases.
- You begin to receive texts from an unknown number. Tell the next chapter of the narrative.
- What do ghosts do when they’re not causing havoc? Write a story about ghosts’ hidden life.
- A character learns that one of their siblings holds a cursed item. Next, write about what occurs.
- Superheroes save the world, but they leave a trail of devastation in their wake. Write a story about a regular person living in a superhero’s world.
- You can never have too much of a good thing, according to popular belief. Make a narrative where this isn’t the case.
- Consider a fictitious festival based on a natural event (for example, the Earth reaching its furthest point from the sun in remembrance of a volcanic explosion, or the time a cloud resembled a rabbit riding a bicycle). Describe how this holiday is observed.
- Make up a narrative on what it would be like to have a real-life animal buddy.
- Make up a narrative about a hidden chamber.
- Write a scene depicting a character before and after a tragic event in his or her life.
- Write about possible conspiracy theories about something that is currently happening in the world like a pandemic, nuclear war, outer space, or others.
- Make a list of five election topics that would be absurd to include in your campaign programme. Choose one of the absurd problems and give a speech in support of it.
How to Create Your Own Prompts for Writing
You may get inspiration for your own writing prompts from a variety of sources, including overheard conversations, headlines, signs, words taken from a book, and so on. Get in the habit of looking for ideas and phrases that ignite your creativity, write them down, and use them as writing prompts. Look for every minute detail in your day-to-day life and try to find a story behind it as you never really know where they’ll lead you.
Takeaway from the Article
Writing prompts are helpful since we all know how difficult it can be to come up with ideas for what to write about. Writing prompts will broaden your creativity and provide you with some ideas for themes to write about, whether you compose short stories, poetry, or keep a diary.