Read through the writing prompts offered and
choose one. Or, for fun, you can print and cut out the prompts, fold, and then place in a
bowl. Randomly choose one slip from the bowl, and then start writing. Good
luck!
1. One woman knocks on the door of another woman's
house. She wants something. She lies to
get what she wants. Who is she? Does she get what she wants? How does the woman who
answers the door respond? Do they know each other? What happens next?
2. Write a scene for a story that takes place at the Thanksgiving Day table during dinner or in the
kitchen during preparations for the meal with two characters who are angry at each other but
not addressing their conflict directly.
3. Write a scene for a story in which one character finds an intimate inscription in his or her
partner's book. Who is it from? What does it mean? When was it written? And how does the
first character find out the answers to these questions?
4. Using magazine clippings; photographs; found or created notes, letters, and postcards; and
other items, construct a story from ephemera. Put the items in box and add to it as the week
goes on. When you feel that you've compiled enough, write the story relying on the ephemera
as a guide.
5. Write a story composed entirely of letters from one character to another who never replies. The
characters could know each other or could be complete strangers.
6. A man and a woman driving in a car–where are they going? What happens along the way?
What are they discussing?
7. Two boys in a canoe–do they get along? What is the relationship between them? What
happens to cause tension between them?
8. Compose a story by making a fairy tale or old folktale contemporary. Aim to retain the basic
plot of the original tale, but have the characters' tensions and fears reflect twenty-first-century
encounters and conflicts. For an added challenge, offer an alternate ending or tell the narrative
from an unexpected perspective.
9. Write a story in which one of the following objects triggers a flashback: a child’s keyboard, a
bag of Werther’s Original Caramels, a taxidermied animal, a bar of lavender soap, or an old
travel brochure.
10. Write a story in which you present no detailed descriptions of the characters, major or minor.
The information the reader gleans about the characters in the story—their motivations, their
gender, their personalities, even their looks—must be conveyed entirely through what they
say. Observe how this reliance on dialogue changes the way you go about structuring the
story.
11. Write a story in which only five minutes pass between the beginning of the story and the end.
As the jet took off from LAX, Marjory, his wife of twenty-six years, reached over and ....
Think about an aspect of your life story and rewrite it, telling the tale from another
angle or perspective. For example, if your family always considered you to be a difficult
teenager, write about other interpretations of your behavior.
12. Write a letter of apology to a teacher for...oh, you know what.
13. What happens when you discover that you have a stranger living under your house?
14. And it was at this exact moment that the power came back on....
15. What should not be forgotten?
17. He picked up the wallet from the street, opened it, stared at the picture, and replaced the wallet
on the street.
18. Describe each day of the week as if it was a person.
19. I called in sick cause I felt so well and deserved a day off to celebrate because....
20. You’re waiting in line to shake someone’s hand. Who is it and why are you there?
21. Growing up, we never had....
22. The mistake was in letting her/him know my name.
23. She walked into his office with a chain saw in her hand.
24. “It’ll be fun,” she said, handing him the mask.
25. Look out your window or observe your surroundings and make a list of ten images.
Choose the three that you find most compelling and free-write about them, exploring
any memories or associations they elicit.
26. Choose one of your favorite classic books and make a brief outline of the plot. Write
a story, set in the present, adapted from that classic story, using your outline and the
classic book's main character to guide you.
27. Think about a choice you made in your life that led to specific consequences or
outcomes. Explore the alternative reality that could have been if you'd made a different
choice in an essay that begins If I hadn't...
28. Pick an overlooked, everyday object—a scarf, a carton of strawberries, a snow globe—and
write eight different scenes or vignettes in which that object appears centrally. Have each
scene take place in a different location and have the characters interact with the object in
various ways.
29. Write a piece of flash fiction or a short story that starts with an advice column. Use the
advice column to introduce the story's protagonist, the central drama, or the back story of the
characters.
31. Write a story that begins like this: On the morning Bill Somers shot his dog, I was...
32. Conjure someone you haven't seen or talked to in over ten years. Imagine you receive a phone
call from this person today. Why are they calling? What do they want? Write a story about it.
33. Write a scene for a story, using third-person narration, that opens with your main character
having just done something despicable. Despite what he or she has done, find a way in writing
the rest of the scene to make your character sympathetic without letting him or her off the
hook.
34. Write a story that opens with your main character doing something that is completely
antithetical to his or her personality. Let the story be about how this character came to do what
he or she did.
35. Write a scene from a story set at the Thanksgiving day table. During dinner have one of your
character's reveal a secret or news that doesn't go over well among his or her family or dinner
hosts. Consider why he or she decides to reveal the news on this day among this company.
What happens next?
get what she wants. Who is she? Does she get what she wants? How does the woman who
answers the door respond? Do they know each other? What happens next?
2. Write a scene for a story that takes place at the Thanksgiving Day table during dinner or in the
kitchen during preparations for the meal with two characters who are angry at each other but
not addressing their conflict directly.
3. Write a scene for a story in which one character finds an intimate inscription in his or her
partner's book. Who is it from? What does it mean? When was it written? And how does the
first character find out the answers to these questions?
4. Using magazine clippings; photographs; found or created notes, letters, and postcards; and
other items, construct a story from ephemera. Put the items in box and add to it as the week
goes on. When you feel that you've compiled enough, write the story relying on the ephemera
as a guide.
5. Write a story composed entirely of letters from one character to another who never replies. The
characters could know each other or could be complete strangers.
6. A man and a woman driving in a car–where are they going? What happens along the way?
What are they discussing?
7. Two boys in a canoe–do they get along? What is the relationship between them? What
happens to cause tension between them?
8. Compose a story by making a fairy tale or old folktale contemporary. Aim to retain the basic
plot of the original tale, but have the characters' tensions and fears reflect twenty-first-century
encounters and conflicts. For an added challenge, offer an alternate ending or tell the narrative
from an unexpected perspective.
9. Write a story in which one of the following objects triggers a flashback: a child’s keyboard, a
bag of Werther’s Original Caramels, a taxidermied animal, a bar of lavender soap, or an old
travel brochure.
10. Write a story in which you present no detailed descriptions of the characters, major or minor.
The information the reader gleans about the characters in the story—their motivations, their
gender, their personalities, even their looks—must be conveyed entirely through what they
say. Observe how this reliance on dialogue changes the way you go about structuring the
story.
11. Write a story in which only five minutes pass between the beginning of the story and the end.
As the jet took off from LAX, Marjory, his wife of twenty-six years, reached over and ....
Think about an aspect of your life story and rewrite it, telling the tale from another
angle or perspective. For example, if your family always considered you to be a difficult
teenager, write about other interpretations of your behavior.
12. Write a letter of apology to a teacher for...oh, you know what.
13. What happens when you discover that you have a stranger living under your house?
14. And it was at this exact moment that the power came back on....
15. What should not be forgotten?
17. He picked up the wallet from the street, opened it, stared at the picture, and replaced the wallet
on the street.
18. Describe each day of the week as if it was a person.
19. I called in sick cause I felt so well and deserved a day off to celebrate because....
20. You’re waiting in line to shake someone’s hand. Who is it and why are you there?
21. Growing up, we never had....
22. The mistake was in letting her/him know my name.
23. She walked into his office with a chain saw in her hand.
24. “It’ll be fun,” she said, handing him the mask.
25. Look out your window or observe your surroundings and make a list of ten images.
Choose the three that you find most compelling and free-write about them, exploring
any memories or associations they elicit.
26. Choose one of your favorite classic books and make a brief outline of the plot. Write
a story, set in the present, adapted from that classic story, using your outline and the
classic book's main character to guide you.
27. Think about a choice you made in your life that led to specific consequences or
outcomes. Explore the alternative reality that could have been if you'd made a different
choice in an essay that begins If I hadn't...
28. Pick an overlooked, everyday object—a scarf, a carton of strawberries, a snow globe—and
write eight different scenes or vignettes in which that object appears centrally. Have each
scene take place in a different location and have the characters interact with the object in
various ways.
29. Write a piece of flash fiction or a short story that starts with an advice column. Use the
advice column to introduce the story's protagonist, the central drama, or the back story of the
characters.
31. Write a story that begins like this: On the morning Bill Somers shot his dog, I was...
32. Conjure someone you haven't seen or talked to in over ten years. Imagine you receive a phone
call from this person today. Why are they calling? What do they want? Write a story about it.
33. Write a scene for a story, using third-person narration, that opens with your main character
having just done something despicable. Despite what he or she has done, find a way in writing
the rest of the scene to make your character sympathetic without letting him or her off the
hook.
34. Write a story that opens with your main character doing something that is completely
antithetical to his or her personality. Let the story be about how this character came to do what
he or she did.
35. Write a scene from a story set at the Thanksgiving day table. During dinner have one of your
character's reveal a secret or news that doesn't go over well among his or her family or dinner
hosts. Consider why he or she decides to reveal the news on this day among this company.
What happens next?