Writing Prompts:

Every writer knows the feeling when you’re trying to start a story but you don’t have any ideas on what to write about! Since I have had this terrible disease called ideas-block and know how this feels, I’ve put together a list to start you off!

• A long journey is interrupted by a disaster.

• A group of friends uses their combined skills to make the world better.

• An intelligent girl/boy solves a big problem but becomes frustrated when no one will believe them. (It can be so frustrating when you’re trying to explain something to someone, but they don’t understand!!) Write about what they do next!

• A character on the road –– and on the run. (This is a good one!) Are they a runaway slave trying to hide from their wicked master or, a retired spy on the run from some angry criminals they put away in the past?!

• Start your story with a vehicle pulling over for a hitchhiker.

• Your character sits down at their desk on a particularly annoying Monday morning and finds a completely unexpected email in their inbox. Write about what happens next. (It could make their day even worse, or else really weird!)

• Write about a character who has come to have their dream job, only to discover it isn’t quite what they imagined it to be. (Maybe they were a surgeon, and they didn’t know they’d be dealing with blood 😅)

• Start or end your story with a house going up in flames.

• Write about a game of “truth” or “dare” that goes horribly wrong. This can go anywhere!

• Write a story from the point of view of three different characters. (this can be really interesting!)

• An introvert and an extrovert are best friends.

• Start your story with a person saying, “Are you coming tonight?”

• A story where a character runs into someone they’ve seen in a nightmare or enters a building they’ve seen/been in in a nightmare.

• A meal goes horribly wrong.

• Your character shuts the phone down and goes to sleep that night. The next day, they’re scrolling through pictures on their phone. They see a new one. It’s of them sleeping.

• Write a story that contains the words, “It’s the thought that counts.”

• Write about a character’s room. (this is more of a descriptive exercise, but I would love to see what you all come up with!)

• ‘The wind swirled around me, and the world went black...’

• ‘At first, I couldn’t understand why I had woken up - then I heard the noise I’d heard so often in my dreams.’

• ‘Walking through the graveyard, Katie (or your character’s name) couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being watched. “Surprise!” They cried, leaping out from behind the gravestone...’

I hope you liked this short list and happy writing! I would LOVE to see the stories you guys have put together, so feel free to post them in the comments!!!

-Shantel 😘