For Christmas, my roommate bought me a book of writing prompts. I’ve never really been the kind of person to write based on a prompt; usually I just sit around until I have some kind of idea (usually a bad one), and then I write on that for a while before I get stuck. You would think that I would have discovered the magic of writing prompts a long time ago.
In addition to being helpful, writing from a prompt is fun. Seeing a possible story grow from just a sentence embraces the most exhilarating part of the writing process–coming up with a great idea. Sometimes I wonder if it’s cheating–if I’m just writing what I’m told, where is the creativity? But then I remember that no one else who looks at that prompt is going to write the same story I did.
I’m going to start posting the stories I’ve written from the prompts, or at least snippets of them. They probably won’t be perfect, but I’ll welcome comments. And in case you were wondering, the book I’m using is 712 More Things to Write About, by the San Francisco Writer’s Grotto. If you’re in need of some inspiration, you should check it out!