If you’ve ever had “writer’s block,” you know how awful it feels when you just can’t seem to get started on a piece of writing. Sometimes it helps to warm up your writing muscles, similar to the way that an athlete would stretch before a game or a musician would tune an instrument. For a writer, one of the best ways to warm up is to do five minutes of freewriting. Using a writing prompt to get you started, write as quickly as you can without stopping for five minutes. You can always edit what you wrote later, but you’ll capture some great ideas when you’re writing as fast as you can.
Here are 20 ideas for fun writing prompts that you can use if you’re feeling stuck—or if you’re just looking for interesting ideas for a new story or poem. There’s no wrong way to respond to any of these prompts, and you can let your imagination go wild. You’ll know you’re getting “warm” when you’re really having fun!
- Finish this sentence: My superpower is…
- Use at least five color words to write a poem titled “A Rainbow of Feelings.”
- Describe the grossest lunch you’ve ever eaten.
- Who is your evil twin? Write about the mischievous deeds that he/she has done today.
- What one thing are you an expert on? Fill one page with information about _________ (your expert topic).
- Create a poem about weather using first person (“I” or “we”), in which you give the reader clues about what kind of weather you are. The very last line of the poem should reveal your identity; for example, “I am a thunderstorm.”
- Write a one-page story titled “My Secret Life.”
- Finish this sentence: If my dog could talk… (You could use another type of animal instead, such as a cat or pet snake.)
- Make a list of 10 reasons why you can’t possibly write anything today. Try to come up with totally outrageous excuses.
- Find 3 interesting photos or pictures in a magazine, then write a poem that includes all 3 images.
- Imagine that the President has asked you to announce a new national holiday—and it can be anything you want. Write the text of your announcement speech.
- Write a “concrete poem” in which the placement of the words on your paper creates a visual shape. You might try one of these shapes: an hourglass, a balloon, a star, or a heart.
- Create a poem in first person (“I”) from the point of view of an animal, such as an elephant or a gerbil. What do you see, hear, smell, taste, and feel?
- Write a run-on sentence by listing everything you need to get done this week. For example, “I have to wash the dishes and clean my room and take my French test and visit my grandma and finish my history project and…” See if you can fill up an entire page with things to do. If you run out of real things, make some up!
- Write about how your world would change if you were in charge of everything. Start with a title, such as “If I Ran the School” or “If I Were Queen of the World.”
- Create a rhyming poem about your favorite holiday memory—or your least favorite.
- Finish this sentence: I am a good person to know because…
- Write a poem in the form of a letter to someone you miss.
- Write about an interesting dream you’ve had lately, but without stating that it was a dream. Use present tense to describe what happens in the dream. For example, “I’m the pilot of a 747 passenger jet, and my co-pilot is Barney the dinosaur.”
- What quality or talent is most likely to make you famous one day?
