Below is a list of writing prompts I made up, and links to my own interpretations of them. Please use them, just link me so I can share in the fun! My prompts tend to go in a sci-fi direction, but not always.

The list

• 1- The child yelled at the monkey (time: 7 minutes)
• 2- I was playing in the snow when aliens walked out of the woods (time: 7 minutes)
• 3- What if a disease that causes schitzophrenia became common (time: 7 minutes)
• 4- The whirlpool sucked them downwards (time: 7 minutes)
• 5- What if the creatures in your decor emerged? (time: 5 minutes)
• 6- The secret to space poppies is harvesting the right part (time: 7 minutes)
• 7- The rider approached from the distance (time: 5 minutes)
• 8- Mistaken identity (time: 10 minutes)
• 9- She watched the autumn leaves fall (time: 7 minutes)
• 10- A ghost in the building (time: 10 minutes)
• 11- He tore off another sheet of paper and threw it in the bin (time: 7 minutes)
• 12- Magic tea (time: 7 minutes)
• 13- The tissue printer (time: 8 minutes)
• 14- Monkey Day (time: 5 minutes)
• 15- Cleaning the lab (time: 7 minutes)
• 16- Intrigue and alchemy (time: 10 minutes)
• 17- Night at the pool (time: 7 minutes)
• 18- Unexplored wilderness (time: 7 minutes)
• 19- The light blinked off on the ship (time: 5 minutes)
• 20- Red (time: 7 minutes)
• 21- The devious cat (time: 7 minutes)
• 22- The special box of chocolates (time: 7 minutes)
• 23- The spongy place in the yard (time: 7 minutes)
• 24- Giant sheep (time: 7 minutes) Inspired by Cordwainer Smith’s Norstrilia.
• 25- The Melt (time: 7 minutes)
• 26- The Little Viking (time: 7 minutes)
• 27- Using an illustration as inspiration (time: 7 minutes)
• 28- The woods burst into flame (time: 10 minutes)
• 29- An impending storm (time: 7 minutes)
• 30- Modified pollen (time: 7 minutes)
• 31- Preparing for a long journey (time: 7 minutes, followed by a 10 minute edit)
• 32- The dream weaver (time: 7 minutes)
• 33- The rain man (time: 7 minutes)
• 34- The shortcut (time: 7 minutes)
• 35- The newt and the cat (time: 7 minutes)
• 36- What if there was no Bering land bridge? (time: 7 minutes)
• 37- Invent a pivotal historic person (time: 7 minutes)
• 38- Feeling spooked while camping (time: 7 minutes)
• 39- A door that goes anywhere (time: 10 minutes)
• 40- Lie detector (time: 7 minutes)
• 41- Expand upon a character in an in-progress work (time: 10 minutes)
• 42- World build for an in-progress work (time: 7 minutes)
• 43- Invasive species (time: 7 minutes)
• 44- Add a cat to an existing universe (time: 7 minutes)
• 45- The enchanted dollhouse (time: 7 minutes)
• 46- Driftless (time: 7 minutes)
• 47- Foraging (time: 7 minutes)
• 48- “I’ve never seen one before, but how hard could it be?” (time: 7 minutes)
• 49- Pop-up people (time: 7 minutes)
• 50- Turning 200 (time: 7 minutes)
• 51- Farming the Death Valley (time: 7 minutes)
• 52- An elderly diatribe (time: 7 minutes)
• 53- Expand a detail from an existing story (time: 7 minutes)
• 54- Jump forward in your Nano project (time: 10 minutes)
• 55- National Hat Day (time: 10 minutes)
• 56- Measure your feet day (time: 10 minutes)
• 57- National puzzle day (time: 10 minutes)
• 58- National weatherman’s day (time: 10 minutes)
• 59- Blame someone else (time: 10 minutes)
• 60- Chinese New Year (time: 10 minutes)
• 61- Tell a fairy tale (time: 10 minutes)
• 62- Abduct an extraterrestrial (time: 10 minutes)
• 63- Make up your own holiday (time: 10 minutes)
• 64- Reconciliation day (time: 10 minutes)
• 65- National Stress Awareness Day (time: 10 minutes)
• 66- World Laboratory Day (time: 10 minutes)
• 67- I think my house is haunted (time: 7 minutes)
• 68- I forgot day (time: 7 minutes)
• 69- Stay out of the sun day (time: 7 minutes)
• 70- Cousins day (time: 7 minutes)
• 71- Race your mouse day (time: 7 minutes)
• 72- Bald and free day (time: 7 minutes)
• 73- Old Rock day (time: 10 minutes)
• 74- Dress up your pet day (time: 10 minutes)
• 75- Hugging day (time: 10 minutes)
• 76- Create a vacuum day (time: 10 minutes)
• 77- Don’t cry over spilled milk day (time: 7 minutes)
• 78- Middle Name Pride Day (time: 7 minutes)
• 79- Submarine Day (time: 7 minutes)
• 80- Pint and Prompt #1 (time: 7 minutes)
• 81- Pint and Prompt #2: designer babies (time: 10 minutes)
• 82- This day in history: Ringling Brothers’ Circus (time: 10 minutes)
• 83- Junk Food Day (time: 7 minutes)

Why writing prompts?

Sometimes I want to write, but I don’t have a great idea or I’m not in the mood to write something grand and perfect. I just want to write something. When I was working on my novel draft, I was writing 1500 words a day, and afterwards, I felt like a better writer than before. I learned to be in the habit of just sitting down and getting to it and worrying later.

I felt like I could do the same thing with writing prompts. I scoured the web, and a lot of what I found felt more like writing exercises than prompts– I wanted something to run with and retreat into a brief, if perhaps hastily formed, fictional realm.

So I decided I can make up my own writing prompts.

On different days, I can focus on different aspects of writing–beautiful language, or character development, or world-building, or economy of words, or plain weirdness. And I end up with a couple hundred words I can take and mold into something better, or that I can chuck. I do them on a timer, so far of 5-7 minutes, so I can fit them into any day, no matter how hectic.

Unlike fiction I intend to publish, I can share this with others through the blog. I’d love to see what others do with the prompts too. Just link me so I can enjoy it too.