It can be easy to forget that you love writing; that there was a time when it was playful and enjoyable and maybe even fun. When I get stuck, I enter what I call the Writers’ Playground: an imaginary world where nothing I write really “matters”; where the aim is to have fun and get linguistically stretched out. This is often just the entry point I need to get started on my real work.
Here are three writing prompts you can use if you feel like you don’t know what to write right now.
WRITE ABOUT FOOD
Nonfiction: Try to remember with as much detail as possible a recipe you have always loved. As you write the recipe, interject with your own memories and thoughts as they arise. For example:
Start with a tablespoon of sourdough starter. (My first starter was one I ordered in the mail. I couldn’t believe this crusty blog would ever be anything I could use for baking.)
Fiction: Write from the perspective of a food you love. What would it be like to be a can of soda? A box of pretzels? Your mother’s lasagna?
Poetry: Find something in your kitchen right now you’d be willing to eat. Eat it with your eyes closed, and try to come up with as much description as you can for this food. Write a poem about this food using your sensory details.
USE A PHOTO AS A PROMPT
If you have a photo you love, look at it and use it as a writing jumping off place. But if you don’t have a photo handy, use this one I bought at a thrift store. It has prompted several pieces from me.
MIX TAPE WRITING
Remember the days of mixtapes? Ok, maybe you don’t. A lot of my writing students have never worked in this medium. But I used to slave over mine, coming up with songs that exactly fit the mood I wanted to evoke.
Create a playlist and write a little on each song. You can use the song list to tell a coherent story, or you can go back into your personal memories to write micro-essays about your past. Feel free to use the lyrics as jumping off points, too — collaborate with one of your favorite songwriters to make a singular work all your own.
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