Article by Dan Goodwin

Creative writing prompts are a great way of enhancing your creative writing.

They can stimulate new ways of seeing and thinking and help you grow your creative writing skills in directions you might not have thought possible.

So what are creative writing prompts?

At the most basic level, a creative writing prompt is anything that gives you a starting point from which to write. It could be a sentence, a picture, a song, a film, a photo, or a memory.

Most effective creative writing prompts are quite simple and short and give you just enough to get your creative teeth into and your imagination flowing.

They don’t give you half of a new story on a plate, or a technicolour all-singing all-dancing stage show musical.

Think of creative writing prompts as tasty hor d’oeuvres to get your creativity salivating, or a peek behind the stage curtain to get a glimpse of the singers, dancers and set design in the half darkness.

Why do we resist using creative writing prompts?

Many of us as creative writers feel we should be able to do it all.

We think that unless we come up with every single idea at every single stage of each creative writing project, then somehow we’re not “authentic” or we’re “cheating” in some way.

It’s understandable that we wish to be original and come up with our own unique ideas, and that’s a great quality and ambition to have as a creative writer.

But the fact is, there’s nothing that’s 100% new, original, never-been-discovered ever before.

ALL creativity stems from some initial stimulation and prompt.

Even when we think we’ve come up with a new idea from nowhere – a scene, a story, an image or a character plucked from out of the ether – if we were able to, we could trace our line of thinking back to a number of sources.

It’s like those dreams we have that at first appear random, bizarre and disjointed, but then when we look a closer we can see how the elements have been gathered from our daily experiences.

A snatch of conversation we had earlier that day, an image from TV show we watched last week, a line from a song that stuck in our heads…

Think of your creativity as an underground spring.Somewhere deep down there’s as endless source flowing. It’s always flowed and always will flow.

But it needs an outlet, a way to get to the surface and show its purity and shimmering beauty to the world.

For the underground spring, you could build a well and use a pump to get the water to the surface. Then it would gush freely on its own.

For your creativity, use creative writing prompts to have a similar effect. The hardest part is getting the water to the surface in the first place, so anything you can use to make that as easy as possible is obviously a good idea.

Once your creativity has been “pumped” to the surface, it’ll be far easier to keep it flowing and active.

Technorati Tags: Creative, Juice, Prompts, Writing

Article by Michael Lee

Creative writing prompts are a writer’s best friend. You might not think them important at first; but when you’re stuck with writer’s block and uninspired with just about everything, trust me, you will need their help! But what are creative writing prompts anyway? Well, these are questions or statements that tickle your brain cells and get your imagination back up and running. If you find yourself a little low on writing energy, I suggest you try these prompts out.

1) You wake up one morning only to find yourself in Egypt. What do you do?

Creative writing prompts can be as crazy or outlandish as you want them to be. This is actually a good thing because your mind is forced to react to something new.

Being stuck in Egypt without warning offers you an adventure. This is a fantasy world where you can bring yourself anywhere and do whatever you want. The story is your own and only you and your creativity can finish it.

2) If you could have an hour with God, what would you do with it?

Here is another interesting question. Being face to face with your Creator will undoubtedly bring forth many questions you have wanted to ask in the past.

Such a prompt will have you examining your own purpose in life and what you have done so far to make it meaningful.

Answering this question can really open your mind up to the kind of person you are, which in turn, will help you become a better writer.

3) Describe a favorite childhood memory.

Sometimes, a person tends to lose part of himself or herself growing up. By looking into the past, you will be able to come to terms with your childhood, and reminisce about whatever wonderful memories you may have had.

Creative writing prompts that deal with the past can help you practice writing better descriptions and add more depth to your overall writing style.

Creative writing prompts are very interesting to take up. Even if you’re not bogged down with writer’s block, it’s still fun to answer these what-ifs and hone your writing skills.

About the Author

Want to earn a 5-figure monthly income through freelance writing jobs? Go to http://www.20daypersuasion.com/5figurewriter.htm and discover how to earn massive amounts of money continuously by becoming a freelance writer.

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Technorati Tags: Block, Creative, Cure, Prompts, These, Writers, Writing

Article by Dan Goodwin

Even the most experienced and seasoned creative writer can benefit from creative writing exercises and prompts.

The key to continuing to grow and develop as a creative writer is to keep experimenting, trying new techniques, ideas and exercises to challenge yourself.

Using a variety of different approaches and starting points in your creative writing will help you to explore your potential as a writer and keep pushing the boundaries.

But although creative writing exercises and prompts are a great tool to use, they assume one thing.

They assume that you are willing and able to write.

Give a writer a creative writing exercise or prompt and they won’t necessarily come up with some interesting creative writing.

In fact many times, however ingenious, stimulating and brilliant the exercise is, the writer won’t produce a single word, let alone a wonderful piece of writing.

So why is this? What’s missing?

There are a number of different factors that stop us from writing, however gifted and talented we are.

Perversely, often the more naturally capable we are of writing creatively, the more we struggle to write.

Here are some of the crucial elements a creative writing exercise or prompt on its own WON’T give you, and how to get it:

1. The confidence to write creatively. Talent and ability amount to very little if you simply lack confidence in your writing.

Build your confidence by starting small and writing little and often. A few paragraphs of a story, a short poem, or a blog entry every day will help you get into the habit of writing consistently. Then you can just increase the amount and frequency as your confidence builds.

2. The “set up” to write creatively. If you don’t have somewhere you can go and start writing within a couple of minutes, you’ll lose motivation and inspiration.

Have a designated place for you to write. If you don’t have your own room or study, at least have a desk or chair where you can have your creative writing equipment to hand and ready for you to start writing at a moment’s notice.

3. The permission to write creatively. Even if you think on the surface you’re willing to write, often on a deeper level, you’re not allowing yourself to. Not giving yourself permission to create is an often overlooked creative block.Write out for yourself some positive affirmations, such as “I deserve to be able to create”, “I have as much right to create as anyone”, “The world needs me to be creative” and simply “I give myself permission to be creative”. Practice reading them out loud regularly.

4. The time to write creatively. Many of us claim we don’t have time to spend on our creative writing. The truth is, we don’t make it enough of a priority.

Start by giving yourself just 10 minutes at the same time each day to spend writing. Get up a little earlier, go to bed a little later, fit it in wherever you can. By practicing this routine, you’ll find it soon becomes easier to extend it to a larger chunk of time each day, without impacting the time demands of the rest of your life.

5. The motivation to write creatively. Even if you have everything else in place, if you’re not motivated to write, you just won’t write.

Keep your motivation high by reminding yourself why you write creatively. What are the top 5 benefits? What are the 10 things you love about being able to write creatively? What are your ambitions as a creative writer? Write these out and pin them up somewhere prominent to keep you motivated.

Spend a little time and effort on each of these 5 key areas and you’ll soon find there’s no limit to how much you can write.

Then, using those creative exercises and prompts will add the extra dimension you need to explore your creative writing even more.

About the Author

For some great creative writing prompts to get you started, sign up for your FREE 5 part creative writing ecourse at http://www.YouAreACreativeWriter.com

Creativity Coach and keen creative writer Dan Goodwin helps people who are frustrated they’re not using their creative talents as well as they could be. See more at his website: http://www.CoachCreative.com

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Technorati Tags: Creative, DON'T, exercises, Give, It  , Prompts, They, Writing

Every writer or blogger has moments when they feel completely void of ideas and drained of inspiration. This explains why the search engines get bombarded with key phrases like “creative writing prompts”, “creative writing ideas”, “creative writing topics” etc. The Internet seems to promise solutions for everything. It doesn’t always provide them but it can be a great place to find inspiration, if you know where to look for it. This list of creative writing prompts and tips does not claim to be the ultimate cure for writer’s block. It is nothing but a taster and its purpose is to stimulate your appetite and make you crave for more. Creativity is like a virus. It can be addictive. God launched it and we continue to become infected with it every day. 

1. Invent a new species of aliens. Give them a name and write a detailed description of their appearance and habits, of their planet and its position in the universe, of their language, history, values, thinking patterns, ultimate goal, etc.

2. Go through a list of phobias and choose the most interesting and unusual ones. Create a few imaginary characters and make them suffer from those phobias. Pick your favourite one and write a story about him/her. 

3. Explore the concept of synchronicity. Follow two or more threads at the same time. Reveal the strong connections between people who don’t appear to be directly linked and disclose the set of coincidences that brings them together. 

4. One morning you wake up with a radio station in your head. Describe it in detail and emphasize the impact it has on your life. 

5. One morning you look in the mirror and realize you’ve grown a pair of horns. Write a story in which you depict your struggles to cope with people’s prejudices and your efforts to adapt to this new situation. 

6. You join a religious denomination that sends its members back in time to convert the bloodiest and most cruel figures in history. Pick your own historical character and give him a chance to choose another path. 

7. You go swimming in the sea and you are kidnapped by a lonely mermaid who wants a friend/lover. 

8. A nice quiet weekend in the countryside. Nothing can go wrong. Or can it?

9. Your house turns into a palace over night. Any logical explanation?

10. A spider suggests you switch places for one day. Don’t you like spiders? How about a bat then?

11. Rewrite Snow White from one of the seven dwarfs’ perspective. 

12. The most unpopular girl/boy in your school becomes obsessed with you. 

13. You eat a raw egg (they’ve been telling you it’s good for your voice) and three weeks later you discover you’ve got a chicken growing inside your tummy. 

14. Explore the butterfly effect and how making different choices can alter the course of the future. 

15. If I were an inventor, the first thing I would invent would be…

16. Write a story that starts like this: “All I’ve ever wanted from life is…”

17. Write a story that starts with the following sentence: “I knew somebody had been secretly reading my manuscripts.”

18. Write a story that ends with the words: “I promised myself I would never tell anyone about this.”

19. Check out the weird news section of the online newspapers to get ideas for new stories. 

20. Start a contest for the most fascinating character. Create a few characters and make each of them write a letter to expose the reasons why they think they should win the competition. Pick up the winner and reward him/her with a leading role in your new story. 

For more creative writing prompts, please visit www.writingjug.com. 

Technorati Tags: Creative, Prompts, Writing

Creative writing prompts are a writer’s best friend. You might not think them important at first; but when you’re stuck with writer’s block and uninspired with just about everything, trust me, you will need their help!

But what are creative writing prompts anyway? Well, these are questions or statements that tickle your brain cells and get your imagination back up and running. If you find yourself a little low on writing energy, I suggest you try these prompts out.

1) You wake up one morning only to find yourself in Egypt. What do you do?

Creative writing prompts can be as crazy or outlandish as you want them to be. This is actually a good thing because your mind is forced to react to something new.

Being stuck in Egypt without warning offers you an adventure. This is a fantasy world where you can bring yourself anywhere and do whatever you want. The story is your own and only you and your creativity can finish it.

2) If you could have an hour with God, what would you do with it?

Here is another interesting question. Being face to face with your Creator will undoubtedly bring forth many questions you have wanted to ask in the past.

Such a prompt will have you examining your own purpose in life and what you have done so far to make it meaningful.

Answering this question can really open your mind up to the kind of person you are, which in turn, will help you become a better writer.

3) Describe a favorite childhood memory.

Sometimes, a person tends to lose part of himself or herself growing up. By looking into the past, you will be able to come to terms with your childhood, and reminisce about whatever wonderful memories you may have had.

Creative writing prompts that deal with the past can help you practice writing better descriptions and add more depth to your overall writing style.

Creative writing prompts are very interesting to take up. Even if you’re not bogged down with writer’s block, it’s still fun to answer these what-ifs and hone your writing skills.

Technorati Tags: Block, Creative, Cure, Prompts, These, Writers, Writing