Writing Prompts

“Too many people, too many demands, too much to do; competent, busy, hurrying people—it just isn’t living at all.” —Anne Morrow Lindberg What becomes available to me when I rest? Begin with the words, “When I rest . . .”.

“Don’t write what you know—what you know may bore you, and thus bore your readers. Write about what interests you—and interests you deeply—and your readers will catch fire at your words.” —Valerie Sherwood Make a list of things that passionately interest you. Choose one thing from your list and tell us about it.

“Silence never brought us anything.” —Audre Lorde Tell me about a time you were silent. Then tell me about a time you broke the silence about something taboo or forbidden.

“It doesn’t matter who my father was; it matters who I remember he was.” —Anne Sexton Tell me your father’s story, as you remember it, by describing his hands. Begin each paragraph with the words, “My father’s hands . . . ”.

“It always comes back to the same necessity: go deep enough and there is a bedrock of truth, however hard.” —May Sarton What’s the bedrock of truth in your life right now?

“There is more wisdom in your body than in your deepest philosophies.” —Friedrich Nietzche Tell me about a time your body gave you something you didn’t expect.

“Write your first draft with your heart. Re-write with your head.” —From the movie Finding Forrester Can you describe your own writing process? What is your relationship to your own deep creativity and your internal editor?

“The important thing is not to stop questioning.”—Albert Einstein It’s the last day of your life. From the vantage point of your deathbed, what five questions have informed your life?

“Loneliness, I’ve read, is like being in a long line, waiting to reach the front where it’s promised something good will happen. Only the line never moves, and the other people are always coming in ahead of you, and the front, the place where you want to be, is always farther and farther away until

“We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us something is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch. Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit.” —E.E. Cummings Tell us about a time someone

“I feel strongly that I have a responsibility to all the sources that I am: to all past and future ancestors, to my home country, to all the places that I touch down on and that are myself, to all voices, all women, all of my tribe, all people, all earth, and beyond that to

“Instructions for life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.” —Mary Oliver Tell me about a time you were astonished by life in a wonderful, life-affirming way.

“When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.” —Rumi Tell me, right now, today, what brings you joy.

“The truth about our childhood is stored up in our body, and although we can repress it, we can never alter it. Our intellect can be deceived, our feelings manipulated, our perceptions confused, and our body tricked with medication. But someday the body will present its bill, for it as incorruptible as a child who,

“You are lucky to be one of those people who wishes to build sandcastles with words, who is willing to create a place where your imagination can wander.” — Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life When I let my imagination wander . . .