Writing Prompts

“It got so cold in the house that icicles hung from the kitchen ceiling, the water in the sink turned into a solid block of ice, and the dirty dishes were stuck there as if they’d been cemented in place. Even the pan of water that we kept in the living room to wash up […]

“Whenever another loved one dies, all the others that went before her rise up to be counted.” —woman in an online support group for people with cancer Tell me about your dead. List their names, write an essay about them, or paint a portrait of one particular person you loved who has died.

“The first time someone shows you who they are, believe them.” — Maya Angelou Describe a time you failed to believe someone when they revealed themselves to you and tell me about the price you paid.

“It’s a reactive thing, like a Geiger counter; you click whenever you come close to whatever you were built to do.” —Stephen King Tell me about a time when you knew you were doing exactly what you were meant to do. Describe yourself doing that thing and show us how it felt to do it.

“The very first thing I tell my new students on the first day of a workshop is that good writing is about telling the truth. We are a species that needs and wants to understand who we are. Sheep lice do not seem to share this longing, which is one reason they write so very

“Smell is a potent wizard that transports us across thousands of miles and all the years we have lived. The odors of fruits waft me to my southern home, to my childhood frolics in the peach orchard. Other odors, instantaneous and fleeting, cause my heart to dilate joyously or contract with remembered grief.” –Helen Keller

“Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.” —Jane Howard, Families Tell me about your tribe, your extended family.

“For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet or excite you. Books help us understand who we are and how

“The cruelest lies are often told in silence.” –Robert Louis Stevenson Tell me about a lie you were told in silence, or tell me about a lie you told in silence.

“Most of us don’t know how much we’re living undigested lives.” —Jenepher Stowell, Commonweal retreat manager What’s still undigested in your life? What would it take to digest it?

“Showing gratitude is one of the simplest yet most powerful things humans can do for each other.” —Randy Pausch Write a thank you letter to someone you never thanked before—or never thanked fully.

“Technology makes it possible for people to gain control over everything, except over technology.” —John Tudor What would you do if you were to stop using the Internet for a year? How would your life change? Would you miss the Internet? Could you live without it?

“Lovers, farmers and artists have one thing in common, at least—a fear of ‘dry spells,’ dormant periods in which we do no blooming, internal droughts only the waters of imagination and psychic release can civilize.” —Gretel Ehrlich, The Solace of Open Spaces Tell me about a time you went through a dry spell—and how it

“Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world . . . would do this, it would change the earth.” —William Faulkner Tell me about a time you stood up against injustice—or when you wish you had but couldn’t

“All sorrows can be coped with if you put them into a story or tell a story about them.” —Isak Dinesen Tell me about a time a story saved you or helped you bear your load.