Writing Prompts

“I think about Emerson and his love of stories and conversation, and how he once said that he would walk a hundred miles through a snowstorm to have one good conversation.” —Phil Cousineau, The Art of Pilgrimage Tell me about a memorable conversation you still cherish.

“We don’t always know what makes us happy. We know, instead, what we think should. We are baffled and confused when our attempts at happiness fail . . . we are mute when it comes to naming accurately our own preferences, delights, gifts, talents. The voice of our original self is often muted, overwhelmed, even

“Probably one of the first strokes of grace in my life was my father’s becoming totally paralyzed when I was eight years old, because it led me to becoming the kind of person I am now. Sometimes we understand grace only in retrospect. If someone were to ask me what grace is, I would probably

“E.L. Doctorow said once said that ‘Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.’ You don’t have to see where you’re going; you don’t have to see your destination or everything you will pass along

A sign in a chiropractor’s office: “Five dangerous words: Maybe it will go away.” Write about a time you believed in those five dangerous words.

“If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, ‘Thank you,’ that would suffice.” —Meister Eckhart Make a list of things you’re grateful for.

“This packrat has learned that what the next generation will value most is not what we owned but the evidence of who we were and the tales of how we loved. In the end, it’s the family stories that are worth the storage.” —Ellen Goodman Make a list of family stories you want to tell.

“When you use the word should, you are arguing with reality.” —Tara Brach Tell me about a time you fought against reality . . . or a time you accepted it.

“I will study and get ready, and maybe the chance will come.” —Abraham Lincoln Tell me in detail about a time you prepared for an opportunity and what happened once you did.

“Digging up the dark world, the things you don’t remember, releases a lot of energy. Brings to light things that have been covered up for a long time and they snap and crackle. Usually we try to control what we remember. Control leads to dull writing. . . . “Lose control. Let the mute, the

“I think setting is, curiously, almost always underrated by the beginner or the amateur, and almost always of intense importance to the accomplished writer.  Why is that?  We only have space and time. I suppose that time happens of its own accord in a story: this happened and then that happened.  Whereas place must be

“Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in Nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.” —Helen Keller Tell me about a time you went on a daring adventure—external

“Every day I see or I hear something that more or less kills me with delight, that leaves me like a needle in the haystack of light. It is what I was born for.” —Mary Oliver Tell me about something that delights you.

 “Fall seven times, stand up eight.” – Japanese proverb Tell me about a time you fell down and got up again.

“Most commitments that keep me from my writing are masks that I put up to hide my fear and my failure to do what I need and want most to do. If my belief in my own work is strong, other commitments will adjust themselves. Human beings have free will. “If I could speak to