Writing Prompts

“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.

“If I have an object and you have an object and we exchange them we both have an object. If I have an idea and you have an idea and we exchange them, we both have two.” —Chinese proverb Tell me about a time a new idea changed your life.

“A strong woman knows she has strength enough for the journey, but a woman of strength knows it is in the journey where she will become strong.” —Unknown Tell me about a time this was true in your life or in the life of someone close to you. When the challenges in your life—the journey—made

“I must say a word about fear. It is life’s only true opponent. Only fear can defeat life. It is a clever, treacherous adversary, how well I know. It has no decency, respects no law or convention, shows no mercy. It goes for your weakest spot, which it finds with unnerving ease. It begins in

“When a moment knocks on the door of your life, it is often no louder than the beating of your heart, and it is very easy to miss it.” —Boris Pasternak Tell me about a call, a moment, an opportunity that knocked on the door of your life.

“How can a writer express what is most vital in her experience while anxiously watching her tongue lest she slip the wrong word?” —Jan Clausen Tell me what is in your heart today. Every time the inner critic snipes at you tell him, “I will talk to you later,” and continue to write. Write the

“You can either practice being right or practice being kind.” —Anne Lamott Tell me about a time you chose being right. Tell me about another time when you chose kindness.

“What a wonderful life I’ve had! I only wish I’d realized it sooner.” –Colette, French novelist and memoirist What did you realize about your life only when it was too late?

“In the past, memoir was the country of old people, looking back, a reminiscence. But now people are disclosing their lives in their twenties, writing their first memoir in their thirties, and their second in their forties. This revolution in personal narrative that has unrolled across the American landscape in the last two and a

“All great literature is one of two stories; a man [or woman] goes on a journey or a stranger comes to town.” ― Leo Tolstoy Free write for ten minutes about each of these scenarios. Then turn one―or both―into a more developed piece. 

“The best memoirs, I think, forge their own forms. The writer of any work, and particularly nonfiction work, must decide two crucial things: what to put in and what to leave out.” —Annie Dillard, An American Childhood If you were to write the story of your life today, what would you put in and what

“The beginning of human knowledge is through the senses, and the fiction writer begins where human perception begins.  He appeals through the senses, and you cannot appeal through the senses with abstraction.” —Flannery O’Connor, Mysteries and Manners Describe a morning in your life primarily through your sense of smell. Repeat, describing the same morning, primarily

“If you don’t face the dangerous in your writing, you won’t change other people, because you’re not changing you.” —Naomi Wolf Brainstorm a list of things that would be dangerous to face in your writing. Then write about one of them.

“If you travel far enough, one day you will recognize yourself coming down the road to meet yourself. And you will say—YES.” —Marion Woodman Tell me about a time you said yes to yourself.

“There was never yet an uninteresting life. Such a thing is an impossibility. Inside the dullest exterior, there is a drama, a comedy, and a tragedy.” —Mark Twain Tell me about a great dramatic moment in your life. A comedy. A tragedy.