- A husband and wife are meeting in a restaurant to finalize the terms of their impending divorce. Write the scene from the point of view of a busboy snorting cocaine in the restroom.
- Write a scene showing a man and a woman arguing over the man's friendship with a former girlfriend. Do not mention the girlfriend, the man, the woman, or the argument.
- Choose your favorite historical figure and imagine if he/she had been led to greatness by the promptings of an invisible imp living behind his or her right ear. Write a story from the point of view of this creature. Where did it come from? What are its goals? Use research to make your story as accurate as possible.
Click here to read more.
Write Around Portland has a good list of writing prompts. One they don’t list, but I know they use is “People like us” which is such a great prompt when you think of the work they do with people living on the margins.
Here are some of their other prompts:
Imagery
The night smelled like...
The old blue shirt...
In my dreams...
The thing on the beach...
The dirt road ...
Reflected in the window...
As I entered the room...
See more here.
Do you have a writing prompt you like?