Writing Prompts
Writing prompts are a good way to exercise your brain and learn to write from different perspectives. Below are a few interesting prompts from the Writer's Digest website.
The person whom you or your character has been trying to talk to for ages finally answers the phone. Who is this person? Why were you or your character trying to track them down for so long? How does the phone conversation progress?
A tornado is forming and your character is in the absolute worst place they can be at the moment. Where are they? How do they handle the situation?
Take a trip to the thrift store or think about your latest trip. Pick one item you find interesting and imagine who its past owner(s) was. How did they use the item? Why did they end up donating it to the thrift store?
Complete the sentence "If you look back far enough, you can see ..." and write a scene or short story that contains the line.
Re-write a scene or story from the point of view of someone or something that none of the characters knew was watching. It could be a ghost, animal, the furniture come to life, etc.
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human characteristics to something that isn't human, such as animal or object. Write a scene or story that includes anthropomorphism.
Write a scene or story that includes a character receiving an invitation, or showing up to an event that they were invited to.
Imagine your character is a child or camp counselor at a summer camp that is the setting of a horror-comedy movie. Write a letter home to family or friends from your character's perspective, telling your family about the strange happenings at camp.
Take a story you've written or your favorite classic story. Now tell a different version of that story, changing the genre or the main character's occupation.
Visit a park, coffee shop, or another public place that is buzzing with activity. Take note of what you hear the people around you say. Begin an original scene or story that includes something you overheard.
Write a top 10 list in the voice of a character. Is your character a tween writing in their diary? A person making a bucket list? How about someone listing their greatest fears? What does the list they make say about the character?
Write a scene or story in which a character sees (or misses) a hidden image. What does this hidden image reveal—is it the clue they've been searching for?