6 Ways Creative Writing Prompts Can Move You Toward Your Goal

by Cathy Baker @CathySBaker

Is your muse in need of a little nudging? 

I admit to not always seeing the value of writing prompts. I want what writing time I have to count toward a specific project. Only recently have I begun to see their truth worth. 

In a matter of minutes, writing prompts can help spark our imagination, free our mind, and jumpstart our creativity. They pack a punch!

Below I share three ways to use writing prompts, three prompts to get you started, and several links to sites with ready-made links for future use. 

Three Ways to Use Writing Prompts:

1. Write during in-between moments.Waiting for an appointment? Or do you wait in a car line after school? Or maybe you downed a protein bar for lunch and now have 58 minutes available. When you don’t have time for a full writing session, pull up a writing prompt on your phone and leverage your time. 

2. Warm-up before a marathon writing session.While there’s value in free writing, writing prompts give us focus to that freedom. Emptying words onto a page can open up a host of ideas, some of which can be used later alongside your work-in-progress.

3. Save them. Write your responses to prompts in one journal. Or, take a picture of each prompt response and save it to the Cloud. Or, throw all your bits of paper in a shoebox. The how is your choice, but the why is certain. Thoughts brought to the surface by a prompt may help a future project. 

Three prompts to get you started: 

1. Drive to an area you’ve never visited before.Take a snapshot of an old homestead, a proud Victorian home, or a home that simply catches your eye. What’s the story behind the walls, and those who live (or once lived) in it? 

2. Visit Edie’s Instagram account @Stop2Pray. She posts at least one story-provoking picture every day. Choose one and write a first paragraph. Link for your IG acct: https://www.instagram.com/stop2pray/?hl=en

3. Make a list of the books you’ve read in the past year, writing a sentence or two about each one.Then choose your favorites and write about how the writer moved you or impressed you. What qualities about the writer’s work did you particularly enjoy? – Writers Digest

And, a list of links from some of the most creative prompts sites around:

365 Creative Writing Prompts by ThinkWritten   

https://thinkwritten.com/365-creative-writing-prompts/

Creative Writing Prompts by Creative Writing Solutions  

http://www.creative-writing-solutions.com/creative-writing-prompts.html

Creative Writing Prompts by Writer’s Digest 

https://www.writersdigest.com/prompts

Three Steps for Using Prompts to Write Better & Get Published, by Jane Friedman

https://www.janefriedman.com/3-steps-prompts/

Want to link up with others? Join in the fun @ Creative Writing Ink 

https://creativewriting.ie/writing-prompts/

Are you a fan of writing prompts? If so, why? If not, are you willing to give one of the above ideas a try? 

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Cathy Baker is an award-winning writer and author of Pauses for the Vacationing Soul: A Sensory-Based Devotional Guide for the Beach as well as Pauses for the Vacationing Soul: A Sensory-Based Devotional Guide for the Mountains. As a twenty-five year veteran Bible instructor, she's led hundreds of studies and workshops. She's also contributed to numerous anthologies and publications, including Chicken Soup for the Soul, The Upper Room, and Focus on the Family’s Thriving Family. In addition, her poetry can be found in several popular anthologies.

She and her husband, Brian, live in the foothills of the Carolinas. Subscribe to Cathy’s blog at http://www.cathybaker.org and receive a free e-book, “Praying In Every Room of Your Home.”