Fiction writing prompts can be a writer’s best friend, especially when they are stuck, suffering a case of writer’s block, or just looking for a new creative line of thought. So what is a fiction writing prompt? It is really just a topic or idea that spurs you on into thinking, developing your own ideas and actually writing something. Essentially, it is a starting place or a seed thought that helps the writer to focus on a particular point, get out of a stagnant place, and kick-start his or her creative process.
A good fiction writing prompt is something interesting enough to make you jot down a few lines, which can either follow closely with the writing prompt or take off on a different line of thought or a tangent. You can use a writing prompt in different ways. For example, if you are writing an article and the words are just not flowing. Rather than just force yourself to stare at the blank page, you can use a creative writing prompt to write a few lines on a different and unrelated topic, just to get the creative juices flowing. You can then get back to your article, hopefully with a stimulated mind.
Alternately, you can use a fiction writing prompt to figure out the direction you want your novel to take, if you are at a crossroads in the story. You may find that using a writing prompt can help you come up with several lines or even pages which may end up being useful in your novel. The writing prompt may give you new ideas or clarify things in your mind regarding the story.
Here are a few fiction writing prompts to get you started and to give you an idea of the different types of writing prompts.
Writing Prompt 1: A situation
She turned and stared. She had never seen that door there before. Slowly, she approached the door.
Writing Prompt 2: A scenario
Peter, a shy teenager, has to defend his best friend against false accusations made by a rich, unpleasant classmate. Peter hates confrontations, and is always hesitant to speak up. But his friend’s reputation depends entirely on Peter now. Peter has less than twenty hours before his friend meets with the principal.
Writing Prompt 3: A character
A lonely woman who makes anonymous prank calls to her neighbours, secretly hoping to get caught.
Writing Prompt 4: A short dialogue
“How on earth did this happen again? Didn’t you promise me you took care of it last time?”
Writing Prompt 5: A line
There is only one way to get out of this mess, and it ain’t pretty.
The best way to use fiction writing prompts is not just occasionally when you are stuck, but rather as a regular writing exercise, because what you write in response for each prompt may end up becoming your next story, or the perfect ending for your current work-in-progress.
You can create your own fiction writing prompts as a fun writing exercise to take a break from your regular writing work. You can keep an idea notebook, with a section for writing prompts that are inspired by odd news, funny photos, local celebrities, or anything else that interests you- just jot down the idea, line or phrase that triggers the memory of the source material. Happy writing!
Image credit: Kirsty Hall on flickr and reproduced under Creative Commons 2.0
CS Rajan is a freelance writer who loves to write on various topics, and is currently working on her first novel.