✎ prompts and activities

Why, actually, are you doing this?

Prompt: Pick a word that holds significance in your life. What did this word used to mean to you, and what does it mean now? How has the definition changed, and in what ways has it remained the same? You can answer these questions literally or use them as inspiration for a poem, personal essay, book passage, etc. I did the latter and wrote a relate... See more

1. Make a list of your own everyday moments, encounters or events. Real or imagined. Fiction or nonfiction. (Fiction writers feel free to pull from your own life and share it with a character.) At this point, don’t worry about what your everyday moments mean and how each might connect to something else. Get the basic ideas down. And go ahead—share a

... See more

Go back to a previous chapter of your novel (or an early passage in your short story, etc) and find a random object. Then assign that object meaning in your current passage so that it becomes a clue or serves a new purpose. Examples: an old valentine, an old tube of mascara, or the jewelry or tarot cards above.

take the story you already want to write, and ask, Where’s the money in this? Then lead with the number. Maybe stick that number in your headline and subject line.

Prompt: Using titles to find the essay