3 Best Places to Find Prompts for Writer’s Block

By: Lauren McDaniel

Us writer’s can all reunite behind the biggest struggle we all share, (next to irritability, hand cramps, insomnia, and unexplainable desires for long silences and scenic views) whether we write books, blogs, poems, ads, campaigns or essays: WRITER’S BLOCK

Eww…

Flashback to my time getting my Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing: My advising professor (I’ll never forget him) would always deliver a five-ten minute harangue to the unfortunate student who came to class empty-handed when a writing prompt had been delivered the class before. And since this was one of the more advanced writing classes of that degree, the typical “I forgot my homework”, “I didn’t have time to write it”, “I left it in fill-in-the-black place” underachiever excuses were as unspeakable as Voldemort’s name. So, the only excuse that seemed appropriate for that level was, you guessed it,

“I suffered from writer’s block”

to which my professor would continue with,

“There’s no such thing as writer’s block! Writing should be as simple as pouring your cup of tea every morning… blah blah blah… if you write every day, soon enough you wouldn’t be able to go a single day without writing until it would soon keep you up at night until you got up and did it… blah blah blah… writer’s block is a sign of your fear to write…”

Funny how that came full circle, but only portions of what he said actually came true once I got serious about writing, especially about how my insomnia evolved from the kind I get for just being me to the kind I get now for not writing as often as I should; nice trade off, thank you universe.

Thankfully, I’ve come with the best list of places to go looking for prompts that actually engage you (you’re welcome) without sounding too much like a headache-inducing college final exam essay prompt. Here it is:

1. “Tell It Slant: Creating, Refining, and Publishing Creative Nonfiction” by Brenda Miller and Suzanne Paola 2nd Edition

I realize this book says “Nonfiction” on it… but guess what?

Blogging is a form of non-fiction

(depending on what you write about: personal stories, anecdotes, memoir, instructional, lifestyle, etc.) Each chapter in this book begins with an engaging, relatable story that draws you in to teach you a lesson about an aspect of your writing (some aspects I hadn’t even thought about prior to reading the book). The great thing about nonfiction and the way this book teaches its audience is: each lesson can apply to many different genres and writing styles.

I, personally, use it to help me write poetry. The prompts are listed at the end of each chapter, in different variations! So, if you don’t like the first prompt, but love the topic discussed in the chapter, Miller and Paola have gone through the trouble of writing a couple different prompts which can apply to the chapter.

In Chapter 1 alone, there are 21 different, customizable writing prompts!

And guess what teachers, you can use it in the classroom, too. Within all those prompts, some contain the label: “VARIATION FOR A GROUP” which enables any teacher to prompt students through a discussion about their writing based on the chapter. Having taught with this book myself to college freshman, I find this tool helpful since it practically lesson plans for me. And any chance I get to sit at home and watch Master Chef with my boyfriend instead of lesson planning, you can bet your next dinner I will take it.

(Side note: DO NOT be discouraged by the words “college freshman”, the prompts are easy to understand and follow, in my opinion, for grades 6+)

2. “Sometimes You Just Have To Stand Naked” by David Bartholomy

This is the book that taught me how to truly make time to write (something I still have trouble doing today). I stumbled upon this book at a book sale and thought the title was the funniest thing ever and figured I’d like to know the author ballsy enough to make that a title and associate it with writing.

Turns out, after several attempts to write an “interesting” guide to writing, he came out with this, and it’s probably one of the funniest yet helpful way someone has ever written a book about writing.

But, this book is not just about writing.

Bartholomy uses humor and honesty throughout the book to make it seem like he’s having a simple conversation with you, which made it easy for me to keep coming back. He provides prompts and writing exercises at the end of every chapter that focuses on an important aspect of your writing like diction, word choice, sentence structure, tone, engaging syntax, etc.

If you’re having writer’s block, I’d suggest flipping to Chapter 2 where he addresses why we get writer’s block in the first place, and how to easily implement writing into your daily life without it seeming like a chore.

3. http://www.pw.org/

Poets and Writers is one of the largest online writing websites on the internet. Their online presence provides the best resources for any kind of writer out there such as:

1. A mini forum-blog which updates every week to give you fresh writing prompts for poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. Here’s a short link that’ll take you to the prompts.

2. A massive online writer’s community that promotes each other’s writing.

3. Information on how to publish your own work, where to publish it and how to promote your writing (anywhere from small presses to national publishers).

4. A monthly subscription magazine (which I have) full of opportunities, news, and stories. I flip through every month to find new publishers who want to publish writer’s like me as well as opportunities to go on retreats; because what writer doesn’t want to spend 3 weeks on a beautiful estate in Vermont and devote all that time to reading and writing with no distractions? Uh, no one, ever.

5. Readings, workshops, and events as well as helpful links to applications to universities, conferences, and fellowships. This was particularly helpful when I was trying to get into grad school for poetry (which I succeeded) and I was looking for universities that fit my goals while trying to get my writing published in as many places as possible to build up my resume.

The list goes on. Click the link, explore the site, write something amazing.

Thanks for reading!