A month of writing prompts to constrain and limit you (in a good way)
As a writer, I find writing prompts useful as a sort of “warm up”. I don’t use them every day, but when it’s difficult to get to work, or I feel blocked, sometimes they can be a useful way to get my brain moving into a writerly mode.
The prompts I find most helpful are those prompts that put formal limitations on what you’re allowed to write. The constraint allows me to prioritise problem-solving over obsessing about writing quality or quantity. They get my internal editor to shut up for a bit as I look for solutions.
Very little of my writing that’s produced by prompts will ever make it to publication (although some has!), but the point is to be free from the idea that you have to write about something good.
When working with short prompts, you should aim to write for 10–15 minutes (you can set a timer if that works for you), or to produce about half a page — it’s important not to abandon the prompt too early. That said, if you’re really getting into it, you can keep going for as long as you like.
Here’s a month’s worth of writing prompts that offer constraints:
- The most famously constrained book is Gadsby, a 50,000 word novel that doesn’t include the letter ‘e’ — a lipogram. Write something that omits this letter (or, pick…
