Creative Writing Prompts For Aspiring Writers (And Seasoned Ones As Well)

So you’ve joined an online site that accepts your original articles for publication. You did so with seemingly hundreds of ideas bouncing around in your head which needed an outlet, and you couldn’t wait to get to started. Now you are sitting at your keyboard, fingers on the keys, blank white screen before you, and not a thought in your head. How in the world do you get past your first case of writer’s block? I will present some ideas that should have you writing in no time.
1. Brainstorm on what interests you. If you can write faster than you can type, do this with a pen and paper. It doesn’t have to be readable by anyone but you. The important thing is to go as fast as possible. Just let your mind jump from topic to topic, and write/type whatever comes to mind. You might bounce your eyes around the environment you are sitting in for mental cues, such as book titles on a nearby shelf, magazines you receive, souvenirs collected from your travels, etc. From these items you might be inspired to write “drawing,” “cooking,” “Chile,” “rainsticks,” “gardening,” “flowers.”
2. Choose a topic from your list. What jumps out? Which one is the narrowest topic already? For instance, “flowers” is a very broad topic, while “rainsticks” is much narrower. About which of your words or phrases are you most knowledgable? Perhaps you have done some research on rainsticks, and have crafted one yourself.
3. Now brainstorm on your chosen topic, with the same rules (thinking fast, writing fast). Perhaps related to rainsticks you write down “history,” “South America,” “cactus,” “gourds,” “make your own,” “hollow tube,” “beads or beans,” You begin to formulate an idea that excites you, an article that gives a brief history of the use of rainsticks, different materials that have been used to make them, and finally how a person can craft one for themselves.
4. Arrange this list in a logical manner, adding words or phrases as they come to mind which would fit into your article, or that you want to be sure to include. Also eliminate any words or phrases that don’t pertain to the direction you want to go. Be sure to start thinking about the title you might give your article.
Example: Working Title: Rainsticks, Then and Now
A. History
B. Uses
1. Music 2. Magic (bring rain)
C. Original Materials (hollow cactus, gourds)
D. Crafting a rainstick
A. Materials
1. Gourd or bamboo
2. Rice, beans or beads
3. Small nails or screws
B. Method etc.
You have just formed an outline for your first article!
5. Now just “flesh it out.” Write two to five sentences related to each point of your outline. Add an introduction and a conclusion, then go back and fine tune your article to suit you. If at any point in writing your article you get stuck on where to go next, you can start again at the brainstorming stage and narrow your focus in the same manner that you came up with your original idea.
By following these simple writing tips, you can generate ideas which lead to an outline which leads to the final draft of your article. This formula works whether you are writing your first article or you’ve written a hundred. Happy submitting!