Creativity Collection: 20 Writing Prompts to Ignite Your Imagination
Searching for an inspiration source? I’ve got you covered. Let your imagination feast on these 20 writing prompts.
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Prompt 41
Dialogue Prompt
“I kept my promise, right until the day I died. Can you say the same?”
Who’s speaking? Tell their story.
Prompt 42
Fascinating Phenomenon Prompt
Déjà vu—a sense that something currently being experienced has happened to you before.
Your main character has the strongest sense of déjà vu. They’re certain this has happened to them before, but when they ask those closest to them, they disagree. The feeling remains, though, plaguing them until at last they realise they have seen this before... just not through their own eyes.
Prompt 43
Dialogue Prompt
Darrias grabbed my arm, tugging me closer. “He is not the kind of person you want to know your name.”
Continue this story.
Prompt 44
Conflict Prompt
What do you get if you combine a human, a mythical creature and a shape-shifting ability? A very interesting story. Perhaps your character is part human, part dragon, griffon, mermaid, fairy, or even leprechaun. What would happen if that ability put them in danger?
Prompt 45
Opening Line Prompt
Spices and reams of brightly coloured cloth populated the bazaar.
Continue this story.
Prompt 46
Plot Twist Prompt
The distinction between a ‘good’ character and an ‘evil’ one is not where they begin in their stories, but rather where they end. Write a story in which the initial ‘protagonist’ slowly becomes the antagonist, and the initial ‘antagonist’ develops to become the protagonist.
Prompt 47
Music Prompt
Kia Hora Te Marino by Christopher Tin.
Prompt 48
Conflict Prompt
I made a bargain with Death; I bring him souls to reap, he spares mine. It’s a good deal. Most of the time. But after a while, you begin to become… less than human. Something that isn’t quite a monster, but certainly isn’t mortal either.
Whose story is this?
Prompt 49
Picture Prompt
Master of Illusions by *kir-tat.
What if you had the power to bring your paintings to life—literally—or to take life and capture it inside a painting?
Prompt 50
Quote Prompt
The silver Swan, who living had no Note,
when Death approached, unlocked her silent throat.
Leaning her breast against the reedy shore,
thus sang her first and last, and sang no more:
“Farewell, all joys! O Death, come close mine eyes!
More Geese than Swans now live, more Fools than Wise.”
— Orlando Gibbons
Write a story using the swan song metaphor: your character knows her end is near, in her career, in a relationship, or in her life, and she’s going to go out with a bang. What does she do and how does she cope with her impending finale?
Prompt 51
Unexpected Perspective Prompt
Write about a writer who finds out he’s actually a character in someone else’s story.
Prompt 52
Music Prompt
Marrakesh Night Market by Loreena McKennitt.
Write a story set in a Marrakesh market, beneath the light of a full moon.
Prompt 53
Legendary Figure Prompt
Choose five characters from the following list of Etruscan mythological figures and write a story that weaves them together.
Prompt 54
Conflict Prompt
Write about two friends, separated by the glass of a mirror.
Prompt 55
Description Prompt
Continue the following description:
Mist hung over the ground like a blanket, curling through the trees and across the open stretches of lawn, encircling the pavilion's carved pillars, dancing around the lonely bench.
The letter said to meet them here—whoever ‘they’ were—an hour before sunset. And here I was. But they weren’t.
Prompt 56
Conflict Prompt
Your world is one of airships and steam engines and clockwork. There are many things you could have done with your life, but you chose to become a pirate of the skies, preying on merchant airships. What happens when the officer leading the hunt for you is your brother?
Prompt 57
Dialogue Prompt
“Great,” she mumbled. “The one time I’m selfless, I end up getting myself killed.”
“You’re not dead yet.”
She tried to laugh, but pain shot through her side. “Thánatos has been waiting for me for millennia. Now he has the chance, he’s not going to pass up the opportunity to take me.”
Continue this story.
Prompt 58
Folklore & Mythology Prompt
What kind of chaos would ensue if your characters encountered the gods of Indian mythology while on their holiday?
Prompt 59
Legendary Figure Prompt
What if Robin Hood were a woman?
Prompt 60
Phrase Prompt
“Lapsus calami.”
Meaning: slip of the pen.
What if magic can only be wielded through pen and ink? And what happens if the pen slips, even a little, while casting a spell? Does it have a major effect on the spell, or a minor one, with major consequences down the road?
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