Jump Start Your Writing

Hey everyone,

So as a writer, I know that writer’s block can become a great enemy. It’s a giant indestructible wall that takes some time to dismantle (unless you’re lucky and your wall is made of wood and you can burn it down!). While you’re suffering
the mental blankness or anxiety while staring at blank paper (or screen), you might want to try a few writing prompts just to keep you writing. Responding to prompts might not tare down the wall, but it might put a dent in it. I personally like writing responses to prompts while in a writer’s block phase because it keeps me at least writing something. I might write up something that’s complete junk, but at least I thought about something and then put pen to paper! So I’m just leaving you with a few prompts you might want to try out to flex those writing muscles and maybe do some battle practicing against that writer’s block wall!

Prompt #1: Write in an opposite gender’s voice.

I usually write in first person as a girl, so I’ve been trying to switch over to a male voice to try it out. It’s really hard to nail the switch when I’m so comfortable with writing from a girl’s point of view, but the challenge really helps me think and write a lot more to perfect the voice. With this prompt you don’t necessarily have to write as a girl if your a boy or vice-versa. It’s more like writing in the gender voice that you’re not as comfortable with.

Prompt #2: Take a cliche phrase and work it into you’re piece in a new way.

Just recently I was given a prompt to write something off of the phrase “If Walls Could Talk…,” a cliche line. I was asked to write the phrase somewhere in my piece of work and to see what the phrase inspired me to write about. I know a lot of people stray from cliche phrases, but sometimes they jump start your writing into creative and new ideas. Sometimes you begin to rework the phrase or find a new meaning to add to it. I recommend sitting down and seeing what inspiration you can draw from a cliche or commonly used phrase. Challenge yourself to rethink it’s meaning or find a way to make the cliche work in your writing so that it might not actually be cliche anymore. Maybe just see where the phrase takes you and drop it out later. Either way, this prompt definitely helped me to start writing something.

Prompt #3: Take a book closest to you and fan through the pages. Pick a page and close your eyes. Then point your finger to a line in the book. Write something containing that sentence or based off that sentence.

I’m sure this prompt has been explained before, but I always find this prompt fun and interesting. I love see what I can come up with from a random line in a book. Sometimes the sentences surprise you! I took a sentence from a textbook that I would never have paid that much attention to before this prompt. When I wrote something based off of the sentence, it was really interesting what meanings, stories, and images that came about from the ordinary (but really not ordinary) sentence. I would try doing this prompt with some book that is unexpected like a text book, biography, or maybe even a manual if you are feeling adventurous!

Hope these helped! Happy Writing!

Are you currently experiencing writer’s block? What are some of your favorite prompts? How do you beat writer’s block? 

xo,

NicoleLynn