You’ve been sitting at your desk all day and now you’re feeling a little stiff.

You might be tempted to pour yourself a beverage and hit the couch, but a better strategy? A quick walk around the block, or a few easy stretches or jumping jacks on the living room floor. Movement is the antidote for lethargy. It doesn’t have to be complicated or intense—just something to redirect your body and mind.

Photo by Jonathan Borba: https://www.pexels.com/

 

As a writer, do you ever feel that same sort of stiffness? You hate to admit it, but you’re feeling a little stuck.

Friend, I’ve got your back here.

Writers get blocked or stuck all the time. The secret to getting unstuck is easy: just write. Just as movement banishes our physical stiffness, just putting pen to paper can release our creativity.

But what to write? We stare at the blank page, flummoxed. We start, delete, start again. Ideas come like clouds and dissipate before we can type them up.

Maybe I’m the only one who struggles with this? I doubt it. But I had this idea: over the next few weeks, let’s play with prompts.

What is a writing prompt?

A writing prompt is a one or three sentence question or “set up” that introduces and focuses a writing topic. It’s an open-ended, intriguing question to launch a quick writing exercise. It motivates you because it asks you to write about a very specific topic.

A writing prompt is not usually directly related to the book you’re writing. It’s an exercise to stretch your writing muscles. It can be as simple as “write about your favorite childhood toy” or “write about a time when you found yourself in the middle of mysterious situation.”

Google writing prompts and you’ll find a bunch.

Want to learn more about writing prompts, find a few good ones, and have a chance to get a free review of your writing? You can! Just pop over to the Powerful Story Newsletter on Substack and subscribe (it’s free!). You’ll learn all about playing with prompts as a way to energize your writing.

Over the next couple of months, I’ll post writing prompts on the Powerful Story Facebook page. Click on over there and find the first one and follow the page to make sure you get notified of new ones. I’ll post at least three a week.

What if we used writing prompts to move our writing forward, but also to encourage one another?

Read the full version of this post on Substack now.