Writing prompts for June
Hey you, ready for June? Where I grew up, June usually announced itself with heavy rain showers sweeping down the streets towards the sea. But this year I greet June from another another country and another ocean. The sun is out and bold, and asks me why I am not yet in the park with my bag full of books and my notebook. For the first time in a long time, I have no plans to go abroad, but instead dream of spending summer in the sunshine of my own city, scouting out new favorite coffee spots and post-writing session snacks.
This week I bring you ten new writing prompts to keep you creative this month. Click here for last month’s post.
Writing prompts for May
Time for writing prompts! I’m spending a lot of time lately writing creatively, but getting over writer’s block is a returning struggle in my life. I wanted to assemble some writer’s prompts to try out in May, and perhaps by the end of the month write a follow up posts on which of these I completed — If you end up following any of these, feel free to ei…
the prompts
Copy a master. Start copying down the beginning of a chapter of one of a book you like. Copy down about a page or so, and then shut the book. From here, try to continue the scene in a different way than how it goes in the book. Make sure to mimic the prose style of the author so the text feels cohesive.
Mythic retelling. Write a short story inspired by a myth or fairytale. For example, read up on the Ancient Greek myth of Cupid and Psyche, and write a modern retelling.
Fairytale inspiration. Write a story inspired by this image.
Oceanic feeling. In 1927, Freud coined the term “oceanic feeling” to describe the feeling of being part of or one with the eternity and the external world. Write a story or poem about “oceanic feeling.”
A toothless life. Write a story inspired by this quote by Sartre:
I have led a toothless life, he thought. A toothless life. I have never bitten into anything. I was waiting. I was reserving myself for later on—and I have just noticed that my teeth have gone. (Jean-Paul Sartre)
The three women. Write a story based around the following painting by Edward Munch. It’s one of his common motifs, showing three women in different stages of life.
Love in translation. They say Franz Kafka fell in love with Milena Jesenská because her translations of his work made him feel seen. Write a story or poem about love and translation—interpretation and misinterpretation.
“What a lovely little mess I’ve made…” Continue the story from this opening line.
Through the villain’s eyes. Read the poem ‘The Wolf’s Postscript to Little Red Riding Hood’ by Aghal Shahi Ali, in which Ali delivers an apropos to the fairytale from the perspective of the wolf. Then think of which literary villains resonate with you…whose perspective would deserve a greater examination? I nominate Remmick from Sinners (2025) because wow.
Develop your world/characters. Wrestling with writer’s block? One of the most helpful advices I’ve found is from the following video featuring Pierce Brown, who wrote the Red Rising-series. I use this advice frequently when developing my stories or when I simply need to relax.
That is all for this time!
Thanks for reading and happy writing!
xx,
Thea