Writing prompts for May
prompts to inspire, or get through the writer's block before summer's here
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 either
— share it with me privately
— leave a comment under this post
— tag me in a substack post
the prompts
Write a 50 things list. Read Ken Liu’s 50 Things Every AI Working with Humans Should Know and make your own list. Liu’s short-story was a finalist for the Locus Award and Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award. I had the honor of hearing him read it at Stanford-Berkeley’s English Graduate Conference in 2023, and I think about it constantly.
Golden Shovel poem. Read about Golden Shovel form and write your own poem. This is a pretty new poetic form invented by Terrance Hayes based on Gwendolyn Brooks’ poetry, where you take every word of a line of a poem and make it the end word of your own poem. There’s several varieties to play with here. The poems that are sourced for this form are most often by Brooks, but you can also just pick your own favorite poem. The word you source from another poem is the final word of each line of your poem, but you can also make it the first word, or spread them throughout the line.
Truth or Dare. Write a scene where two people play Truth or Dare, but you can only write dialogue. To add some tension to this scene, figure out some sort of big twist (one character is in love with the other, or has a huge secret to spill, or one character is flirting while the other character is secretly plotting to murder them, etc…). Think about how you can convey setting and plot through dialogue: Where are these characters? Perhaps they’ve just met on a train on their way to Vienna, or maybe they’re old friends reconnecting, or two anxious and shy people on their third hinge, wondering if they’ll finally have the nerves to kiss. OOuuu I love this prompt I’m getting all these ideas in my head already.
Made up words. Wanna foster your inner Shakespeare? Write a scene using as many made-up words as possible. These words don’t have to be divorced from all sense, I usually referred to a character’s face as pieish, as in his face reminded me of pie, or refer to the sound freshly fallen snow makes when you step on it as softcollapses. The only rule is that the words can’t show up in the OED.
A scene within a scene. Write a story where the characters are in a play…either professionally, in drama school or a high school play. You decide the rest.
“Once I learned I could have the last word I couldn’t stop having it.” — Brittany Cavallaro in “Poem to Retweet upon News of My Death”
Cavallaro quote. Write a poem or story based on the quote above.
Cavallaro poem. The quote is from the “Poem to Retweet upon News of My Death.” Write a poem inspired by this title.
Fortune cookies. Write a story in which the characters orders a pack of fortune cookies and slowly opens them throughout the day. Genre’s up to you: make it a romance or make it a horror, I think both could be really cool!
Fantasy horror. Make up a story to fit this drawing by Stefan Koidl (warning: it’s a little creepy, but I’m so intrigued).
Fanfic in a missing scene. Pick a scene in your favorite novel that happens off-screen. Something that is just hinted at. F. ex. Professor McGonagall giving Hermione the time turner in The Prisoner of Azkaban. Now write that scene. Try to mimic the author’s style, so that it feels like a natural extension of the novel.