As a writer, I love prompts: prompts for writing, prompts for self-discovery, prompts for assessments, and even prompts for planners. There is something about putting my hobby to good use in all corners of my life that makes it (life) much more enjoyable.

Writing prompts are useful for various reasons: 

• Breaking out of writer’s block
• When you need a new idea
• When you’re anxious to write but don’t know where to start
• When you need a brief distraction
• When you’re simply bored 

I’ve crafted a list of 40 Writing Prompts, which you can use whether you’re a fiction writer, nonfiction writer, copywriter, essay writer, or anything in between. Keep a journal, use a random piece of paper, open a new document, and go crazy (feel free to leave your prompt response in the comments! I would love to read them!). 

Without further ado, your writing prompts: 

1. Describe a recent dream.
2. Pick any three words. Write definitions for them.
3. Describe an object in the room. 
4. Write a Post-it note for yourself when you were 16 years old with an important reminder. 
5. Write a newspaper headliner to describe your day. 
6. Write a letter to your child, friend, parent, or sibling.
7. Write a journal entry from your character’s (or client’s) perspective.
8. Play a game of word association starting with something you see. 
9. Describe the next person you see. 
10. Set an hourly reminder to describe what you’re doing/seeing/feeling for an entire day. 
11. Write a scene using only sight words to describe it. 
12. Describe your childhood best friend. 
13. Write a mission statement for yourself. 
14. Write a vision statement for yourself. 
15. What’s your sixth sense? Write about it. 
16. Write a background story for a person or couple you see interacting. 
17. Look out your closest window; describe the scene. 
18. Write a dramatic summary of a book you read or a movie you saw recently.
19. Write a daily itinerary for a character. 
20. Summarize your day in one sentence.
21. Write a text exchange between two characters.
22. List the FAQs you think others have about you, and answer them.
23. Write a first dialogue sentence for a first date. 
24. Describe your book, story, project, or assignment in one sentence.
25. Write “baseball” cards with relevant statistics for your characters or clients.
26. Write a scene using only sounds to describe it. 
27. Write a memory from your own life in flash fiction form.
28. Write about something that makes you feel good/happy.
29. List out your favorite words.
30. Write an ad for a product you use daily.
31. Give the last five months/years of your life chapter names.
32. Rewrite the ending of a book or movie you love.
33. Set a timer for 5 minutes; write whatever comes to your mind.
34. Describe a shape or color.
35. Play word association for ten words; start with a random word and write the closest word you think of, then the closest word you think of to the second word, and so on.  
36. Describe your job like you would a five-year-old.
37. Write down your next inner argument as if it were dialogue between 2 characters.
38. Expand on an odd belief you used to have as a child.
39. Write a short scene for your favorite television show.
40. Write down the craziest goal you have in life.

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