The following writing prompts can be used to facilitate creative activities, and also as a prompt for our “Let’s Write A Song Together” project (write a poem, draw a picture, tell us about your day; email us the information; MVM staff will turn it into a song and send it back!). 

ACTIVITIES:

  • Write about an object in the room without saying it’s name. See if someone can guess what you’re writing about (ex: the lamp, couch, window, rug, etc)

  • 5-Minute Poem Challenge about a specific subject, object, feeling, etc. (ex: loneliness, the ocean, your favorite food, your dog/cat/pet, Miley Cyrus, etc…). Set a timer. 

  • Blackout poems: Take an existing poem and black-out any combination of words and phrases to make your own original poem. See examples here.

~ Poetry Websites ~

  • Draw a picture about anything then write about it and share your story.

  • Randomly select one short sentence from ANY text. It can be a storybook, a fashion magazine, your grandma’s lemon bar recipe… anything! Read it over and over until you feel it take on a rhythm. Read it over and over until you feel it take on the rise and fall of a melody line. Now sing just the melody, without the words. Then write some new words to your crafted melody!

  • Think of someone that you don’t know very well. Imagine in detail what they might be daydreaming or thinking right now. Take two minutes and write it out. 

  • Take one minute to close your eyes and listen to your surroundings. List every sound that you heard in that minute, along with any other words, images, or associations that come up with it. 

  • Invent an imaginary word. Say it out loud, and then define it in a sentence or two. Take 30 seconds. 

  • Choose 3 things:  Look around the room and choose 3 different things. Write about those 3 things, but don’t actually name them in the story/poem/song.

  • Pair and share: Create a writing prompt for a friend and have them do the same for you. Then free-write for 5 minutes, circle the lines you like best, and share with each other! 

  • Write the worst lyric you can possibly think of: Be as rude, boring, angry, or ridiculous as you want to be. Write for 3 minutes. 

  • Pick a primary color (red, yellow, blue, green). Look around the room and list as many different shades of that color that you can see. Feel free to make up the color names! Take 2 minutes. 

  • Write a Haiku (3 phrases of 5, 7, and 5)

Dark assaults the light (5 syllables)

Clouds are sweeping past the sky (7 syllables)

I can’t see the stars (5 syllables)


Corona Virus

Is it a dream or nightmare?

Need virtual hugs

Deeper, Thought Provoking Prompts

  • What do you love about who you are? What are the gifts you have to offer?

  • What do you love about where you come from? 

  • What do you want people to know about you? Your history? Your family?

  • Write just a part of your story. What would you tell people about yourself? Your home? Someone/something you love? An important tradition? A time of change? 

  • Think of a challenging moment where you wish things had gone differently. Re-story what happened and write a “new ending”. 

  • What are 3 things you would bring if you were stranded on a desert island? Why?

  • What would your last meal be if the apocalypse happened?

  • What superpower would you want and why?

  • What 3 people (alive or dead) would you invite to your dinner party? What would they eat? What would they bring? What would they wear/look like/be like? What would they talk about?

  • Choose a smell that has a special meaning for you- think about your senses! Write about it for 4-5 minutes (ex: Fresh laundry, warm chocolate chip cookies, lavender, cut grass, etc)

  • If you were able to lucid dream, what is the first thing that you would dream about and do?

  • If your life was a book or movie, how would the narrator describe you as a character?

  • Would you rather meet your ancestors or your future children? Why? 

  • Is a hot dog a sandwich? Why or why not?