When you lose touch with what to write and need support with ideas on what to write on, topic(s) to write about, or subject matter to write a discuss on, a writing prompt would be there to save the day.

What is a Writing Prompt?

A writing prompt is a story starter, story idea or a brief text that serves as an inspiration to spur you into writing and save you at moments you experience writer’s block.

Writing prompt can come in the form of a text or a creative picture which sparks the mind to create a story, poem, journal, essay around.

A prompt can be in the form of a question. It can be declarative or even instructional. 

For example;

• Question: Why is breakfast considered the most important meal of the day?   

• Declarative: An event that influenced my life positively. 

• Instructional: Turn your last trip experience into a story.  

Here are some typical examples of writing prompts. 

Examples of Writing Prompt

• How to become a good teacher.

• Write about a teacher that found a new fortune that transformed his life from grass to graze. 

• Ways to overcome inferiority complex.

• Write a story featuring a young handsome young man that sells shawarma in a busy road side tent.

• Dreaming with your eyes open. 

• How to become a Creative writer. 

• When I was a little child. 

• My journey through self discovery. 

• Write about a grand birthday party you wish to have.

• How my mother became an influencer.  

• The Secret life of pets

• Write about the reunion of a long separated couple.

• The day I will never forget. 

• Ways to become rich without hard-work. 

• The truth about social media. 

• Write about a beggar in a busy street in Lagos

• ‘When love fails’.

• The life of a ‘Danfo’ driver. 

• Misconceptions about creative writing tutorials.

• Write a story that ends with the phrase “And that is how it came to be”. 

• Misconceptions about virtual learnings. 

• A story about an honest thief. 

• My first hand experience of a Pandemic. 

• A book without a cover. 

• A story about a father who sacrificed his life for his daughter’s success. 

• Write a story about a hungry stray dog.

• Write a story starring a blind man, a working class under 40 lady, and an old grayed man. 

• How to tame a wild dog.

• A boy considers the parent too archaic to receive counsel from and decides to lead a life that ended up with regrets and great lessons.

• The story of my life.

Benefits of a Writing Prompt 

• The common fun thing about prompts is that they give you ideas on topics to develop. Saving you the stress of racking your brain. 

• Developing writing prompts and having them scribbled down, maybe with dates or schedules will make your writing journey easier. It is as nice as having a content calendar as a digital marketer, social media manager or a personal self-brand manager.

•  Prompts spur your creativity. A topic idea can be developed from different perspectives and achieve the same end story idea. It will all depend on your ability to tax your creative ability and deliver nicely. Just like in creative writing competitions like the RSWCA. 

Who Requires a Writing Prompt? 

• Writing prompts can be used by teachers in classrooms to give pupils or students literacy assignments, essay topics or tests. 

• It can be used by content creators to have ideas of topics to create contents on. 

• Also, it can be used by organizers of writing competitions as topics for creative writing competitions like the RSWCA organized annually by The Writer’s Corner. 

Conclusion

To stress your brain less as a creative, don’t wait till you are ready to write before you come up with topics. Now that you’ve learnt about writing prompts, you should make use of the above examples as a guide and brainstorm to recreate your writing prompts. Keeping prompts handy simplifies a whole lot of things.

Do you make use of writing prompts? Will you adopt this strategy henceforth? The comment section below is there for you. Let’s share ideas.