Category: English/ELA

Prompt #29:

Write a recipe for the perfect day, friend, date, game, gift, pet, job, home, holiday, vacation, or party. Include ingredients as well as quantities. Give directions for putting it together.

How long does it take to cook or to chill? How do you know it’s done? What are the serving suggestions?

Prompt #29 Challenge:

Using the recipe you’ve imagined, write a free verse poem celebrating your creation.

Prompt #28:

You have seeds. Magic seeds. They will yield a harvest of anything you want. Any ONE thing. All you have to do is whisper the name of that thing as you plant the seed. The harvest will be abundant, enough for everyone in the world. What do you whisper as you plant your seed? Share why.

Prompt #28 Challenge:

Write a narrative poem that tells the story of planting the seed and nurturing it. Conclude with a description of the harvest.

Prompt #27:

You have five gifts to give to anyone you want. These gifts can be tangible or intangible. They must each go to a different person. What do you give to whom, and why?

Prompt #27 – Challenge:

Choose one or two of the gifts you talked about above. Write the dialogue(s) you imagine would take place when you present the gift(s).

Prompt #26:

Sometimes you encounter a work of literature that makes you feel at home. You imagine yourself inside that fictitious world, and it feels secure and warm and light and comforting. It’s like you belong there.

Write about a work of fiction in which you feel at home. Who are you in that world? What is it like as you inhabit that space and time?

Prompt #26 Challenge:

Imagine a perfect day in this literary home. Maybe perfection means the absence of conflict. Perhaps it means victory in a struggle. Narrate your perfect day.

Prompt #25:

Write ten timeless truths you have learned. You should express each truth in one masterful sentence that reflects its essence.

Be as general or as specific as you wish.

Prompt #25 – Challenge:

Select one of the timeless truth sentences you have written. It is your thesis. Prove that it is an accurate reflection of reality.

Use the Classical Argument model as your structure:

• Introduction
• Background
• Thesis
• Confirmations
• Concession
• Refutation
• Conclusion

If you haven’t written a classical argument recently, you can find an in-depth explanation from our BFFs at Purdue OWL as a refresher.

This exercise can be brief—just a couple of paragraphs. Or you can take a deep dive. It’s up to you.

You don’t have to support your argument with research, but you can.

You are allowed to trace your steps through life and use your experiences as proof of this truth.

Prompt #24:

You set sail on an adventure.

When do you leave?

Where are you going?

Who is with you?

How have you prepared?

What is your goal?

What are your fears?

Write the exposition of the story of your journey.

Prompt #24 – Challenge:

You discover a stowaway on board. It creates conflict. Write the inciting incident scene.

Prompt #24 – Super Challenge:

Finish the story.

Avoid cliché.

Surprise the reader.

Prompt #23:

Who or what scurries? Where? Why?

For this exercise, you’ll need three columns and seven rows. Label the first column “who/what.” Label the second column “where.” You choose whether where means location or destination. It doesn’t have to be the same for each who/what. Label the third column “why.”

Complete your chart. You will have seven who/what‘s partnered with their own where‘s and why‘s.

Write one sentence for each, using your most magnificent sentence-structuring skills.

Prompt #23 – Challenge:

Select a mood that you feel works well with the concept of scurrying. Write a scene that includes 3-4 of the who/what‘s from the base prompt. Keep the where‘s and why‘s too.

You don’t have to use the same sentences you created earlier, but you certainly may. Choose diction that best conveys a scurrying mood. Craft imagery that makes your reader feel, well, scurried.

Hint: You might even want to look up scurry to maximize its meaning(s).

Prompt #22:

Words are magical. Let’s make something spectacular today.

Below you will find five sets of words. Choose one word from each group, and write a sentence using all those words. Look at the lists carefully. Let ambiguity work for you.

You may reorder the words however you like. Include as many additional words as you need. Experiment with sentence structure. Make punctuation do some heavy lifting.

While it’s fun to create nonsensical sentences sometimes, you should aim to write a brilliant and, well, magical sentence with this prompt.

Prompt #22 – Challenge:

Opening with the sentence you have just crafted, write a narrative of at least 500 words.