This week is spring break here in Oxford, which for us means more time to work on our craft. Of course, everyone may need the occasional nudge to get words on the page. To help ourselves as well as our readers get pens scribbling and keys clacking, here are three prompts for when we’re stuck:
Poetry
With the weather warming up, it’s a perfect time to try out a walking poem. Besides having a history stretching back to ancient Greece, walking poems are great because you have so many options when it comes to your actual focus: write about the physical act itself, describe what you see, hear, or smell, reminisce on times past, or explore a new space entirely. For this particular prompt, we encourage you to explore the familiar but through an unfamiliar lens.
For example, if you always drive through a certain neighborhood, but have never walked through it, the change could open your eyes to details you’d never notice from behind the wheel. If you take regular walks around a park, reverse your normal path. Just do something that shifts your normal focus! Don’t make this a five-minute jaunt, give yourself at least thirty minutes of foot time.
Most importantly, be sure to turn off all devices (no texting, no music, no nothing). The only exception would be to use your phone as a recording device, which is an excellent option if you want to capture a stream of consciousness.
Write as soon as you can after the walk.
Fiction
Sometimes when you’re stuck, it’s best to leave your subject to fate. Take a piece of paper and write out twenty random concrete nouns. You can always use the old point blindly to a page technique, or use these:
Bucket Afghan Picnic Rhubarb Christmas Lights
Pillow Leather Boots Fingernail Visitors
Hotel Suburb Collar Balloon Smoke Alarm
Letter Balm Skull Pearl Forest
Once you have your list, cut out each word and fold it up. Throw all twenty folded pieces of paper into a bowl and draw three. These three words all have to be part of the climax of a story (any genre, any length). The only rule is that you must not redraw; you have to commit to those first three words picked and they must somehow be involved in the climax.
A benefit of this prompt is that it puts just enough constraint to allow focus, but still allows for plenty of freedom on how to get there. Also, throw those other seventeen words in a baggie and you can draw another three during another slow writing day!
Creative Nonfiction
This prompt is all about food, and why shouldn’t it be? Food appeals to all senses (the sound of bacon frying, the smell of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies, the sight of a deconstructed dish on the plate, the feel of a ripe pear in your hand, and of course, taste). For this exercise, we’re asking you to describe a food and a distinct memory (or memories) around it, but the catch is that you haven’t had the food since childhood.
For some of us, this may be our great-grandmother’s pierogis, fresh conch salad on a family vacation to the Caribbean, or simply French fries from a local greasy spoon that shut its doors decades ago. To get your memory going in the right direction, look at old photos, talk to your family or old friends about holiday feasts, or simply think about what your favorite cereal was (when was the last time you had a bowl of Fruity Pebbles?). When starting out, include all five senses for drafting. Forgive us if we make you hungry.
Another great way to glean specific memories about your childhood treats is to use additional triggers, like listening to the same music your great-grandmother always listened to when she cooked or going to the place where that local greasy spoon used to be. Of course, if you want, you could always simply try out the recipe on your own or go buy a box of sugary cereal and see how your perception of the food has changed.
Happy writing!
-Jess Marshall