I, as much as the next English major, HATE WRITING. Well, I hate my assigned writings...
Often times I sit in front of my sticker-covered, 17 inch, cracked screen Toshiba laptop, waiting for inspiration to come for a paper. For me, it never does and I end up adding unnecessary details to a mediocre paper in order to reach page count.
I've learned a lot of tricks over the years. For myself, my favorite way to get an assignment done is, ironically, writing! The battle with writer's block is horrible, so I've compiled a list of ten writing prompts to help your brain juices flow!
After you've cleared your mind on a page or two of fun writing, you'll be more inclined to buckle down and finish your paper about the relations between 18th-century biblical allusions and 21st-century Biblical allusions..!
(I have a notebook FILLED with dozens of these silly prompts, and I often spend more time editing these stories than my paper... But at least my papers get done, right?)
*Disclaimer: these prompts have been collecting in a notebook since my senior year of high school, so not all are credited to whom deserves credit! My apologies!
1. "They say I'm a traitor. Maybe I am. But all I know if that I did what I had to do."
2. "Number 4386 woke up in a cold sweat..."
3. Write a scene that takes place after a tragedy but don't mention the tragedy.
4. "I hit play and watched the recording of myself. What I saw was not what I remembered happening."
5. "We'll make a criminal out of you yet..."
6. "Gunshots went off, but I was the only one who seemed to notice..."
7. A character is given a list of names... Why?
8. "They said I wouldn't make it this far. I wish they had been right."
9. "Please let me keep this memory! Just this one!"
10. A child is born with an imagination so strong, it leaks into reality.
Writing to get writing done seems redundant, but, at least for me, it can work wonders. I take an hour to write a short story and for some reason it makes my academic writing better, and actually turned in. I suggest you all try it when the semester starts up and keep track of your stories!
Who knows... You could have a prize winner someday!
