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Creative Writing Prompts

Explore thousands of the best writing prompts, designed to help you get over writer's block and improve your skills.

Image writing prompts

VISUAL PROMPT

by JD_Art @ instagram.com/jd_art_x

Write a story or poem that could be titled 'High Above the City'.

Write a story or poem that could be titled 'High Above the City'.

VISUAL PROMPT

Without describing exactly what you see, write a story, poem, or descriptive paragraph which conjures this image.

Without describing exactly what you see, write a story, poem, or descriptive paragraph which conjures this image.

VISUAL PROMPT

by JD_Art @ instagram.com/jd_art_x

Is it a storm, is it magic, is it hope? Write a story or poem about what you see within this image.

Is it a storm, is it magic, is it hope? Write a story or poem about what you see within this image.

Popular writing prompts

WRITING OBSTACLE

Demonstrate. Incapacitate. Solidify.

In a story of no more than 10 sentences, use these three words in any order. The point is to create a story line that allows you to link them all naturally, without forcing them into random places.

STORY STARTER

The house at the end of the street has been boarded up for as long as your protagonist can remember. Today, they decide to explore.

STORY STARTER

Submitted by Lockitt Mobby

Write a scene where a superhero must reveal their true identity to someone they care for.

Prompt Collections

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Masked Emotions

After a long day,

I open up my bedroom door,

close it,

and lock it.


I tamper with my face a bit,

loosen a few strands,

peel off some layers of cloth,


and take it off.


I open my closet door,

and hang it on an open hook,

with the other ones.


It’s a mask.

They’re all masks.

Masks of my “emotions.”


The ones I can’t express.


When I wake up the next day,

I grab it—

number twenty-six,

the smiling m...

Misunderstanding.

“Upon translation of “Twilight”, we decided to block the planet from any communications, just in the event that vampires should consume us.”


The human general tapped the strange cube on the table. “Pardon? I believe there is some translation error. Vampires are not real.”


The box took the words and fed them to the tall alien in front of me.

There was a click of antennae as a response came back t...

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Geralt Encounters Dobby

Geralt turns, golden eyes piercing as his pupils narrow to slits to focus on the
 thing. His white locks held back in what could generously be called a pony tail, his swords crossed over his back, silver for monsters, steel for humans - though he often can’t tell the difference between them.


The
 thing looks up at him, it’s wide eyes focussing on the pale skin of the Witcher. A high pitched voice...

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27
Electric Stars

Twinkling

Setting the backdrop

Of our last life

Of reminiscent smiles

In the life before.

Clinking, softly

Unsettling, clearing

Of our dinner dishes

Of our candlelight wishes

Scintillating.

From the soufflé bistro

Way back in a French rue

To the authentically remote

Italian trattoria

Where we ate “real” pizza.

Illuminating

The lost nights

From the tried and true

Taverna in old St. Pete

To the ...

Wasted Weather

The weekend drags its feet


As I spend my day indoors


Note-taking, Sunbathing


When the sun slips past the door



Five days of cloudless skies


As blue as I feel trapped in here


Working slow to save some time


Under a fluorescent atmosphere



Friday tucks me in at last


And soon I rise from my bed


I open up my curtains and


Rain, rain again...

The Gods

‘This isn’t possible,’ Tensha thought in his own language. He turned over the leaves of paper with images of people on them, thoughtfully viewing each one. Never had it occurred to him that others existed that were like him; mother had always said he was the only one.

He knew that he was descended from the race of gods who wielded fire and thunder, but he had never before seen evidence of their ...

Truth or Death

He pushes me up against the wall, his arm across my throat, making it hard to breathe. "Did you take it?" He asks me. "Did you take my wallet?"


I close my eyes contemplating what to say. I can't lie. I've lied too many times already, three to be exact. If I lie one more time, I'll be dead by tomorrow, but if I admit to taking his wallet, I'll be caught and taken to prison.


In the world we live ...

Umbrella

When the storm comes, my compass always points to—


You.


You’re always there when I’m at my lowest.


The time I broke both my hands,

And you held my spoon up so I could eat.

That time my apartment flooded,

And you let me crash in your house.


When I got laid off from work,

For something I didn’t do,

You took the rest of the day off,

And we went out for drinks.


My first heartbreak,

You threw a bo...

One Hell of a Job

I thought I'd already had a rough day. Mark, my overseer, had given me an earful about 'proper sigil formatting', my bus journey had been spent stood next to a man who had clearly never heard of deodorant, and I'd received yet another letter reminding me to pay my rune tax. So when I went to go crash on my bed and let the pillows swallow me whole, the last thing I needed was to be greeted with the...

Faults

Writing Prompt: May 17 - "We all look the same in the dark."


In the light, we're sharply defined.

Unique.

Each showcasing our own talents and abilities.


In the light, she's an elementary teacher

In the light, he's been changing your oil for the last 5 years

In the light, they're the checkout cashier at your grocery store

In the light, they're your boss, your coworker, your husband, your niece...

Riptide

A pair of children


Hand in hand


Skipping, tripping,


Through the sand


“A whale, a whale!”


The younger shouts


A rising, splashing, falling spout


The older tugs him towards the road


To the crumbling, humbling home


The two go in, the sun falls down


The sun comes up and two go out



A pair of siblings


Hands awry


Running, fumbling


Down the drive


“A boat, a boat!”


The younger cries


A pu...

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76
Roadkill

A car rumbles past me, just inches away from my face. But all I can do is lie here, suffering until some merciful angel carries my soul to God knows where. I know that humans have two places they could go, but I don’t know where cats go when they die. Especially cats who have lived such a life as I.


In my final fleeting moments my mind drifts back to my kittenhood and my first taste of how harsh...

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