Writing Prompts: Do you leverage them?
I am an incorrigible, stubborn writer; I rarely leverage writing prompts. And today I resolve to change.
You may recall from my 18-January-2012 article, An Introduction to Matt Robb, I’ve been writing diligently only for the past four years. I am an amateur writer in the truest sense. My knowledge of writing continues to grow each day as I practice my writing and when I read others’ blog posts, blog comments, articles, and books on the craft of creative writing.
In these past four years, I’ve focused my writing primarily on larger works of fiction, namely stage plays and novel-length stories that started life as Script Frenzy and NaNoWriMo experiments. But is that like the painter who focuses on landscapes and never recreates the proverbial apple?
I recently visited CreativeWritingPrompts.com, hovered my cursor over prompt #1, and saw immediate value in the prompt that was presented:
I relate this prompt to the numerous drawing and painting exercises of yesteryear, performed in order to practice the skills of interpreting lighting and shading, or recreating humans, animals, and landscapes.
Taking this a step further, right here at Write Anything is The Form and Genre Challenge (2012), weekly prompts designed to encourage experimentation. What better way to try my (or your) hand at something new in a safe, non-committal way?
Like any activity, as writers we always have the opportunity to practice and learn from others. Please share your writing prompt experiences and triumphs in the comments section. What’s worked for you? What hasn’t? Is there a writing prompt that you hold near and dear to your heart?
Your question is a form of prompt. I’m prompted to answer you. I have no favorite prompts. I tend to like those which are short-and-sweet right now and hold no obligation, since I am not in a formal classroom (where they are good learning tools, garnering feedback of various types). I wonder why you feel you are only an enthusiast if you’ve been focusing on your writing for four years now. Writing longer pieces is a bit more complicated I feel than a short story where you may be able to hold the entire piece (details, too) in your head throughout its life from idea to finished piece. I don’t think you quite brought this piece (the blog above) full circle though. It seems like we need to see something of what prompts have done for you, something to tie up the loose ends on all the questions you’ve raised here, at least from your experience.