Fifty Quick Writing Prompts

Are you stuck for something to write about? Maybe you're scratching your head trying to come up with a fresh idea for a personal essay--a narrative or an extended description. Or perhaps you're in the habit of keeping a journal, but today, for some reason, you can't think of a single thing to say.

Here's something that may help: a list of 50 brief writing prompts. Not full-blown essay topics, just hints, snippets, cues, and clues to prod your memory, kick the writer's block, and get you started.

Take a minute or two to look over the list. Then pick one prompt that brings to mind a particular image, experience, or idea. Start writing (or freewriting) and see where it takes you. If after a few minutes you hit a dead end, don't panic: simply return to the list and try again.

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1. Everyone else was laughing.
2. On the other side of that door
3. Late again
4. What I've always wanted
5. A sound I'd never heard before
6. What if . . .
7. The last time I saw him
8. At that moment I should have left.
9. Just a brief encounter
10. I knew how it felt to be an outsider.



11. Hidden away in the back of a drawer
12. What I should have said
13. Waking up in a strange room
14. There were signs of trouble.
15. Keeping a secret
16. All I have left is this photo.
17. It wasn't really stealing.
18. A place I pass by every day
19. Nobody can explain what happened next.
20. Staring at my reflection



21. I should have lied.
22. Then the lights went out.
23. Some might say it's a weakness.
24. Not again!
25. Where I'd go to hide out from everyone
26. But that's not my real name.
27. Her side of the story
28. Nobody believed us.
29. It was time to change schools again.
30. We climbed to the top.



31. The one thing I'll never forget
32. Follow these rules and we'll get along fine.
33. It may not be worth anything.
34. Never again
35. On the other side of the street
36. My father used to tell me
37. When nobody was looking
38. If I could do it over again
39. Of course it was illegal.
40. It wasn't my idea.



41. Everyone was staring at me.
42. It was a stupid thing to say.
43. Hiding under my bed
44. If I tell you the truth
45. My secret collection
46. Footsteps in the dark
47. The first cut is the deepest.
48. Trouble, big trouble
49. Laughing uncontrollably
50. It was just a game to them.

If you're still having trouble coming up with something to write about, see

• 250 Topics for Familiar Essays
• 400 Writing Topics: Topic Suggestions and Writing Prompts for Paragraphs, Essays, and Speeches