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Writing resources

One-Word Creative Prompts #1

Melinda Tognini April 26, 2022 No Comments

Although I’ve developed a fairly consistent habit of turning up to the page each morning (or at least most of them), thanks to Julia Cameron’s idea of morning pages (three pages, longhand, daily), I still find myself procrastinating instead of just getting on with it.

It got to the point where it was getting rather boring to again be writing, “I don’t know what to write about today” as my opening sentence. Perhaps, I wondered, I needed my own series of writing prompts handy that could give me a focus when I was struggling to start.

That’s how this month of one-word prompts came about. There are a couple of different ways you can make use of these words.

1. For each day of the month, select the word that corresponds with the date. Begin writing, whether that be an anecdote or story that comes to mind, or a more stream-of-consciousness approach and see where it leads you.

OR

2. Once or twice a week, select three to five words from the list and write a piece that includes all of those words.

Feel free to use a synonym of any word e.g. departure could become leaving

Furthermore, if you are not a writer but prefer some other form of creative expression (sketching, painting, sculpture, photography), then go ahead and adapt it to suit your own art.

1. joy

2. fear

3. birdsong

4. ocean

[Photo by Anastasia Taioglou on Unsplash.]
5. music

6. departure

7. arrival

8. home

9. candles

[Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash.]
10. blackout

11. wine

12. teapot

13. painting

14. book

[Photo by Olga Tutunaru on Unsplash.]
15. holiday

16. adrift

17. contact

18. telephone

19. journey

20. flight

21. flowers

[Photo by Sergey Shmidt on Unsplash.]
22. garbage

23. renovation

24. hospital

25. transfer

26. mother

27. city

[Photo by ben o’bro on Unsplash.]
28. drive

29. dog

30. ball

31. t-shirt

Over to You

Start at the beginning or with the one that grabs your attention the most.

And just begin.

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Previous 6 Degrees of Separation: From Our Wives Under the Sea to My Invented Country
Next Family History: Keeping a Research Log
Melinda Tognini

story-gatherer & mentor

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Latest Comments

Apologies for the late reply! I shall go check out your post - even the title is intriguing!
In 6 Degrees of Separation: From Orbital to Imperfect
I haven't read any of the books on your chain (though am reading Orbital currently) but love the clever links... And now adding Writer Laid Bare to my TBR.. my post is here - https://www.ladyinreadwrites.com/two-roads-diverged-in-the-words-with-trivia-twists-too/
In 6 Degrees of Separation: From Orbital to Imperfect
You're welcome! Thank you for being so generous with your time in answering my questions as well as all the incredible work encouraging creatives everywhere!
In Reflect. Simplify. Create: In Conversation with Amanda Viviers

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