Quickie Post: Free Writing Prompts

In my search for writing prompts to share, I discovered Joyce Fetteroll had posted a nice graphic today entitled The Only 12 1/2 Writing Rules You'll Ever Need that applies to all writers. Rule 5 struck me as something that many people forget. Writers describe people through stereotypes because it's easier than describing an individual as such and stopping to think about how inaccurate stereotypes really are. This reminded me to watch for them when I write.

Then I meandered over to Creativity Portal and found links to three pages of photographic prompts and a set of seasonal writing prompts. While the text of the photo prompts didn't particularly inspire me, some of the pictures did.

Using writing prompts expands your writing horizons and works your compositional muscles. That's why I keep harping on them. Sometime pushing your own envelope gets you past your insecurity about different writing styles or subjects. Doing research about topics that you uncover through writing prompts helps you discover tangents about which you can write using that same information. Staying within your comfortable, "write what you know" boundaries limits your abilities. From time to time you need to stretch your brain and loosen it up. Don't be scared. It's good for you.