I wanted to check in with my people about today’s horoscope because it seems that I am teetering. Check it out:
“You may find yourself teetering between the real world and a fanciful one. More than likely, the fantasy world is the one that wins out, but this doesn’t mean that you should completely lose all touch with reality. If anyone can bridge these two worlds, it is you. More than likely, you will find yourself drawn to the medium that acts as a wonderful bridge between the two~ art. Indeed, your creative juices are gushing forth like a huge waterfall.”
Well, I love music. but have never dabbled in art. I enjoy writing and I think it might be a more appropriate venue for me to pursue in terms of creative writing.
Start the new year with 31 writing prompts. Number 2 (Today) is a doozy! Have big fun.
Is your New Year’s resolution to write every day? Then these 31 January writing prompts are the perfect place to start.
Write down at least five goals for this year. What do you want to achieve by the end of this year?
The 2nd of January is believed by some to be the unluckiest day of the year. Write a story about a house cat who has the worst day ever.
Write a short poem about fireworks in the night sky.
Interview your favourite fictional character from a movie.
The clock strikes midnight. It’s the first of January, but of what year? You leave your house to realise it’s the year 1900. Write a journal entry from the point of view of a child living in the year 1900.
Write a how-to guide on how to organise a writing desk.
Write a fairytale about a young prince who has been turned into a snowman by a witch.
Can you write a funny limerick about a snowman who wants to go on holiday?
Write a movie review of a movie you’ve seen recently
What are your five tips for cheering someone up?
The full moon in January is called Wolf Moon. Write a short origin story on why you think it’s called the Wolf Moon. You can use this story starter to inspire you: Some believe the full moon in January is called the wolf moon because…
Write a day in the life story of a young penguin living in Antarctica.
Write a haiku poem about snow falling.
Write a letter to someone who inspires you.
Describe the best gift you ever received.
Imagine that you’re a fortune-teller. What predictions can you make for the future? Try to write down at least five predictions.
Describe the happiest moment you had last year.
Write a story about a magical calendar which predicts the future.
Describe the weather outside at this very moment.
Complete the following sentence in at least 10 different ways: January is the best month of the year because…
Write a story about a homeless man titled January Blues.
Would you rather play in the snow or make sandcastles at the beach?
When winter came all the trees lost all their leaves in the forest, apart from one magical tree.
Imagine if you had the power to turn objects into ice and create snowstorms. Would you use it for good or for bad?
Write an acrostic poem using the letters that spell January.
If January was a person what type of person would they be? Describe their personality, likes and dislikes.
Finish this story starter: When the clock struck twelve something strange happened to me…
Describe your future self in 10 years in five words.
Continue this short story: One day Simon went ice-skating with his friends, but suddenly…
Would you rather go ice-skating on Neptune or skiing with a yeti?
A young wolf cub gets lost in the snowy mountains, where he befriends a baby eagle learning to fly.
31 January Writing Prompts: Plus FREE Printable ✏️ | Imagine Forest
Better late than never right? So here are your writing prompts to have some fun with. Let me know if they are to easy, hard or just right. So just write!
Below, you’ll find 3 questions that can be jumping-off points for writing or discussion in the classroom, or conversation starters for the dinner table, such as: What are your Turkey Day traditions? What are your favorite side dishes? Do you participate in Black Friday shopping?
What are your favorite side dishes?
Source: New York Times Upshot based on Google search data
What do people eat on Thanksgiving in your state? Take a look at the map above, which shows the most “distinct” Thanksgiving side dish by state as determined by the number of Google searches during the week of Thanksgiving from 2004 to 2013, relative to the number of searches in other states. Have you ever tried any of these foods?
What are your Turkey Day traditions?
Every family celebrates Thanksgiving differently. What are your holiday traditions?
How do you and your family or community celebrate Thanksgiving? What does the food you serve or the things you do that day say about where you are from?
May 18 – Theme: International Museum Day There are numerous world-class museums around the world. For example, there is The Louvre, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Hermitage. There are also some oddball museums such as Museum of Bad Art or the National Mustard Museum. If you could create a museum about any topic, what would it be about? Describe two or three exhibits that would be in your museum. May 19 – Theme: Circus Month In 1768, the English equestrian Philip Astley demonstrated trick riding by trotting in a circle rather than a straight line. His act was named a ‘circus.’ As today is circus day, you have a choice of topics:
If you were in a circus, which performer would you be and why?
Do you like circuses? Explain your answer.
Do you think circuses should feature animals? Why or why not?
May 20 – Theme: National Physical Fitness and Sports Month Each state requires a specific number of minutes that students should participate in physical activity. If your state requires physical fitness activity for the next 30 minutes, what activity would you choose? Why?
May 21 – Theme: Lindbergh Flight Day On this day in 1927, Charles Lindbergh took off on his famous flight across the Atlantic. Would you like to learn how to fly a plane? Why or why not?
May 22 – Theme: Older Americans Month Do you believe that older Americans are treated with enough respect today? Explain your answer.
May 23 – Theme: World Turtle/Tortoise Day Today is World Turtle Day. Conservation efforts are demonstrating success, and turtle populations are up. Tortoises can live long lives. One, Adwaita the Tortoise (1750-2006), is reputed to have lived over 250 years. What events would a tortoise who lived that long have witnessed? What event would you like to have seen?
May 24 – Theme: First Morse Code Message Sent A simple substitution code is when you replace each letter with a different letter. For example, all A’s become B’s, and B’s become C’s, etc. I have written the following sentence using this type of code so that each letter of the alphabet is written as the letter that comes after it. What does my sentence say? Do you agree or disagree with it? Dpef csfbljoh jt fbtz boe gvo.
May 25 – Theme: John F. Kennedy’s Speech About Sending a Man to the Moon On this day in 1961, John F. Kennedy said that America would send a man to the moon before the end of the 1960s.
“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”
Why is this speech so significant? Should Americans continue space exploration because it is “hard”?
May 26 – Theme: National Hamburger Month On average, Americans eat three hamburgers a week. What is your favorite type of hamburger or veggie burger? Is it plain or with toppings like cheese, bacon, onions, etc.? If not a hamburger, what food do you (or could you) eat three times a week? Describe a favorite food using at least three of the five senses.
May 27 – Theme: Golden Gate Bridge Opens The Golden Gate Bridge is a symbol of San Francisco, recognizable by people all over the world. Do you have any symbols or monuments for your city or community? What are they? Even if you don’t have a symbol that you can think of, explain why you think these types of symbols are important to people.
May 28 – Theme: Amnesty International Day The goal of Amnesty International is to protect and promote human rights across the world. Their motto is, “Fight injustice and help create a world where human rights are enjoyed by all.” In some countries, genocide (the systemized killing of an entire ethnic group) is still being carried out. What is the responsibility of the United States? Do we have a duty to step in and stop these types of human rights violations? Explain your answer.
May 29 – Theme: Memorial Day Memorial Day is a federal holiday that originated when decorations were placed on the graves of Civil War soldiers. Decoration Day gave way to Memorial Day, the last Monday in May. After World War I the nature of the holiday changed to honor the memory of all Americans who died in any war – not only Civil. What are three things that we can do to honor those men and women who died while serving in our military?
May 30- Theme-Emerald Gemstone The emerald is May’s gemstone. The stone is a symbol of rebirth and is believed to grant the owner foresight, good fortune, and youth. The color green is associated with new life and the promise of spring. What promises of spring do you see now?
May 31 – Theme: Meditation Day A combination of anecdotal and scientific evidence suggests that meditation in schools may help improve grades and attendance. Yoga and meditation may help students at all grade levels feel happier and more relaxed. What do you know about meditation and yoga? Would you like to see meditation programs brought into your school?
Source: Writing Prompts for Journal Topics and Writing Ideas (thoughtco.com)
These prompts provide teachers a great way to add more writing time in class. Some have two suggestions, one for middle school (MS) and one for high school (HS). These can be simple writing assignments, warm-ups, or journal entries. Feel free to use these any way you wish.
May 8 – Theme: National Train Day High-speed trains can travel fast with some prototypes with speeds over 400 mph. In theory, a high-speed train could race up the East Coast, from NYC to Miami, in seven hours. The same trip would take a car about 18.5 hours. Should Americans invest in high-speed rails for trains or in roads for cars? Why or why not? May 9 – Theme: Peter Pan Day Pretend you were in J.M. Barrie’s story about Peter Pan, a boy who never grows up and remain eternally young. Which part would you most like to see or do: fly, visit with mermaids, fight the pirate Captain Hook, or meet the mischevious fairy Tinkerbell? Explain your answer.
May 10 – Theme: Civil Disobedience. In 1994, political activist Nelson Mandela was sworn in as South Africa’s 1st Black president. Mandela followed the example of the civil disobedience practices used by Gandhi and Martin Luther King. Consider King’s statement, “Any man who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust and willingly accepts the penalty by staying in jail to arouse the conscience of the community on the injustice of the law is at that moment expressing the very highest respect for the law.” For what injustice would you practice civil disobedience? OR May 10: Theme: Postcards In 1861, the US Post Office authorized the first postcard. Postcards are usually sent from a vacation place or as a greeting card to mark an event, or even just to say “hello”. Design a postcard and prepare a message.
May 11 – Theme: Asthma & Allergy Awareness Month Do you have asthma or allergies? If so, what are your triggers? (What makes you have an attack or sneeze, etc.) If not, do you think that schools do enough to help those who have asthma and allergies? Why or why not? May 12: Theme: National Limerick DayLimericks are poems with the following scheme: five-lines of an anapestic meter (unstressed syllable, unstressed syllable, stressed syllable) with a strict rhyme scheme of AABBA. For example:
“There was an Old Man in a tree, Who was horribly bored by a Bee; When they said, ‘Does it buzz?’ He replied, ‘Yes, it does!’ ‘It’s a regular brute of a Bee!'”
Try to write a limerick.
May 13 – Theme: Mother’s Day Write a descriptive paragraph or poem about either your Mother or someone who is a Mother figure to you. OR May 13 – Theme: Tulip Day In the 17th century, tulip bulbs were so prized that traders would mortgage their houses and fields. (provide a picture or bring in real tulips). Describe a tulip or another flower using all five senses.
May 14 – Theme: Lewis and Clark Expedition William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition was able to create a map of the Louisiana Purchase by merely walking through and exploring it. Today Google uses cars with custom cameras over five million miles to develop their Google Maps apps. How do maps figure in your life? How might they figure in your future? May 15 – Theme: L. F. Baum’s Birthday – Author of the Wizard of Oz books and creator of Dorothy, the Wicked Witch of the West, the Scarecrow, the Lion, the Tin Man, and the Wizard. Which character from the world of Oz would you most like to meet? Explain your answer.
May 16 – Theme: National Bar-B-Que Month The word barbecue comes from the Caribbean word “barbacoa.” Originally, barbacoa was not a way of cooking food, but the name of a wooden structure used by indigenous Taino Indians to smoke their food. Barbeque ranks in the top 20 most popular foods in the USA. What’s your favorite picnic food? Do you like bar-b-que, hamburgers, hot dogs, fried chicken, or something else entirely? What makes it so special?
May 17 – Theme: Kentucky Derby (MS) This horse race is also called “The Run for the Roses” for the draped blanket of roses placed over the winning horse. This idiom uses a rose, as do many other idioms. Choose one of the following rose idioms, or any other idiom you know, and give an example as to when it could be used:
(HS) Just before the race at the Kentucky Derby, the crowds sing “My Old Kentucky Home.” The revised lyrics of the original song by Stephen Foster changed the word “darkies”, and substituted the word “people.” Crowds now sing:
“The sun shines bright in the old Kentucky home Tis summer, the people are gay…”
Should songs with questionable lyrics from years ago continue to be used for public events? Are there songs that are so inappropriate that they should be dropped entirely?
Source: Writing Prompts for Journal Topics and Writing Ideas (thoughtco.com)
Note: This year Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 8 and The Kentucky Derby is Saturday, May 7.
May is often a beautiful month, full of flowers and sunshine. May also celebrates a week for teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week. Many of the following writing prompts for each day of May are written to take advantage of this time of year. These prompts provide teachers a great way to add more writing time in class. Some have two suggestions, one for middle school (MS) and one for high school (HS). These can be simple writing assignments, warm-ups, or journal entries. Feel free to use these any way you wish.
May 1 – Theme: May Day (MS) May Day is a traditional celebration of Spring in countries around the globe, often including dancing and flowers around a maypole. However, May Day is rarely celebrated in the United States. Do you think that Americans should celebrate May Day? Why or why not? (HS) In Chicago 1886, 15 people were killed during the Haymaker Riot strikes held to protest poor working conditions. In sympathy, European nations, many socialist or communist, established May Day to honor the cause of the worker.
May 2 – Theme: Holocaust Remembrance Day Some people argue that the Holocaust is too disturbing for students to learn about in middle school or even in high school. Write a persuasive paragraph explaining why it should be included in the curriculum.
May 3 – Theme: National Day of Prayer is usually observed on the first Thursday of May. This day is an inter-denominational event when faiths from across the country pray for the United States and its leaders. The word “pray” was first used in the early 13th century to mean “ask earnestly, beg.” What would you like to “ask earnestly, beg” for in your life?
May 4 – Theme: Star Wars Day The date comes from the catchphrase, “May the 4th [force] Be With You.” What is your opinion about the “Star Wars” film franchise? Do you love it, hate it? Are there reasons to appreciate the series? For example, from 2015 to the present, the film series has made millions of dollars:
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” (2015) over $900 million
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” (2017) over $600 million
“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” (2016) over $500 million
May 5 – Theme: Cinco de Mayo Many people across the United States celebrate the day, but they do not know what Cinco de Mayo commemorates. The day recognizes when Mexican Army‘s victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla, in 1862. Should there be more education on knowing this holiday or other international holidays?
May 6 – Theme: American Bike Month (MS) 40% of Americans have a bicycle. Do you know how to ride a bike? Do you have a bicycle? What could be the advantages of having a bicycle? What are the disadvantages of riding a bike? (HS) Urban planners include more bike lanes to reduce car traffic. The benefits of bicycles in cities are the reduction of car emissions and the increase of exercise. Is this planning a good thing? Or, is this planning something cities should do? Could this planning be like the idiom the says something is needed “like a fish needs a bicycle “?
May 7 – Theme: Teacher Appreciation (Week May 7-11) What qualities do you think a great teacher must have? Explain your answer. Do you have a favorite teacher from your school experiences? Write a letter of appreciation to that teacher.
Source: Writing Prompts for Journal Topics and Writing Ideas (thoughtco.com)
I read this quote by Maya Angelou and thought I would share it with you.
realstylenetwork.com
There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you. – Maya Angelou
Is there an untold story within you?
Maya Angelou was an American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years. She received dozens of awards and more than 50 honorary degrees. Angelou is best known for her series of seven autobiographies, which focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. The first, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, tells of her life up to the age of 17 and brought her international recognition and acclaim.
In honor of National Poetry Month, we’ve curated a number of creative writing prompts to help you cultivate your own poetic ritual. Try one prompt each day for the month of April in service of building a new routine, or skip around to the poetry prompts that inspire you most. I’m committed to following my own advice and will also be writing one poem a day using the thought starters below for creative fuel.
Creative Writing Prompts To Spark Your New Writing Practice
Describe your ideal day, from morning to night. Where are you, what will you do, and who will you spend your time with (if anyone at all)?
Write a poem about your favorite food using all the senses.
Write a ghost poem inspired by a song lyric or line from a book you love. That is, take the original sentence and use it as the first line of your writing. Then begin adding to it until you come back to the beginning and erase the first line that inspired all the subsequent lines — effectively making the inspiration a ghost.
Describe your favorite color without naming it. Or, imagine your color aura and describe that.
Come up with your six-word memoir. (Fun fact: did you know that a one-line poem is called a monostitch?)
Walk the reader through a place you can’t wait to visit again, sharing all of the sensory details that make it like paradise to you.
Write about your life if you lived in a different period in history. For example, you wake up and it’s 1970, what’s the first thing you’d do?
Confront your fears and write about what scares you most.
Select a piece of art and write an ekphrastic poem about it — that is, a poem that describes the work of art (sculpture, painting, drawing, performance, film, or photograph) in effusive detail.
If you were to host a dinner party, who would you invite, dead or alive? What meal would be served, how would the table be set, and what conversations do you imagine would take place?
Think of a trip or commute you’ve taken many times. Jot down your observations and memory of said journey and recreate it for the reader. Then decide what’s more important to you, the journey or the destination?
Find an object in your home that brings you joy and tap into why it’s so meaningful in a descriptive poem.
Think of someone you had a miscommunication with and explore what would happen if you said everything you wanted to say.
What’s your favorite month and why? Orient it in the season as part of your description.
Write about the emotion you experience the most and list out what situations, people, or things make you feel that way.
Where do you come from? Start a poem by exploring and defining your origin story.
Describe a recent dream of yours in vivid, fantastical detail.
Explore what you’d say to your 13-year-old self, or another pivotal age from when you were younger.
Write about what it’d be like to encounter a long-lost love, years later.
Manifest future you with a poem describing who you’ll be in 5 or 10 years.
Think of the happiest day of your life and write about what made it so magical. Can you capture that feeling in poem form?
What lessons have you learned from your elders and ancestors? Write about the ones that still show up for you today.
Think about all the cities you’ve lived in. Pick one to write about that’s had a lasting impact on your identity.
What’s a youthful memory of a time you were reckless or misbehaved? Write about that experience and what you may have learned.
Identify your alter ego, or someone totally opposite of you and write a poem from that point of view. What would they do that you would never dare?
What is one of life’s biggest mysteries you wish you had the answer to? See if you can come up with an answer in your poem.
Write a poem about a beloved character in a book, movie, or show that you adore.
Personify an inanimate object (such as a crystal, a postcard, or vintage scarf) and tell its story. Where all has it gone before it made its way to you?
Turn something mundane, like a grocery list, into a poetic writing exploration. How can a few creative adjectives and alliterative details make it shine?
Pick someone you’re drawn to, even a stranger on the street or in a coffee shop, and write what you imagine they’re like in real life.