Beating Writer’s Block: 10 Prompts to Spark Creativity and Get You Writing

There’s nothing worse than hitting a writing dry spell—especially during NaNoWriMo! It can seem like one moment the words are flowing freely, and the next, you’re struggling to put a coherent sentence together. Don’t worry! Writing ruts happen to everyone, even experienced, professional authors. Sometimes, all you need to conquer writer’s block is a little writing prompt to spark your creativity. 

Writing prompts can be an effective way to overcome writer’s block, spark creativity, and get you motivated to write.

Need a little help getting that inspiration wheel moving? These tips and prompts will spark your creativity and get you back to doing what you love: writing!

What is a writing prompt? 

A writing prompt can come in a variety of forms. It may be a phrase, an image, a piece of dialogue, or an object. Whatever it is, a prompt is an idea for something to write about that should give your brain a creative boost.

Prompts aren’t just limited to fiction; they can spark creativity for literally any type of writing, from non-fiction to poetry, and even blogging.

One of the things that makes writing prompts so effective is that they don’t have to be related to your current project. Writing about a completely different topic (or in another book genre) challenges your brain to both try something new and approach it in a new way.

Writing prompts are also relatively pressure free. No one needs to see what you write and you don’t have to worry about the story ‘going anywhere’. Look at it as a warm-up before you go for a long run. Just let loose and write whatever you want—it’ll get your brain warmed up and ready for the marathon that is your manuscript.

All-in, a writing prompt sparks creativity and challenges you to think and write in new ways. Put together, they are a great way to put yourself in a frame of mind to overcome writer’s block.

BUT don’t wait for your muse to show up

It can be tempting to look at writing prompts as a waste of time. If you wait around long enough, surely inspiration will strike eventually, right?

On the contrary, we don’t recommend approaching inspiration passively; it may never come! Instead, be active in your pursuit—writing is a way to do this. 

Good writing also won’t just pop up fully formed in your mind, no matter how inspired you may be feeling. To be a good writer and improve your craft, you need to practise. Sometimes, writing is fun and feels easy; sometimes, it’s hard work. The important thing is to be consistent, whether the words are flowing easily or not. So, write. A lot. Even if it isn’t always your WIP.

Writing prompts to spark your creativity

These 10 prompts will spark your creativity and motivate you to write! 

1. Open up a newspaper and describe the setting of the first photo you spot. Flesh out the scene as much as possible by describing not just what you see, but any smells and sounds, too. 
2. The phone rings. “Hello,” a voice says when you pick up. “I bet you thought I was dead, didn’t you?” Write out the scene with some believable dialogue that follows. 
3. Sit in a cafe and write a short story about someone at another table. Why are they there? What are they talking about? What’s their back story? This is a great way to come up with a character sketch you might be able to use at some other time! 
4. Write about your earliest childhood memory. Try to remember how you felt, what you were doing, what the people around you were like. 
5. Choose a favourite song and flesh it out in a story. 
6. Take a chapter you’ve already written and rewrite it from a different point-of-view. For example, rewrite a scene from the POV of the villain instead of the hero. Or switch the POV from first-person to third-person and see how it feels. 
7. Recall a story your grandparents or parents used to tell you and write it down, giving it more details. 
8. Write a scene about the last dream you had. 
9. Take a chapter you’ve already written and rewrite it in a different genre. For example, if you’re writing non-fiction (such as a memoir or biography), try your hand at a fiction short story. Or rewrite a scene from your sci-fi novel as a romance and see what happens. 
10. Or…write about what’s stopping you from writing! Let it be a stream of consciousness exercise and just get down on the page any thought that comes to mind. 

What if I still have writer’s block? 

Find something you want to write about

Sometimes, no matter what you do, the words just won’t come. If none of these writing prompts spark your creativity, maybe you need to take a step back and figure out why. Ask yourself: Am I excited about what I’m writing about?. If you’re not passionate about your project, you will likely find yourself procrastinating or looking for excuses not to sit down and work on it. 

Of course, even if you’re passionate about a project, this doesn’t mean you’ll always feel excited to tackle it (or won’t get frustrated from time to time). However, there’s a huge difference between constantly feeling lacklustre towards your manuscript and the occasional bout of frustration. 

Take a break

When fighting writer’s block, it’s perfectly okay to take a break and just do something else. Staring at your computer screen while trying to force your brain to come up with words can be counterintuitive.

So, stop and do another activity. Take a nap (studies show our brains can solve problems while we sleep), do some gardening, or go for a walk. Avoid activities that could over-engage your brain (such as watching a complex movie or reading a difficult book). Your aim is to let your brain relax enough so that it can work through the writer’s block—whether it be a worldbuilding issue, character problem, or something else.

Don’t edit as you go  

As much as possible, try to avoid editing as you go. There’s a time and a place to self-edit your book and the middle of your manuscript is not it. If you stop to edit, you’re more likely to get stuck in a rut and lose your writing momentum. Save the editing for after you’ve finished the first draft! 

Get writing help

Writing a book doesn’t happen in a vacuum—you need a community around you! There are many benefits to joining a writing group and a lot of options out there. You can find an in-person writing group or get involved with the online #writingcommunity on social media. Reddit has a variety of subreddits dedicated to everything writing related, whether you’re hoping to self-publish your book some day (r/selfpublish), need query advice, or simply want to chat with other writers (r/Writers).

Whatever type of writing support you need, there’s something out there for everyone. Even with the emergence of AI, now is a great time to pursue writing a book. There are more ways than ever to publish your work and the online author community is a never-ending source of inspiration, wherever you are in your writing journey.