Yes, those dreaded prompts from your school days are back... but there was a reason they were used to teach you the basics of writing - they work. Prompts can stimulate the mind and the imagination. This in turn gets your creative juices flowing and the pen to scribbling.

For adults, writing prompts are a way to develop and hone writing skills without any expectations of final writing success. Just think of the prompts as that - a way to get you started, a means to an end, but not the whole path!

You should use writing prompts to take a break from your regular writing schedule. When you hit a bump in the writing road, use them to break through writer's block. Better yet, create a daily prompt "work-out" by choosing a prompt and writing on it for 10 or 15 minutes. Prompts can stimulate different parts of the brain to get a fresh perspective on your writing.

Prompts can be wildly imaginative - You find you can suddenly understand what your baby is babbling but you don't like what you hear! - or mundane - Describe the scene outside your window. You can find prompts for any type of writing, from journalistic to poetic and using them will sharpen your writing skills and make your "real" writing better.

Collect prompts to use at your convenience - write them on a small piece of paper and save them in a box on your desk and pick one out each morning (or evening!) to write on. Bookmark internet sites that carry them. Save them in a file or notebook and review them from time to time. Look for goofy signs on the road, take pictures of interesting places, buildings, or people and save them to write about.

Whatever you do to incorporate prompts into your writing life, just do it! Take advantage of this writing tool to inspire and invigorate your writing.

For a daily writing prompt, click here!

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