10 inspirational prompts for writers: #creativity

Below are 10 writing tasks to help inspire your next article. Even if these ideas seem to have nothing in common with what you usually write about, take a chance and treat each idea as a starting point to unlock your imagination. The freer your response, the better.

1. Top 5 records

Inspired by the Stephen Frears movie, High Fidelity, what are your top 5 records? Write about where and when you first heard the songs and what they mean to you. Pass the challenge on to another Medium writer.

2. Poetry in motion

Even if the field you normally write about has nothing to do with literature, everyone has a favorite poem. Try introducing a poem that has marked you in life and write about some of the ways it connects to your field.

3. Free Association

Go to designspiration.com and type the word “random” in the search box. Scroll through the images and stop when one catches your attention. Look at it in more detail. What does it remind you of? Paste the image in a post and write your associations next to it. Repeat the process a few more times until you have the basis for a post.

4. Automatic writing

Open your text editor. Set a timer to 5 minutes. Go! Write whatever comes to mind. Don’t stop until the clock runs out. Don’t “force” your thoughts, let them come to you. Go wherever your mind takes you. Re-read your writing and use whatever you find interesting in it as the basis for a new post.

5. Word tree

go to the Visuwords.com and type a word that relates to the subject matter you usually write about. Read the associated words and double click on one that you find interesting. Read the next batch of associated words and double click on another word of interest. Keep going as far down the tree as you can. Write down each new word as you go. Go back over your list of words and see if there’s one word that will works as the starting point for a new post.

6. Camera time

Go for a walk around your neighbourhood. Take your smartphone with you. While you walk, explore your neighbourhood as though you were discovering it for the first time. Look at details, up high, down low. Stop, look and look again. Whenever something jumps out at you, take a picture of it. When you get home, review your photos and select those you find most interesting. Present them in a post with some commentary. Or use them and whatever associations they create as the topic for a new post.

7. Hitrecord.org

HitRecord is an online collaborative production company founded and owned by actor and director Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Go to the community section of the site, find a collaborative project that interests you and take part. Then write about your participation.

8. Quotations

Go to BrainyQuotes and take a look at the popular author page. Click on an author that you’ve never heard of before. Read some of his/her quotes. Once you find a quote that means something to you, google it to see if you can find which book, article or speech it was taken from. Next, find out more about the author. Write about the quote, its context and what it means to you in a new post

9. Music Mix

Go to the Soundation free music studio, create a new account then mix up a hot new track. I’m not sure how this one will help with your writing, but I included it because making music is just an amazing way to unlock creative thinking.

10. Impactful books

Think of a book you’ve read that in some way had an impact on your life. Maybe take some time to go back over it, find out about its background etc. Then tell your audience about the book and what it means to you.