As I have previously mentioned I am (still) not fond of intentionally using public story prompts to start a novel. But that is not the only thing a story prompt may set out to accomplish. First up, the definition…
Story Prompts ask people to write a story according to a certain criteria. That criteria can be a theme or have restrictions or both. For example, a story prompt can ask someone to write an action-packed galactic-themed story in under 30 minutes. Or to create a story based on a picture or song. Story prompts can be general or very specific.
Story prompts can also be whatever you design or purpose them to be.
Practice
While I would not use a story prompt to write a novel, story prompts are great to practice writing. Because story prompts can be many things, you use them to get better in certain writing areas and get better at writing as a whole with general prompts and continual practice.
Use story prompts to meet your writing goals.
With a Time Limit
Story prompts can change to meet your goals through the way that you design or choose them. One of my main writing goals is to finish my writing pieces. So a new way for me to practice reaching that goal is to use story prompt exercises that have time limits. My time limit could be 3 days, 1 day, or 1 hour. Practicing this way helps get use to finishing and seeing my stories through. Novels can be big projects, and story prompts help me start small.
With a Word Count Limit
Doing a story prompt with a word count limit is another way to practice reaching my goal. It can also be a fun way to practice executing a story, with concise and intentional detailing.
Write With Your Own Spin On It
Story prompts a ready to be made yours. You can create a story prompt from scratch or can remix one that you like. Have an adventure and mix up your favorite story prompts.
Get Out of Your Comfort Zone
Use story prompts that fall in a genre you don’t write in, a point of view that you don’t have experience with, or in a style that you don’t know how to do. Have fun trying new writing skills and techniques with story prompts that challenge your writing skills so that you can grow to be a well rounded and flexibly skilled writer. Maybe you’ll write the screen-play for your novel someday.
Tackle Your Writing Weaknesses
Knowing your strengths and weakness as a writer is crucial for your growth and finesse. Knowing what you’re good at, and perfecting these strengths makes you stand out: enabling you to make your mark. Knowing where you need improvement helps to keep you on your toes and always improving your writing skills.
Use story prompts to tackle your writing weakness so that you can make them stronger, and to sharpen your strengths. Picking variations of the same kind of prompts to practice can help you do so. You can also use the same prompt over and over, between months or weeks to track your progress.
Test Your Skills
When you pick story prompts that are out of your comfort zone or story prompts to tackle your weaknesses and so on, you may find new strengths and weaknesses that you did not know you had. You can even take a liking to certain writing aspects, styles, and methods. Story prompts are a great way to see what you’ve got, especially if you’re a beginner writer or a writer feeling plateaued in their skill.
Fun Group Exercises
Story prompts also make great assignments, group activities, allow group building, and is a perfect way to administer peer feedback. If you are a writing or literary influencer you can also use these to engage with your followers and audience. Story prompts can be used for classrooms, writing groups, online forums, or as a public challenge. Story prompts are also great icebreakers and cool-down activities.
Get Your Creative FLow Started
A story prompt can help you get your writing session started. Allowing your brain to warm up and get ready to generate the coolest ideas. Use short tasked story prompts to get your creative flow started. This creative flow doesn’t even have to be for writing, using this method can help you get your best thinking cap on for any task or project.
Write With Other Writers
If you are apart of a writers & authors group or any other group and need ideas to keep everyone engaged in a fun way, story prompts can help. Story prompts that prompt a person to write about themselves, their desires, experiences, and opinions are a great way to have engagement and build relationships. They are also great for bouncing ideas off writing partners and testing out writing theories and methods. Use story prompts to also enlighten yourself on others’ perspectives and qualities as each person takes on a prompt in their own unique way.
Learn
Use story prompts to learn about new writing techniques, ideas, skills, practices, and other things you have not yet discovered.
Win Wriitng Contests
One of the most popular ways writing contests are done is through story prompts. There are so many writing contests that happen within a year offering cash prizes, publication opportunities, etc. Use prompts as a way to practice and win! You can also build a presence within the writing world as you submit awesome pieces.
Here Are 4 Sites To Find And Join Writing Contests
- Reedsy.com
- Vocal.media
- on Jerry Jenkins’, the author, website.
- On the Writelife.com
Story Prompts are amazing and amazingly useful. But I still wouldn’t use one (that is public available) to build my whole novel from. Have fun and keep writing!
Until my next words (on here that is)
Christa
[…] think I’ll also use story prompts to practice these basics. If you’ve read this post then you already know my opinion on story prompts. It’s still the same and this is a great […]