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Shelter and Write Prompt 24: Forbidden Places

Jaclyn7 Comments

Think of a place you cannot be right now. Maybe it is with someone you love, or a vacation you were planning, or even just your local hang out. Or perhaps it’s a place you don’t want to be right now. Describe that place in as much detail as possible so that we can experience it along with you. 

What would it be like if you were currently there? Is it good or bad that you cannot be there? What does this place mean to you and what are the repercussions of not being able to be there? What would the repercussions be if you were there?

PS: Like always, you can fictionalize this prompt and use it to get started on a short story. 

This post is part of a series I am doing that includes 30 prompts for 30 days of sheltering at home. You can read more about my reasoning and also find other prompts here. I would love to see what you come up with. Feel free to share here or to tag your work #shelterandwrite.

Shelter and Write Prompt 23: The Structure of Days

Jaclyn3 Comments

Write a detailed description of current daily life. Perhaps you will use your own life as the basis for a poem or essay. Or you could imagine a fictional character trying to get through these uncertain times. 

Start with a schedule. Go into detail. How do days generally unfold now? Are they all similar, like Groundhog Day? Or are they completely unpredictable? What do you notice about the structure of the day?

How has daily life changed? How is it similar? Describe the movements and habits of this person. What do they do right when they wake up? Have eating habits changed? What they wear? Where they go? What is different in the way that the day flows? What do they notice, or not notice anymore? 

This post is part of a series I am doing that includes 30 prompts for 30 days of sheltering at home. You can read more about my reasoning and also find other prompts here. I would love to see what you come up with. Feel free to share here or to tag your work #shelterandwrite.

Shelter and Write Prompt 22: Responding to Inspiration

Jaclyn3 Comments

Find a poem that resonates with you in these times. You could check out these poems chosen by poets from Emory University, these collaborations sponsored by the Poetry Society of New York, or these pieces written by Alaskan writers for 49 Writers. Or perhaps you have recently seen some other piece of writing that spoke to you about what you are going through now. 

Type out the poem and then under each line, write your own response to just that line. It could be one word, a paragraph, or even the start of a story. Continue through the entirety of the poem. Then, delete the original poem so that only your lines are on the page. Use these lines to create your own piece of writing. Perhaps one line sparked an idea for a story or essay. Maybe  delete lines or words, or rearrange them to make a poem. Whatever you choose, use the writing you have done in response to your original chosen piece to create your own, new work.

This post is part of a series I am doing that includes 30 prompts for 30 days of sheltering at home. You can read more about my reasoning and also find other prompts here. I would love to see what you come up with. Feel free to share here or to tag your work #shelterandwrite.

Shelter and Write Prompt 21: Erasure

Jaclyn4 Comments

Find a text about current events that really catches your eye. It could be a news article, a social media post, a poem, or any kind of text, but it’s good to choose something with at least a full page of text so you have a lot of words to choose from. 

Black out sections of the text to create a poem or story with new meaning. This means that you will use only words from the text in the order they are in, but you can erase any part of the text you wish. Check out Sara Adam’s poetry for an example! 

This post is part of a series I am doing that includes 30 prompts for 30 days of sheltering at home. You can read more about my reasoning and also find other prompts here. I would love to see what you come up with. Feel free to share here or to tag your work #shelterandwrite.

Shelter and Write Prompt 20: The Worry Solution

Jaclyn1 Comment

What is your biggest anxiety right now? Imagine that you hear a knock on the door and it is someone who has the solution to your worries. 

Who is it who shows up? Is it someone you’ve been missing? A doctor with a vaccine? Someone offering you your dream job? Your fairy godmother? A better version of yourself? Who can help fix these worries and anxieties?

Write a conversation in which you tell your worries to this person in detail. What advice do they offer? What solutions do they have? What do they bring or do in order to quell the worries? What is the outcome?

This post is part of a series I am doing that includes 30 prompts for 30 days of sheltering at home. You can read more about my reasoning and also find other prompts here. I would love to see what you come up with. Feel free to share here or to tag your work #shelterandwrite.

Shelter and Write Prompt 19: The Lasting Image

Jaclyn1 Comment

What is one image, one photograph (from the news, or your social media feed, etc.) that has left a lasting impression on you? 

Describe this image in detail. Do not use your memory. Actually look at the picture and describe exactly what you see. What did you remember about it and what details do you notice about it now? You might even want to do a little research about the image. How do these details make meaning for you? Why and how has this image impacted you?

Now that you have all the details in mind, use your description of this image as the starting point for an essay, a story, or a poem. Create the world around this image. What happened before, after, and during the image that we see? What happened behind the scenes?

This post is part of a series I am doing that includes 30 prompts for 30 days of sheltering at home. You can read more about my reasoning and also find other prompts here. I would love to see what you come up with. Feel free to share here or to tag your work #shelterandwrite.

Shelter and Write Prompt 18: The Plot Twist

Jaclyn3 Comments

Think of a character (or even yourself!) for whom the pandemic is a major turning point, a plot twist. 

What was the trajectory before this year? What were they aiming for before the outbreak occurred? How does the virus affect them? How does the tension rise? 

Then comes the major turning point! How does this pandemic change things for them? It should be big, something that will change their major life decisions and their goals. How does it change them as people? 

What is the resolution? How does everything end?

This post is part of a series I am doing that includes 30 prompts for 30 days of sheltering at home. You can read more about my reasoning and also find other prompts here. I would love to see what you come up with. Feel free to share here or to tag your work #shelterandwrite.

Shelter and Write Prompt 17: Write a Letter to Your Old Self

Jaclyn6 Comments

Write a letter to yourself 3 months ago. 

Think about the changes that have happened since 2020 began. What were your thoughts, hopes, and experiences at that time? How have things changed since then? What are the things you didn’t expect? What would you want to tell yourself from back then? Would you make different preparations? Try to be in a different place? Would you savor something just a little bit more?

This also works well for an imagined character. What would they want to say to themselves? What would they do differently?

This post is part of a series I am doing that includes 30 prompts for 30 days of sheltering at home. You can read more about my reasoning and also find other prompts here. I would love to see what you come up with. Feel free to share here or to tag your work #shelterandwrite.

Shelter and Write Prompt 16: Writing Together

Jaclyn1 Comment

Collaborate on a piece of writing. 

Find at least one other person to write together with. Perhaps you create a thread on social media, or enlist your family. This would work really well with a poem or with a short story. 

Start with just a line or sentences. Allow each person involved to add a line that relates to their current experiences and then allow the next person to respond to that line and add their own experiences. 

Where are the similarities? The differences? Is there a tug-of-war in the perspectives, or are you and your collaborators using similar images and ideas?

This post is part of a series I am doing that includes 30 prompts for 30 days of sheltering at home. You can read more about my reasoning and also find other prompts here. I would love to see what you come up with. Feel free to share here or to tag your work #shelterandwrite.

Shelter and Write Prompt 15: Upside-Down Fears

Jaclyn2 Comments

This one’s a little fun and funky. 

Free write for 10 minutes about your fears. Choose 5 nouns from your free write that stand out to you. Then choose 5 verbs, and 5 adjectives. 

Next, turn your paper upside down and “read” the upside down text. Find five “words” that stand out to you upside down. For example, if you read the word “words” upside down, it looks like “sporm,” which might make me think of sport, sperm, or spore. 

Next, think of a phrase someone from your past used to always say and a phrase that you have heard over and over again in recent weeks. 

Now, create a piece that incorporates all of these things: the 5 nouns, 5 adjectives, 5 verbs, 5 upside-down words you chose and the two phrases, one from your past and one from the present. It could be an essay, a poem, or a fictional story, but it must include all of these elements. Have fun!

This post is part of a series I am doing that includes 30 prompts for 30 days of sheltering at home. You can read more about my reasoning and also find other prompts here. I would love to see what you come up with. Feel free to share here or to tag your work #shelterandwrite.